Recent evidence suggests that survivors of childhood cancer have a high risk of suffering a stroke at a surprisingly young age. A new study from the UC San Francisco Pediatric Brain Center shows that childhood cancer survivors suffering one stroke have double the risk of suffering a second stroke...
In an analysis from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Turcotte et al found that survivors of childhood cancer are at increased risk of subsequent malignant neoplasms after age 40 years. Study Details The study involved data from 3,171 survivors of...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved rolapitant (Varubi) to prevent delayed-phase chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting. Rolapitant is approved in adults in combination with other antiemetic agents that prevent nausea and vomiting associated with initial and repeat courses of...
Scientists have developed a blood test for breast cancer that may be able to identify which patients will suffer a relapse after treatment, months before tumors are visible on hospital scans. The test may uncover small numbers of residual cancer cells that have resisted therapy by detecting cancer...
More than a cause of a simple infection, viruses are often involved in the development of serious diseases. Such is the case with liver cancer, which often develops in an organ that has been weakened by hepatitis B or C virus. Researchers at Inserm, the Paris Public Hospitals (AP-HP), Paris...
Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells that are currently being tested to treat B-cell malignancies target a specific protein present on leukemia and lymphoma cells, but these immune cells cannot distinguish the cancer cells from healthy cells. However, the side effects from these CAR T cells...
In the phase III CATCH trial reported in JAMA, Lee et al found that the low–molecular-weight heparin tinzaparin (Innohep) did not significantly reduce the risk of recurrent venous thromboembolism vs warfarin in the treatment of acute symptomatic venous thromboembolism in patients with active...
In a phase I study reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Tap et al found that a newly developed inhibitor of colony-stimulating factor-1 receptor (CSF1R) kinase showed activity in tenosynovial giant cell tumors. CSF1 gene expression is elevated in most such tumors. The structure of the...
Concerns about fertility kept one-third of young women with breast cancer surveyed in a recent study from taking tamoxifen, despite its known benefit in reducing the risk of breast cancer recurrence. In addition, the study found fertility concerns led one-quarter of women who started...
A study by researchers at Sweden's Karolinska Institutet is reportedly the first to suggest that cells in the tumor blood vessels contribute to a local environment that protects the cancer cells from tumor-killing immune cells. The results, published by Hong et al in the Journal of the...
In a study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Pastore et al found that the addition of mutation status of seven genes to the Follicular Lymphoma International Prognostic Index (FLIPI) and Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status produced a clinicogenetic model (m7-FLIPI) with high ...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Vargo et al found that use of consolidative radiotherapy, which continues to decline, is associated with a survival benefit compared with multiagent chemotherapy alone in patients with early-stage diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. Study Details ...
In cancer clinical trials, doctors typically report side effects that patients experience—not patients themselves. Previous research has shown that doctors underreport these symptoms. Ethan Basch, MD, MSc, Director of the UNC Lineberger Cancer Outcomes Research Program and Associate...
Women who have inherited mutations in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene are more likely to develop breast cancer or ovarian cancer, especially at a younger age. Approximately 5% of women with breast cancer in the United States have mutations in BRCA1 or BRCA2, based on estimates in non-Hispanic white women. ...
In preclinical and clinical studies reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Jeong et al found a lack of sprouting angiogenesis in the formation of lymph node metastases, suggesting a potential mechanism for resistance to antiangiogenic treatments in adjuvant settings. The study...
Research by a Veterans Affairs team has confirmed that longer-lasting colonoscopies are associated with lower cancer rates. Their findings were published by Shaukat et al in Gastroenterology, and were based on nearly 77,000 screening colonoscopies. Experts already know about the link between...
In a first-of-its-kind study, researchers demonstrated a benefit in overall survival among patients with epithelial ovarian cancer receiving generic beta-blocker heart medications. Survival was shown to be greatest among those prescribed first-generation nonselective beta-blockers. According to...
People with more than 50 moles have an increased risk of developing melanoma, but those with fewer than 50 moles should still be alert for this disease. In fact, according to new research presented at the American Academy of Dermatology’s 2015 Summer Academy Meeting in New York, those with...
An endovaginal magnetic resonance imaging technique is more accurate at detecting early-stage cervical cancer than the best available external detection technique, a new study reported. Researchers at The Institute of Cancer Research and The Royal Marsden Hospital found that using an...
Although mammographic screening leads to reductions in breast cancer mortality, some women experience psychosocial side effects and do not benefit from screening, according to a study by Bolejko et al investigating the prevalence and predictors of the psychosocial consequences of false-positive...
A large population-based control study of the use of low-dose aspirin or other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and colorectal cancer risk has found that taking 75 mg to 150 mg of aspirin for 5 years or longer was associated with a 27% reduced risk of colorectal cancer. In addition, 5 or more...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Scott et al found that the digital gene expression–based Lymph2Cx assay produced concordant cell of origin assignments in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue biopsies from patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and showed high...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved eltrombopag (Promacta) for the treatment of thrombocytopenia in pediatric patients aged 1 year and older with chronic immune thrombocytopenia who have had an insufficient response to corticosteroids, immunoglobulins, or splenectomy. The approval was...
In a study reported in JAMA Oncology, Narod et al found that the risk of breast cancer mortality was elevated in some patients with ductal carcinoma in situ compared with the general population, with the risk being higher in younger vs older women and black vs white women. Approximately half of...
A multi-institutional study has found a new set of genes that may indicate improved survival after surgery for patients with pancreatic cancer. The study also showed that detection of circulating tumor DNA in the blood could provide an early indication of tumor recurrence. In conjunction with the...
