Blood and marrow transplantation is a potentially curative treatment for patients with leukemia or other life-threating blood diseases. With a goal of increasing survival rates, a research team led by Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) investigators verified patient outcome data submitted by more ...
Early age at menarche could play a role in the disproportionate incidence of estrogen receptor–negative breast cancers diagnosed among African American women, according to a study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. The study is a result of a multicenter collaborative...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Brundage et al found that the addition of radiotherapy to androgen-deprivation therapy in patients with locally advanced prostate cancer in the NCIC CTG PR3/MRC PR07 trial had a transient negative impact on health-related quality of life over ...
In a study reported in JAMA Surgery, Huang et al found that use of nephron-sparing surgery has more than doubled since 2001 among older patients with small kidney cancers. Use of nonsurgical approaches has remained stable. Study Details The study involved Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End...
New research published by Søgaard et al in Blood found that blood clots in the abdominal veins might be an indicator of undiagnosed cancer. The study also suggests that these clots predict poorer survival in patients with liver and pancreatic cancer. Clotting and Cancer Risk Compared to...
In a small clinical trial, scientists at Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center and James Buchanan Brady Urological Institute found that men with advanced prostate cancer and detection of androgen receptor splice variant-7 (AR-V7) respond to chemotherapy just as well as men who lack the variant. The...
In an analysis reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Liu et al found that a subset of patients with luminal A breast cancer may not need radiotherapy to prevent relapse. Study Details The study involved samples from 501 older patients with node-negative disease who were randomized to...
Women who were exposed to higher levels of the pesticide DDT in utero were nearly four times more likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer as adults than women who were exposed to lower levels before birth, according to a study published by Cohn et al in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & ...
Houston Methodist Neurological Institute neurosurgeon David Baskin, MD, presented preliminary data from a phase II clinical trial that suggests gene therapy (AdV-Tk therapy), which uses a mediated herpes simplex virus, combined with a traditional treatment—surgical resection—could ...
In an analysis reported in JAMA Surgery, Paniccia et al identified patient and treatment characteristics that were associated with survival of at least 10 years after diagnosis of invasive pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, including lower positive lymph node ratio, receipt of adjuvant chemotherapy, ...
A single dose of the recombinant human papillomavirus (HPV) bivalent (types 16 and 18) vaccine (Cervarix) appears to be as effective in preventing certain HPV infections as three doses, the currently recommended course of vaccination, concluded a study published by Kreimer et al in The Lancet...
In an analysis of Children’s Oncology Group (COG) trials reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Chow et al found that dexrazoxane use did not appear to be associated with poorer survival among pediatric patients with leukemia or lymphoma in long-term follow-up. Study Details The...
In a single-institution study reported in JAMA Surgery, Margonis et al found that particular KRAS codon 12 mutations were associated with significantly poorer overall survival among patients with colorectal liver metastases. Study Details This retrospective study included data from 331 patients...
Scientists at multiple institutions have found a new way of classifying brain cancers that could very well change how the illness is diagnosed and treated. The study, a project of The Cancer Genome Atlas, found striking molecular differences between various forms of gliomas by looking at the makeup ...
It is estimated that one of every three Latina women will be diagnosed with cancer during her lifetime. Moffitt Cancer Center researchers, along with collaborators at the University of South Florida, recently published a study about the attitudes and cultural perspectives of Latinas undergoing...
In the phase III EURAMOS-1 trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Bielack et al found that the addition of postoperative pegylated interferon alfa-2b (Pegintron, Sylatron) to MAP (methotrexate, doxorubicin, and cisplatin) in patients with osteosarcoma showing good histologic response...
A study led by the University at Buffalo (UB) and Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) has identified beliefs and personality traits associated with higher levels of distress in patients with newly diagnosed prostate cancer. The findings support the value of emotional and informational support for...
A study by Dahlstrom et al investigating the usefulness of serum antibodies to human papillomavirus (HPV)-16 DNA antigens as predictors of survival for patients with oropharyngeal carcinoma has found that E1, NE2, and E6 antibody positivity were all strongly associated with improved overall and...
In a phase III trial (ABCSG-18) reported in The Lancet, Gnant et al found that adjuvant denosumab (Xgeva) reduced the risk of clinical fracture in women with breast cancer receiving aromatase inhibitor therapy. Study Details In the double-blind study, 3,420 women from Austria and Sweden with...
In an analysis reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Meric-Bernstam and colleagues at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center found that a small minority of patients with potentially actionable genes identified in large-scale testing were enrolled onto clinical trials targeting...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Lichtenthal et al found that parents who have lost a child to cancer report wanting and frequently using mental health services, although barriers to seeking care exist and retention in care is suboptimal. Study Details The cross-sectional...
In a French phase III trial (GETUG 12) reported in The Lancet Oncology, Fizazi et al found that the addition of docetaxel and estramustine (Emcyt) to androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) improved relapse-free survival among patients with high-risk localized prostate cancer. Study Details In the...
In a study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Rini et al developed a 16-gene assay and recurrence score that predicted postsurgery outcome in patients with stage I to III clear cell renal cell carcinoma. Development Phase In the development phase, examination of the association between expression...
In the largest study of its kind, transplant physicians at Mayo Clinic in Florida have found that liver cancer patients have similar beneficial outcomes whether using organs donated by patients after cardiac death or brain death. The study was recently published by Croome et al in the American...
Interpace Diagnostics, a subsidiary of PDI, Inc, announced new data demonstrating the clinical value of BarreGen, a molecular diagnostic test that predicts the risk of progression from Barrett’s esophagus to esophageal cancer approximately 3 to 4 years before the cancer develops. These...
