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Showing 15101 - 15150Drugging PI3K in Breast Cancer: Findings From SABCS 2013
Components of the phosphatidylinositide 3-kinase/mammalian target of rapamycin (PI3K/mTOR) pathway are deregulated in many human cancers, with about 30% of breast cancers harboring PIK3CA gene mutations. Emerging research shows that these mutations may render estrogen receptor alpha-positive tumors ...
Common Mutations May Impact Neoadjuvant Treatment Outcomes in Breast Cancer
Emerging research is suggesting that outcomes from neoadjuvant chemotherapy may be correlated with two genetic mutations that are common in breast cancer—PIK3CA and TP53. Their presence may affect response to treatment, and mutational shift after treatment may affect survival, according to studies...
‘R-Squared’ Lymphoma Treatment: Possible Markers of Response Identified
A correlative analysis of a study evaluating lenalidomide (Revlimid) plus rituximab (Rituxan) in patients with indolent non-Hodgkin lymphoma found that increases in the levels of several cytokines correlated with response to treatment. The study by investigators from the University of California...
Lenalidomide/Rituximab Doublet a Potential Front-Line Treatment in Some Lymphomas
The biologic doublet of lenalidomide (Revlimid) plus rituximab (Rituxan) can achieve high response rates and durable remissions in lymphoma, according to a parade of phase II studies presented at the 2013 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting in New Orleans. The immunomodulatory agent ...
Cancer Genes, Promiscuity, and the National Debt
There is no doubt that this is a halcyon period in oncology. The unraveling of the genome has been tremendously important, and finally has helped us to move treatment selection from an era of rational empiricism to one of refined, molecular prognostication. In the care of breast cancer, the impact...
Addition of Carboplatin to Standard Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Supported by SABCS Studies
The achievement of a pathologic complete response in patients with triple-negative breast cancer was boosted by the addition of carboplatin to a standard neoadjuvant chemotherapy regimen, and by the addition of veliparib, an investigational oral PARP inhibitor, plus carboplatin to a standard...
Role for Reduced-Intensity Conditioning Regimen in AML After Allogeneic Transplantation
Reduced-intensity conditioning and myeloablative-conditioning regimens following allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation in children with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) resulted in comparable survival, according to a study published in Blood. The study evaluated 181 patients, 39 treated with...
Corrections to Note
In the January 15, 2014, issue of The ASCO Post, three errors occurred. These errors have since been corrected and revised versions of the articles may be viewed online at ASCOPost.com or via the QR code here. The errors were as follows below. Trastuzumab Dosing In the article “HER2-Positive...
Leukemia/Lymphoma Pioneer Geoffrey P. Herzig, MD, Dies
Many of the advances that have bettered mankind are attributed to those who were driven by a primary passion. Geoffrey P. Herzig, MD, lived the better part of his life with a primary passion: conducting research to increase the cure rate of leukemia and lymphoma patients. His friend and colleague,...
Donald L. Morton, MD, an Icon in Surgical Oncology, Dies
“Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It’s perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we’ve learned something from yesterday.” —John Wayne Donald L. Morton, MD, transformed the management of melanoma and breast cancer by...
Pomalidomide Plus Low-Dose Dexamethasone: Important New Option in Relapsed/Refractory Multiple Myeloma
Pomalidomide (Pomalyst) plus low-dose dexamethasone significantly improved progression-free survival compared to pomalidomide alone in patients with relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma enrolled in a multicenter, open-label study, the phase II part of the MM-002 trial. The study confirmed the...
In CLL With Coexisting Conditions, Chlorambucil Produces Better Outcomes With Obinutuzumab Than With Rituximab
A randomized phase III trial conducted in 26 countries found that combining chlorambucil (Leukeran) with an anti-CD20 antibody—either obinutuzumab (Gazya) or rituximab (Rituxan)—produced better outcomes among patients with previously untreated chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and coexisting...
