Jeffrey Miller, MD, Professor of Medicine at the University of Minnesota and Deputy Director of the Masonic Cancer Clinic in Minneapolis, commented on the haploidentical hematopoietic stem cell transplantation studies presented at the American Society of Hematology meeting for The ASCO Post “The...
HLA-haploidentical hematopoietic stem cell transplantation can be performed safely, yield good outcomes, and greatly expand the number of patients with hematologic malignancies who can be treated with stem cell transplant, studies presented at the 2013 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual...
At the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, press briefing moderator C. Kent Osborne, MD, Director of the Dan Duncan Cancer Center at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, predicted the findings of the study by Badwe et al could be practice-changing. “This is not to say that we shouldn’t perform...
Mastectomy is unnecessary in many women with stage IV breast cancer, according to a study from Indian investigators, reported at the 2013 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.1 The study randomly assigned 350 patients with metastatic breast cancer to mastectomy, complete axillary dissection, plus...
An innovative approach to streamlining the testing of novel agents in breast cancer has yielded some of its first results, which were reported at the 2013 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.1 Adaptive Trial Design The veliparib/carboplatin plus standard neoadjuvant therapy regimen is currently...
Debu Tripathy, MD, Professor of Medicine, Co-Leader of the Women’s Cancer Program, and the Priscilla and Art Ulene Chair in Women’s Cancer at the University of Southern California Norris Cancer Center, Los Angeles, commented on the APT study for The ASCO Post. “In treating early-stage HER2-positive ...
There may be a benefit for treating small HER2-positive tumors—a breast cancer subset for whom treatment recommendations have not been established but for whom there is still risk of recurrence—and this can be done with little toxicity, according to a multicenter study presented at the 2013 San...
More than 650 studies were presented at the 2014 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium, which attracted a multidisciplinary group of more than 3,500 medical, surgical, and radiation oncologists and gastroenterologists. The following briefs highlight a handful of noteworthy studies from the meeting....
As neoadjuvant therapy for rectal cancer, infusional fluorouracil (5-FU) and oral capecitabine achieve similar outcomes, and the addition of oxaliplatin confers no additional benefit, according to the mature results of the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP) R-04 trial,...
Josep M. Llovet, MD, Professor of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, commented on the findings reported by Faivre et al for The ASCO Post. “This is the first time a TGF-β inhibitor has been clinically tested in hepatocellular carcinoma, and the drug has a good safety profile. But this is a ...
Promising efficacy in advanced hepatocellular carcinoma patients was reported for a novel transforming growth factor–beta receptor type 1 (TGF-β1) kinase inhibitor, LY2157299 monohydrate, at the 2014 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium in San Francisco.1 In particular, patients with moderate to...
Melanie B. Thomas, MD, Associate Director of Clinical Investigations and the Grace E. DeWolff Chair of Medical Oncology at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, commented on the findings by Martin et al for The ASCO Post. “I think this study is exciting,” she said. “They were...
Irinotecan drug-eluting beads (DEBIRI) given simultaneously with FOLFOX (leucovorin, fluorouracil, oxaliplatin) and bevacizumab (Avastin) in patients with unresectable colorectal liver metastasis improved response rates, increased resectability, and prolonged hepatic progression–free survival in a...
Central nervous system (CNS) metastasis is a pervasive problem in the setting of HER2-positive breast cancer. While some patients can be managed easily, others are challenging, said Eric P. Winer, MD, Chief of the Division of Women’s Cancers and the Thompson Senior Investigator for Breast Cancer...
The monoclonal antibody gemtuzumab ozogamicin (Mylotarg) improved event-free survival and reduced the risk of relapse in children with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in a study from the Children’s Oncology Group, presented at the 55th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting and Exposition ...
In patients with indolent B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) refractory to both rituximab (Rituxan) and an alkylating agent, monotherapy with the selective oral PI3K-delta inhibitor idelalisib produced a high response rate, with responses persisting for 1 year in the average patient, according to...
There may be an immunogenic phenotype in breast cancer that could benefit from immune modulation as part of treatment, according to results from studies that correlated high levels of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes with both pathologic complete responses and long-term outcomes. Studies presented at ...
Minimal residual disease after induction and consolidation for the treatment of acute leukemia might be eradicated by novel therapies, thus obviating the need for stem cell transplantation. That is the prediction of Matthew J. Wieduwilt, MD, PhD, Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine at the...
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...
Rebecca A. Miksad, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Physician-Investigator at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, who discussed the paper by Fine et al at the Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium, said, “the study reports that a range of neuroendocrine...
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,...
Avoiding Foods I don’t eat beans, I don’t eat onions. I’m kind of careful on greens because they just don’t digest well. I don’t eat as many salads. I couldn’t because they went right through. Behavioral Adjustments You learn, over the years, what you can and can’t do. And you can’t overeat....
