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Showing 21101 - 21150Expert Point of View: Improved Survival with Chemotherapy Alone in Limited-stage Hodgkin Lymphoma
A criticism of the HD.6 trial is that current radiation techniques are probably less toxic than subtotal nodal radiation therapy, which was used in this investigation. Responding to this in an accompanying editorial in The New England Journal of Medicine,1 David J. Straus, MD, of the lymphoma...
Improved Survival with Chemotherapy Alone in Limited-stage Hodgkin Lymphoma
An important study suggests that radiotherapy may not be a necessary addition to chemotherapy in previously untreated patients with limited-stage Hodgkin lymphoma, sparing patients the risks of late radiation-induced cardiac effects and second cancers. These data were based on 12 years of follow-up ...
Vandetanib Demonstrates Therapeutic Efficacy in Patients with Advanced Medullary Thyroid Cancer
A phase III trial among patients with locally advanced or metastatic medullary thyroid cancer met its primary objective of progression-free survival prolongation among patients receiving vandetanib compared to placebo. The secondary efficacy endpoints of objective response rate, disease control...
High EGFR Expression Can Predict Survival Benefit from Cetuximab plus First-line Chemotherapy in NSCLC
High expression of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) can predict survival benefit from cetuximab (Erbitux) added to first-line chemotherapy in patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The identification of high EGFR expression as a tumor biomarker follows findings from the...
Risk of Sexual and Continence Problems No Lower with Robotic than with Open Surgery
Although robotic-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy “is eclipsing open radical prostatectomy among men with clinically localized prostate cancer,” the risks of problems with sexual functioning and continence are no lower with robotic than open surgery, according to a study in the Journal...
Overexpression of p16 Does Not Indicate Increased Risk of Breast Cancer in Women with Atypical Hyperplasia
Women diagnosed with atypical hyperplasia have a substantial risk of subsequent development of breast cancer, with a cumulative incidence of approximately 30% at 25 years. Atypical hyperplasia is considered to be a precursor to ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS). p16 (a nuclear protein encoded by the...
Oncologists Examine Promise vs Reality of Personalized Medicine
Personalized medicine: It’s a phrase that reverberates across all cancer meetings. “Matching the right drug to the right patient” will be accomplished, in the not too distant future, through genomic sequencing of the tumor and targeted, less toxic therapy. This much has been established—or has it?...
CancerConnect Offers Online Alternative Networking for Patients
Social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter are rapidly growing, giving patients with cancer a place to connect with others. But an alternative networking website claims to be a more comprehensive, responsible, “commercial-free” alternative. Over 10,000 patients with cancer have registered at ...
JAK2 and MPL Mutation Screening: What Are the Indications and How to Interpret the Results
The World Health Organization system organizes myeloid malignancies into five major categories, which are subsequently further subclassified using a combination of bone marrow morphology and cytogenetic/molecular information (Table 1).1 JAK2 and MPL mutations are not disease-specific and occur...
Surgical Oncology: Advances and Challenges in Breast Cancer Surgery
Mortality rates for breast cancer have declined steadily in the United States since 1990, resulting in an improvement in survival. Multiple factors have contributed to this positive trend, one of which is the combination of earlier detection and more sophisticated surgical techniques. The ASCO Post ...
FDA Approves Imatinib for Expanded Use in GIST
The FDA has granted imatinib mesylate (Gleevec) regular approval for use in adult patients following surgical removal of CD117-positive gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST). The new approval also highlights an increase in overall patient survival when the drug is taken for 36 months rather than...
Abiraterone: New Drug in the Treatment of Metastatic Castration-resistant Prostate Cancer
In the Clinic provides overviews of novel oncology agents, addressing indications, mechanisms, administration recommendations, safety profiles, and other essential information needed for the appropriate clinical use of these drugs. Indication Abiraterone acetate (Zytiga) (an oral agent that...
Laparoscopic Liver Resections Can Be Safe and Oncologically Efficient
Laparoscopic resection of primary and metastatic liver cancers can be safe and oncologically efficient and reduce postoperative length of stay, a single-center study from the United Kingdom found.1 The investigators cautioned, however, that “adequate patient selection and extensive experience in...
Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor Therapy Yields Complete Remission in Patients with Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma
Targeted therapies have markedly improved outcomes in patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma, with median overall survival of greater than 2 years having been observed with sunitinib (Sutent) treatment. Objective responses, consisting mostly of partial responses, are observed in approximately...
Cancer Survivors at Greater Risk for Cutaneous Melanoma
Patients with a previously diagnosed cancer have an increased risk of developing cutaneous melanoma, with the highest risk among patients who have had a prior diagnosis of melanoma, according to a report published in the Archives of Dermatology.1 Key Findings Using Surveillance, Epidemiology, and...
ASCO Membership Categories Offer a Place for Everyone
If your work touches those who have cancer, you have a place within ASCO. That’s the message that the organization, during its 48 years, has gotten across in many ways, not the least of which is its membership categories, which have expanded right along with the field of cancer care. “ASCO is...
QOPI® Certifies 100th Practice for Delivering High-quality Cancer Care
Less than 2 years since launching the first national program to help oncology practices deliver the highest quality of cancer care, ASCO and its affiliate, the Quality Oncology Practice Initiative (QOPI®) Certification Program, announced that more than 100 practices have achieved QOPI...
Epigenetic Therapy Shows Positive Results in Late-stage Lung Cancer
A small phase I/II clinical study from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore found that epigenetic therapy with a combination of azacitidine (Vidaza) and entinostat (an investigational agent) produced responses in some patients with refractory advanced non–small cell lung cancer. The study results, ...
Lung Cancer Advocates Seek to Raise Awareness (and Research Funding)
Although lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in the United States for both men and women—nearly 157,000 deaths from lung cancer occurred in 2011, according to the American Cancer Society—survey results from the Lung Cancer Research Foundation (LCRF) show that 60% of Americans are...
I Never Expected to Get Lung Cancer
When intermittent chest pains sent me to the emergency room nearly a decade ago, I worried that I was having some kind of cardiac event. The ER doctor wanted to make sure that I didn’t have a pulmonary embolism, so in addition to ordering a complete cardiac workup, she also ordered a chest x-ray to ...
Ablation of Small Primary Breast Tumors: The Next Step in Local Therapy?
Local treatment of breast cancer is trending toward less invasive procedures that achieve comparable outcomes to standard interventions. What will the next step along this continuum be? According to Michael S. Sabel, MD, a surgical oncologist at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer...
Is Gemtuzumab a Therapeutic Option in Older Patients with Acute Myeloid Leukemia?
Previous studies of gemtuzumab ozogamicin (Mylotarg) had variable results in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Before trials reported at the 2011 ASH Annual Meeting, two major studies had compared chemotherapy with or without gemtuzumab in patients with AML, said Martin Tallman, MD, Chief of the...
Is Gemtuzumab a Therapeutic Option in Older Patients with Acute Myeloid Leukemia?
A study presented at the Plenary Session of the 53rd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) breathes new life into an older drug for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) that is no longer available in the United States.1 Gemtuzumab ozogamicin (Mylotarg) appears to be a promising...
New Anti-CD20 Monoclonal Antibody Studied in B-cell Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma
The new anti-CD20 monocolonal antibody obinutuzumab is being studied in the treatment of patients with relapsed CD20-positive indolent B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma. GAUSS is the first clinical trial to compare obinutuzumab head-to-head against rituximab (Rituxan) induction therapy. “In this first...
Study Questions Use of Partial Breast Brachytherapy in Older Women
Partial breast brachytherapy is less effective and more toxic than whole-breast irradiation when used after lumpectomy, suggests an analysis of Medicare claims data. In the 2000–2007 study of more than 130,000 older women with breast cancer—the largest of its kind to date—the rate of mastectomy in...
AVEREL Trial Shows Benefit of Bevacizumab in HER2-positive Locally Recurrent or Metastatic Breast Cancer
In findings likely to intensify the debate about the role of bevacizumab (Avastin) in advanced breast cancer, the AVEREL trial concludes that adding this antiangiogenic antibody to standard therapy prolongs progression-free survival by about 3 months in women with HER2-positive locally recurrent...
