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Showing 17151 - 17200FDA Grants Ofatumumab Breakthrough Therapy Designation for Previously Untreated CLL
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Breakthrough Therapy designation for ofatumumab (Arzerra) in combination with chlorambucil (Leukeran) for the treatment of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) who have not received prior treatment and are inappropriate for...
New Medical Device Treats Urinary Symptoms Related to Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has authorized the marketing of the UroLift system, a permanent implant to relieve low or blocked urine flow in men age 50 and older with benign prostatic hyperplasia. As men age, the prostate can become enlarged, also known as benign prostatic hyperplasia....
Has a New Standard of Care for Metastatic Pancreatic Cancer Been Established?
For a number of years following the approval of gemcitabine for advanced pancreatic cancer, one phase III clinical trial after the next failed to demonstrate a survival benefit of combination chemotherapy compared to gemcitabine alone. Even the one positive study from the mid-2000s—the PA.3 trial...
Long-Term CONKO-001 Results: Adjuvant Therapy Improves Survival
From 12% to 15% of the approximately 45,000 patients diagnosed with pancreas adenocarcinoma undergo a potentially curative resection each year in North America, translating into roughly 5,000 to 7,000 patients who are candidates for adjuvant therapy. About 80% of these patients will relapse and...
Benefits and Controversies in Survivorship Care Plans
Since the Institute of Medicine’s (IOM’s) 2005 report, From Cancer Patient to Cancer Survivor: Lost in Translation,1 survivorship plans have received growing attention. In short, a survivorship care plan is the record of a patient’s cancer history and recommendations for follow-up care. At ASCO’s...
Two Studies Highlight Communication Challenges Facing Medical Oncology
In one study presented at ASCO’s second annual Quality Care Symposium in San Diego, patients receiving chemotherapy with palliative care intent were at high risk of side-effect–related hospitalization, which defeats the clinical purpose and adds preventable costs to health care.1 “There is an...
Time to Think Beyond KRAS in Metastatic Colorectal Cancer
Eric Van Cutsem, MD, PhD, Professor of Internal Medicine at the University of Leuven in Belgium, told attendees at the 2013 European Cancer Congress that in the management of metastatic colorectal cancer, it is time to expand KRAS testing to include more rare mutations. Until recently, KRAS status...
TP53 Status May Predict Benefit From Cetuximab in Locally Advanced Rectal Cancer
In a retrospective analysis of the randomized phase II EXPERT-C trial, TP53 emerged as a strong, independent predictive biomarker for the benefit of cetuximab (Eribitux) in MRI-defined high-risk, locally advanced rectal cancer, according to Francesco Sclafani, MD, of The Royal Marsden NHS...
In Operable Rectal Cancer, No Support Found for Adjuvant Chemotherapy
For patients with operable rectal cancer, there is no clear role for adjuvant chemotherapy, according to an analysis of the PROCTOR and SCRIPT trials from the Dutch Colorectal Cancer Group. The findings were presented by Anne J. Breugom, MD, of Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands,...
Metastatic Melanoma: Encouraging Data Keep Coming
Excitement continues to build in the metastatic melanoma arena, as novel agents keep upping the ante for efficacy. The following news from the 2013 European Cancer Congress has added to the buzz. New MEK Inhibitor In the phase IB BRIM7 study, cobimetinib, a novel MEK inhibitor, when combined with...
FDA Approves Ibrutinib for Mantle Cell Lymphoma
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved ibrutinib (Imbruvica) to treat patients with mantle cell lymphoma, a rare and aggressive form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma representing about 6% of all non-Hodgkin lymphoma cases in the United States. By the time mantle cell lymphoma is diagnosed, it...
Early Evidence Supports Novel ALK Inhibitor in Patients with Non–Small Cell Lung Cancer With Brain Metastases
Identifying ALK rearrangements as a cancer target in patients with lung cancer led to the development and FDA approval of crizotinib (Xalkori) to treat ALK-positive non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Several second-generation ALK inhibitors are in development, and these agents appear to work in...
