Biopsies were found to be the most costly tool prescribed in lung cancer diagnosis, according to research presented today at the 2014 Chicago Multidisciplinary Symposium in Thoracic Oncology (Abstract 103). The study examined the utilization rates and estimated the Medicare costs of the lung...
Patients at high-risk for developing lung cancer are more likely to receive low-dose computed tomography (CT) screening when their primary care provider is familiar with guideline recommendations for low-dose CT screening for lung cancer, according to research presented today at the 2014 Chicago...
Antibody-drug conjugates, checkpoint inhibitors, and single-dose intraoperative radiation therapy for breast cancer were included in the Cleveland Clinic's Ninth Annual Top 10 Medical Innovations List released earlier today. The list identifies those advances likely to have a major impact on...
New research by the international Cancer Genomics of the Kidney consortium (CAGEKID) reveals an important connection between kidney cancer and exposure to aristolochic acid, an ingredient in some herbal remedies. The findings, published by Scelo et al in Nature Communications, have important...
A new study has found that patients who received chest radiation for Wilms tumor, a rare childhood cancer, face an increased risk of developing breast cancer later in life due to their radiation exposure. Reported by Lange et al in Cancer, the findings suggest that cancer screening guidelines might ...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Breakthrough Therapy Designation to the anti–PD-1 therapy pembrolizumab (Keytruda) for the treatment of patients with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation–negative, and anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)...
Using genomic sequencing data on all currently known genetic alterations in breast cancer, it is possible to identify a woman’s genetic risk for the disease, and this approach can bring greater gains in disease prevention than previously estimated, according to a study reported by Sieh et al...
Age-related loss of the Y chromosome from blood cells, a frequent occurrence among elderly men, is associated with elevated risk of various cancers and earlier death, according to research presented at the American Society of Human Genetics 2014 Annual Meeting in San Diego (Abstract 295). This...
A small nationwide survey finds many insured patients are changing their lifestyle and medical care in the face of treatment-related financial burdens. In fact, more than one-third adopted medical care–altering strategies, with younger and lower-income patients being more likely to alter...
New results from a survey of nearly 1,600 cancer survivors indicate a high prevalence of financial and work-related difficulties: 27% reported at least one financial problem (eg, debt, bankruptcy), and 37% reported having to modify work plans, such as taking extended time off or delaying...
Early findings from a study of 319 families suggest that use of an innovative, telephone-based symptom monitoring and coaching system during home hospice care leads to significantly decreased patient symptoms in the final weeks of life. The findings will be presented at the 2014 Palliative Care in...
First evaluation of a pioneering “co-rounding” partnership between medical oncologists and palliative care specialists at Duke University Medical Center shows improvements in both health system–related and patient-related outcomes. The first year of the new partnership—set...
A new study shows that patients with stage I to III non–small cell lung cancer have different metabolite profiles in their blood than those of patients who are at risk but do not have lung cancer. The study abstract was released today in an online supplement to the journal CHESTand will be...
Researchers at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, the University of Turku, Finland, and the University of Oslo, Norway, have discovered a previously unknown molecular-level mechanism that may partly explain the increased growth of cancer cells. The study, published in the British Journal of...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Fast Track designation for Taiho Oncology’s TAS-102, a novel agent currently under investigation for the treatment of refractory metastatic colorectal cancer. TAS-102 is an oral combination investigational anticancer drug consisting of...
A new population-based study of close to 5,000 patients and 1,600 oncologists found that physician participation in weekly tumor board meetings was associated with improved survival for patients with stage IV colorectal cancer and stage IV/extensive-stage small cell lung cancer, but not other...
Findings from a study of more than 23,000 women suggest that the Medicare Part D Extra Help program, which provides low-income subsidies for medications, improves adherence to hormone therapy after breast cancer surgery in all racial/ethnic groups and reduces racial/ethnic disparities. The study,...
In a new study of more than 1.1 million patients who underwent surgery for the most common or fatal cancers, nearly 1 in 20 (4.8%) patients died within 1 month of the procedure. The risk of death was highest among patients who were not married, uninsured, non-white, male, older, less educated,...
Findings from a pilot study of 42 parents with advanced cancer indicate that parental status is an important factor in treatment decision-making. When asked how having children influences their treatment decisions, the majority of parents (64%) responded that being a parent motivates them to pursue ...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted for review the New Drug Application for lenvatinib mesylate as a treatment for progressive radioactive iodine–refractory differentiated thyroid cancer and granted the application Priority Review status. Lenvatinib is an oral multiple...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the Supplemental New Drug Application for the expanded use of technetium 99m tilmanocept (Lymphoseek Injection) for lymphatic mapping in solid tumors and for adding sentinel lymph node detection for breast cancer and melanoma to the approved...
More women are undergoing salpingo-oophorectomy as a cancer prevention measure, but many are unaware of the potential sexual or psychological side effects of the procedure. A new study by researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute demonstrated that a half-day educational program can help ...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted and granted Priority Review to Pfizer’s New Drug Application for palbociclib, in combination with letrozole, as a first-line treatment for postmenopausal women with estrogen receptor–positive, HER2-negative advanced breast cancer...
Known cancer-driving genomic aberrations in localized lung cancer appear to be so consistently present across tumors that a single biopsy of one region of the tumor is likely to identify most of them, according to a paper published by Zhang et al in Science. The study led by scientists at The...