Subcutaneous Bortezomib Approved
The FDA has approved a supplemental new drug application for bortezomib (Velcade), updating the label to include the subcutaneous administration in all indications approved for intravenous administration, ie, multiple myeloma and mantle cell lymphoma after at least one prior therapy. The approval...
FDA Completes Work on Three Drug User Fee Programs
The FDA recently completed its recommendations for three user fee programs that will help speed safe and effective drugs and lower-cost generic drug and biosimilar biologic products to patients, according to FDA Commissioner Margaret A. Hamburg, MD. The programs include the fifth authorization of...
Shared REMS Approved for all Transmucosal Immediate-release Fentanyl Products
The FDA has approved a new transmucosal immediate-release fentanyl Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) access program. The REMS is a single shared system for all transmucosal immediate-release fentanyl products. Among the goals of the REMS access program are to mitigate the risk of...
FDA Approves Vismodegib for Basal Cell Carcinoma
The FDA has approved vismodegib (Erivedge) to treat adult patients with basal cell carcinoma, the most common type of skin cancer. The drug is intended for use in patients with locally advanced basal cell cancer who are not candidates for surgery or radiation and for patients with metastatic...
Axitinib Receives FDA Approval in Advanced Renal Cell Carcinoma
The FDA has approved the kinase inhibitor axitinib (Inlyta) for the treatment of advanced renal cell carcinoma after failure of one prior systemic therapy. The approval is based on an international, randomized, open-label trial that enrolled 723 patients: 361 were assigned to receive axitinib at 5 ...
Cost of Care: A Multidisciplinary Responsibility
I read the interview with Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel (The ASCO Post, December 15, 2011) with much interest, as the health-care policy problems that America is currently experiencing have plagued other countries for some time. Despite proactive measures and attempts to amend those situations elsewhere,...
Drug Shortages Hit Oncology Hard: Experts Weigh in on Challenges and Solutions
Periodic drug shortages are an unavoidable reality in our complicated pharmaceutical supply chain; however, over the past several years, drug shortages have expanded to crisis levels, putting vulnerable patients at risk. In 2010, there were 178 drug shortages reported to the FDA, 132 of which were...
Maintenance Rituximab vs Retreatment Rituximab in Patients with Low–Tumor-Burden Follicular Lymphoma
For patients with low–tumor-burden follicular lymphoma treated upfront with rituximab (Rituxan), retreating upon disease progression was as effective as extended dosing, or maintenance therapy, in a randomized phase III study that compared the approaches.1 Given the excellent outcomes, lack of a...
New Immunomodulatory Drug Produces Impressive Phase II Results in Multiple Myeloma
Data on pomalidomide, the novel oral immunomodulatory drug for multiple myeloma, was a major highlight of the 2011 ASH Annual Meeting, according to Kenneth D. Anderson, MD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, who called the drug “very, very exciting.” Paul Richardson, MD, also of Dana-Farber...
Next-generation Proteasome Inhibitors Will Improve Outcomes in Bortezomib-refractory Myeloma Patients
The next-generation proteasome inhibitor carfilzomib is expected to gain FDA approval in the near future, offering a treatment option that may be as effective as and less neurotoxic than bortezomib (Velcade). Studies presented at the ASH Annual Meeting upheld benefits of the drug observed in...
Expert Point of View: Monoclonal Antibody Promising in Multiple Myeloma
With a wealth of new agents of various classes in the pipeline, “myeloma is going to become a chronic illness, with sustained complete responses achieved in a significant fraction of patients,” according to Kenneth C. Anderson, MD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, ...
Monoclonal Antibody Promising in Multiple Myeloma
Elotuzumab, a humanized IgG1 monoclonal antibody targeting human CS1, a cell-surface glycoprotein expressed on 95% of myeloma cells, elicited responses in 82% of relapsed/refractory myeloma patients in a phase II study reported at the ASH Annual Meeting.1 Objective response rates exceeded 90% in...
