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 ...
Adult survivors of childhood cancer face significant health problems as they age and are five times more likely than their siblings to develop new cancers, heart disease, and other serious health conditions beyond the age of 35, according to the latest findings from the Childhood Cancer Survivor...
In a companion study (MA.27B) to the open-label phase III National Cancer Institute of Canada Clinical Trials Group (NCIC CTG) MA.27 trial in women with early breast cancer reported in The Lancet Oncology, Goss et al found that adjuvant aromatase inhibitor treatment with exemestane, a mildly...
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...
In the open-label, phase III EORTC 62012 trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Judson et al found that doxorubicin plus ifosfamide was not associated with any overall survival advantage compared with doxorubicin alone in patients with advanced or metastatic soft-tissue sarcoma. Progression-free...
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...
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 ...
In a study reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Théberge et al evaluated the association between radiologist interpretive volume and breast cancer screening accuracy in the Quebec Breast Cancer Screening Program. They found that accuracy increased with increasing volume, ...
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,...
Seemingly healthy cells may in fact hide clues that lung cancer will later develop, according to a study led by researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. The research is published online in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Examination of gene expression in...
Although it is recommended that women aged ≥ 75 years be informed of the benefits and risks of mammography before being screened, it appears that this is not common practice. As reported in JAMA Internal Medicine by Schonberg et al, a decision aid developed by the investigators helped improved...
A new clinical study has found that erlotinib (Tarceva) has promising potential to improve treatment for cervical cancer. Published in Cancer, the findings by Nogueira-Rodrigues et al indicate that larger trials are warranted to determine whether the drug should become part of standard therapy for...
IDH1 mutation in patients with malignant astrocytomas may serve as a predictive molecular biomarker to guide aggressive surgical resection, according to the results of a study reported by Beiko et al in Neuro-Oncology. Maximal surgical resection may contribute a survival benefit in those who have...
A simple questionnaire that rates breathing difficulties on a scale of 0 to 3 may be able to predict survival in patients with chronic graft-vs-host disease, according to a study by Palmer et al published in Biology of Blood and Marrow Transplantation. Although a poor National Institutes of Health ...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Smith et al, the double-blind phase III Cancer and Leukemia Group B (CALGB) 9020/Alliance trial assessed the effect of early initiation of zoledronic acid in reducing risk of skeletal-related events in men with castration-sensitive prostate cancer. ...
Many breast cancer survivors experience fatigue and other debilitating symptoms that persist months to years after their course of treatment has ended. Now researchers at the Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University have found clues that may explain how these symptoms can linger. Chemotherapy...
A novel approach to cancer immunotherapy may provide a new and cost-effective strategy against ovarian cancer and mesothelioma. In a study published in the Journal of Hematology & Oncology, Yuan et al reported that a fusion protein engineered to combine a molecule targeting a tumor-cell-surface ...
Immunotherapy for ovarian, breast, and colorectal cancer has so far had limited success, primarily because the immune system often can’t destroy the cancer cells. According to a report published in Oncotarget, researchers at Johns Hopkins have identified genes that have been repressed through ...
Research by Viprey et al has found that the detection of neuroblastoma mRNAs in peripheral blood and bone marrow aspirates from children diagnosed with stage IV neuroblastoma are independent predictors of event-free survival and overall survival. Their findings could help identify children with...
A new study suggests that levels of bisphenola A (BPA) in men’s urine may be a marker of prostate cancer and that low levels of BPA exposure can cause cellular changes in both nonmalignant and malignant prostate cells. The research, published in PLOS ONE, provides the first evidence that...
In a single-center experience reported in JAMA Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, Lohia et al found that intensity-modulated radiation therapy for oropharyngeal cancer reduces percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) tube dependence and severe skin and mucous membrane toxicity compared with...
Researchers have identified a potential new gene mutation that may drive lung cancer development and growth. In a study in the Journal of Clinical Investigation by Imielinski et al, a patient with advanced lung cancer who was found to have the ARAF S214Csomatic gene mutation achieved nearly a...
A large population-based study by Landgren et al has found that African Americans are more likely to have a higher prevalence of monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS), a precursor to the development of multiple myeloma, compared with whites or Hispanics. The study is published...
An observational study from UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center comparing robotic-assisted surgery to traditional surgery for prostate cancer found that patients who had robotic surgery had fewer instances of cancer cells remaining after surgery and less need of additional cancer...
Patients with the most common type of esophageal cancer are less likely to respond to chemotherapy when their tumors are high in a protein called leptin, according to a study by Bain et al published in the British Journal of Cancer. Study Details Researchers from the University of Aberdeen...
