Recent advances in understanding the pathogenesis and altered signaling pathways in thyroid cancer are improving treatment options for this malignancy, especially for the subset of patients with medullary thyroid cancer and those with differentiated thyroid cancer that has metastasized, according...
“Young and Strong” is an exportable model of a program developed at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston to address the significant challenges facing young women with breast cancer. The new model has been designed to “serve young women with breast cancer who are...
Attendees from around the world gathered for the Multinational Association for Supportive Care in Cancer/International Society of Oral Oncology (MASCC/ISOO) International Symposium on Supportive Care in Cancer, held June 28–30 in New York. Below are highlights from the meeting, representing...
Agents with novel mechanisms of action may strongly impact outcomes in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL), if data from early-phase studies presented at this year’s ASCO Annual Meeting are any indication. There is a clear unmet need for more effective therapies...
The FDA has approved sodium picosulfate, magnesium oxide, and citric acid (Prepopik) to help cleanse the colon in adults preparing for colonoscopy, Ferring Pharmaceuticals announced. The new solution is a low-volume, dual-acting stimulant and osmotic laxative. The FDA approval is based on data from ...
The FDA has approved ziv-aflibercept (Zaltrap) for use in combination with a FOLFIRI (leucovorin, fluorouracil, irinotecan) chemotherapy regimen to treat adults with colorectal cancer. Ziv-aflibercept is an angiogenesis inhibitor that inhibits the blood supply to tumors. It is intended for patients ...
After a conference call and having returned several phone calls, I again opened my ASCO Medical Oncology Self Evaluation Program (SEP) book hoping to steal an hour to reread the chapter on multiple myeloma, and begin digging deeper into head and neck cancer. It was March 2011, and my Maintenance of ...
Population screening to identify preclinical disease is considered a central factor in the decades-long decrease in mortality seen in certain cancers. However, hope in the face of deadly disease can sometimes blind us to the scientific evidence. According to the recent U.S. Preventive Services Task ...
The value of routine CT surveillance monitoring of pediatric patients for recurrence of Hodgkin lymphoma has been unclear. A study of CT surveillance recently reported by Stephan D. Voss, MD, PhD, and colleagues from the Children’s Oncology Group (COG) in the Journal of Clinical Oncology showed...
In the News focuses on media reports that your patients may have questions about at their next visit. This continuing column will provide summaries of articles in the popular press that may prompt such questions, as well as comments from colleagues in the field. Psychosocial care needs are not...
Kidney transplant recipients with at least one previous cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma decreased their risk of developing new cutaneous squamous cell carcinomas by switching from calcineurin inhibitors (cyclosporine or tacrolimus) to sirolimus (Rapamune) in a multicenter phase III study. New...
An analysis of 4,554 patients who received adjuvant weekly paclitaxel and other taxane-based regimens in the E1199 trial “demonstrated that taxane-induced peripheral neuropathy does not correlate with improved outcomes in patients with operable breast cancer,” investigators reported in the Journal...
As if you didn’t already have enough to worry about, now add this: If your practice doesn’t meet the requirements of the Physicians Quality Reporting System (PQRS) and Electronic Prescribing (eRx) Incentive, you don’t just miss out on the bonuses the programs offered as incentive in recent years....
Adult patients with supratentorial low-grade glioma who received chemotherapy with PCV (procarbazine [Matulane], lomustine [CeeNu], and vincristine) in addition to radiation therapy had improved progression-free survival but not overall survival compared to patients receiving radiotherapy alone,...
From the moment I had a partial hysterectomy in 2010, I started having unexplained bouts of nausea. My surgeon and even my primary care physician chalked it up to everything from the difficult 6-hour surgery I had just had to anxiety over a move I’d recently made from Connecticut to North Carolina. ...
Nagi S. El Saghir, MD, FACP, Professor of Clinical Medicine and Hematology-Oncology at the American University of Beirut, is the founding President of the Lebanese Society of Medical Oncology (LSMO). Dr. El Saghir has focused much of his research on the early detection, prevention, and treatment of ...
