A phase II study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Nowakowski et al indicates that the addition of lenalidomide (Revlimid) to R-CHOP (rituximab [Rituxan] plus cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone)—a regimen known as R2CHOP—overcomes the negative...
In the phase III REVEL trial reported in The Lancet, Garon et al found that the addition of the antiangiogenic VEGFR-2 inhibitor ramucirumab (Cyramza) to docetaxel produced a statistically significant improvement in overall survival as second-line treatment in patients with non–small...
Although studies have shown that women with a false-positive result from mammography screening have an increased risk of developing breast cancer later in life compared with women who only have negative results, a new Danish study examined how much of the excess risk was due to misclassification...
Sequencing RNA, not just DNA, could help doctors predict how prostate cancer tumors will respond to treatment, according to research published in the journal Genome Biology. Because a tumor’s RNA shows the real-time changes a treatment is causing, the authors believe that this could be a...
The ACOSOG Z0011/Alliance trial showed that axillary lymph node dissection provides no benefit over sentinel lymph node biopsy in patients with breast cancer with one or two positive sentinel lymph nodes undergoing lumpectomy, radiotherapy, and systemic therapy. In an analysis reported in the...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Bittenbring et al found that vitamin D deficiency was associated with poorer outcome in older patients receiving R-CHOP (rituximab [Rituxan] plus cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone) for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma...
Although chemoradiation has been increasingly used in advanced laryngeal cancer as part of an organ-preservation strategy, there is concern that this practice may have contributed to a decline in survival suggested by some data in this setting. In a population-based cohort study reported in JAMA...
In a phase II trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Burger et al found that the combination of ibrutinib (Imbruvica) and rituximab (Rituxan) showed promising activity and an encouraging safety profile in patients with previously treated or untreated high-risk chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL)....
In a phase I study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Fanale et al found that brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris)—a conjugate of antibody specific for CD30 and a microtubule-disrupting chemotherapy agent—exhibited high activity when combined sequentially with CHOP...
Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations found in the circulating-free tumor DNA from the plasma of advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients correlates well with the EGFR mutations from patient-matched tumor tissue DNA, according to new data reported by Douillard et...
In a phase III Australian/New Zealand trial (TROG 03.04 RADAR) reported in The Lancet Oncology, Denham et al found no differences in prostate cancer–specific or all-cause mortality with intermediate-term androgen suppression and radiotherapy or short-term suppression plus radiotherapy with or ...
A study reported in The Lancet Oncology by Wallace et al evaluated the accuracy of criteria used for predicting ovarian insufficiency and offering ovarian tissue cryopreservation in young women with cancer at the Edinburgh Children’s Cancer Centre. Ovarian tissue cryopreservation with later...
Previous research has suggested that women with Hodgkin lymphoma who receive certain types of chemotherapy or radiotherapy are at increased risk of future infertility, but there was insufficient information to provide patients with detailed advice. In a study published in the Journal of the...
Approximately half of all patients with posterior uveal melanoma develop metastatic liver disease within 15 years. Although brachytherapy utilizing current isotopes may be hindered by associated toxicities, the isotope ruthenium-106 has been reintroduced into the U.S. market. In a study published...
In a study reported in JAMA Dermatology, Youlden et al found that the incidence of Merkel cell carcinoma in Queensland, Australia, a known high-risk area, increased by 2.6% annually between 1993 and 2010. Five-year relative survival was 41%, with significantly better survival found in patients aged ...
In a single-institution study reported in JAMA Dermatology, Botella-Estrada et al found that regression of primary melanomas is not associated with sentinel node status. Study Details The retrospective study involved patients with melanomas with Breslow thickness > 0.75 mm undergoing sentinel...
An international scientific collaboration led by Baylor College of Medicine as part of The Cancer Genome Atlas initiative has revealed clues about genetic alterations that may contribute to a rare form of kidney cancer. The study, which describes the landscape of somatic genomic alterations of...
Transrectal ultrasound guided biopsy is the standard for detecting prostate cancer, but international reports have suggested that the risks associated with the procedure are increasing. In a new nationwide population-based study reported in The Journal of Urology, Swedish researchers found that 6%...
Although the majority of patients with mantle cell lymphoma respond to initial therapy, the duration of remission is typically short (1.5 to 3 years). Although bortezomib (Velcade) and lenalidomide (Revlimid) as single agents have been associated with response rates as high as 53% in patients with...
In an analysis in the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study population reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Ford et al found that adult woman survivors of childhood cancer have poorer psychosexual function than their siblings without childhood cancer. Risk factors for poorer function included...
The 1964 Surgeon General’s Report on Smoking and Health started a culture change in the way Americans viewed tobacco and their health, and has saved countless million of lives. But the 1964 Report remained scientifically ambiguous on certain vital issues, such as the effect smoking had on the ...
Despite advances in the treatment of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (the most common subtype of non-Hodgkin lymphoma), including the introduction of rituximab (Rituxan), diffuse large B-cell lymphoma patients living in low-socioeconomic-status neighborhoods have a 34% greater risk of dying from...
Despite updates on cancer screening guidelines from several medical societies—including ASCO, the American Cancer Society, the American Urological Association, the American College of Physicians, as well as the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force—which use life expectancy and/or age as...
Use of panitumumab (Vectibix) and cetuximab (Erbitux) in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer decreased significantly after the publication of clinical trial evidence that anti-EGFR antibodies should be restricted to wild-type KRAS tumors, subsequent ASCO guidelines recommending testing for...
