Search Results
Your search for this matches 25372 pages
Showing 20851 - 20900Minimal Residual Disease Before and After Transplant: What Does It Mean?
In patients with acute leukemia, outcomes after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation are negatively impacted by the presence of minimal residual disease. However, transplant can prolong survival in patients with minimal residual disease after consolidation, according to two studies presented at...
For Progressive Neuroendocrine Tumors, Clinical Benefit Is High With Capecitabine Plus Temozolomide
In an interim analysis of a phase II trial, 97% of patients with progressive metastatic neuroendocrine tumors achieved clinical benefit with the combination of capecitabine and temozolomide (CAPTEM). The results were reported at the 2014 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium by Robert L. Fine, MD,...
Outcomes in Metastatic Colorectal Cancer: Studies Examine Relative Merits, Cost-Effectiveness
Targeted biologic agents have improved long-term outcomes in metastatic colorectal cancer, but debate continues as to their relative efficacy and proper sequencing. At the 2014 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium, a number of studies attempted to answer these questions by interrogating the clinical...
Expert Point of View: Neal J. Meropol, MD
Neal J. Meropol, MD, Chief of Hematology and Oncology at University Hospitals Case Medical Center at Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, discussed the various findings in RAS mutations at the Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium. “RAS mutations beyond exon 2 are common, occurring in about 15% ...
More Support for ‘All-RAS’ Testing in Metastatic Colorectal Cancer
Multiple studies reported at the 2014 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium add further support for widening the genetic analysis of colorectal cancer tumors. In fact, experts predict that more extensive genetic testing for RAS gene mutations (in KRAS and NRAS) beyond the routine analysis of KRAS exon ...
Expert Point of View: Neal J. Meropol, MD
Neal J. Meropol, MD, Chief of Hematology and Oncology at University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center and Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, discussed the study by Kothari et al presented at the Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium. He noted that complex interactions exist between PIK3CA and...
Aspirin Use Not Associated With Survival in PIK3CA-Mutant Colorectal Cancer
Contrary to emerging data from other studies, the regular use of aspirin was not associated with improved survival in patients with PIK3CA-mutant metastatic colorectal cancer in a study reported at the 2014 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium in San Francisco.1 Large Dataset “We did not validate...
Expert Point of View: Thomas W. Flaig, MD
This study has the potential to expand the number of patients who can benefit from organ-sparing therapy,” said Thomas W. Flaig, MD, Associate Professor in the Division of Medical Oncology at the University of Colorado Denver, commenting on the pooled analysis of RTOG 9906 and 0233 presented at the ...
Fine-Tuning Bladder-Preservation Trimodality Therapy for Patients With Muscle-Invasive Bladder Cancer
Organ preservation is a hallmark of progress in the world of cancer management. For patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer, the bladder-sparing approach is a well-established alternative to radical cystectomy. Patients undergo cystoscopic evaluation between the induction and consolidation...
Five Key Studies in Prostate Cancer and Renal Cell Carcinoma
The 10th Genitourinary Cancers Symposium, sponsored by ASCO, the American Society for Radiation Oncology, and the Society of Urologic Oncology, was held January 29–February 1, 2014, in San Francisco. The more than 630 abstracts presented addressed essential research in genitourinary malignancies,...
Expert Point of View: James Gulley, MD, PhD
“The key thing about this trial is that while the overall study was negative, subset analysis suggests that the patients who appear to benefit from ipilimumab have better prognostic factors, including no visceral disease, lower alkaline phosphatase, and elevated hemoglobin,” commented James...
Role of Immunotherapy Explored in Metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer
Ipilimumab (Yervoy) failed to meet the primary endpoint of improving overall survival in the randomized, phase III CA184-043 trial. However, the immunotherapy did improve progression-free survival and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) response compared with placebo in postdocetaxel metastatic...
The Evolution of U.S. Cooperative Group Trials: Publicly Funded Cancer Research at a Crossroads
Over the past 5 decades, National Cancer Institute (NCI) Clinical Trials Cooperative Groups have played an enormous role in the fight against cancer, tackling a broad social agenda, including cancer prevention, quality-of-life issues for patients with cancer, and comparison of benefits among...
