Scientists from the Broad Institute and the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT used CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing technology to “knock out,” or turn off, all genes across the genome systematically in a mouse model of non–small cell lung cancer cells and then tested...
A surgical algorithm developed and implemented by ovarian cancer specialists at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center dramatically increases the frequency of complete removal of all visible tumor—a milestone strongly tied to improved chances of survival. The researchers describe...
In a study reported in a research letter in JAMA, Wang et al found that the proportion of patients with lung cancer who would have met U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) criteria for low-dose computed tomography (CT) lung screening decreased significantly between the periods of 1984 to...
In a phase II study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Moskowitz et al found that a salvage strategy involving brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris) treatment followed by 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron-emission tomography (PET) and augmented ifosfamide, carboplatin, and etoposide (ICE) in PET-positive...
In a European trial (Berlin-Frankfurt-Muenster study group trial ALL-SCT-BFM 2003) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Peters et al found no difference in event-free survival with stem cell transplantation using matched unrelated vs sibling donors in pediatric patients with high-risk...
According to a prospective study led by researchers at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, measuring the concentration of leukemia cells in patient bone marrow during the first 46 days of chemotherapy may help boost survival of young leukemia patients by better matching patients with the right...
In a study reported by Orlich et al in JAMA Internal Medicine, a vegetarian dietary pattern was associated with a reduced risk of colorectal cancer, with risk reduction appearing to be greatest in pescovegetarians. Study Details The study involved data from 77,659 participants in the Adventist...
Working with cells taken from children with a very rare but aggressive form of brain cancer, Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center scientists have identified a genetic pathway that acts as a master regulator of thousands of genes, and may spur cancer cell growth and resistance to anticancer treatment. ...
Despite sharp increases in spending on cancer treatment, cancer mortality rates in the United States have decreased only modestly since 1970. Researchers led by Samir Soneji, PhD, of Dartmouth's Norris Cotton Cancer Center and The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy & Clinical Practice...
In a study reported in JAMA Oncology, Ross et al found potentially targetable genomic alterations in most carcinomas of unknown primary site using comprehensive genomic profiling. Adenocarcinomas of unknown primary site frequently harbored receptor tyrosine kinase/Ras/MAPK pathway alterations....
In the phase II CheckMate 063 study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Rizvi et al found that the PD-1 inhibitor nivolumab (Opdivo) produced durable responses in some patients with advanced, refractory squamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who had received at least two prior treatments....
In a pooled analysis reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Schadendorf et al found 3-year overall survival rates of 26% and 20% in treatment-naive and previously treated patients receiving ipilimumab (Yervoy)-based treatment for unresectable or metastatic melanoma. A survival curve plateau...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Mistry et al found that presence of BRAF V600E mutation and CDKN2A deletion defined a clinically distinct subtype of pediatric secondary high-grade glioma. BRAF V600E mutation was associated with a prolonged time to transformation. Study...
In the phase III POEMS/S0230 trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Moore et al found that treatment with the gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist goserelin (Zoladex) reduced risk of ovarian failure during chemotherapy for breast cancer in premenopausal women. Study Details In...
Having a family history of prostate cancer among first-degree relatives may increase a woman's risk of developing breast cancer. Researchers from multiple institutions published their findings in a study by Beebe-Dimmer et al in Cancer. The study's results indicate that clinicians should take a...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Wharam et al found that estimated mammography rates were lower than predicted in white, Hispanic, and Asian women since the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) changed its screening recommendations in November 2009. The guidelines...
In a basket trial (CUSTOM) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Lopez-Chavez et al performed molecular profiling of tumors in patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), small cell lung cancer, or thymic malignancies and assigned those in any of five actionable...
The St. Jude Children's Research Hospital–Washington University Pediatric Cancer Genome Project reports that a highly aggressive form of leukemia in infants has surprisingly few mutations beyond the chromosomal rearrangement that affects the MLL gene. The findings, reported by Andersson et al ...
The U.S. cancer care system faces tremendous turbulence while dealing with growing numbers of cancer patients and survivors, mounting pressures to control rising health-care costs, and widespread oncology practice transformation, reports a new study by the American Society of Clinical Oncology...
In a study reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Jang et al found that palliative care consultation was associated with decreased use of chemotherapy near death and lower risks of ICU admission, multiple emergency department visits, and multiple hospitalizations near death in...
Tobacco-related diseases are the most preventable cause of death worldwide; smoking cessation leads to improvement in cancer treatment outcomes, as well as decreased tumor recurrence. According to the American Cancer Society, in 2015, nearly 171,000 of the estimated 589,430 cancer deaths in the...
Patients treated with definitive concurrent chemotherapy and radiation therapy for stage III non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) have longer overall survival when treated by highly experienced facilities, whether or not they are academic or community cancer centers. Researchers from the Yale...
In a study reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Loupakis et al found that most treatment-naive patients with metastatic colorectal cancer had left-sided primary tumor location and that left-sided tumor location was associated with improved overall survival. Study Details The...
A higher intake by postmenopausal women of lycopene, an antioxidant found in foods like tomatoes, watermelon, and papaya, may lower the risk of renal cell carcinoma, a type of kidney cancer. A study describing these findings was published by Ho et al in Cancer. In 2014, 63,920 estimated new cases...
In a single-center study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Riedl et al found that screening with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) had greater sensitivity for detection of breast cancer in high-risk women vs mammography or ultrasound irrespective of age, mutation status, or breast...