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 In July 2012, carfilzomib (Kyprolis) was granted...
Ipsilateral neck–only radiation therapy “demonstrated excellent locoregional control with no adverse effect on disease-free survival or overall survival” among patients with cervical metastases from an unknown primary site, according to a retrospective review of medical records from 46 patients...
Margaret A. Tempero, MD, is a pioneer in pancreatic cancer treatment and research. She has long been a leader in the research and development of therapeutics for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, particularly in studying investigational antibody-based therapies, developing the fixed-dose-rate...
The FDA has approved vincristine sulfate liposome injection (Marqibo) to treat adults with Philadelphia chromosome–negative acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Administered once a week, liposomal vincristine is approved for patients whose leukemia has relapsed two or more times, or whose leukemia...
How human beings cope with bereavement, loss, extreme adversity, and life-threatening illness has dominated the research interests of George A. Bonanno, PhD, Professor of Clinical Psychology, Teachers College at Columbia University, New York, for more than 20 years. In his book, The Other Side of...
The ideal duration of adjuvant therapy for women with lower-risk primary breast cancer remains unknown. The National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP) B-15 trial, reported more than 20 years ago, found no difference in outcomes between six cycles of cyclophosphamide, methotrexate,...
Given my explanation and widely publicized opinion on the improper use of the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test for screening asymptomatic men for prostate cancer—most recently expressed in a feature article in The ASCO Post (August 15, 2012)—I was pleased to read that Drs. James Mohler and...
An article that appeared in the August 15 issue of The ASCO Post (“Rethinking the Role of PSA Screening in Public Health”) contains false statements about the discovery of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and its effectiveness as a test for early detection of prostate cancer. Contrary to what’s...
Patients with surgically unresectable metastatic colon cancer and an asymptomatic intact primary tumor can be spared initial noncurative resection of their intact primary tumor, National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP) C-10 trial investigators reported in the Journal of Clinical...
Escalating the dose of cetuximab (Erbitux) among patients with metastatic colorectal cancer who developed no or mild skin reactions on standard-dose cetuximab plus irinotecan “seemed to lead to an increase in response rate” as well as in the disease-control rate, according to a phase I/II study...
“Enzalutamide significantly prolonged the survival of men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer after chemotherapy” in an international phase III, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, investigators reported in The New England Journal of Medicine. Median overall survival, the...
I had been putting off getting a screening mammogram for a few years. When I finally made an appointment in March 2011 and was told that I needed a follow-up sonogram because the test had picked up a suspicious-looking mass in my right breast, I knew I was in trouble. A biopsy of the tumor showed...
There are three “unique considerations” for radiation exposure in children, according to Radiation Risks and Pediatric Computed Tomography (CT): A Guide for Health Care Providers, an educational leaflet for health-care providers that was developed by the NCI: Children are considerably more...
In the News focuses on media reports that your patients may have questions about at their next visit. This continuing column will provide summaries of articles in the popular press that may prompt such questions, as well as comments from colleagues in the field. Computed tomography scans with...
“Dying is at once a fact of life and a profound mystery.” That was the opening sentence of a 1997 Institute of Medicine report, Approaching Death: Improving Care at the End of Life, a much-needed jump-start in the national dialogue over identifying the barriers that impede the delivery of...
In August 2012, the antiangiogenic agent ziv-aflibercept (Zaltrap) was approved for use in combination with FOLFIRI (fluorouracil, leucovorin, irinotecan) for the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer resistant to or progressing after an oxaliplatin-containing regimen.1,2 Approval was based on...
The FDA has approved enzalutamide (Xtandi) to treat men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer that has spread or recurred, even with medical or surgical therapy to minimize testosterone. Approved for patients with prostate cancer previously treated with docetaxel, enzalutamide was...
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 In July 2012, cetuximab (Erbitux) was approved for use...