Brentuximab and PET-Adapted Salvage May Eliminate Toxic Chemotherapy for Refractory Hodgkin Lymphoma
Relapsed and refractory transplant-eligible Hodgkin lymphoma patients who achieve complete responses after treatment with brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris) can often avoid more toxic salvage chemotherapy, according to investigators from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York....
SIDEBAR: Addition of Novel Agents May Improve Outcomes With ABVD
In North America, the standard front-line treatment for advanced Hodgkin lymphoma is ABVD (doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, dacarbazine), but this regimen is not effective in all patient subsets. To improve upon the regimen’s efficacy, researchers are evaluating new combinations, said Stephen...
Brentuximab Vedotin Improves Response Rates to ABVD in Hodgkin Lymphoma
For the front-line treatment of advanced Hodgkin lymphoma, ABVD is a standard treatment, but not all patients have good outcomes with this regimen. The addition of brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris), or its substitution for bleomycin, produces high complete response rates but with a moderate increase...
What Does ‘Myeloma’ Mean?
Over the centuries it has become clear that, as physicians, what we say and how we say it can have a major impact on those who seek our help. Our pronouncement that a patient is in remission or harbors a serious illness carries with it a large number of spoken and unspoken implications. So when we...
Response-Guided Neoadjuvant Therapy for Breast Cancer: A Promising Model Warranting Additional Investigation
GeparTrio was an innovative phase III trial conducted by the German Breast Group, enrolling over 2,000 women with early breast cancer who were candidates for neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Patients with evidence of early response, defined as reduction in clinical tumor size by 50% or more, following two ...
Peter Jacobs, MD, Storied South African Hematology Pioneer, Dies
“We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.” —Winston S. Churchill The remarkable medical career of Peter Jacobs, MD, in large part, traces the oncologic history of South Africa. During the decades of political and social unrest that engulfed his native land, Dr. Jacobs...
Promoting Timely Referral to Reproductive Specialists for Patients Concerned About Fertility
Updated clinical guidelines published this year by ASCO “give oncology care providers an opportunity to partner with their reproductive specialist colleagues to ensure that the clinical and psychosocial needs of patients with cancer are addressed as close to the time of diagnosis as possible,”...
Oncologists Need to Inform Primary Care Physicians About Late and Long-Term Effects of Chemotherapy
A nationally representative survey of 1,130 oncologists and 1,072 primary care physicians found that primary care physicians had limited awareness of late or long-term effects of chemotherapy agents. This was attributed to primary care physicians not typically encountering chemotherapy agents...
Using Life Expectancy, Not Age, to Make Cancer Screening Decisions Can Maximize Potential Benefits
Using life expectancy, rather than chronologic age, to inform decisions about whether to continue cancer screening for older persons can maximize the potential benefits of screening, while minimizing the harms, according to results of a population-based cohort study of 407,749 people over 66...
Three-Drug Regimen Produces High Response Rate in Relapsed/Refractory Myeloma
A phase II trial to evaluate the combination of bendamustine (Treanda) with bortezomib (Velcade) and dexamethasone in patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma “showed a remarkable response rate of 60.9%,” and when minor responses were included, 75.9%,” researchers reported in Blood. “The...
SIDEBAR: Expect Questions From Patients
Not discussing the costs of medical interventions could result in “financial toxicity” for patients who have trouble paying out-of-pocket costs, as well as problems adhering to expensive treatment regimens. “The problem is perhaps starkest in cancer care, but it applies to all complex illness,”...
Disclosing Medical Costs Can Help Avoid 'Financial Toxicity'
High costs of cancer treatments can be an “undisclosed toxicity” that can harm a patient’s overall health and well-being, according to an article in The New England Journal of Medicine.1 High medical bills can not only cause stress and anxiety but may also compel patients to cut back on spending...
Focus on the Massachusetts Society of Clinical Oncologists
The Massachusetts Society of Clinical Oncologists (MSCO) is among the oldest and largest of ASCO’s State Affiliates. Based in the same building as the Massachusetts Medical Society in Waltham, MSCO was founded in 1985 and has a growing membership of 160 members, including medical, surgical, and...