In a Danish analysis reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Lauritsen et al found that patients with testicular germ cell cancer who survived after more than one line of treatment for disseminated disease had an increased risk of late toxicity and death resulting from causes other than germ...
Non-Hispanic black women with endometrial cancer had worse outcomes than women of other racial/ethnic groups diagnosed with the same subtype of endometrial cancer and at the same stage of disease, according to a study published by Cote et al in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention....
Multigene testing of women who tested negative for BRCA1 and BRCA2 found some of them harbored other harmful genetic mutations—most commonly, moderate-risk breast and ovarian cancer genes, as well as Lynch syndrome genes (which increase the risk of ovarian cancer)—according to an...
In a single-center retrospective review reported in JAMA Dermatology, Sanlorenzo et al found that cutaneous adverse events in patients receiving the anti–PD-1 agent pembrolizumab (Keytruda), currently approved for treatment of melanoma, may indicate better treatment response. Study Details...
In women with breast cancer, taxane-based chemotherapy—docetaxel and paclitaxel—did not appear to increase the incidence of lymphedema, according to a study by Swaroop et al in Breast Cancer Research and Treatment. However, the investigators did note that adjuvant chemotherapy with...
In an analysis from the NRG Oncology/Gynecologic Oncology Group 210 trial reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Felix et al found that tubal ligation, which should impede transtubal passage of cells, was associated with lower stage of endometrial cancer at presentation and...
For children with aggressive brain cancers called high-grade gliomas, the chances of survival are improved when surgery is successful in eliminating all visible cancer, according to a report published by McCrea et al in Neurosurgery. In addition to showing better survival with gross total...
In a prospective cohort study reported in JAMA Oncology, Rettig et al found that persistent human papillomavirus (HPV) type 16 DNA in post-treatment oral rinses was associated with a poorer prognosis in patients with HPV-related oropharyngeal cancer. The study included 124 patients treated with...
Organ transplant recipients are twice as likely to develop melanoma as people who do not undergo a transplant and three times more likely to die of the skin cancer, suggested new research by a multi-institutional team. The findings, reported by Robbins et al in the Journal of Investigative...
A first-of-its-kind study published by Bradley Palmer et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology found that music therapy lessened anxiety for women undergoing surgical breast biopsies for cancer diagnosis and treatment. The 2-year study, conducted at University Hospitals (UH) Seidman Cancer Center, ...
In an analysis reported in JAMA Oncology, Jagsi et al found that hypofractionation of whole-breast radiotherapy was associated with reduced acute toxicity compared with conventional fractionation. Study Details The study involved data on physician-assessed toxic effects and patient-reported...
Researchers have shown that magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can detect the earliest signs of breast cancer recurrence and fast-growing tumors through detecting micrometastases, breakaway tumor cells with the potential to develop into dangerous secondary breast cancer tumors elsewhere in the body....
A large observational study investigating the effect of coffee consumption on advanced-stage colon cancer and survival has found that patients who drank four or more cups of coffee a day were 42% less likely to experience a recurrence than non-coffee drinkers and were 33% less likely to die from...
In a study reported in JAMA Oncology, Howitt et al found that polymerase e (POLE)-mutant and microsatellite-unstable endometrial tumors may be candidates for anti–PD-1 (programmed cell death protein 1) immunotherapy. Study Details In the study, neoantigen load was predicted on the basis of...
A novel combination therapy appears to be effective in treating patients with melanoma skin metastases, according to new research from the University of California (UC) Davis. Led by Emanual Maverakis, MD, of the UC Davis Department of Dermatology, the research found that interleukin-2...
Scientists at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center have identified a molecular partnership in pancreatic cancer cells that might help to explain how the disease metastasizes in some cases. Their findings reveal urgently needed new targets to treat pancreatic cancer and were published by Foley et...
Chemotherapy prolongs life for older adults with most types of cancer, but for women with breast cancer over age 80, the chances of survival with chemotherapy alone are significantly lower than in younger patients, according to a study led by researchers from the University of Texas...
In a French phase II trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Ray-Coquard et al found no apparent benefit of paclitaxel plus bevacizumab (Avastin) compared with weekly paclitaxel in patients with inoperable locally advanced or metastatic angiosarcoma. Study Details In this...
As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Gara et al identified a germline HABP2 mutation as a susceptibility gene for familial nonmedullary thyroid cancer. Identification of HABP2 Variant In a kindred study, whole-exome sequencing was performed using peripheral blood DNA from affected...
In an analysis reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Veluswamy et al found that limited resection was not equivalent to lobectomy in overall survival among older patients with stage IA invasive adenocarcinoma or squamous cell carcinoma of the lung. Among patients with adenocarcinoma,...
Medulloblastoma, the most commonly occurring malignant brain tumor in children, can be classified into four subgroups, each with a different risk profile requiring subgroup-specific therapy. Currently, subgroup determination is done after surgical removal of the tumor. Investigators at...
Results of a phase I trial show that an investigational topical drug, resiquimod gel, causes regression of both treated and untreated tumor lesions and may completely remove cancerous cells from both sites in patients with early-stage cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. Currently, there is no cure for...
In an individual-patient meta-analysis reported in The Lancet Oncology, the Collaborative Group on Epidemiological Studies on Endometrial Cancer found that oral contraceptive use was associated with long-term protection from endometrial cancer. Reduction in risk was greater for carcinomas than...
Combing data collected on thousands of California patients with ovarian cancer, University of California Davis researchers have determined that almost one-third of patients survived at least 10 years after diagnosis. The findings upend the notion that women diagnosed with cancer of the ovaries...
Scientists have known for years that a mutation in the BRAF gene makes moles start to grow but until now have not understood why they sometimes do not become cancerous. Researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have identified a major genetic factor that...