A steady 25-year decline has resulted in a 27% drop in the overall cancer death rate in the United States between 1991 and 2016. The data come from “Cancer Statistics, 2019,” the American Cancer Society’s annual report on cancer rates and trends. The report was published in CA: A...
In a California population–based cohort study reported in the Journal of Oncology Practice, Whitney et al found that 67% of hospitalizations in the year after cancer diagnosis were unplanned, with 67% of such hospitalizations originating in the emergency department. The study involved data...
Exposure to the sun, whether cumulative or intermittent, is a known risk factor for the development of nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSC). Past studies have found that greater body mass index (BMI) actually lessens the risk of women developing NMSCs. With this in mind, researchers sought to determine...
In a retrospective cohort study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Wolf et al found that patients undergoing Gamma Knife stereotactic radiosurgery for nonmalignant neurosurgical conditions did not appear to be at long-term increased risk of radiation-associated secondary intracranial malignancy or...
In a study reported in the Journal of Oncology Practice, Villano et al found that regionalization of retroperitoneal sarcoma surgery—recognized as a complex cancer surgery—to high-volume hospitals has been slower than that observed for similarly complex pancreatic cancer surgery over...
A new report commissioned by the National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD) and published by the IQVIA Institute demonstrates that the 7-year market exclusivity granted to drugs designated under the Orphan Drug Act of 1983 for rare diseases is working as intended. In nearly every case, orphan...
In a UK phase III trial (Myeloma XI) reported in The Lancet Oncology, Jackson et al found that lenalidomide maintenance was associated with improved progression-free survival but not overall survival among patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma with at least minimal response to induction...
Multiple recent reports have addressed the activity of programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) inhibitors, such as pembrolizumab and avelumab, in Merkel cell carcinoma. However, approximately half of all patients who receive these agents do not maintain a persistent response. In an...
MINIMALLY INVASIVE radical hysterectomy for women with early-stage cervical cancer has been associated with reduced rates of disease-free and overall survival in the phase III LACC randomized noninferiority trial comparing minimally invasive and open abdominal radical hysterectomy. The results...
THE COSTS to treat blood cancer are higher than the costs to treat other cancers, and the costs incurred by a patient diagnosed with a blood cancer do not return to precancer levels, according to a Milliman study commissioned by The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS). The study—The Cost Burden...
ON NOVEMBER 9, 2018, pembrolizumab (Keytruda) was granted accelerated approval for treatment of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma previously treated with sorafenib (Nexavar).1,2 Supporting Efficacy Data APPROVAL WAS BASED on durable responses in the phase II KEYNOTE-224 trial...
HERE IS AN UPDATE on six different studies featured at the 2018 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition. Topics focused on novel treatments for myelofibrosis, polycythemia vera and essential thrombocythemia, as well as systemic mastocytosis. Myelofibrosis ABSTRACT...
On November 2, 2018, lorlatinib (Lorbrena) was granted accelerated approval for the treatment of patients with ALK-positive metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose disease has progressed on crizotinib (Xalkori) and at least one other ALK inhibitor for metastatic disease or whose disease ...
Although most major cancer organizations agree on the guidelines for prostate cancer screening, there is still uneven application of the test, such as in the older patient population, resulting in overdiagnosis and waste in an already fiscally challenged health-care system. Researchers from the...
Overall survival (OS) was improved across all subgroups of patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who received atezolizumab (Tecentriq) compared with chemotherapy, including poor prognostic factors that were evaluated in an analysis of data from the OAK trial. Additionally, this...
As reported by Mamounas et al in The Lancet Oncology, the phase III NRG Oncology/NSABP B-42 trial has shown no disease-free survival benefit with 5 years of letrozole (Femara) vs placebo after 5 years of aromatase inhibitor–based therapy in women with hormone receptor–positive...
In the Clinic provides overviews of novel oncology agents, addressing indications, mechanisms of action, administration recommendations, safety profiles, and other essential information needed for the appropriate clinical use of these drugs. On November 26, 2018, larotrectinib (Vitrakvi) was...
