In a phase III trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Palumbo et al found that consolidation therapy with high-dose melphalan plus autologous stem cell transplantation improved progression-free survival and overall survival compared with melphalan/prednisone/lenalidomide (Revlimid)...
In a Korean phase II trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Hong et al found that adjuvant FOLFOX (oxaliplatin, fluorouracil [5-FU], leucovorin) prolonged progression-free survival and overall survival vs 5-FU/leucovorin in patients with locally advanced rectal cancer who had received neoadjuvant...
A large, international analysis of patients with stage IV non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) indicates that a patient’s overall survival rate can be related to factors including the timing of when metastases develop and lymph node involvement, and that aggressive treatment for low-risk...
Patients with inoperable, early-stage lung cancer who receive stereotactic body radiation therapy have a 5-year survival rate of 40%, according to long-term results presented at the American Society for Radiation Oncology’s (ASTRO) 56th Annual Meeting (Abstract 56). Such a positive survival...
In a randomized phase II trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Liu et al found a significant improvement in progression-free survival and an increase in toxicity with the addition of the antiangiogenic agent cediranib (VEGFR-1,-2,-3 inhibitor) to the PARP inhibitor olaparib in women with recurrent ...
The UK phase III ProtecT trial is comparing the effectiveness of active monitoring, radical prostatectomy, and radiotherapy in men with localized prostate cancer. Lane et al have provided baseline results of the trial in an article in The Lancet Oncology. Study Details In the trial, men aged 50...
In a recent study investigating alectinib resistance in ALK-positive lung cancers, researchers identified two novel ALK mutations that are sensitive to ceritinib (Zykadia), a next-generation ALK tyrosine kinase inhibitor approved by the FDA earlier this year for advanced non–small cell lung...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Kochenderfer et al found that single infusions of autologous T cells expressing an anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) produced responses in nearly all patients with chemotherapy-refractory CD19-positive B-cell malignancies, including...
A secondary analysis of the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project B-32 trial indicates that radiation therapy does not increase the incidence of lymphedema in patients with node-negative breast cancer, according to research presented at the American Society for Radiation...
Patients with high-risk prostate cancer who received radiation therapy and an 18-month course of androgen-deprivation therapy recovered a normal testosterone level in a shorter amount of time compared to those who received a 36-month course of androgen-deprivation therapy. The shorter course of...
In the phase III ROSE/TRIO-12 trial, reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Mackey et al found no significant improvement in investigator-assessed progression-free survival by adding the antiangiogenic VEGFR-2 inhibitor ramucirumab (Cyramza) to first-line docetaxel in women with...
A modeling study reported in JAMA Internal Medicine by van Hees and colleagues showed that colonoscopy screening at intervals shorter than 10 years or continuing past 75 years of age in the Medicare population is associated with a reduced net health benefit from a societal perspective. Study ...
Recurrence-free survival rates were similar for patients with cT1 renal masses who underwent partial nephrectomy or percutaneous cryoablation, according to the results of a retrospective trial reported by Thompson et al in European Urology. However, metastases-free survival was superior for...
Use of cisplatin or cetuximab (Erbitux) with radiotherapy improves overall survival in stage III or IV head and neck carcinoma, and adding cetuximab to platinum therapy improves overall survival in metastatic disease. In the phase III Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) 0522 trial reported in...
Radiation therapy with concurrent paclitaxel chemotherapy following surgery is an effective treatment for high-risk endometrial cancer, according to a study reported by Cho et al in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology • Biology • Physics Endometrial...
The investigational agent VT-122 appeared to benefit survival when combined with sorafenib (Nexavar) in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma, according to data presented at the 8th Annual International Liver Cancer Association Conference in Kyoto, Japan. Researchers reported an 11-month...
A phase Ib clinical trial of the tablet form of olaparib, a PARP inhibitor, in combination with paclitaxel and carboplatin chemotherapy in heavily pretreated patients with advanced-stage ovarian cancer finds the drug to be safe and effective, especially in those women with BRCA gene mutations. The...