The fight against colorectal cancer leaves many survivors with battle wounds, according to studies that show a high incidence of assorted morbidities that can affect quality of life. Clinicians, in fact, may be unaware of the struggles with bowel function that occur during survivorship, researchers ...
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...
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% ...
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 ...
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...
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...
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...
According to data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program, rates for new cases of thyroid cancer in the United States have been rising on average 6.4% each year over the past 10 years, and death rates have been rising on average 0.9% each year over the same period. The...
Preclinical models have suggested that cancer stem cells play a role in tumor recurrence and metastasis following adjuvant therapy, and Max S. Wicha, MD, and his research team are deciphering the mechanisms by which this might happen. A true understanding of cancer stem cells will have important...
"Double-hit” lymphomas remain challenging tumors, and the best means of treatment remains somewhat elusive, according to studies presented at the 2013 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting in New Orleans, and experts who commented on these findings. “We still don’t have a standard of...
Emerging effective treatment options for salvage therapy in Hodgkin lymphoma were described by Anas Younes, MD, Chief of the Lymphoma Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, at the 2014 Highlights of ASH in North America meeting in Miami. “This is an exciting time in Hodgkin...
More data have emerged that discount the potential for benefit with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitors in esophageal cancer. The latest comes from the RTOG 0436 randomized phase III trial in patients with nonoperable esophageal cancer, the results of which were presented at the 2014 ...
A recent article in The New England Journal of Medicine has provoked conversation about the management of smoldering multiple myeloma.1 At the recent National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Annual Conference, Kenneth C. Anderson, MD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, shared his thoughts ...
The term “novel agents” has been used for the past decade to describe proteasome inhibitors and immunomodulatory drugs that are now conventionally used for multiple myeloma. However, even newer agents in development will be considered truly novel when they hit the market, as they represent new...
Patients with cancer are extremely interested in discussing the cost of treatment, especially their share of the cost, but some oncologists are still hesitant to enter into these conversations, according to a study reported at the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) 2014 Conference.1 “We...
Most recent advances in the management of myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) are in the area of genetics, according to Steven Gore, MD, of Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven. “New genomics research is leading to a better understanding of MDS heterogeneity and disease biology, and may...
With regard to clinical practice guidelines, clinicians want an authoritative resource that will clearly and concisely instruct them in most clinical scenarios. Guideline developers want to give them this, “but producing guidelines is not as straightforward as it might seem,” according to David...
Oncologists and third-party payers are already experiencing changes as a result of the Affordable Care Act, which earned an “average” rating by a panel of providers, payers, and patients assembled at the 19th Annual Conference of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) in Hollywood,...
At the 19th Annual Conference of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN), lymphoma expert and NCCN Panel Chair on Lymphoma, Andrew D. Zelenetz, MD, PhD, fielded questions from oncologists. The ASCO Post was there to capture his recommendations for a common clinical scenario—treating the...
At the 19th Annual Conference of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN), held recently in Hollywood, Florida, NCCN Panel members presented updates for several tumor types, briefly summarized here. For a more complete description of all updates, visit www.nccn.org. Breast Cancer Guidelines ...
It’s the dawn of a new era in the treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), largely due to the development of agents targeting the BCR signaling pathway, according to John C. Byrd, MD, of The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, Columbus. At the 19th Annual Conference of the...
Attendees at this year’s annual conference of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) not only got up to date on the Guidelines but left with a better understanding of how children deal with a parent’s cancer, and how oncology providers can best help. Panelists for the NCCN roundtable...
The 19th Annual Conference of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN), recently held in Hollywood, Florida, featured a number of scientific posters by member organizations and meeting sponsors. The ASCO Post captured some of the most interesting findings for our readers, including these...
Radiation therapy is associated with significantly fewer postoperative complications than axillary lymph node dissection, according to a detailed analysis of morbidity from the AMAROS (After Mapping of the Axilla: Radiotherapy or Surgery?) trial presented at a press briefing prior to the American...
Cryoablation of breast tumors, which destroys lesions by exposing them to extremely low temperatures, shows promise as an alternative to surgery in carefully selected women with early-stage disease, according to a study presented at the American Society of Breast Surgeons Annual Meeting in Las...
In his commentary on the ALTTO results, George W. Sledge, Jr, MD, Professor of Medicine and Director of the Division of Oncology at Stanford University, reminded attendees that the announcement of the first results for adjuvant trastuzumab, which occurred at the 2005 ASCO Annual Meeting, was “a...
The highly anticipated results from the phase III ALTTO trial show no additional benefit for adding lapatinib (Tykerb) to trastuzumab (Herceptin) in the adjuvant treatment of HER2-positive breast cancer.1 The results were presented at the 2014 ASCO Annual Meeting’s Plenary Session by Martine J....
Data from the National Cancer Data Bank (2010–2011) suggest that 30% of patients with colorectal cancer who are eligible for adjuvant chemotherapy fail to receive it, but their odds increase by 30% when surgery is performed by laparoscopy, rather than laparotomy.1 “In this large national database...