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...
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 phase III study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Schwartzberg et al found that the addition of rolapitant to serotonin (5-HT3) receptor antagonist and dexamethasone treatment significantly improved complete response rates in prevention of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting in patients...
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...
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...
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, ...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris) as post–autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation consolidation treatment for patients with classical Hodgkin lymphoma at high risk of relapse or progression, Seattle Genetics has announced. The...
Using whole-exome sequencing on newly diagnosed patients with multiple myeloma, British researchers identified 15 genes that were significantly mutated in a subset of patients and mapped how these mutations related to long-term survival. They found 90% of patients with very aggressive disease who...
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...
A study from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Cancer Center researchers—the first to examine the effects of combined radiation and chemotherapy on the healthy brain tissue of glioblastoma patients—revealed not only specific structural changes within patients’ brains, but also...
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...
Final results of the German phase III CAO/ARO/AIO-04 trial reported in The Lancet Oncology by Rödel et al showed that adding oxaliplatin to fluorouracil (5-FU)–based neoadjuvant chemoradiation and postoperative chemotherapy improved disease-free survival in patients with locally advanced ...
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...
Risk for melanoma has been found to be increased in non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) survivors. In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Lam et al found that T-cell–activating autoimmune diseases and fludarabine use were associated with an increased melanoma risk among patients with ...
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 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,...
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...
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...
In a population-based study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Fung et al found a significantly increased risk of cardiovascular disease mortality during the first year after chemotherapy for testicular nonseminoma. No increased risk of cardiovascular disease mortality after surgery was...
Patients undergoing surgery for lung cancer may wait too long to receive treatment, and too many patients skip vital diagnostic steps that are needed to help determine the best possible treatment, according to findings published by Faris et al in The Annals of Thoracic Surgery. The 5-year relative ...
Older persons are the fastest growing segment of the U.S. population and account for the majority of cancer diagnoses and deaths and the majority of cancer survivors. However, since this population is underrepresented in clinical trials, the evidence base for treating older patients is poor. As...
High-grade serous ovarian cancer often responds well to the chemotherapy drug carboplatin, but it frequently recurs after the first line of treatment. A team of University of California, Los Angeles, researchers has discovered that a subset of tumor cells that don’t produce the protein CA125, ...
A team of researchers at Barts Cancer Institute–Queen Mary University of London has discovered a combination of three proteins found at high levels in urine that can accurately detect early-stage pancreatic cancer. The discovery could lead to a noninvasive, inexpensive test to...
In a BIG 1-98 trial analysis reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Metzger Filho et al found that the benefit of adjuvant letrozole vs tamoxifen was greater in patients with lobular than ductal breast carcinoma. Study Details In the BIG 1-98 trial, postmenopausal women with hormone...
ASCO has issued a clinical practice guideline update on the use of hematopoietic colony-stimulating factors, as reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Smith et al. This update to the ASCO 2006 guideline was based on a systematic review of randomized clinical trials, meta-analyses, and ...
In a study reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Patel et al found that inflammatory cytokine levels were associated with poorer memory function in women with newly diagnosed breast cancer, with higher pretreatment levels of soluble tumor necrosis factor (TNF) receptor type ...
The stem cells in the gut divide so fast that they create a completely new population of epithelial cells every week. However, this quick cell division is also why radiation and chemotherapy wreak havoc on the gastrointestinal systems of patients with cancer, as such therapies target rapidly...
More than 80,000 people undergo resection of a pulmonary tumor each year, and currently the only method to determine whether the tumor is malignant is histologic analysis. A new study reported that a targeted molecular contrast agent can be used successfully to render lung adenocarcinomas...
Cancer can be caused solely by protein imbalance within cells, a study of ovarian cancer has found. Until now, genetic aberrations have been seen as the main cause of almost all cancer. The research, published by Timsah et al in Oncogene, demonstrates that protein imbalance is a powerful prognostic ...
An observational study investigating the use and effectiveness of a combination regimen of intraperitoneal and intravenous chemotherapy in the treatment of advanced-stage ovarian cancer has found that although the dual approach substantially improved survival—81% of those treated with the...
Lower levels of ERCC1 (excision repair cross-complementation group 1) and thymidylate synthase expression may be predictive of longer survival in patients with metastatic colon cancer, according to a study by Choueiri et al in PLOS One. It was shown that patients with low levels of ERCC1 and...
In a patient-level meta-analysis reported in The Lancet by the Early Breast Cancer Trialists’ Collaborative Group (EBCTCG), adjuvant bisphosphonate treatment in early breast cancer was associated with a reduced risk of bone recurrence and breast cancer mortality, with the benefit limited to...
Use of gene therapy to deliver a protein that suppresses the development of female reproductive organs may improve the survival of patients with ovarian cancer that has recurred after chemotherapy. In a study published by Pepin et al in PNAS Early Edition, a Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH)...
Recent advances in the understanding of cancer have led to the development of more personalized therapies. Moffitt Cancer Center researchers have contributed to these advances by developing the first test that analyzes the sensitivity of tumors to radiation therapy. Their findings were published by ...
A new study points to the need for increased awareness of fertility preservation options for young patients with cancer. Published by Shnorhavorian et al in Cancer, the study found that factors such as gender, education, and insurance status impact whether patients and their physicians have...
In a phase III trial conducted by the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) Radiation Oncology and Breast Cancer Groups, the addition of regional nodal irradiation to whole-breast or thoracic-wall irradiation after surgery produced a marginal overall survival benefit...
The 6-year follow-up of the phase III ANZMTG 01.02/TROG 02.01 trial, reported in The Lancet Oncology by Henderson et al, showed that adjuvant lymph-node field radiotherapy in melanoma patients with high risk of lymph-node field recurrence reduced the rate of recurrence but did not improve overall...
A large, population-based prospective cohort study of about 75,000 women has found that adolescent exercise is associated with reduced risk of death due to cancer, cardiovascular disease, and all causes among middle-aged and older women. After adjusting for socioeconomic and lifestyle factors, the...
In a study reported in the Journal of Oncology Practice, Keng et al at Cleveland Clinic found that institution of an emergency department febrile neutropenia pathway for patients with cancer reduced the time to antibiotic administration compared with historical and direct admission cohorts....
In a study reported in JAMA Internal Medicine, Harding et al found that on the county level in the United States, mammography screening for breast cancer is associated with an increase in detection of small breast cancers but no reduction in breast cancer mortality. Study Details This ecologic...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted lenvatinib (Lenvima) Breakthrough Therapy designation for investigational use in patients with advanced or metastatic renal cell carcinoma who were previously treated with a vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-targeted therapy. Lenvatinib...