Maintenance rituximab (Rituxan) has been shown to improve progression-free survival vs observation in low-tumor-burden follicular lymphoma. In the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) E4402 Trial (RESORT), reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Kahl et al found no significant difference ...
A new breast cancer vaccine candidate, GP2, provides further evidence of the potential of immunotherapy in preventing disease recurrence. This is especially the case for high-risk patients when it is combined with a powerful immunotherapy drug. These findings were presented at the 2014 Breast...
An analysis of data from 12 large clinical trials found that the cancer’s pathologic response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy and tumor subtype are strong predictors of locoregional breast cancer recurrence. According to the researchers, the study showed that these two predictors may be more...
Cytoreductive surgery with or without hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy extended survival over systemic therapy alone in well-selected candidates with peritoneal hepatocellular carcinoma, according to the results of a small retrospective trial reported by Tabrizian et al in the Journal of...
In the phase III CENTRIC EORTC 26071-22072 trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Stupp et al found that adding the selective αvβ3 and αvβ5 integrin inhibitor cilengitide to standard temozolomide chemoradiotherapy produced no survival benefit in newly diagnosed glioblastoma...
High mitotic rate in primary melanomas appears to be an independent predictor of poorer survival. In a single-institution study reported in JAMA Dermatology, Shen et al found that high mitotic rate primary melanoma is associated with male sex, older age, amelanosis, and several aggressive...
A phase II study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Nowakowski et al indicates that the addition of lenalidomide (Revlimid) to R-CHOP (rituximab [Rituxan] plus cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone)—a regimen known as R2CHOP—overcomes the negative...
In the phase III REVEL trial reported in The Lancet, Garon et al found that the addition of the antiangiogenic VEGFR-2 inhibitor ramucirumab (Cyramza) to docetaxel produced a statistically significant improvement in overall survival as second-line treatment in patients with non–small...
The ACOSOG Z0011/Alliance trial showed that axillary lymph node dissection provides no benefit over sentinel lymph node biopsy in patients with breast cancer with one or two positive sentinel lymph nodes undergoing lumpectomy, radiotherapy, and systemic therapy. In an analysis reported in the...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Bittenbring et al found that vitamin D deficiency was associated with poorer outcome in older patients receiving R-CHOP (rituximab [Rituxan] plus cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone) for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma...
In a phase II trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Burger et al found that the combination of ibrutinib (Imbruvica) and rituximab (Rituxan) showed promising activity and an encouraging safety profile in patients with previously treated or untreated high-risk chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL)....
In a phase I study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Fanale et al found that brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris)—a conjugate of antibody specific for CD30 and a microtubule-disrupting chemotherapy agent—exhibited high activity when combined sequentially with CHOP...
In a phase III Australian/New Zealand trial (TROG 03.04 RADAR) reported in The Lancet Oncology, Denham et al found no differences in prostate cancer–specific or all-cause mortality with intermediate-term androgen suppression and radiotherapy or short-term suppression plus radiotherapy with or ...
In a retrospective study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Kollmannsberger et al found that active surveillance for patients with clinical stage I testicular cancer is associated with very good outcomes. Most relapses occurred within 2 years of orchiectomy in patients with nonseminoma...
Approximately half of all patients with posterior uveal melanoma develop metastatic liver disease within 15 years. Although brachytherapy utilizing current isotopes may be hindered by associated toxicities, the isotope ruthenium-106 has been reintroduced into the U.S. market. In a study published...
An international scientific collaboration led by Baylor College of Medicine as part of The Cancer Genome Atlas initiative has revealed clues about genetic alterations that may contribute to a rare form of kidney cancer. The study, which describes the landscape of somatic genomic alterations of...
Although the majority of patients with mantle cell lymphoma respond to initial therapy, the duration of remission is typically short (1.5 to 3 years). Although bortezomib (Velcade) and lenalidomide (Revlimid) as single agents have been associated with response rates as high as 53% in patients with...