High Expression of hENT1 Can Predict Better Survival Among Patients on Postsurgical Gemcitabine
High levels of expression of the human equilibrative nucleoside transporter 1 (hENT1) were associated with longer median survival of patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma receiving gemcitabine, according to an analysis of clinical data and cancer tissue collected from the European Study Group for ...
CYB5A Induces Autophagy, and Higher Expression Improves Survival in Pancreatic Cancer
Loss of 18q22.3 is a prognostic marker in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. In a study reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Giovannetti and colleagues assessed the role of 18q22.3-encoded CYB5A in pancreatic cancer prognosis and autophagy modulation. In the study, both resected ...
Intact Gut Microbe Populations Improve Response to Chemotherapy
Gut microflora affect local and systemic inflammatory responses, and inflammation is involved in both pathogenesis and treatment of cancers, but it is unclear whether gut microflora affect inflammation in the sterile tumor microenvironment. In a study reported in Science, Iida and colleagues...
Nothing Prepared Me for Cancer
Fourteen years ago, when I was just 29, I was feeling weak and fatigued and had severe pain in my abdomen. I’d had these symptoms for about a year, but none of the several doctors I saw or any of the tests they performed could find the source of my problems. I even had one nurse practitioner tell...
Lessons Learned in Cancer Care Communication
Over the past several decades, outcomes data have traced the success stories in cancer research and therapeutics. However, during those decades of increasingly rapid scientific breakthroughs, certain psychosocial components in the continuum of cancer care were often overlooked. One such element is...
An Early Chemotherapy Innovator, Franco M. Muggia, MD, Now Focuses on Advancing Therapies for Ovarian Cancer
Looking over an illustrious career in medical oncology that spans 5 decades, Franco M. Muggia, MD, told The ASCO Post that he is excited about the future and hopes to continue making contributions to the field of oncology in years to come. At the forefront of the early clinical development of...
Focus on the Michigan Society of Hematology and Oncology
Founded nearly 3 decades ago in response to unfavorable changes in Medicare reimbursement regulations and growing coverage issues with Michigan’s private payers that threatened oncologists’ ability to provide quality cancer care to patients, the Michigan Society of Hematology and Oncology (MSHO)...
FDA Programs to Expedite Drug and Biologic Product Development
With the advent of Breakthrough Therapy designation, there are now four FDA programs to expedite the development of promising new agents: Fast Track, Breakthrough Therapy, Priority Review, and Accelerated Approval (Table 1). These programs complement one another and serve a common goal: to speed...
Trametinib and Dabrafenib in Combination for Unresectable or Metastatic Melanoma With BRAF V600E or V600K Mutations
On January 9, 2014, the combination of trametinib (Mekinist) and dabrafenib (Tafinlar) was granted accelerated approval for the treatment of patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma with BRAF V600E or V600K mutations as detected by a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved...
Impact of Comprehensive Lifestyle Change on Telomere Length and Telomerase Activity in Men With Low-Risk Prostate Cancer
Ornish et al at the University of California in San Francisco and the Preventive Medicine Research Institute in Sausalito, California, performed a 5-year study1 including 35 men on active surveillance (10 in a lifestyle-intervention group and 25 in a control group) with low-risk prostate cancer....
Long-Term Follow-up Indicates Increased Telomere Length With Lifestyle Change in Men With Low-Risk Prostate Cancer
Short telomere length in peripheral blood mononuclear cells is associated with aging and age-related diseases such as cancer, stroke, vascular dementia, cardiovascular disease, obesity, osteoporosis, and diabetes. Telomere attrition is considered a potential mechanism in triggering the chromosomal...
Charting the Successes: CancerProgress.Net Chronicles More Than 50 Years of ASCO and Progress Against Cancer
On this historic year, as ASCO proudly commemorates its 50th anniversary and decades of evolutionary change and growth, it also celebrates the significant progress that has been made against cancer throughout history. ASCO’s anniversary website, CancerProgress.Net, chronicles these achievements and ...
Conquer Cancer Foundation Launches New Planned Giving Website
In November of 2013, the Conquer Cancer Foundation partnered with the Stelter Company—one of the leaders of planned giving resources in the nonprofit community—to launch a new planned giving portal on the Foundation’s website. The planned giving portal focuses on the variety of ways individuals can ...
