Retrospective studies have shown that pharmacologic thromboprophylaxis is underutilized in hospitalized patients with cancer, who are believed to be at high risk of venous thromboembolism. In a prospective cross-sectional study reported in Journal of Clinical Oncology, Zwicker et al found that...
Researchers investigating the effects of water pipe smoking on the health of young adults have found elevated levels of nicotine, cotinine, tobacco-related cancer-causing agents, and volatile organic compounds, including benzene and acrolein, in the urine of users. Given the significant intake of...
In the large phase III SQUIRE trial of necitumumab (IMC-11F8) in combination with gemcitabine and cisplatin in the first-line treatment of advanced squamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), patients with stage IV metastatic disease showed a statistically significant improvement in overall...
A new study of 80,000 women with early breast cancer in 70 clinical trials finds that obesity is associated with a 34% higher risk of breast cancer–related death only among the 20,000 premenopausal women who had estrogen receptor–positive disease. Obesity had little effect in...
A new model projects 5-year outcomes of implementing the recent U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommendations for annual low-dose computed tomography (CT) lung cancer screening in a high-risk Medicare population. The model estimates that gradual implementation of the screening...
Findings from a phase I study of a new mutant-selective epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitor, AZD9291, point to a promising new treatment option for patients with advanced, EGFR-mutant, non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) that is resistant to standard EGFR...
According to a large, population-based observational study of men who had a prostate-specific antigen (PSA)-only based relapse after prostate surgery or radiation therapy, delaying androgen deprivation therapy until the onset of symptoms or appearance of cancer on a scan does not substantially...
Researchers at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles have discovered that by targeting a particular receptor, chemotherapy-resistant cancer cells can be killed in an acute form of childhood leukemia, offering the potential for a future treatment for patients who would otherwise experience relapse...
In a report in JAMA Dermatology, Zhu et al discuss two cases in which clinically significant squamous cell carcinoma was found within the tumor bed of locally advanced basal cell carcinoma during vismodegib (Erivedge) treatment for basal cell carcinoma. In one, basal cell carcinoma tumor shrinkage...
Positive positron-emission tomography (PET) scans have low positive predictive value after chemotherapy in patients with Hodgkin lymphoma. In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Kobe et al assessed whether use of pretreatment and post-treatment computed tomography (CT) could...
In patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), preoperative positron-emission tomography (PET) has been shown to limit the number of unnecessary surgeries, according to the results of a study presented by Zeliadt et al in the Journal of Nuclear Medicine. Besides its value in accurate...
Researchers from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital conducted a phase I study of hu14.18K322A, an experimental monoclonal antibody genetically engineered at the hospital, in 38 children with refractory or recurrent neuroblastoma. The patients received escalating doses of hu14.18K322A...
In a UK trial (EnROL) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Kennedy et al compared outcomes with open vs laparoscopic resection of colorectal cancer within a multimodality enhanced recovery program. Such programs are intended to improve all aspects of perioperative care and have been shown...
There are limited data on outcomes after surgery for intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma. In a systematic review and meta-analysis reported in JAMA Surgery, Mavros et al found that tumor characteristics are the primary predictors of survival after curative intent surgery, indicating the need for...
The effect of false-positive mammograms on women undergoing screening is being investigated by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. In a study reported in JAMA Internal Medicine, Tosteson et al assessed responses to false-positive screening mammograms. According to the authors, their findings...
Preclinical data suggest that triple-negative breast cancer is sensitive to interstrand crosslinking agents and that the combination of a taxane, trastuzumab (Herceptin), and a platinum may have synergistic effects in HER2-positive breast cancer. In a randomized phase II trial (GeparSixto, German...
Geographic proximity to services has been identified as a potential barrier to cancer screening, and there is evidence of disparity in colorectal cancer outcomes between urban and rural U.S. residents. In a study reported in JAMA Surgery, Aboagye et al identified a significantly greater density of...
An analysis of the metabolic profiles of hundreds of ovarian tumors has revealed a new test to determine whether ovarian cancer cells have the potential to metastasize. The study, which was published in Molecular Systems Biology, also suggests how ovarian cancer treatments can be tailored based on...
Men who begin taking statins after prostate cancer surgery are less likely to have a recurrence of their cancer, according to a retrospective analysis led by researchers at Duke Medicine. The study by Allott et al was published in BJU International. “Our findings suggest that beginning...
In a Chinese study reported in JAMA Surgery, Huang et al found that preoperative elevated hepatitis B virus (HBV) surface antigen (HBsAg) level is an independent risk factor for hepatocellular carcinoma recurrence and mortality in patients with low HBV DNA levels undergoing hepatic resection....
There are few treatment options for breast cancer patients with progressive disease after two or more HER2-directed regimens for recurrent or metastatic disease. In the open-label phase III TH3RESA trial reported in The Lancet Oncology by Krop and et al, ado-trastuzumab emtansine (Kadcyla)...
A surgical method combining two techniques for removing precancerous polyps during colonoscopies can substantially reduce the recovery time and the length of hospital stays, which may translate into significant cost savings, according to research presented this week at Digestive Disease Week in...
A retrospective study published online ahead of print in Urology by researchers at Roswell Park Cancer Institute found that patients with metastatic kidney cancer—even those with chronic renal insufficiency—can tolerate and benefit from high-dose interleukin-2 (HDIL-2) immunotherapy....
Of 53 National Cancer Institute cancer centers, only 43% report implementing survivorship care plans for at least some of their cancer survivors. In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Blanch-Hartigan et al found that a minority of a nationally representative sample of oncologists ...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, D’Souza et al found that while human papillomavirus (HPV)-positive patients with oropharyngeal cancer had high prevelances of oncogenic oral HPV DNA and oral HPV16 DNA, their sexual partners did not appear to have increased risk of...
