In a Canadian study reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Kerry S. Courneya, PhD, of the University of Alberta, and colleagues assessed the impact of different levels of physical exercise on physical functioning in women receiving adjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer....
In a phase I trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Jeffrey S. Weber, MD, of the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, and colleagues assessed the effects of nivolumab—a human immunoglobulin G4-blocking antibody against the T-cell programmed death 1 checkpoint ...
The National Lung Screening Trial reported a 20% reduction in lung cancer mortality achieved through low-dose computed tomography (CT) screening of the at-risk population, compared to screening with chest x-ray. However, challenges with the clinical implication of CT screening for lung cancer...
In a phase III trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Thomas E. Hutson, DO, PharmD, of Baylor Sammons Cancer Center and colleagues compared the second-generation VEGFR inhibitor axitinib (Inlyta) with sorafenib (Nexavar) as first-line treatment of metastatic renal cell carcinoma. There was no...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Julia Wade, PhD, of Bristol University, United Kingdom, and colleagues assessed the psychological impact of prostate biopsy. They found that postbiopsy symptoms can be associated with increased anxiety, independent of anxiety associated...
Vaccines currently available to prevent the two most common strains of human papillomavirus (HPV), HPV 16 and 18, responsible for about 70% of cervical cancers, may not be protective in African American women, according to a study by Cathrine Hoyo, PhD, MPH, Associate Professor in the Obstetrics...
Men with short-ended chromosomes in the immune cells in their blood were at increased risk for aggressive prostate cancer compared with men with long-ended chromosomes in blood immune cells, according to results presented at the 12th Annual AACR International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer...
In a phase I study reported in Journal of Clinical Oncology, Donald M. Cannon, MD, of University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health and Mountain States Tumor Institute, and colleagues attempted to identify the maximum tolerated dose of dose-escalated hypofractionated radiation...
New research ties preparative procedures and complications associated with blood or bone marrow transplant with diminished sexual health in both men and women who have undergone the procedure. Study data, published today in Blood, confirm chronic graft-vs-host disease as a potential source of...
In a letter to The New England Journal of Medicine, Ségolène Hescot, MD, of Université Paris Descartes, and colleagues reported evidence of irreversible pancreatic atrophy in two patients after long-term sorafenib treatment. Both patients received cumulative doses of sorafenib...
Previously reported results of the phase III EORTC intergroup 40983 trial showed that perioperative chemotherapy with FOLFOX4 (leucovorin, fluorouracil [5-FU], and oxaliplatin) increased progression-free survival compared with surgery alone in patients with initially resectable liver metastases...
In a phase III trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Daniel D. Von Hoff, MD, of Translational Genomics Research Institute in Phoenix, and colleagues assessed the addition of nanoparticle albumin-bound (nab)-paclitaxel (Abraxane) to gemcitabine in patients with previously untreated...
A new diagnostic platform to detect BRAF mutations in melanoma and other cancer types is faster and more accurate compared with the standard method currently used in clinics, and this could help accelerate diagnosis and treatment, according to results presented at the AACR-NCI-EORTC International...
Axitinib plasma exposure may correlate with efficacy in metastatic renal cell carcinoma, according to population pharmacokinetic data. In a phase II study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Brian I. Rini, MD, of the Cleveland Clinic, and colleagues evaluated the effects of axitinib dose titration in...
In a phase III trial (EORTC [European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer]/GIMEMA [Gruppo Italiano Malattie Ematologiche dell’Adulto] consortium AML-17 trial) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Sergio Amadori, MD, of Tor Vergata University Hospital in Rome, and...
In the RIGHT trial, reported in The Lancet Oncology, Yoon-Koo Kang, MD, of University of Ulsan College of Medicine in Seoul, and colleagues assessed the effects of imatinib (Gleevec) rechallenge in patients with metastatic or unresectable gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) after objective...