ASCO Turns Attention to Community Researchers With Community Research Forum
The implementation of clinical trials and quality research programs by community-based investigators and research staff is one of the most effective weapons available in the fight against cancer. The ASCO Community Research Forum was designed in support of this mission and to aid these...
Serving the Underserved: Dr. Gina Villani and ASCO’s Health Disparities Committee Work to Minimize Cancer Care Gaps
It has been a little over a decade since the Institute of Medicine landmark report Unequal Treatment: Confronting Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care found overwhelming evidence of racial disparities in the U.S. health-care system. Since then, ASCO has been dedicated to minimizing these...
Longer-Term Follow-up of Breast Implant–Associated Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma: More Certainty About Certain Uncertainties
When what is now called breast implant–associated anaplastic large cell lymphoma was first recognized and initially described, a number of uncertainties prevailed—mainly, was the association with breast implants real, and was this a true lymphoma? Through the significant efforts of those who...
Breast Implant–Associated Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma Shows Better Outcome in Cases With No Distinct Tumor Mass
Only recently described, breast implant–associated anaplastic large cell lymphoma usually presents as an effusion-associated fibrous capsule surrounding the implant and less frequently as a mass. Little is known about the natural history and long-term outcomes of such disease. In a study reported...
Ibrutinib Induces Prompt and Durable Responses in Some Lymphomas
The Bruton’s tyrosine kinase inhibitor ibrutinib (Imbruvica) is changing the landscape of treatment in chronic lymphocytic leukemia. New research with the drug in lymphoma, presented at the 2013 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting in New Orleans, indicates it may be of benefit in...
Expert Point of View: Andrew D. Zelenetz, MD, PhD
Andrew D. Zelenetz, MD, PhD, Chair of the Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma Guideline Panel of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) and former Chief of the Lymphoma Service at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, put the latest maintenance trials into perspective for The ASCO Post....
ASH Studies Confirm Benefit of Rituximab Maintenance in Follicular Lymphoma
Findings from two major studies presented at the 2013 American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting not only confirm the benefit of rituximab (Rituxan) maintenance in follicular lymphoma, but also indicate that the longer the maintenance period, the greater the impact on progression-free survival....
Novel Agents Show Activity in Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma
PI3K-mediated activation of downstream effectors allows tumors to escape from negative growth control, and this action may be checked with PI3K inhibitors. At the 2013 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting, researchers reported results in patients with relapsed or refractory lymphoma...
ASH Studies Refine Myeloma Treatment and Show Promise for New Agents
Multiple myeloma researchers moved the field forward at the 2013 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting, presenting evaluations of treatment schedules and reports of encouraging activity with compounds in development. Alternating vs Sequential Regimens In 231 newly diagnosed elderly...
Expert Point of View: Peter Ravdin, MD, PhD
CellSearch can be ordered to enumerate circulating tumor cells, but this test is not recommended in the National Comprehensive Cancer Network guidelines, said Peter Ravdin, MD, PhD, a Breast Cancer Researcher and Biostatistician in San Antonio, Texas, and moderator of the press conference where...
Switching Chemotherapy Based on Elevated Circulating Tumor Cells Does Not Change Outcome in Metastatic Breast Cancer
Elevated circulating tumor cells were prognostic for survival but did not pan out as a marker for switching after one cycle of chemotherapy in patients with metastatic breast cancer. The phase III Southwest Oncology Group (SWOG) S0500 clinical trial, presented at the 2013 San Antonio Breast Cancer...
Addition of Novel Antiangiogenic Agent of No Benefit in Metastatic Breast Cancer
Ramucirumab added to first-line docetaxel failed to improve progression-free survival in patients with metastatic breast cancer in the large, randomized, placebo-controlled ROSE/TRIO-12 trial.1 An interim analysis of overall survival showed no advantage for the addition of ramucirumab. This study,...