State-of-the-Art Update on Prostate Cancer
The 2014 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium, held in San Francisco from January 29 to February 1, brought together more than 3,100 participants from around the world involved in the care of patients with genitourinary malignancies. The abstract presentations and plenary discussions offered the latest...
Greatly Frustrated by Congressional Failure to Act on Sustainable Growth Rate
The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) is deeply frustrated by the failure of Congress to permanently repeal the flawed sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula used to set Medicare physician payments and passage of the 17th patch to the system. ASCO and the entire physician community worked ...
Transition From Busy Oncologist to Retiree: Challenges and Opportunities
Oncology is a demanding field that requires special qualities to care for very sick patients, many of whom will die prematurely of their disease. Research indicates that years of facing life-and-death decisions in the clinic can be associated with oncology burnout syndrome, which effects physician...
Bendamustine/Rituximab May Be Important Alternative for Indolent NHL or MCL
Results from the BRIGHT study combined with long-term safety data from other studies suggest that bendamustine (Treanda) plus rituximab (Rituxan) “may be an important alternative treatment option” for the initial treatment of patients with low-grade non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) and mantle cell...
Adding Idelalisib to Rituximab Improved Survival in Patients With Relapsed CLL
Receiving rituximab (Rituxan) with idelalisib, rather than rituximab with placebo, “significantly improved progression-free survival, response rate, and overall survival” among patients with relapsed chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) who were less able to undergo chemotherapy because of clinically ...
Long-Term Benefit With Dasatinib After Imatinib Failure in Chronic-Phase Chronic Myeloid Leukemia
Patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) in the chronic phase who are resistant or intolerant to imatinib (Gleevec) can experience long-term benefit with dasatinib (Sprycel), according to long-term results of a randomized phase III study. The CA180-034 study also found that early molecular and...
Breast Reconstruction Has Increased Over Time but Varies Widely by Region
Analysis of data from 20,560 women undergoing mastectomy for breast cancer found that breast reconstruction use “increased from 46% in 1998 to 63% in 2007 (P< .001), with increased use of implants and decreased use of autologous techniques over time (P < .001),” according to a report...
City of Hope Names Yuman Fong, MD, Chair, Department of Surgery
City of Hope recently announced the appointment of two new chairs in the Department of Surgery and for the Board of Directors. Yuman Fong, MD, has been named Chair of the Department of Surgery at City of Hope. Dr. Fong comes to City of Hope from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York,...
Expect Questions From Patients
Results from the Scandinavian Prostate Cancer Group Study Number 4 (SPCG-4), showing that men with early-stage prostate cancer, particularly men under 65 years old, treated with radical prostatectomy had increased survival compared to those assigned to watchful waiting, has raised concerns among...
Prostate Cancer Study Showing Increased Survival for Younger Men Undergoing Prostatectomy Not Expected to Increase Surgeries
Extended follow-up in the Scandinavian Prostate Cancer Group Study Number 4 (SPCG4), reported recently in The New England Journal of Medicine,1 found that men with early-stage prostate cancer, particularly those under 65 years old, who were treated with radical prostatectomy had increased survival...
MD Anderson Honors Two Champions for Women in Medicine and Research
Two champions of gender equality in medicine and research were recently honored by The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Laurie Glimcher, MD, the Stephen and Suzanne Weiss Dean of Weill Cornell Medical College and Provost for Medical Affairs of Cornell University since 2012, received...
Ongoing Clinical Trials Actively Recruiting Adolescent and Young Adult Survivors of Childhood Cancer
ADOLESCENT AND YOUNG ADULT CHILDHOOD CANCER SURVIVORS Study Type: Randomized/interventional Study Title: A Randomized Web-Based Physical Activity Intervention in Adolescent Survivors of Childhood Cancer Study Sponsor and Collaborators: St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Purpose: Five-year...