Two drug combinations that simultaneously block two major signaling pathways downstream of the protein KRAS, which is aberrantly active in most pancreatic cancers, may provide a new treatment option for patients with this disease, according to preclinical results presented at the AACR-NCI-EORTC...
The investigational drug PF-06463922 may have the potential to become a new treatment option for patients who have lung cancer harboring abnormalities in the ALK gene, according to preclinical results (Abstracts A277, PR10/B107, and C253) presented at the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference on...
Risk and risk factors for congestive heart failure in older breast cancer patients receiving trastuzumab have not been clearly defined. In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Mariana Chavez-MacGregor, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, and colleagues...
In a randomized phase II trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by R. Wendel Naumann, MD, of Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, and colleagues, the addition of vintafolide to pegylated liposomal doxorubicin improved progression-free survival in women with...
Although multiple studies have shown that high body mass index (BMI) is associated with an increased risk of developing pancreatic cancer, few studies have evaluated the impact of BMI on survival and none have used prospectively collected data on BMI. Now a large prospective study by Brian M....
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is investigating an increasing frequency of reports of serious and life-threatening blood clots and severe narrowing of blood vessels of patients taking the antileukemia drug ponatinib (Iclusig). Ponatinib is indicated for the treatment of patients with...
Clinical trials have shown limited efficacy of anti–insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor (IGF-1R) monoclonal antibodies, with the mechanisms of resistance to IGF-1R monoclonal antibody-based therapy remaining undefined. In preclinical studies reported in the Journal of the National...
In the phase IIIB ATLAS trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Bruce E. Johnson, MD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and colleagues assessed the addition of maintenance erlotinib (Tarceva) to bevacizumab (Avastin) following chemotherapy plus bevacizumab in first-line treatment of ...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Alan Pollack, MD, PhD, of University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, and colleagues compared escalated radiation dose using hypofractionated vs conventional fractionation intensity-modulated radiation therapy in men with favorable-...
An international consortium co-led by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute in Australia has identified four genetic variants associated with an increased risk of esophageal cancer and its precursor, Barrett’s esophagus. The...
A simple blood test that measures serum free fatty acids and their metabolites may detect early-stage lung cancer and its recurrence, according to a study from The Cleveland Clinic presented at the ANESTHESIOLOGY™ 2013 Annual Meeting in San Francisco (Abstract A4267). The study was presented ...
Dose-dense temozolomide results in depletion of O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT)—a potential determinant of treatment response—in blood mononuclear cells and possibly in tumors. In a phase III trial (Radiation Therapy Oncology Group [RTOG] 0525) reported in the Journal ...
Standard and reduced high-dose volume radiation therapy for muscle-invasive bladder cancer provide comparable tumor control and decreased late toxicity when compared to surgery, according to a study published in the October issue of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology...
L-type amino acid transporters (LAT) uptake neutral amino acids including L-leucine into cells, stimulating mTOR complex 1 (mTORC1) signaling and protein synthesis. LAT1 and LAT3 are overexpressed at different stages of prostate cancer and are involved in increasing nutrients and stimulating cell...
In a phase III trial (NSABP B-41) performed to assess the potential benefit of neoadjuvant dual HER2 blockade in HER2-positive breast cancer, André Robidoux, MD, of Centre Hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal and colleagues in the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and...
Hot flashes occur in approximately 80% of androgen-deprived men. In a randomized study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Mara Z. Vitolins, DrPH, MPH, RD, of Wake Forest School of Medicine, and colleagues, neither venlafaxine nor soy protein—both of which have been used to...
In a phase II trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Patrick G. Morris, MD, of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, and colleagues assessed the efficacy of rituximab (Rituxan), methotrexate, procarbazine (Matulane), and vincristine (R-MPV) followed by consolidation reduced-dose ...
In patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), increased hepatocyte growth factor/MET signaling is associated with poor prognosis and acquired resistance to EGFR-targeted treatment. In a phase II study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, David R. Spigel, MD, of Sarah...