Janssen Research & Development, LLC, announced that the FDA has granted Priority Review to the supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) for abiraterone acetate (Zytiga) administered in combination with prednisone for the treatment of patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer ...
Leadership has been cited as a critical success factor in improving access to cancer care in low- and middle-income countries.1 Effective clinical leaders in these countries can be transformative by supporting the development of cancer treatments to meet the needs of their patients, by advocating...
For any nonprofit cancer organization, a key challenge is how to balance the enormous task of supporting cancer patients with the latest information about current treatments while helping to advance the search for new breakthroughs in therapeutic options. For the past 6 years, the Kidney Cancer...
Despite its exponential growth since launching in 2007—from 1,450 attendees then to a record 2,530 last year—the Genitourinary (GU) Cancers Symposium remains an inviting meeting that feels small, accessible, and comfortable. And that’s the perfect blend for networking, said Jeff Michalski, MD,...
No biomarkers are available to guide patient selection for treatment with the anti-VEGF monoclonal antibody bevacizumab (Avastin). Lambrechts and colleagues from VIB and KULeuven and University Hospital Gasthuisberg, Belgium, and F. Hoffmann-La Roche in Basel, Switzerland, have identified a locus...
BRCA1 germline mutations are associated with elevated risk of breast and ovarian cancers, and somatic loss of the wild-type BRCA1 allele has been thought to be a rate-limiting initiating step in tumor development. BRCA1-associated breast tumors acquire additional somatic alterations during...
Mochizuki and colleagues from Keio University in Tokyo, the Chemo-Sero-Therapeutic Research Institute in Kumamoto, and RIKEN in Saitama have shown that von Willebrand factor has proapoptotic effects and that a disintegrin and metalloproteinase 28 (ADAM28) promotes metastasis by cleaving and...
Several targeted drugs are approved for treatment of metastatic renal cell cancer, but no validated biomarkers are available for prediction of clinical outcome of treatment with these agents. In a recent study, Tran and colleagues from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston,...
Born in Watertown, Wisconsin, in 1900, Mary Woodard Lasker was introduced to the ravages of cancer when she was just 3 or 4 years old and went with her mother to visit the family’s laundress, Mrs. Belter, who had just undergone surgery for breast cancer. On the way over to Mrs. Belter’s home, Ms....
Lack of sleep is linked to more aggressive breast cancers, according to new findings published in the August issue of Breast Cancer Research and Treatment by physician-scientists from University Hospitals Case Medical Center’s Seidman Cancer Center and Case Comprehensive Cancer Center at Case...
Metronomic chemotherapy using a multidrug regimen appears beneficial and fairly well tolerated in patients with multiple myeloma that is highly refractory to previous treatments, investigators from the Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy in Little Rock, Arkansas, reported.1 Their results...
Dying patients with cancer who avoided hospitalizations and life-prolonging measures, who worried less, prayed or meditated, were visited by a pastor, and maintained a therapeutic alliance with their oncologist had the highest quality of life at the end of life, according to a study recently...
Breast cancer survivors who engage in moderate to high levels of physical activity have reduced mortality and improved quality of life, according to recent studies. In addition, exercise may play a role in lowering the risk of breast cancer. “Physical activity can hasten recovery from the immediate ...
Like female cancer survivors, men experience high rates of sexual dysfunction following a cancer diagnosis and treatment, especially for prostate cancer, with as many as 90% of men reporting erectile dysfunction after radical prostatectomy and nearly as many suffering with the problem following...
The FDA approved a new pediatric dosage form of everolimus (Afinitor Disperz) to treat the rare brain tumor called subependymal giant cell astrocytoma (SEGA). This is the first approved pediatric-specific dosage form developed for the treatment of a pediatric tumor. Afinitor Disperz is recommended...
The FDA has approved bosutinib (Bosulif) to treat chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). The drug is intended for patients with chronic, accelerated, or blast phase Philadelphia chromosome–positive CML who are resistant to or who cannot tolerate other therapies, including imatinib (Gleevec). The...