BluePrint in combination with MammaPrint molecular subtyping reclassified more than 20% of breast cancer patients into a different subgroup compared with conventional assessment, according to the results of the prospective Neoadjuvant Breast Registry Symphony Trial (NBRST). In Annals of Surgical...
The phase III NeoALTTO trial showed a significantly improved pathologic complete response rate with lapatinib (Tykerb) plus trastuzumab (Herceptin) vs either alone in women with HER2-positive early breast cancer. As reported in The Lancet Oncology by de Azambuja et al, the combination was not...
Links between a number of common respiratory diseases and an increased risk of developing lung cancer have been found in a large pooled analysis of seven studies involving more than 25,000 individuals. The findings by Denholm et al were published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical...
The European Thoracic Oncology Platform Lungscape ALK project is investigating the prevalence and prognostic impact of ALK-positivity in resected lung adenocarcinoma in a primarily European population. As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Blackhall and colleagues, the project has...
The Norwegian Colorectal Cancer Prevention Trial comparing colorectal cancer screening with flexible sigmoidoscopy vs no screening showed no reduction in colorectal cancer incidence or mortality after 7 years of follow-up. As reported by Holme et al in JAMA, the 11-year follow-up shows significant...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the antiangiogenic agent bevacizumab (Avastin) for the treatment of persistent, recurrent, or metastatic cervical cancer. The new indication is approved for use in combination with paclitaxel and cisplatin or paclitaxel and topotecan. The FDA ...
The 13-year follow-up of the European Randomized Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer (ERSPC), reported by Schröder et al in The Lancet, showed that prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening in men aged 55 to 69 years is associated with a 21% reduction in risk of prostate cancer mortality...
In a single-center retrospective matched case-control study reported in JAMA Surgery, Franken et al found no significant differences in 30-day morbidity or mortality, positive margin status, major complications, hospital stay, or readmission rates for laparoscopic vs open partial hepatic resection...
Healthy men participating in the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial who actively participate in all steps of the clinical trial are most likely to undergo a biopsy, according to a study by Gritz et al published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention. The Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial, ...
Obesity is associated with a worse breast cancer prognosis and elevated levels of inflammation, including greater cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) expression and activity in adipose-infiltrating macrophages. Data from a new study finds that overweight and obese women who regularly used aspirin or other...
In the phase III international AFFIRM trial, enzalutamide (Xtandi) was shown to improve overall survival vs placebo in men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer after progression on docetaxel. In an analysis of secondary endpoints reported in The Lancet Oncology, Fizazi et al found...
It is unclear whether somatic mutations that are strongly associated with phenotype and prognosis in myelodysplastic syndrome are also predictive of outcome after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Bejar et al found that...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved bortezomib (Velcade) for the retreatment of adult patients with multiple myeloma who had previously responded to bortezomib therapy and relapsed at least 6 months following completion of prior bortezomib treatment. The labeling update includes...
Postmenopausal women who in the previous 4 years had undertaken the equivalent of at least 4 hours of walking per week had a 10% decreased risk of invasive breast cancer compared with women who were less active, according to a new study. The findings suggest that regular physical activity, even of...
In a study reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Antoniou et al identified lifetime risk of breast cancer in families with germline loss-of-function mutations in PALB2. Estimated cumulative risk among female mutation carriers was 14% by 50 years of age and 35% by 70 years of age....
A large DNA analysis of people with and without pancreatic cancer has identified several new genetic markers that signal increased risk of developing the highly lethal disease, reported scientists from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. The study by Wolpin et al was published in Nature Genetics. The...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Walker et al found that among nonelderly patients with the top 10 most lethal cancers, those with Medicaid or no insurance were more likely to present with advanced disease and less likely to receive cancer-directed surgery or radiation...
Risk-adjusted margin positivity rate has been suggested for use as a rectal cancer surgery quality metric. In an observational cohort study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Massarweh et al from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center identified risk-adjusted margin positivity ...
In a UK population-based cohort study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Cardwell et al found that statin use after diagnosis of colorectal cancer was associated with a 29% reduction in colorectal cancer–specific mortality and a 25% reduction in all-cause mortality. Improvements...
Past exposure to immunosuppressive drugs called thiopurines has been found to increase the risk of myeloid disorders, such as acute myeloid leukemia and myelodysplastic syndrome, among patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The findings were reported by Lopez et al in Clinical...
Despite the fact that smoking increases the probability of cancer recurrence and reduces survival time, many cancer survivors continue to smoke. In a new study, nearly 1 in 10 cancer survivors reported being current smokers 9 years after their diagnosis, and 83% were daily smokers averaging about...
Mammography-detected breast cancer is associated with a shift to earlier stage diagnosis in older women, subsequently reducing the rate of more advanced, difficult-to-treat cases, according to a new study by Malmgren et al published in the journal Radiology. The findings lend support to regular...
An analysis in the population of the National Patient Navigation Research Program reported by Ko et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology indicates that patient navigation significantly improves the likelihood of receiving antiestrogen treatment among hormone receptor–positive breast cancer...
In a Taiwanese retrospective cohort study reported in JAMA Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery, Tseng et al found that diabetes was associated with increased risk of head and neck cancer, including increased risk of oral cavity, oropharyngeal, and nasopharyngeal cancers. Study Details...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted for filing and granted Priority Review to the supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) for ruxolitinib (Jakafi) as a potential treatment of patients with polycythemia vera who have had an inadequate response to or are intolerant of...
Physicians at Johns Hopkins have developed blood and saliva tests that help accurately predict recurrences of HPV-linked oral cancers in a substantial number of patients. The tests screen for DNA fragments of the human papillomavirus (HPV) shed from cancer cells lingering in the mouth or other...