Lenalidomide Acts in Myeloma by Degrading Lymphoid Transcription Factors IKZF1 and IKZF3
The mechanism of action of lenalidomide (Revlimid) in multiple myeloma and other B-cell neoplasms remains largely uncharacterized. In a study reported in Science, Krönke and colleagues identified one of the effects of lenalidomide in this setting. Use of quantitative proteomics showed that...
Join the 21st Annual Cancer Survivors’ Celebration Walk & 5K
Nearly 4,000 attendees, including more than 700 cancer survivors along with friends and family members, will gather in Chicago’s Grant Park for the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University’s Annual Cancer Survivors’ Celebration Walk & 5K Run. This year’s event will ...
Two Behavioral Interventions Help Cancer Patients Struggling With Sleep Issues, Penn Medicine Study Finds
Patients with cancer who are struggling with sleep troubles, due in part to pain or side effects of treatment, can count on two behavioral interventions for relief—cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia and mindfulness-based stress reduction—Penn Medicine researchers reported in a recent study...
Yvonne T. Maddox, PhD, Appointed Acting Director of National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities
Francis S. Collins, MD, PhD, Director of the National Institutes of Health recently announced the appointment of Yvonne T. Maddox, PhD, as Acting Director of the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHHD). This follows the retirement Dr. John Ruffin, NIMHD’s previous...
The FDA’s Bad Ad Program
INSIDE THE BLACK BOX is an occasional column providing insight into the FDA and its policies and procedures. In this installment, Robert Dean, MBA, Director, and Michael Sauers, Deputy Director, of Division II in the FDA’s Office of Prescription Drug Promotion discuss the FDA’s Bad Ad program. The...
The CoMMpass Trial in Multiple Myeloma
When I was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2008, at just 47, I was lucky. I was asymptomatic, my cancer was detected through a routine blood test, and I had the smoldering type, so I didn’t need immediate treatment. Plus, I knew that recent advances in more effective therapies were making it...
Unraveling the Molecular Complexity of Multiple Myeloma
In 2011, the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (MMRF) announced the launch of CoMMpass (Relating Clinical Outcomes in Multiple Myeloma to Personal Assessment of Genetic Profile), a clinical study at the heart of its Personalized Medicine Initiative. CoMMpass will follow 1,000 newly diagnosed...
Does ‘Specialist Bias’ Contribute to Overtreatment of Prostate Cancer?
Specialist bias, in which specialists recommend the therapy that they are capable of delivering, is thought to influence the treatment of patients with localized prostate cancer and to contribute to overtreatment of men with limited life expectancy,” Ayal A. Aizer, MD, MPH, and colleagues, from the ...
Decision Time for Lung Cancer Screening in High‑Risk Populations
For decades, dedicated members of the oncology community have fought to increase the nation’s focus on lung cancer prevention and treatment. Although smoking cessation initiatives have reduced cigarette consumption, lung cancer 5-year survival has remained stagnant at 15%, lagging far below most...
‘How Am I Doing, Doc?’
The goal of effective adjuvant therapy is to increase overall survival. It has been suggested cynically that all we need to accomplish, actually, is to delay recurrence until after the time the patients die from another cause. However, patients want to hear from us that “it’s never coming back,”...
Study Shows Pathologic Complete Response to Neoadjuvant Therapy for Breast Cancer of Prognostic Value but Not for Use as Surrogate for Survival
Pathologic complete response to neoadjuvant therapy has been proposed as a surrogate endpoint for long-term clinical benefit in breast cancer. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) established the international Collaborative Trials in Neoadjuvant Breast Cancer (CTNeoBC) working group to...
Association of Community Cancer Centers Honors Researcher and Community Oncologist With National Award
In recognition of his dedication to cancer research and education, and for promoting the goals of cancer prevention, early detection, and quality cancer treatment, John Powderly II, MD, Certified Physician Investigator, President and Founder of Carolina BioOncology Institute, Huntersville, North...