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to pembrolizumab (Keytruda) for adult and pediatric patients with recurrent locally advanced or metastatic Merkel cell carcinoma. The FDA’s approval was based on Cancer Immunotherapy Trials Network protocol 9...
First-line immunotherapy with durvalumab (Imfinzi) or the combination of durvalumab and tremelimumab does not improve overall survival in unselected patients with lung cancer, according to late-breaking results from the MYSTIC trial presented by Rizvi et al at the European Society for Medical...
Patients with previously treated, advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who received pembrolizumab (Keytruda) showed significantly longer overall survival (OS) compared to those treated with docetaxel, Herbst et al reported at the ESMO Immuno-Oncology Congress 2018 in Geneva,...
In a noninferiority phase III trial (NRG Oncology RTOG 1016) reported in The Lancet, Gillison et al found that radiotherapy plus cetuximab (Erbitux) was associated with poorer overall survival vs radiotherapy plus cisplatin in patients with human papillomavirus (HPV)-positive oropharyngeal...
A program that provided individually tailored lifestyle recommendations for patients undergoing screening for colorectal cancer helped encourage healthy behavior, according to results published by Knudsen et al in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention. “It is well known that...
Women aged 75 years and older may benefit from continued screening mammograms because of the comparatively high incidence of breast cancer found in this age group, according to a study presented at the Annual Meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) (Abstract SSA01-04)....
In a UK trial (seAFOod Polyp Prevention) reported in The Lancet by Hull et al, no differences in adenoma prevention were found after treatment with omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), aspirin, both, or placebo in patients with high-risk findings on colonoscopy. On the...
ADDING ATEZOLIZUMAB (Tecentriq) to a fluoropyrimidine plus bevacizumab (Avastin) did not improve outcomes for patients with BRAF wild-type metastatic colorectal cancer enrolled in the umbrella MODUL trial.1 “Despite activity in other, immune-responsive tumor types, there was no improvement in...
AS FIRST-LINE treatment of advanced BRAF-mutant melanoma, pembrolizumab (Keytruda) added to dabrafenib (Tafinlar) and trametinib (Mekinist) produced a nonsignificant improvement in progression-free survival. It also increased the rate of grade 3 to 5 treatment-related adverse events in the phase II ...
Treatment with oxybutynin helped reduce the frequency and intensity of hot flashes for women who could not take hormone replacement therapy, including breast cancer survivors, according to the results of a trial presented at the 2018 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium by Leon-Ferre et al (Abstract ...
A smartphone application utilizing elements of artificial intelligence was associated with improved cancer pain outcomes and a significant reduction in pain-related hospital admissions, according to data presented at the 2018 Palliative and Supportive Care in Oncology Symposium.1 Results of the...
According to findings from the ADAM VTE trial, an oral drug, apixaban (Eliquis), is safe and effective in treating blood clots in patients undergoing cancer therapy. The drug was associated with fewer major bleeding events and fewer recurrent blood clots compared to low–molecular-weight. ...
The largest prospective trial of hydroxyurea for sickle cell anemia (SCA) has shown that this treatment—long the standard of care for treating SCA in developed countries—is feasible, accepted, well tolerated, and safe for children living in sub-Saharan Africa. Tshilolo et al reported...
Changes to the National Cancer Registration and Analysis Service (NCRAS) in England have allowed more accurate data analysis of primary and metastatic cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) since 2013. Developed by experts at Queen Mary University of London and Public Health England, and...
In the phase III De-ESCALaTE trial reported in The Lancet, Mehanna et al found no difference in severe toxicity with cisplatin vs cetuximab (Erbitux) plus radiotherapy in low-risk human papillomavirus (HPV)-positive oropharyngeal cancer. Cetuximab was associated with poorer recurrence and survival...
In a German phase II trial (RELAZA2) reported in The Lancet Oncology, Platzbecker et al found that minimal residual disease (MRD)–guided treatment with azacitidine was successful in preventing hematologic relapse in patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and acute myeloid leukemia...