Postmastectomy Pain Effectively Treated With a Simple Injection
For postmastectomy neuropathic pain, perineural infiltration with a combination of bupivacaine and dexamethasone is a “simple, effective, practice-changing treatment that any surgeon can do,” according to Laura J. Esserman, MD, MBA, Professor of Surgery and Radiology at the University of...
SABCS Highlights Include Findings in Triple-Negative Disease, Protective Effects of Exercise, and the Adherence-Copay Link
The San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium brings together specialists from all over the world who focus on management of breast cancer. We have covered many of the important presentations in the pages of The ASCO Post and in our online Evening News. Below are summaries of additional noteworthy...
New Society Launched for Advanced Practitioners in Hematology and Oncology
The Advanced Practitioner Society for Hematology and Oncology (APSHO) announced its launch as a new organization focused on meeting the unique educational and professional needs of the advanced practitioner in hematology and oncology. The formation of the Society was made public on January 26,...
Maintenance Treatment With Capecitabine and Bevacizumab Is Effective in Metastatic Colorectal Cancer
In patients with metastatic colorectal cancer, maintenance treatment with capecitabine plus bevacizumab (Avastin) after induction treatment with capecitabine, oxaliplatin, and bevacizumab (CAPOX-B) significantly delayed disease progression, compared to observation, according to the final results of ...
Ramucirumab Plus Paclitaxel Improves Overall Survival After First Progression in Metastatic Gastric Cancer
In the global phase III RAINBOW trial in patients with metastatic gastric cancer, the investigational monoclonal antibody ramucirumab significantly improved both progression-free and overall survival, when added to paclitaxel in second-line therapy, as reported at the 2014 Gastrointestinal Cancers...
Jamie H. Von Roenn, MD, and ASCO: A Perfect Fit
Dr. Von Roenn’s history with ASCO spans nearly 3 decades. She has served on ASCO’s Board of Directors, the ASCO Palliative Care Task Force, the Scientific Program, Cancer Education, and Cancer Communications Committees, among others. In 2011, Dr. Von Roenn received the ASCO-ACS Award at the Annual...
Paving the Way for the Surgeon General’s Report
The connection between smoking and lung cancer is universally accepted as scientific fact, and those who choose to smoke are painfully aware of the risk it poses for addiction and subsequent cancer. However, to fully appreciate the significance of the Surgeon General’s report, one must turn back to ...
Perspective on the Politics of Tobacco
The tobacco industry has always been a major player in congressional races, especially in Southern tobacco-growing states. Moreover, the industry is notoriously bipartisan in their political donations, and members of both parties have returned the favor by voting for tobacco interests. “The 2014...
The Surgeon General’s Report on Tobacco Turns 50: Much Success, Much Work Ahead
On January 11, 2014, the nation commemorated the 50th anniversary of a document that transformed our public health landscape and has saved millions of lives: Smoking and Health: Report of the Advisory Committee to the Surgeon General of the Public Health Service. This groundbreaking report, which...
Expert Point of View: Rebecca Miksad, MD, MPH
Rebecca Miksad, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Attending Physician, Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, discussed the findings at the symposium and the potential for immunotherapy in pancreatic cancer....
Immunotherapy Duo Improves Survival in Metastatic Pancreatic Cancer
Overall survival was improved in metastatic pancreatic cancer patients through an innovative immunotherapy strategy in a multicenter study reported at the 2014 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium.1 “This is the first time a randomized study has shown that immunotherapy is effective in pancreatic...
R-GCVP Regimen for Patients With Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma and Cardiac Comorbidity
For patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) who are unable to receive anthracycline-containing chemoimmunotherapy because of cardiac comorbidity, a regimen of rituximab (Rituxan), gemcitabine, cyclophosphamide, vincristine, and prednisolone (R-GCVP) “is an active, reasonably...
Nintedanib Combined With Docetaxel Is Effective Second-Line Option for Advanced NSCLC
The combination of nintedanib and docetaxel “is an effective second-line option” for patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who have received previous treatment with one line of platinum-based therapy, according to results from the phase III LUME-Lung 1 study published in The...