Utah Center for Genetic Discovery to Integrate Genome Data Into Patient Care
The USTAR Center for Genetic Discovery is partnering with California-based Omicia, Inc, to make analyzing a patient’s genome as routine as performing a blood test. The center, codirected by Mark Yandell, PhD, and Gabor Marth, DSc, was launched this month with $6 million from the University of Utah...
Determining Why Younger Women With Breast Cancer Are Less Likely to Survive Than Their Older Counterparts
Although cancer survival rates among pediatric and older adult patients continue to rise, survival rates for adolescents and young adults (AYAs), defined by the National Cancer Institute as those between the ages of 15 and 39, have remained stagnant for decades. In breast cancer especially, AYAs...
Informed Consent: Not Just About Blood Tests and Procedures Anymore
On February 24, the Institute of Medicine National Cancer Policy Forum convened a workshop, “Contemporary Issues in Human Subjects Protection in Cancer Research,” in Washington, DC. In his introduction to the workshop, Steven Piantadosi, MD, PhD, Director, Samuel Oschin Cancer Institute,...
NIH Opens Its Doors to Research for Extramural/Intramural Collaboration
Ten projects that will enable nongovernment researchers to conduct clinical research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, were announced recently. Through these 3-year, renewable awards of up to $500,000 per year, scientists from institutions across the...
Help Your Patients Learn About Their Cancer Care Team
On the Cancer.Net Blog, your patients can read about the various health professionals involved in their diagnosis, treatment, and survivorship and listen to podcasts with these professionals discussing their roles in caring for people with cancer. This month, the Cancer.Net Blog highlighted...
Science and Society: Register to Attend the 2014 ASCO Annual Meeting
Join oncology professionals from around the world for the 2014 ASCO Annual Meeting, which will be held May 30 through June 3 in Chicago. This year’s meeting will offer opportunities to learn about, debate, and discuss practice-changing advances in the field, and also highlight promising clinical...
Amended 2013 Conflicts of Interest Policy Expands Requirements for Financial Disclosures
The Society’s 2013 Policy for Relationships with Companies is scheduled to go into effect on April 22, with one large change to its original requirements. The policy will still require the full disclosure of all financial relationships by all authors; however, since announcing the new policy in...
Raj Mantena, RPh, Makes $1 Million Donation to Conquer Cancer Foundation to Help Build the Future of Cancer Care
It is a challenge faced time and time again by oncologists: how to achieve the best possible outcomes for patients while simultaneously controlling costs, providing care that is both high quality and high value. Raj Mantena, RPh, the first individual to donate $1 million dollars to the Conquer...
Cancer Research Funding Still Tight—and Getting Tighter
Margaret Foti, PhD, MD (hc), CEO of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), welcomed about 150 congressional staffers to a March briefing in Washington, DC, with a plea for increased federal funding. “Extraordinary progress is being made in cancer research today, as evidenced by the...
Individualized Care Key to Cancer Pain Management at Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center
Learning about the particulars of each cancer patient’s pain and treating each case uniquely is the key to keeping pain manageable. That is the goal of the Duffey Pain and Palliative Care Program at The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center in Baltimore. The team consists of physicians, nurse...
American College of Radiology Issues Statement on Budgetary Efforts to Curtail Imaging and Radiation Oncology Self-Referral
The American College of Radiology (ACR) recently issued a statement applauding steps to reign in medical imaging and radiation oncology self-referral included in the President’s fiscal year 2015 budget. However, prior authorization for imaging services, also included in the FY2015 budget, is...
Electronic Cigarette Use and Smoking Among Adolescents
Use of e-cigarettes does not discourage, and may encourage, conventional cigarette use among U.S. adolescents.” This was the conclusion of a cross-sectional analysis of survey data from a representative sample of middle and high school students who completed the National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS) ...
Recent Study Finds Tripling in Thyroid Cancer
According to a recent report by Davies and Welch,1 the incidence of thyroid cancer in the United States has nearly tripled since 1975, from 4.9 to 14.3 per 100,000 persons, with most of the increase due to papillary thyroid cancer, which has increased from 3.4 to 12.5 per 100,000 persons. The...