In a phase III PALOMA 3 trial reported at the 2015 ASCO Annual Meeting and published in The New England Journal of Medicine, Turner et al found that the cyclin-dependent kinase 4 and 6 inhibitor palbociclib (Ibrance) significantly improved progression-free survival in women with advanced hormone...
In an interim analysis of the phase III ELOQUENT-2 trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Lonial et al found that the addition of the investigational agent elotuzumab to lenalidomide (Revlimid)-dexamethasone significantly increased progression-free survival in patients with relapsed ...
Phase III results of Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) 0537 indicate that acupuncture-like, transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (ALTENS) may be equally effective as the prescription medication pilocarpine, the current standard of care, to treat radiation-induced xerostomia (dry...
In a Swedish study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, He et al identified numerous predictors of discontinuation of adjuvant hormone therapy in patients with breast cancer. Study Details The study involved 3,395 women diagnosed with breast cancer between 2005 and 2008 in Stockholm who...
A recent analysis of a large observational study has revealed that men with a history of asthma are less likely than those without it to develop lethal prostate cancer, researchers at Johns Hopkins reported. These findings were published by Platz et al in the International Journal of Cancer....
A University of Michigan survey of women with breast cancer found that nearly half considered having a double mastectomy—but of those who considered it, only 37% knew that the more aggressive procedure does not improve survival for women with breast cancer. Among women who received a double...
New findings from a phase III clinical trial suggest the IDH1 gene may be a prognostic marker for anaplastic astrocytoma, a rare form of brain cancer. The results of this study were presented on June 2 at the 2015 ASCO Annual Meeting in Chicago (Abstract 2002). Patients in this study who had a...
Although various drugs have improved outcomes for metastatic colon cancer patients, researchers continually strive to find new agents to improve treatment. Antibody-drug conjugates are a promising option, due to the fact that they can deliver chemotherapy directly into a targeted cell, destroy...
In an analysis of the NeoALTTO trial reported in JAMA Oncology, Salgado et al found that a higher level of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes was associated with improved pathologic compete response rate and event-free survival independent of neoadjuvant treatment received in patients with...
A collaborative team of researchers led by Alex A. Adjei, MD, PhD, FACP, of Roswell Park Cancer Institute, shared results from the first clinical study of the anticancer effects of the novel agent entolimod on May 30 at the 2015 ASCO Annual Meeting in Chicago (Abstract 3063). Their findings confirm ...
Investigators for the nationwide trial NCI-MATCH: Molecular Analysis for Therapy Choice announced at the 2015 ASCO Annual Meeting in Chicago that the precision medicine trial will open to patient enrollment in July. The trial seeks to determine whether targeted therapies for people whose tumors...
In a phase II Intergroup study (SWOG S0809) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Ben-Josef et al found that adjuvant capecitabine and gemcitabine followed by concurrent radiotherapy and capecitabine produced good survival results in patients with extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma or...
ASCO announced its first-ever clinical trial, which will offer patients with advanced cancer access to molecularly targeted cancer drugs and collect “real-world” data on clinical outcomes, to help learn the best uses of these drugs outside of indications approved by the U.S. Food and...
For patients with melanoma and micrometastases, as shown by positive sentinel lymph node biopsy, complete lymph node dissection did not improve survival, according to results of a randomized study presented at the 2015 ASCO Annual Meeting (Abstract LBA9002). “This is the first study which...
A large, cooperative group study directed by the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology has confirmed previous evidence that the drug lenalidomide (Revlimid) delays time to disease progression for patients with multiple myeloma and is an important treatment option for patients with this rare but...
“For the first time, improvement in overall survival was observed with tolerable adjuvant chemotherapy for localized, high-risk prostate cancer,” Howard Sandler, MD, Professor of Radiation Oncology at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, announced at a press briefing at the...
As the practice of genetically profiling patient tumors for clinical treatment decision-making becomes more commonplace, a recent study from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center suggests that profiling normal DNA also provides an important opportunity to identify inherited mutations...
A federally funded phase III trial found that adding whole-brain radiation therapy to radiosurgery did not significantly extend survival of patients with one to three small metastases of the brain, although it did help to control the growth of brain metastases, as evidenced by imaging studies....
A randomized phase III study resolves long-standing questions about the optimal timing of neck lymph node surgery for patients with early-stage oral cancer by showing that elective neck dissection both improves survival and lowers recurrence rates compared to therapeutic neck dissection performed...
New findings by researchers at Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center show that informing parents about their child’s cancer prognosis—even when the prognosis is less than favorable—is much more likely to give parents peace of mind and hope, rather...
A randomized phase III trial among patients with previously untreated melanoma found that initial therapy with nivolumab (Opdivo) alone more than doubled the median progression-free survival compared with ipilimumab (Yervoy) alone (6.9 vs 2.9 months), and the benefit was even greater when the two...
Removing more tissue during a partial mastectomy could spare thousands of breast cancer patients a second surgery, according to a Yale Cancer Center study. The findings were presented May 30 at the 2015 ASCO Annual Meeting (Abstract 1012) in Chicago and simultaneously published by Chagpar ...
Findings from the PERSIST-1 study of patients with myelofibrosis show that the JAK inhibitor pacritinib is significantly more effective than best available therapy, which includes a range of off-label treatments, for easing the symptoms of myelofibrosis. At a landmark analysis at 24 weeks of...
“Daratumumab monotherapy produced unprecedented overall responses that deepened over time” in a phase II trial among patients with heavily treated multiple myeloma, study author Saad Zafar Usmani, MD, reported at a press conference at the 2015 ASCO Annual Meeting. Dr. Usmani, a...
First results from a randomized phase III study show that the combination of ibrutinib (Imbruvica) and bendamustine (Treanda)/rituximab (Rituxan) improves outcomes for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) that progressed despite prior therapy. At a median follow-up of 17 months,...