A multicenter study led by Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center has found that high-dose supplementation with both the trace element selenium and vitamin E may increase the risk of high-grade prostate cancer. This risk is dependent upon a man’s selenium status prior to taking the...
The findings of a large international prospective study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Finch et al suggest for the first time that women with BRCA1 mutations should have prophylactic oophorectomy by age 35, as waiting until a later age appears to increase the risk of ovarian...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Bhojwani et al from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital assessed clinical, pharmacokinetic, and genetic risk factors for methotrexate-related clinical neurotoxicity and asymptomatic leukoencephalopathy in children with acute...
Survival among people with lung cancer has been better for women than men, and the findings of a recent study indicate that female hormones may be a factor in this difference. The combination of estrogen plus progesterone and the use of long-term hormone therapy were associated with the most...
The 10-year follow-up of the Multicenter Selective Lymphadenectomy Trial (MSLT), reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Morton et al in the MSLT Group, provides support for use of sentinel-node biopsy for thick melanomas, as well as for intermediate-thickness melanomas. Current...
Fibroblast growth factor (FGF) pathway activation may be a mechanism of escape from vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-targeted therapies. In a phase III trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Motzer et al compared the VEGF and FGF receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor dovitinib vs sorafenib...
For head and neck cancer patients undergoing radiation therapy, a reduction in the amount of radiation treatment volume to the submandibular (level IB) lymph nodes resulted in better patient-reported salivary function, according to research presented today at the 2014 Multidisciplinary Head and...
Patients with oropharyngeal cancer treated with combined chemotherapy and radiation therapy reported a decrease in their voice and speech quality for up to 1 year after the completion of treatment, according to research presented today at the 2014 Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancer Symposium....
New research is showing that sparing the contralateral submandibular gland during radiation therapy in the treatment of locally advanced head and neck cancer is technically feasible and safe even in advanced-stage, node-positive disease and base-of-tongue lesions. Limiting radiation to these major...
Pancreatic cystic lesions are frequently detected radiologic incidentalomas, a considerable proportion of which are pancreatic cancer precursors. In a study reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Jabbar et al found that proteomic mucin profiling of cyst fluid was more accurate...
Using next-generation sequencing and the clinical data of patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, researchers found that combining mutant-allele tumor heterogeneity as a biomarker with patients’ human papillomavirus (HPV) status provides a reliable predictor of patient survival....
Patients with human papillomavirus (HPV)-positive squamous cell carcinoma of the oropharynx had a longer time to development of distant metastasis after initial treatment, and had more metastatic sites in more atypical locations compared to HPV-negative patients, according to research presented...
New research from the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center and Georgia Regents University has found that a protein that regulates an inflammatory pathway does not turn off in breast cancer, resulting in an increase in cancer stem cells. This finding may provide a potential target for...
Mature results of a phase II study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Advani et al indicate that rituximab (Rituxan) is active in nodular lymphocyte–predominant Hodgkin lymphoma, which is characterized by expression of CD20 by malignant cells. Most patients relapsed, but durable...
Researchers have discovered a preleukemic stem cell that may be the first step in initiating disease and also the culprit that evades therapy and triggers relapse in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The research, published online in Nature, is a significant step forward in...
The 20-year follow-up of the Swedish Uppsala/Örebro trial, reported by Wickberg et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, shows that improved control of recurrence over 5 years with radiotherapy after sector resection in patients with stage I breast cancer is followed by similar...
Findings from a study by Puissant et al suggest that the wild-type form of enzyme SYK pairs with FLT3, the most commonly mutated enzyme found in acute myeloid leukemia (AML), to promote progression of the cancer. The molecular partnership also promotes AML cells’ resistance to treatment with...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today expanded the approved use of ibrutinib (Imbruvica) for the treatment of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) who have received at least one previous therapy. Ibrutinib, an oral Bruton’s tyrosine kinase inhibitor, was previously...
Scientists from the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) have uncovered the possible genetic origins of breast cancers that metastasize to the brain. The compendium of new genetic targets may be be used to identify potential methods of diagnosis and novel therapeutics for patients with...
The Society of Surgical Oncology (SSO) and American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) formed a multidisciplinary expert panel in 2013 to examine the relationship between surgical margin width and ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence and develop guidelines on margins for breast-conserving...
Researchers at the Indiana University School of Medicine have discovered a highly accurate, noninvasive test to identify benign pancreatic cysts, which could spare patients the cost and risk of surveillance or potentially dangerous surgical intervention. The findings are reported in the Journal of...
In patients with late-stage epithelial ovarian cancer, high levels of microRNA-181a may be predictive of chemotherapy resistance and disease progression, according to the results of a study reported by Parikh et al in Nature Communications. Thus, microRNA-181a may serve as a biomarker for prognosis ...