As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Dimopoulos et al, the phase II ELOQUENT-3 trial has shown that the addition of elotuzumab (Empliciti) to pomalidomide (Pomalyst) and dexamethasone significantly prolonged progression-free survival in patients with relapsed and/or refractory...
In a report from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study cohort published in The Lancet Oncology, Gibson et al found that more recently treated survivors of childhood cancer had reduced risk of chronic health conditions compared to those diagnosed early in the study period. The study involved data...
In a study reported in JAMA Internal Medicine, Smith-Bindman et al found that the appearance of ovarian masses on ultrasonography was highly associated with risk of ovarian cancer in a large unselected population of women undergoing pelvic ultrasonography. Study Details The study was a nested...
In an international phase III trial (HR-NBL1/SIOPEN) reported in The Lancet Oncology, Ladenstein et al found that the addition of interleukin (IL)-2 to dinutuximab beta did not improve event-free survival in children and young people with high-risk neuroblastoma. Study Details The current report...
On November 26, 2018, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to larotrectinib (Vitrakvi) for adult and pediatric patients with solid tumors that have a neurotrophic receptor tyrosine kinase (NTRK) gene fusion without a known acquired resistance mutation, whose...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Douglas Adkins, MD, of Washington University School of Medicine, Division of Medical Oncology, and colleagues, the addition of the angiogenesis inhibitor pazopanib (Votrient) to cetuximab (Erbitux) in a phase Ib and expansion cohort study showed activity in...
ON NOVEMBER 9, 2018, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to pembrolizumab (Keytruda) for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma who have been previously treated with the kinase inhibitor sorafenib (Nexavar). KEYNOTE-224 APPROVAL WAS based on KEYNOTE-224, a...
Formed in 1991, the Rocky Mountain Oncology Society (RMOS), a Chapter Member of the Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC) and State Affiliate of ASCO, serves as the voice for Colorado’s multidisciplinary cancer care teams and the patients they serve. Representing the common interests of...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Vergote et al, a pooled analysis of individual patient data in long-term follow-ups of the phase III EORTC 55971 and CHORUS trials indicated that overall survival is similar with neoadjuvant therapy vs upfront debulking surgery in advanced tubo-ovarian cancer....
Telemedicine—the remote diagnosis and treatment of patients via telecommunications technology—has changed the way oncology care is delivered in rural parts of the world. Patients in rural areas are now able to connect remotely with their physicians without having to deal with the time, expense, and ...
In the United States and European countries, many oncologists are using cetuximab (Erbitux)/radiotherapy instead of cisplatin/radiotherapy in the treatment of human papillomavirus (HPV)-positive oropharyngeal cancer, based on the belief that cetuximab is equally effective with less toxicity than...
Androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) use was associated with a higher risk of heart failure in a study of patients with prostate cancer, according to findings published by Kao et al in The Journal of Clinical Pharmacology. Study Methods, Findings Study authors used data from the Taiwan...
Discussant of the 12-year report from the NRG/RTOG 9804 trial, Catherine C. Park, MD, FASTRO, Professor and Chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of California, San Francisco, underscored the high prevalence of ductal carcinoma in situ, which comprises approximately 20%...
In a German phase III noninferiority trial (XELAVIRI) reported by Modest et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, noninferiority of first-line sequential vs combination fluoropyrimidine, irinotecan, and bevacizumab (Avastin) was not demonstrated in metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC). Benefit of...
Radiation therapy after breast-conserving surgery reduced the already-low risk of recurrence by more than 70% in patients with defined “good-risk” breast cancer, according to a long-term clinical trial report presented at the 2018 Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology...
The rate of men dying from malignant melanoma has risen in populations around the world, whereas in some countries, mortality rates for the disease are steady or falling for women, according to research presented by Yang et al at the 2018 National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) Cancer Conference...
The costs to treat blood cancer are higher than costs for other cancers, and the costs incurred by a patient diagnosed with a blood cancer do not return to precancer levels, according to a Milliman study commissioned by The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS). The study—The...