In a study reported in Journal of Clinical Oncology, Stéphanie Hoppe, PhD, of Institut Bergonié in Bordeaux, France, and colleagues assessed functional status in older patients with cancer receiving first-line chemotherapy using the Activities of Daily Living (ADL) scale. Clinically...
Etirinotecan pegol is a topoisomerase-I inhibitor designed to provide prolonged tumor cell exposure to the active metabolite of irinotecan. In a phase II study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Ahmad Awada, MD, of Jules Bordet Institute, Université Libre de Bruxelles, and colleagues examined...
Patients with bladder cancer are two times more likely to have complications after a radical cystectomy procedure if they have a biomarker for poor nutritional status before the operation, according to study findings presented at the 2013 Clinical Congress of the American College of Surgeons....
There is an absence of biomarkers to indicate which patients with stage I non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) would best benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy. In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Juan Sandoval, PhD, of the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute in...
In a phase III trial (GRANITE-1 study) reported in Journal of Clinical Oncology by Atsushi Ohtsu, MD, PhD, of the National Cancer Center Hospital East in Kashiwa, Japan, and colleagues, everolimus (Afinitor) plus best supportive care did not prolong overall survival compared with placebo plus best...
Although nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as aspirin have been shown to be protective against colorectal cancer and are associated with reduced disease recurrence and improved outcome, they are also associated with toxicities that limit their use in therapy. Recent data suggest that the...
Patients with cutaneous malignant melanoma “do not maintain the cautious sun behavior they exhibit just after … diagnosis,” even though they are at increased risk for developing a second primary melanoma, data from a Danish study suggested. Based on measurements...
Etirinotecan pegol is a topoisomerase-I inhibitor that prolongs systemic exposure to the active metabolite of irinotecan. In a phase II trial reported in Journal of Clinical Oncology, Ignace B. Vergote, MD, PhD, of University Hospital Leuven in Belgium, and colleagues found that the agent produced...
In an open-label phase III superiority/noninferiority trial reported in Journal of Clinical Oncology by Ann-Lii Cheng, MD, of National Taiwan University Hospital in Taipei, sunitinib (Sutent) was associated with significantly poorer overall survival compared with sorafenib (Nexavar) in a population ...
Short telomere length in peripheral blood mononuclear cells is associated with aging and such age-related diseases as cancer, stroke, vascular dementia, cardiovascular disease, obesity, osteoporosis, and diabetes. Telomere attrition is considered a potential mechanism in triggering the chromosomal...
Older patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) have a high relapse rate after standard chemotherapy. In a study reported in Journal of Clinical Oncology, Sylvie D. Freeman, MD, PhD, of University Hospitals Birmingham National Health Service Trust, and colleagues investigated whether assessing...
Some data suggest that BRCA1 mutations are associated with occult primary ovarian insufficiency and that BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers have earlier natural menopause than noncarrier relatives. A study reported in Journal of Clinical Oncology by Ian M. Collins, MD, of Peter MacCallum Cancer...
A large epidemiology study of postmenopausal women by researchers at the American Cancer Society (ACS) has found that women who participated in at least 1 hour of vigorous physical activity every day had a 25% lower risk of breast cancer, and those who walked for at least 7 hours per week had a 14% ...
The anti-cytomegalovirus agent CMX001 is an oral lipid acyclic nucleoside phosphonate that is absorbed in the small intestine and transported throughout the body as a phospholipid. It is converted intracellularly to cidofovir diphosphate, but unlike cidofovir, is not a substrate of organic ion...
In a retrospective analysis of German High-Grade Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma Study Group trials reported in Journal of Clinical Oncology, Gerhard Held, MD, of Saarland University Medical School in Homburg, and colleagues assessed the impact of rituximab (Rituxan) and radiotherapy on outcome in patients...
The 5-year results of the UK Standardisation of Breast Radiotherapy (START) trials suggested that lower total doses of radiotherapy delivered in fewer, larger doses were at least as safe and effective as the historical standard regimen of 50 Gy in 25 fractions as adjuvant therapy for early breast...