As many as half of patients with metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer develop brain metastases over time. The American Society of Clinical Oncology recently released a clinical practice guideline on disease management for patients with advanced HER2-positive breast cancer and brain metastases. A...
Approximately 15% of patients with breast cancer have tumors that overexpress the HER2 protein, and these patients can benefit from HER2-targeted therapies. The American Society of Clinical Oncology recently released a clinical practice guideline on systemic therapy for patients with advanced...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved omacetaxine mepesuccinate (Synribo) for injection, for subcutaneous use, to include home administration, and also approved a related Medication Guide and Instructions for Use. With this approval, physicians who treat adults with chronic- or...
In a trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Spathis et al found that that the central nervous system (CNS) stimulant modafinil had no effect on fatigue compared with placebo in patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Fatigue improved in both groups during the...
In a study reported in JAMA Otolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery, Davies and Gilbert found that the incidence of thyroid cancer has nearly tripled since 1975. However, the increase appears to represent an “epidemic of diagnosis” and to almost exclusively represent increased diagnosis...
Patients with locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck treated with hyperfractionated radiation therapy experienced improved local-regional control and, with patients censored at 5 years, improved overall survival with no increase in late toxicity, according to a study...
Surgery for metastatic breast cancer conveys a significantly increased risk for morbidity and mortality at 30 days vs surgery for earlier-stage disease, according to researchers from the University of Toronto who presented their findings at the American Society of Breast Surgeons Annual Meeting in...
Radiation therapy, an emerging treatment modality for breast cancer in the lymph nodes, is associated with significantly fewer postoperative complications than axillary lymph node dissection, according to a detailed analysis of morbidity from the AMAROS trial presented at a press briefing prior to...
Researchers at the University of Louisville School of Medicine are using breath analysis to detect the presence of lung cancer. Preliminary data indicate that this noninvasive tool offers the sensitivity of PET scanning and has almost twice the specificity of PET for distinguishing patients with...
Expression of the inflammatory cytokine interleukin (IL)-1 alpha is a very early step in the inflammatory response that characterizes the malignant phenotype and that is associated with angiogenesis, tumor invasiveness, metastasis, and cachexia. In a phase I dose-escalation study reported in The...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted accelerated approval to ceritinib (Zykadia) for patients with a metastatic anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)-positive non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who were previously treated with crizotinib (Xalkori). Ceritinib is an ALK tyrosine...
A study investigating vitamin D status and prostate cancer diagnosis in high-risk men has found an association between vitamin D deficiency and aggressive prostate cancer. The study enrolled 667 men, ages 40 to 79 years, who were undergoing their first prostate biopsy following an abnormal...
Quality of life is rarely reported in surgical publications, yet it can be an important metric that can be of use to physicians and patients when making treatment decisions. Prior studies of average-risk patients undergoing lobectomy suggested that low baseline quality-of-life scores predict worse...
The incidence of breast cancer in women treated with chest radiation therapy for childhood cancer previously has been estimated at 5% to 14% by age 40 years and is among the highest reported for any population. In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Moskowitz et al found that the...
Molecular diagnosis and preventive surgery have been successful in preventing medullary thyroid cancer in patients with multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2 syndrome. In a retrospective population-based study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Castinetti et al found no difference in disease-free...
Researchers from the Abramson Cancer Center and the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have employed a novel DNA vaccine that indirectly kills cancer cells by targeting a protein found in the tumor vasculature. The vaccine also indirectly creates an immune response to the ...
A new study has found that loss of paid employment after a diagnosis of early-stage breast cancer may be common and potentially related to the type of treatment patients received. Published early online in Cancer, the findings by Jagsi et al support efforts to reduce the side effects and burden of...
The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) has issued a new guideline, “The Role of Postoperative Radiation Therapy for Endometrial Cancer: An ASTRO Evidence-Based Guideline,” that details the use of adjuvant radiation therapy in the treatment of endometrial cancer. The...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today approved the first human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA test that can be used as a primary cervical cancer screening test for women aged 25 years and older. The test also can provide information about the patient’s risk for developing cervical...
Women infected with HIV are disproportionally affected by human papillomavirus (HPV)-related anogenital disease, particularly with increased immunosuppression. In a clinical study of 319 HIV-infected women in the United States, Brazil, and South Africa, researchers assessed the immunogenicity and...
In a phase III double-blind crossover trial (North Central Cancer Treatment Group [NCCTG] N09C6, Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology cooperative group) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Leenstra et al found that oral doxepin hydrochloride rinse significantly reduced...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today approved siltuximab (Sylvant injection) for the treatment of patients with multicentric Castleman’s disease who are human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-negative and human herpes virus-8 (HHV-8)-negative. Multicentric Castleman’s...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Orphan Drug designation to alvocidib, a potent cyclin-dependent kinase small-molecule inhibitor, for the treatment of patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The agent is being tested in patients with intermediate- or high-risk AML, who...
Disease progression in HER2-positive breast cancer treated with trastuzumab (Herceptin) may be associated with PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway activation, and use of an mTOR inhibitor might restore trastuzumab sensitivity. In the double-blind phase III BOLERO-3 trial reported in The Lancet Oncology,...
In female patients undergoing breast cancer lumpectomies, intraoperative frozen section margin assessment has been shown to decrease overall reoperation rates, according to the results of a study reported by Boughey et al in the journal Surgery. This finding may lead to lower health-care costs, a...