The American Society of Clinical Oncology has released a clinical practice guideline on prevention and treatment of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy in adult cancer patients, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. The overall incidence of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy ...
A quartet of proteins that play critical roles in cell replication, cell death, and DNA repair could lead to better targets for therapy against treatment-resistant head and neck squamous cell cancers. In a study presented this week at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Russell et al found that immunoglobulin heavy chain (IGH@) translocations were present in a substantial proportion of younger patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), including those with B-cell precursor ALL. However, IGH@...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Buchholz et al, ASCO has endorsed the recently published Society of Surgical Oncology (SSO) and American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) consensus guideline on margins for breast-conserving surgery with whole-breast irradiation in stage I...
In a phase II study (COIN-B) reported in The Lancet Oncology, Wasan et al examined the addition of continuous or intermittent cetuximab (Erbitux) to intermittent chemotherapy in previously untreated advanced KRAS wild-type colorectal cancer. Continuous cetuximab appeared to be associated with...
Men with localized prostate cancer that is at risk of growing and spreading have a lower risk of disease progression and recurrence if they are treated with radiotherapy combined with androgen-deprivation therapy, according to new research. The findings, which were presented at the 33rd Conference...
Research in mice and human cell lines has identified an experimental compound dubbed TTT-3002 as potentially one of the most potent drugs available to block genetic mutations in cancer cells blamed for some forms of treatment-resistant leukemia. The study by Ma et al, published in Blood, found that ...
A large prospective study of patients with invasive colorectal cancer has found that higher body mass index 2 years before diagnosis increased risk of all-cause mortality after diagnosis, even in patients whose tumors harbored a marker that is usually associated with better prognosis. The...
Resistance to a combination of HER2-targeted therapies, trastuzumab (Herceptin) and lapatinib (Tykerb), was associated with elevated activation of a group of proteins called fibroblast growth factor receptors (FGFRs), which are the target of a number of drugs currently being developed, according to ...
Among patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated with the investigational immune checkpoint inhibitor MK-3475, those whose tumors had high levels of the protein PD-L1 had significantly better outcomes, according to results of a phase I clinical trial presented at the American...
Patients with cancer of the throat and who are positive for the human papillomavirus (HPV) have a good prognosis, but until now the effect of being HPV-positive on the prognosis of tumors located elsewhere in the head and neck was unknown. A new study presented at the 33rd Conference of the...
A new genetic signature to identify prostate cancer patients who are at high risk of their cancer recurring after surgery or radiotherapy has been developed by researchers in Canada, according to a study presented at the 33rd Conference of the European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology in...
Findings from the I-SPY 2 randomized phase II clinical trial for women with newly diagnosed stage II breast cancer show that a neoadjuvant regimen containing the investigational drug neratinib, a pan-HER inhibitor, and standard chemotherapy is beneficial for patients with hormone...
Among melanoma patients treated with the PD-1 inhibitor MK-3475, those whose tumors had the protein PD-L1 had better immune responses and higher survival rates, according to results presented at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2014 in San Diego. When the protein...
The t(14;18) translocation is a hallmark and critical event in the development of follicular lymphoma, but it is also detectable in otherwise healthy persons, and its relationship to progression to disease is unclear. In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Roulland et al found...
The St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital–Washington University Pediatric Cancer Genome Project found mutations in the tumor-suppressor gene TP53 in 90% of osteosarcomas, suggesting the alteration plays a key role early in development of the bone cancer. The study by Chen et al was...
The Mantle Cell Lymphoma International Prognostic Index (MIPI) was developed in 2008 as the first prognostic stratification system specific for mantle cell lymphoma (MCL). In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Hoster et al confirmed the validity of MIPI in a cohort of two...
In a cohort study reported in JAMA Internal Medicine, Reimers et al found that aspirin use was associated with a significant 47% reduction in mortality risk after diagnosis of colon cancer expressing HLA class I antigen. There was no difference in aspirin benefit according to strong or weak...
The recently reported open-label phase III AURELIA trial showed that the addition of bevacizumab (Avastin) to chemotherapy resulted in significant improvements in progression-free survival, the primary study endpoint, and objective response rate in women with recurrent platinum-resistant ovarian...
Physicians have long suspected that chemotherapy can accelerate the aging process in patients treated for cancer. Using a test developed at UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center to determine molecular aging, oncologists have directly measured the impact of anticancer chemotherapy drugs on...
Many lung cancer patients suffer difficulties with sexual expression and intimacy, yet for too long the topic has been ignored by doctors and researchers, experts said at the 4th European Lung Cancer Conference (ELCC) in Geneva, Switzerland. Researchers have estimated that sexual dysfunction...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) committee of genetic experts has determined that Cologuard, a stool-based DNA, noninvasive screening test for colorectal cancer, has demonstrated safety, effectiveness, and a favorable risk-benefit profile. The FDA is now considering the...
Non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) harboring ALK rearrangement is sensitive to the ALK inhibitor crizotinib (Xalkori), but resistance ultimately occurs. In a phase I study reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Shaw et al found that the more-potent ALK inhibitor ceritinib was...
Scientists from Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, and Houston Methodist, Houston, have found that a gene previously unassociated with breast cancer plays a pivotal role in the growth and progression of the triple-negative form of the disease. The research by Chen et al, published in Nature,...
The EORTC/LYSA/FIL Intergroup H10 trial assessed whether omitting involved-node radiotherapy would affect progression-free survival in patients with negative early positron-emission tomography (PET) scans after two cycles of ABVD (doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine) compared with...