A Second Chance for Gemtuzumab in Acute Myeloid Leukemia
Gemtuzumab ozogamicin (Mylotarg) may have a second chance for regulatory acceptance, as studies presented at ASH 2011 demonstrated that gemtuzumab can be safely and effectively given by adjusting the dosing and treatment schedule. Gemtuzumab ozogamicin was approved for the treatment of acute...
Novel Agent Efficacious in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia
A novel inhibitor of B-cell receptor signaling produced high rates of remission and was well tolerated in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) who were refractory to at least two previous treatments, reported Susan O’Brien, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center,...
Three Novel Agents Show Promise in Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia
Susan O’Brien, MD, Professor in the Department of Leukemia at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, has a special interest in novel developments in the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). At the 2011 ASH Annual Meeting, she discussed her picks of top newsmakers in ...
Ponatinib Continues to Impress in Patients with Leukemia
Initial results from the PACE (Ponatinib Ph+ ALL and CML Evaluation) trial added to accumulating evidence that the tyrosine kinase inhibitor ponatinib should soon be considered for front-line treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). “Robust responses were observed in all patient cohorts,” said...
BELA Trial Reborn: Bosutinib Produces Improved Results in Chronic Myeloid Leukemia
The initial reports of the BELA trial (Bosutinib Efficacy and safety in chronic myeloid LeukemiA), presented at ASH 2010, were deflating. At 12-month follow-up, bosutinib failed to meet BELA’s primary endpoint. Things have since turned around, however, and results from the 24-month analysis...
Expert Point of View: Post-CHOP Radioimmunotherapy Comparable to Rituximab Given along with CHOP in Previously Untreated Follicular Lymphoma
SWOG S0016, which compared treatment with CHOP-R (cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, prednisone, plus rituximab [Rituxan]) and CHOP-RIT (CHOP plus tositumomab/iodine-131 tositumomab [Bexxar]) in patients with follicular lymphoma, was one of the most important studies at the 2011 ASH...
Post-CHOP Radioimmunotherapy Comparable to Rituximab Given along with CHOP in Previously Untreated Follicular Lymphoma
In patients with previously untreated follicular lymphoma, similar outcomes were achieved with CHOP-R (cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, prednisone, plus six doses of rituximab [Rituxan]) and CHOP-RIT (CHOP plus one dose of tositumomab/iodine-131 tositumomab [Bexxar]) in a phase III...
Expert Point of View: Everolimus plus Exemestane Significantly Prolongs Remission in BOLERO-2
Signaling of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) is required for estrogen-induced breast tumor cell proliferation, and hyperactivation of the mTOR pathway is observed in endocrine-resistant breast cancer cells. Clinically, this makes for a rational one-two punch in endocrine-resistant breast...
Everolimus plus Exemestane Significantly Prolongs Remission in BOLERO-2
Adding an inhibitor of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) to an aromatase inhibitor more than doubled the time to disease progression in patients with advanced, treatment-refractory breast cancer in the phase III BOLERO-2 trial, whose updated results were presented at the San Antonio Breast...
Expert Point of View #2: Can Molecular Profiling Identify ER-positive Patients Destined for Relapse?
Understanding the different relapse patterns within estrogen receptor (ER)-positive breast cancer is important for guiding treatment decisions, said Laura Esserman, MD, of the University of California, San Francisco, Medical Center. Women who fall into the two separate categories may have different ...
Expert Point of View: Can Molecular Profiling Identify ER-positive Patients Destined for Relapse?
Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) trials have demonstrated that recurrence patterns are different for estrogen receptor (ER)-positive vs ER-negative breast cancer. While ER-negative disease carries a high risk for early recurrence—peaking around year 1.5 from diagnosis—risk steadily...
Can Molecular Profiling Identify ER-positive Patients Destined for Relapse?
Estrogen receptor (ER)-positive breast cancer often recurs years after the initial diagnosis, and understanding the patterns of timing regarding relapse could identify patients needing more aggressive treatment. At the 2011 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, several investigative teams reported...