In a retrospective cohort study reported in JAMA Internal Medicine, Tran et al found a low rate of colorectal cancer and a relatively high rate of postprocedure hospitalization in elderly patients undergoing surveillance colonoscopy. Study Details The study involved patients aged ≥ 50 years...
Barrington et al in the International Conference on Malignant Lymphomas Imaging Working Group have presented updated consensus guidelines on 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron-emission tomography (PET)-computed tomography (CT) for staging and response assessment for FDG-avid lymphomas. The...
Despite updates on cancer screening guidelines from several medical societies—including ASCO, the American Cancer Society, the American Urological Association, the American College of Physicians, as well as the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force—which use life expectancy and/or age as...
Observational studies have suggested a potential effect of bisphosphonate treatment for osteoporosis in reducing risk of breast cancer in postmenopausal women. However, an analysis of the randomized FIT trial of alendronate and HORIZON-PFT trial of zoledronic acid reported in JAMA Internal Medicine ...
The phase III NeoALTTO trial showed a significantly improved pathologic complete response rate with lapatinib (Tykerb) plus trastuzumab (Herceptin) vs either alone in women with HER2-positive early breast cancer. As reported in The Lancet Oncology by de Azambuja et al, the combination was not...
The European Thoracic Oncology Platform Lungscape ALK project is investigating the prevalence and prognostic impact of ALK-positivity in resected lung adenocarcinoma in a primarily European population. As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Blackhall and colleagues, the project has...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the antiangiogenic agent bevacizumab (Avastin) for the treatment of persistent, recurrent, or metastatic cervical cancer. The new indication is approved for use in combination with paclitaxel and cisplatin or paclitaxel and topotecan. The FDA ...
The Cancer Genome Atlas Research Network has recently reported its comprehensive molecular profiling of lung adenocarcinoma in Nature. Findings included a high rate of somatic mutations including alterations in tumor-suppressor genes, chromatin-modifying genes, and RNA-splicing genes and suggested...
Obesity is associated with a worse breast cancer prognosis and elevated levels of inflammation, including greater cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) expression and activity in adipose-infiltrating macrophages. Data from a new study finds that overweight and obese women who regularly used aspirin or other...
In a European phase III FIRE-3 trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Heinemann et al found no difference in response rate, the primary endpoint, between FOLFIRI (fluorouracil, leucovorin, and irinotecan) plus the anti-EGFR antibody cetuximab (Erbitux) vs FOLFIRI plus the anti-VEGF-A antibody...
The BRAF inhibitor vemurafenib (Zelboraf) is approved for treatment of BRAF-mutated metastatic melanoma. There are reports indicating that vemurafenib may be active in the treatment of intracranial neoplasms with BRAF mutations. As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Lee et al from...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today approved Cologuard, the first stool-based colorectal screening test that detects the presence of red blood cells and DNA mutations that may indicate the presence of certain kinds of abnormal growths that may be cancers such as colon cancer or...
In the phase II Cancer and Leukemia Group B (CALGB) 40603/Alliance trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Sikov et al found that the addition of carboplatin or bevacizumab (Avastin) to standard neoadjuvant chemotherapy significantly improved pathologic complete response rate in...
In a Children’s Oncology Group phase III trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Gamis et al found that the addition of gemtuzumab ozogamicin (Mylotarg), an immunoconjugate targeting CD33, resulted in significantly prolonged event-free survival but not overall survival when added...
Past exposure to immunosuppressive drugs called thiopurines has been found to increase the risk of myeloid disorders, such as acute myeloid leukemia and myelodysplastic syndrome, among patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The findings were reported by Lopez et al in Clinical...
In a trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Bochner et al found no difference in complication rates or length of hospital stay with robot-assisted laparoscopic radical cystectomy vs open surgery in patients with bladder cancer. Blood loss was greater and procedure time shorter with...