Some cancers, like breast and prostate cancer, are driven by hormones such as estrogen and testosterone, but to date, there are none that are understood to be driven by the lack of a hormone. New evidence reported by researchers at Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, suggests that human...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted for review Amgen’s Biologics License Application for blinatumomab for the treatment of adults with Philadelphia chromosome–negative relapsed/refractory B-precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). As part of the acceptance, the ...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved bortezomib (Velcade) injection for previously untreated patients with mantle cell lymphoma. This is the first treatment in the United States to be approved for use in previously untreated patients with mantle cell lymphoma. Bortezomib was...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today approved a combination of netupitant and palonosetron (Akynzeo) to treat nausea and vomiting in patients undergoing cancer chemotherapy. The new drug, also known as NEPA, is a fixed-combination capsule comprised of two agents: oral palonosetron,...
The risk of developing cancer in a salivary gland might be higher in people with BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations, which are associated with breast and ovarian cancer, according to a new study by researchers at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital...
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine have, for the first time, clearly defined the epidemiology of gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST), which occur primarily in the lining of the stomach and small intestine. Of note was the discovery that patients of Asian...
Researchers in Germany report that nearly one-third of more than 2,100 patients with cancer interviewed at inpatient and outpatient care centers experienced a clinically meaningful level of mental or emotional distress that meets the strict diagnostic criteria for mental disorders including...
A large, prospective study involving more than 75,000 adults in western Washington has found that frequent use of fiber-based laxatives is associated with a decreased risk of colorectal cancer. The study also found that use of nonfiber laxatives is linked to significantly increased risk of...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Orphan Drug Designation to DNAtrix’s DNX-2401, a conditionally-replicative oncolytic adenovirus for malignant glioma. Glioma is the most common form of primary brain cancer, the treatment of which remains a significant unmet medical...
The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet has awarded the 2014 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine to John O’Keefe, FRS, and to May-Britt Moser, PhD, and Edvard I. Moser, PhD, for their discoveries of cells that constitute a positioning system in the brain. This “inner GPS”...
A retrospective study led by researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital has found an overuse of colonoscopies for colorectal cancer screening and surveillance. The study demonstrated that endoscopists commonly recommended shorter follow-up intervals than established guidelines support, and these...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Orphan Drug Designation to pegylated recombinant human hyaluronidase (PEGPH20) for the treatment of pancreatic cancer. Halozyme Therapeutics is currently investigating PEGPH20 in a phase II study in combination with gemcitabine and...
Researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have identified a biomarker adjacent to the KLK3 gene that can predict which prostate cancer patients with a Gleason score of 7 will have a more aggressive form of cancer. The findings by He et al, published in Clinical Cancer...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Breakthrough Therapy designation to Ariad Pharmaceutical’s investigational agent AP26113 for patients with anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)-positive metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who are resistant to crizotinib...
A final analysis of the phase III COU-AA-302 trial showed that abiraterone acetate (Zytiga) plus prednisone significantly prolonged overall survival compared to an active control of placebo plus prednisone in men with chemotherapy-naive metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. The study,...
In a phase III trial, treatment with everolimus (Afinitor) resulted in a median overall survival of over 3 and a half years in patients with well-differentiated and progressive pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors, representing what the study authors called a "clinically important" although not...
The monoclonal antibody nivolumab achieved superior response rates and a longer duration of response than standard chemotherapy in patients whose melanoma has progressed after treatment with ipilimumab (Yervoy), according to preliminary data from a phase III trial presented at the ESMO 2014...
Robert S. Miller, MD, FACP, FASCO, Assistant Professor of Oncology and Oncology Medical Information Officer at the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, has been named Medical Director of the Institute for Quality (iQ) of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). ...
For patients with recurrent or metastatic cervical cancer, adding the experimental drug cediranib to standard chemotherapy improved tumor shrinkage and resulted in a modest improvement in progression-free survival, researchers reported at the ESMO 2014 Congress in Madrid (Abstract LBA25_PR). In...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Orphan Drug Designations to aldoxorubicin in three indications: glioblastoma multiforme, small cell lung cancer, and ovarian cancer. Aldoxorubicin combines doxorubicin with a novel single-molecule linker that binds directly and...
A new study found that the average cost to screen high-risk individuals for lung cancer with low-dose computed tomography (CT) plus the average cost of curative-intent treatment is lower than the average cost to treat advanced-stage lung cancer, which quite rarely results in a cure. The findings by ...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted orphan drug designation to MabVax Therapeutics’ vaccine for the treatment of relapsed or recurrent high-risk neuroblastoma in remission or with limited residual disease after best available treatment. The bivalent vaccine is intended to...
Combining the molecular targeted drug ibrutinib (Imbruvica) with the investigational anticancer agent ABT-199 may improve outcomes for patients with mantle cell lymphoma and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), according to preclinical data presented at the American Association for Cancer Research...
The addition of the monoclonal antibody VEGFR-2 antagonist ramucirumab (Cyramza) to paclitaxel led to a statistically significant improvement in median overall survival in patients with advanced gastric cancer or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma in a phase III trial, reported Wilke et al in ...
Navidea Biopharmaceuticals, Inc, recently announced that technetium 99m tilmanocept (Lymphoseek Injection) has been granted Orphan Drug Designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in sentinel lymph node detection in patients with cancer of the head and neck. The designation...
A large, international analysis of patients with stage IV non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) indicates that a patient’s overall survival rate can be related to factors including the timing of when metastases develop and lymph node involvement, and that aggressive treatment for low-risk...