Dr. Weisenthal Replies
Dr. Mason states that I implied that Dr. Telli supports the routine application of chemosensitivity assays. I have no knowledge regarding Dr. Telli’s views on this subject, nor did I in any way attempt to represent her views, much less imply that she was supportive of anything relating to...
Ibrutinib in Previously Treated Mantle Cell Lymphoma
In the Clinic provides overviews of novel oncology agents, addressing indications, mechanisms, administration recommendations, safety profiles, and other essential information needed for the appropriate clinical use of these drugs. Indication On November 13, 2013, ibrutinib (Imbruvica) was granted...
Society for Integrative Oncology Is Helping to Advance Evidence-Based, Comprehensive Integrative Health Care
Heather Greenlee, ND, PhD, was named President of the Society for Integrative Oncology (SIO) at the organization’s 10th International Conference in October. Dr. Greenlee is Assistant Professor in the Department of Epidemiology at the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University in New...
The Best of SIO
The following four abstracts, which describe findings in three clinical studies and one basic science study, were singled out as the top abstracts at this year’s International Conference of the Society for Integrative Oncology. Self-Administered Acupressure Zick S, Wyatt G, Murphy S; et al: The...
National Cancer Policy Summit: Setting Priorities for the Next 3 Years
Welcome to the meeting we hold every 3 years to choose our next projects,” said John Mendelsohn, MD, Chair of the National Cancer Policy Forum and Director of the Khalifa Institute for Personalized Cancer Therapy at The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston. “We have here a...
American Association for Advancement of Science Elects New Fellows
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) has identified 388 individuals who have been named AAAS Fellows. These individuals have been recognized by their peers for their efforts to advance science or its applications. The new AAAS Fellows, whose names were published in the...
Oncology Drug Dosing: Can an Optimal Dose Be Fine-Tuned for Each Patient?
ASCO Chief Medical Officer Richard L. Schilsky, MD, and other oncology drug experts presented a panel on drug dosing at a recent meeting, cosponsored by the Friends of Cancer Research and the Brookings Institution, in Washington, DC.1 The presentations made it clear that issues surrounding drug...
A New Gift to Add to Your List—One to Conquer Cancer
Conquering cancer requires the commitment, talent, and resources of all members of our community. It requires the innovation of researchers and the insight of clinicians, the courage of our worldwide community of patients and survivors, and it requires the generosity of everyone who believes in a...
Conquer Cancer Foundation–Funded Research Identified Among Top Cancer Advances of 2013
The recently released Clinical Cancer Advances 2013: ASCO’s Annual Report on Progress Against Cancer, highlights the most impactful advances in clinical cancer research of the year, and this year’s report identifies two studies that were funded by the Conquer Cancer Foundation. Advances in Targeted ...
NCI-Led Scientists Develop Criteria for 'Omics' Tests Used in Clinical Investigations
High-throughput “omics” technologies that generate molecular profiles on tumor specimens are increasingly being incorporated into clinical trials, but some of these assays have not been well validated, leading many in the research community to question their fitness for use in patient-care...
Valganciclovir in Glioblastoma, Selection Bias, and Flawed Conclusions
As reviewed in this issue of The ASCO Post, Söderberg-Nauclér et al from the Karolinska Institute have written a provocative letter to The New England Journal of Medicine suggesting that long-term administration of valganciclovir (Valcyte), a drug that targets cytomegalovirus (CMV), improves...
Investigators Report Valganciclovir May Increase Survival in Glioblastoma
In a letter to The New England Journal of Medicine, Cecilia Söderberg-Nauclér, MD, PhD, and colleagues from the Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, described experience with the anti-cytomegalovirus (CMV) agent valganciclovir (Valcyte) in the treatment of glioblastoma, citing dramatically improved...
Long-Term Follow-up of the HERA Trial Shows No Benefit of 2 Years vs 1 Year of Trastuzumab in Early Breast Cancer
As reported in The Lancet by Aron Goldhirsch, MD, of the European Institute of Oncology in Milan, Italy, and colleagues from the Breast International Group (BIG), the comparison of 1 vs 2 years of trastuzumab (Herceptin) in patients with HER2-positive early breast cancer in the phase III HERA trial ...