In the phase III PROFILE 1014 study, the anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) inhibitor crizotinib (Xalkori) was found to significantly prolong progression-free survival in previously untreated patients with ALK-positive advanced nonsquamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) compared with...
Preliminary research suggests that a targeted oral agent may improve outcomes while minimizing side effects in women with gynecologic cancers who carry a BRCA mutation and whose disease is not responding to other therapies. According to a phase II study presented at the Society of Gynecologic...
Adjuvant radiation following surgery for soft-tissue sarcoma of the extremities did not lead to a survival benefit and seemed to be associated with some degree of long-term limb complications, according to a presentation at the 2014 Society of Surgical Oncology (SSO) Cancer Symposium in Phoenix...
While many cancer researchers believe that predictive somatic genomic testing holds the potential to usher in the era of precision medicine for patients with cancer, research by Gray et al suggests that not all physicians are eager to embrace the technology. The variation in attitudes was in part...
Women with BRCA1 mutations may have an increased risk for developing rare types of aggressive uterine cancer despite having their ovaries and fallopian tubes removed, suggest preliminary findings presented at the Society of Gynecologic Oncology (SGO) Annual Meeting on Women’s Cancer held ...
Analysis of data from the UK NHS Breast Screening Programme has shown significant variations in the outcomes of treatment for women with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) between UK hospitals. Dr. Jeremy Thomas, a consultant pathologist at the Western General Hospital, Edinburgh, told the 9th...
Extending national breast cancer screening programs to women over the age of 70 does not result in a decrease in the number of cancers detected at advanced stages, according to new research from The Netherlands. Instead, researchers told attendees at the 9th European Breast Cancer Conference that...
Researchers at UC Davis have found that the investigational cancer vaccine tecemotide, when administered with the chemotherapeutic agent cisplatin, boosted immune response and reduced the number of tumors in mice with lung cancer. The study also found that radiation treatments did not...
Both obesity and diabetes have adverse effects on outcomes in breast cancer patients who receive neoadjuvant chemotherapy, according to research presented at the 9th European Breast Cancer Conference. Although a high body mass index (BMI) is known to have a negative impact on cancer development and ...
Although it has been found that lower socioeconomic status is associated with higher operative mortality, the factors explaining this disparity have not been clearly defined. In a study of major cancer surgery reported in JAMA Surgery, Reames et al found that hospitals with the highest proportion...
In a study reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Unger et al evaluated whether cancer patients from SWOG clinical trials were similar to nontrial patients in baseline characteristics and survival. They found that, overall, trial participation in standard treatment arms did not...
Participating in athletic activities for more than an hour a day reduces the risk of breast cancer, and this applies to women of any age and any weight, regardless of geographic location, according to research presented at the 9th European Breast Cancer Conference in Glasgow. Compared with the...
Genetic analyses of results from 1,125 postmenopausal women being treated for estrogen-responsive breast cancer have shown that some of them are more likely than others to have a late recurrence of their cancer and might benefit from 10 years of hormone therapy rather than 5 years. Women who had...
Women whose breast cancer has spread to just a few lymph nodes under their arm are less likely to have their disease recur or to die from it if they have radiotherapy after mastectomy, according to new research presented today at the European Breast Cancer Conference in Glasgow and published in The ...
A large retrospective cohort study by Potosky et al of 15,170 men with early-stage prostate cancer has found that patients who received androgen deprivation as their primary treatment instead of surgery or radiation did not live any longer than those who received no curative-intent treatment. Men...
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) has expanded its Survivorship Guidelines to include a section on cancer-associated cognitive impairment, and to include chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy as a component of the Adult Cancer Pain section. The inaugural guidelines for...
Despite the benefits of surgery for early-stage pancreatic cancer, it remains underutilized for patients with this deadly disease, according to a new national analysis of trends and outcomes. Physician-scientists at University Hospitals (UH) Case Medical Center and Case Western Reserve University...
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) is recommending that newly diagnosed colorectal cancer patients be screened for Lynch syndrome, previously called hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer. The NCCN’s proactive position should greatly help identify individuals and their...
The overexpression of Hedgehog family proteins contributes to the development of many cancers. Research by Konitsiotis et al has found that blocking the function of the Hedgehog acyltransferase (Hhat) enzyme slows the growth and spread of pancreatic cancer. Targeting inhibition of the Hedgehog...
In a retrospective Medicare-based study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Yu et al found that although stereotactic body radiation therapy is associated with lower treatment costs than intensity-modulated radiation therapy in treatment of prostate cancer, it is also associated with...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Microbiology Devices Panel of the Medical Devices Advisory Committee has recommended unanimously that the benefits of the cobas human papillomavirus (HPV) test outweigh the risks as a first-line primary screening tool to assess the risk of cervical cancer ...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Rosmarin et al assessed the association of reported fluorouracil (5-FU) toxicity genetic markers with occurrence of capecitabine toxicity of grade ≥ 3 in the QUASAR2 trial in colorectal cancer and with occurrence of capecitabine and 5-FU...
A phase I study by Wagle et al of a combination of everolimus and pazopanib in patients with advanced solid tumors has identified a patient with bladder cancer who had a 14-month complete response. The patient had two concurrent mutations in mTOR, the target of everolimus (Afinitor), which may have ...
The first-ever comprehensive assessment of challenges facing the U.S. cancer care system suggests that patient access to cancer care will be threatened as growing demand for care outstrips the supply of oncologists, and as cost pressures force the closure of small physician practices that form the...
Computed tomography (CT) scans routinely taken to guide the treatment of pancreatic cancer may provide an important secondary benefit. According to new research published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation by Koay et al, the scans also reflect how well chemotherapy will penetrate the tumor,...