In patients who had undergone surgery for brain metastases, the rate of recurrence at the resected site was similar between patients who received adjuvant whole-brain radiotherapy vs those who underwent adjuvant localized radiotherapy, according to a retrospective study by Hsieh et al in the...
Although blacks were diagnosed at younger ages than whites for nearly every cancer type, after adjustments for population structure shifted the comparisons toward older ages among blacks, only six statistically significant differences of 3 or more years remained, according to a study reported by...
A prospective, multicenter, observational study involving 992 consecutive patients with one to four asymptomatic, sonographically or cytologically benign thyroid nodules found that “the majority of nodules exhibited no significant size change during 5 years of follow-up or they actually...
At a median follow-up of 3 years, ibrutinib (Imbruvica) demonstrated continued activity with durable responses that improved in quality with extended treatment of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). In addition, grade 3 toxicity and adverse events leading to discontinuation diminished ...
In an advance that could lead to better identification of malignant pediatric adrenocortical tumors, and ultimately to better treatment, researchers have mapped the genomic landscape of these rare childhood tumors. Their genomic mapping has revealed unprecedented details, not only of the aberrant...
In a retrospective analysis reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Rhoads et al found that treatment of colorectal cancer patients in an integrated health-care system was associated with greater compliance with National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guidelines, better survival, and no...
Cancer cells can cloak themselves within tumors by hiding behind a dense layer of cellular stroma. According to a new study by the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), drugs that target and strip away the stroma would pave the way for other drugs to reach the cancerous cells within the ...
The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) today announced the election of Nancy E. Davidson, MD, Director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute and UPMC CancerCenter in Pittsburgh, as its President-Elect for 2015–2016. Dr. Davidson will officially become President-Elect...
Patients with larger malignant tumors of the breast who undergo chemotherapy before a breast cancer operation are more likely to undergo a lumpectomy than a mastectomy, according to a study published by Killelea et al in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons. Study investigators from...
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital scientists have identified the first genetic variation that is associated with an increased risk and severity of peripheral neuropathy following treatment with a widely used anticancer drug. Investigators also found evidence of how it may be possible to...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Denkert et al found that increased tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes and the presence of lymphocyte-predominant breast cancer were associated with increased rates of pathologic complete response in patients receiving neoadjuvant...
Family members often play an important role in providing care for patients with cancer, but which patients are more or less likely to involve family members in decisions regarding their care is not well known. A new study published by Hobbs et al in Cancer provides some insights and may help...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Hershman et al found that nonadherence to adjuvant hormonal therapy for early-stage breast cancer was more common among black women and patients with lower household net worth, with the latter factor partly accounting for the racial...
Bisphosphonate use for treatment or prevention of osteoporosis in postmenopausal women has been associated with a reduced risk of breast cancer, including in a study in the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) population. In a WHI study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Newcomb et al...
The Italian SCORE trial is among several recent large European randomized trials showing the benefit of flexible sigmoidoscopy screening on colorectal cancer incidence and mortality. In a study reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Senore et al found that characteristics of...
In the phase III INSPIRE trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Paz-Ares et al found that the addition of the anti-EGFR IgG1 monoclonal antibody necitumumab to first-line pemetrexed (Alimta)-cisplatin did not improve overall survival in patients with previously untreated stage IV nonsquamous...
In a phase II study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Melichar et al found that the oral aurora kinase A inhibitor alisertib was active in solid tumors, particularly breast cancer and small cell lung cancer. Aurora kinases play central roles in mitosis. Inhibition of aurora kinase A, which is...
A recent analysis of 55 Internet websites marketing a broad range of tests and services that promise the ability to personalize cancer treatment has found that the websites often overemphasize their purported benefits and downplay their limitations. In addition, the study results show that the...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today approved the PD-1 inhibitor nivolumab (Opdivo) for the treatment of patients with metastatic squamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who have progressed on or after platinum-based chemotherapy. Nivolumab is a monoclonal antibody that binds ...
In a study reported in The Lancet, Hersch et al found that use of a decision aid containing information on overdetection in breast cancer screening was associated with an increased rate of informed choice regarding screening, a reduced rate of positive attitudes toward screening, and reduced...
As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Swain et al, the final prespecified overall survival analysis in the phase III CLEOPATRA study showed a significant 15.7-month increase in median overall survival over 50 months of follow-up with the addition of pertuzumab (Perjeta) to...
Cancer patients with limited brain metastases (one to four tumors) who are 50 years old and younger should receive stereotactic radiosurgery without whole-brain radiotherapy, according to a study by Saghal et al in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology • Biology • Physics....
Researchers investigating whether tumor genotype correlates with benefit from immune therapy in melanoma has found that patients whose tumors had NRAS mutations had better response to immunotherapy and better outcomes than patients whose tumors had other genetic subtypes. The results suggest that...
A retrospective study by Pekar-Zlotin et al investigating fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and immunohistochemistry (IHC) for detecting EML4-ALK rearrangement in patients with lung cancer has found that FISH may miss a significant number of patients who tested positive with...
Researchers have developed a lab test called Dynamic BH3 Profiling (DBP) to measure early changes in net proapoptotic signaling at the mitochondrion induced by chemotherapeutic agents in cancer cells. In cell-line and clinical experiments, the test accurately predicted chemotherapy response across...