Breast Cancer Vaccines for Primary Prevention Move Toward Clinical Use
The first candidate vaccine to prevent recurrence of breast cancer entered clinical trials about 8 years ago, and since then, the idea of a vaccine for secondary prevention has gained traction; more such vaccines are now in development. But this fall, it was vaccines for primary prevention that had ...
Expert Point of View: Kenneth C. Anderson, MD
Commenting on the evidence for treating precursor myeloma in the study by Mateos et al,1 Kenneth C. Anderson, MD, Kraft Family Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Director of the Jerome Lipper Multiple Myeloma Center and LeBow Institute for Myeloma Therapeutics at Dana-Farber Cancer ...
Continuous, Combined Hormone Replacement Therapy Protects Against Endometrial Cancer
According to an analysis of the Women’s Health Initiative, continuous combined use of estrogen plus progestin reduces the risk of endometrial cancer among postmenopausal women. The study was reported at the 2013 European Cancer Congress by Rowan T. Chlebowski, MD, PhD, Professor and Chief of...
Expert Point of View: Kjell Oberg, MD, PhD
Kjell Oberg, MD, PhD, Professor in the Department of Medical Sciences at the University Hospital in Uppsala, Sweden, discussed the CLARINET paper at the Presidential Session during the European Cancer Congress in Amsterdam. Dr. Oberg noted the curious observation that median progression-free...
Erratum
In the November 15 issue of The ASCO Post, the article, “Strong Showing for Ado-Trastuzumab Emtansine in Advanced HER2-Positive Heavily Pretreated Breast Cancer,” contained the following errors in the reported outcomes data for the TH3RESA trial: The article incorrectly stated the median survival...
Global Oncology 2013: Disparities in Cancer Care
While much progress has been made against cancer over the last century, a new report1 presented at the 2013 European Cancer Congress brings together evidence that not every patient benefits from it, nor even has the opportunity to benefit. The economics of cancer are daunting and the current model...
Radiotherapy Benefit in Young Women With Node-Positive Breast Cancer May Vary by Intrinsic Subtypes
Radiation therapy appears to significantly decrease local recurrence in premenopausal women with node-positive and luminal A tumors, based on an analysis of two small but independent randomized series reported at the 2013 European Cancer Congress in Amsterdam.1 “Though not definitive, our study...
Transplant Now or Later for High-Risk Aggressive Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma?
The use of high-dose chemotherapy and autologous hematopoietic blood or marrow transplantation for high-risk aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma has been extensively evaluated over the past few decades. This treatment was originally used only for patients with relapsed aggressive lymphoma. However, as...
S9704 Trial: Autologous Transplantation as Consolidation in Aggressive Lymphoma
Autologous bone marrow or stem cell transplantation has had an important role in the treatment of aggressive lymphoma for several decades. The important results of the PARMA study1 demonstrated that patients in first relapse who remained chemosensitive had improved progression-free and overall...
Autologous Transplantation as Consolidation Improves Progression-Free Survival in Aggressive Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma
The strategy of autologous stem-cell transplantation as consolidation in high-intermediate– or high-risk diffuse aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) has not been specifically examined in the rituximab (Rituxan) era. In the phase III Southwest Oncology Group (SWOG)-led intergroup 9704 trial...
Consent Is Informed and Shared, But Is It Compassionate?
A 72-year-old, obese male patient and a poor operative candidate is diagnosed with esophageal carcinoma. He has multiple comorbidities and a past history of colon carcinoma. His staging workup, which included a colonoscopy, revealed recurrent colon carcinoma. Thus, we have a patient who we...
Expert Point of View: Howard Hochster, MD
Addressing a presentation by Scott Kopetz, MD, PhD, at the 2013 Chemotherapy Foundation, Howard Hochster, MD, Yale University Cancer Center, New Haven, Connecticut, said he agrees with Dr. Kopetz about the need for expanded RAS testing. “Now we have two studies suggesting that tumors with all the...
