When given sequentially, two orally available experimental drugs—sapacitabine and seliciclib—worked together to elicit antitumor effects in patients with incurable BRCA-deficient cancers, according to phase I data presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2013, held in Washington, DC, April...
New results from a clinical trial conducted in Shanghai, China, indicate that adding cetuximab (Erbitux) to standard chemotherapy enables some patients with otherwise inoperable liver metastases due to colorectal cancer have their metastases surgically removed. Such surgery can be curative, and is...
Although previous research has linked alcohol consumption to an increased risk of developing breast cancer, a new study has found that drinking before and after diagnosis does not impact survival from the disease. In fact, a modest survival benefit was found in women who were moderate drinkers...
Black women with breast cancer had significantly worse survival compared with other racial and ethnic groups across cancer subtypes, which suggests that the survival differences are not solely attributable to the fact that black women are more frequently diagnosed with less treatable breast cancer...
Researchers using patients’ own immune cells in an immunotherapy approach called anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy achieved responses in children whose acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) had returned after a bone marrow transplant, according to preliminary results...
A novel two-step immunotherapy approach yielded clinically beneficial responses in patients with advanced ovarian cancer, including one patient who achieved complete remission, according to data from two phase I clinical trials presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2013, held in Washington, DC,...
For women with metastatic, HER2-positive breast cancer, the amount of HER2 on their tumor might determine how much they benefit from T-DMI—also now known as ado-trastuzumab emtansine (Kadcyla)—according to data from a subanalysis of the phase III clinical trial that led the FDA to...
A strong, stable federal investment in cancer research, prevention, and treatment is critical to continue the progress we are making for the more than 1.66 million Americans newly diagnosed with cancer every year. ASCO calls on Congress to renew its commitment to this life-sustaining research. As...
Pharmacyclics, Inc, announced today that the FDA has granted an additional Breakthrough Therapy Designation for the investigational oral agent ibrutinib as monotherapy for the treatment of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) or small lymphocytic lymphoma with deletion of the short arm...
The antibody-drug conjugate DMUC5754A, a novel member of a relatively new class of drugs, showed activity in women with ovarian cancer, even those with hard-to-treat, platinum-resistant disease, in a phase I trial presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2013, held in Washington, DC, April 6 to 10....
The emergence of molecular diagnostic testing in lung cancer offers new hope for patients battling the number 1 cancer killer in the United States and abroad. Now, for the first time after a decade of biomarker testing in lung cancer, a uniform approach for testing for the EGFR mutation and ALK...
The NeuroBlate Thermal Therapy System provides a new, safe, and minimally invasive procedure for treating recurrent glioblastoma, according to the first-in-human study of the system. The study, published online today in the Journal of Neurosurgery, was written by lead author Andrew Sloan, MD,...
For the first time, researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have isolated adult stem cells from human intestinal tissue. The accomplishment provides a much-needed resource for scientists eager to uncover the true mechanisms of human stem cell biology. It also enables them to ...
Taking a break from hormone-blocking prostate cancer treatments once the cancer seems to be stabilized is not equivalent to continuing therapy, a new large-scale international study finds. Previous smaller studies had indicated that intermittent androgen deprivation therapy might be just as good...
The antidepressant drug duloxetine (Cymbalta) helped relieve painful numbness and tingling feelings caused by chemotherapy in 59% of patients, a new study finds. This is the first clinical trial to find an effective treatment for this pain. Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy is a common...
A research team jointly led by scientists from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and the University of California, Los Angeles, has enhanced a device they developed to identify and “grab” circulating tumor cells (CTCs) that break away from cancers and enter the blood, often leading to the...
The Community Oncology Alliance (COA), in conjunction with the American Society of Clinical Oncology, International Oncology Network/AmerisourceBergen, and the US Oncology Network, issued a joint statement on the crippling effects of sequestration cuts to cancer drugs and services which began April ...
Poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors may be a novel treatment strategy for patients with cancer that has become resistant to the commonly used chemotherapy drug cisplatin, according to data from a preclinical study published in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for...
A team of international cancer researchers led by Mathieu Lupien, PhD, at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network, has identified the signaling pathway that is overactivated in estrogen receptor (ER)–positive breast cancer cells that are resistant to hormone therapies...
Researchers at Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) have found that a new formulation of a promising anticancer agent, the small chemical molecule FL118, is even more effective in controlling two types of cancer than a version reported in PLOS ONE 6 months earlier proved to be. Additional evidence...
Men with Lynch syndrome face a higher lifetime risk of developing prostate cancer and appear to develop the disease at an earlier age, according to a new study led by researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center. Results of the study appear online in the Journal of Clinical ...
Researchers at Mayo Clinic Cancer Center have identified new DNA sequences associated with breast cancer and ovarian cancer. The findings, which appear in three studies in the journals PLoS Genetics and Nature Genetics, will help reveal the underlying causes of these diseases and help researchers...
A new diagnostic test that uses a technique known as metabolomic analysis may be a safe and easy screening method that could improve the prognosis of patients with pancreatic cancer through earlier detection. Researchers examined the utility of metabolomic analysis as a diagnostic method for...
Physicians who care for lung cancer patients recognize the importance of tobacco cessation but often do not provide cessation assistance to their patients, according to a recent study published in the Journal of Thoracic Oncology. Survey Details An online survey was conducted in 2012 by the...
Researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center and colleagues at the University of Florida studied health-care providers to determine the factors associated with disparities in human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination among girls, ages 9 to 17, from low-income families. They found that physician vaccination...
The American Society of Clinical Oncology announced yesterday that it has completed a prototype of CancerLinQ™, the Society’s groundbreaking health information technology (HIT) initiative to achieve higher quality, higher value cancer care with better outcomes for patients. The...
The American Association for Cancer Research released its second Annual Report on Cancer Survivorship in the United States in advance of the AACR Annual Meeting 2013, which will be held in Washington, DC, April 6-10. The report, published in the AACR’s journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers ...
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego Moores Cancer Center have identified a humanized monoclonal antibody that targets and directly kills chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) cells. The findings, published in the online Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of...
New results from a large observational follow-up study conducted in Shanghai, China, indicate that women with lung cancer who consumed more soy food prior to their cancer diagnosis lived longer than those who consumed less soy. The study, published March 25 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology,...
A drug that indirectly impairs the function of several cancer-driving proteins, including anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK), may be an effective new treatment for patients with ALK-positive non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The drug, ganetespib, may also be effective for treating patients...
The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center Survivorship Program and its directors, K. Scott Baker, MD, and Karen Syrjala, PhD, have been selected to lead a nationwide study that aims to improve long-term health outcomes for cancer survivors between the ages of 18 and 39. Underway this spring, the...
Molecular driven therapeutic targets have resulted in a paradigm shift in the treatment of advanced lung adenocarcinoma. However, in early non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), surgical resection remains the treatment of choice with adjuvant chemotherapy. In a recent study published in the...
New research from the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center, published in the Journal of Surgical Research, may help clinicians determine which patients are at highest risk for postsurgical blood clots in the legs or lungs. A team led by Robert J. Canter, MD, Associate Professor of Surgery at UC...
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) held the NCCN 18th Annual Conference: Advancing the Standard of Cancer Care™, March 13-17, 2013, at The Westin Diplomat in Hollywood, Florida. The latest updates in clinical practice decision-making in cancer care were presented, including, but ...
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have shown that a new imaging dye, designed and developed at UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center, is an effective agent in detecting and mapping cancers that have reached the lymph nodes. The radioactive dye technetium Tc-99m...
A national survey of health professionals showed that drug shortages are taking a heavy toll on cancer patients, forcing treatment changes and delays that for some patients meant worse outcomes, more therapy-related complications, and higher costs. St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital...
Researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center and colleagues in Canada have published study results focused on black women younger than 50, a population disproportionately afflicted with and dying from early-onset breast cancer compared to their white counterparts. The research published in The...
Researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center have completed a phase II clinical trial to determine the safety and efficacy of dasatinib (Sprycel) for patients with higher-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), chronic myelomonocytic leukemia, or acute myeloid leukemia resulting from MDS and have failed ...
The overexpression or underexpression of a newly identified set of genes related to lipid metabolism may help physicians identify whether or not a woman is at risk for hormone receptor–positive or hormone receptor–negative breast cancer and to subsequently tailor prevention strategies...
Women with triple-negative breast cancer are more likely to have high levels of the MET biomarker in their tumors, making it a promising new target for cancer drugs according to research published in the British Journal of Cancer. High Levels of MET Expression Scientists from Austria and Greece...
Amgen has announced results from a phase III trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of talimogene laherparepvec for the treatment of unresected stage IIIB, IIIC, or IV melanoma compared to treatment with subcutaneous granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF). Talimogene...
Humans have between 20,000 and 25,000 genes that carry instructions for assembling the proteins that do the work of cells. Work led by St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital found that children who inherit certain variations in four particular genes are at much higher risk of developing acute...
Surgery offers better survival benefit for men with localized prostate cancer, according to a large observational study, conducted by a group of researchers in Sweden and the Netherlands. The study, “Comparative oncologic effectiveness of radical prostatectomy and radiotherapy in prostate...
New research published online in Clinical Chemistry, the journal of the American Association for Clinical Chemistry, shows that decreased levels of vitamin D may predispose smokers to developing tobacco-related cancer. This study illustrates that simple vitamin D blood tests and supplements have...
The United States Patent and Trademark Office today awarded St. Jude Children's Research Hospital U.S. patent number 8,399,645 for its invention of compositions for genetically modifying human immune cells so they can destroy some of the most common forms of cancer in children and adults. "This...
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) announced today the addition of two new NCCN Member Institutions: UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center in La Jolla, California, and the University of Colorado Cancer Center in Aurora, Colorado. "We are extremely pleased that UC San Diego Moores Cancer...
Samuel M. Silver, MD, PhD, of the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, has been elected Chairman of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Board of Directors. Dr. Silver was previously Vice Chairman of the Board and succeeds Thomas A. D'Amico, MD, of the Duke Cancer...
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) has issued its first ever NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines) for Survivorship. The new NCCN Guidelines were presented at the NCCN 18th Annual Conference: Advancing the Standard of Cancer Care by Panel Chair, Crystal S....
Patients who consume high-fat dairy products following breast cancer diagnosis increase their chances of dying from the disease years later, according to a study by Kaiser Permanente researchers. The study, published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, is the first to examine the...
The Community Oncology Alliance (COA) has announced the results of a national survey of oncology providers about the impact of the sequestration cuts to Medicare payments for cancer drugs and services effective April 1, 2013. The survey revealed that the planned sequestration cuts to cancer...