A large retrospective cohort study by Potosky et al of 15,170 men with early-stage prostate cancer has found that patients who received androgen deprivation as their primary treatment instead of surgery or radiation did not live any longer than those who received no curative-intent treatment. Men...
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) has expanded its Survivorship Guidelines to include a section on cancer-associated cognitive impairment, and to include chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy as a component of the Adult Cancer Pain section. The inaugural guidelines for...
Findings from a report by Siegel et al of the American Cancer Society (ACS) show that the rate at which people are diagnosed with colorectal cancer in the United States has dropped by 30% in the last 10 years among people aged 50 years and older. The researchers say the decline in incidence is due...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Goldkorn et al assessed the prognostic value of circulating tumor cell counts in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer receiving standard first-line docetaxel plus prednisone with or without atrasentan in the SWOG S0421 trial. ...
Despite the benefits of surgery for early-stage pancreatic cancer, it remains underutilized for patients with this deadly disease, according to a new national analysis of trends and outcomes. Physician-scientists at University Hospitals (UH) Case Medical Center and Case Western Reserve University...
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) is recommending that newly diagnosed colorectal cancer patients be screened for Lynch syndrome, previously called hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer. The NCCN’s proactive position should greatly help identify individuals and their...
The overexpression of Hedgehog family proteins contributes to the development of many cancers. Research by Konitsiotis et al has found that blocking the function of the Hedgehog acyltransferase (Hhat) enzyme slows the growth and spread of pancreatic cancer. Targeting inhibition of the Hedgehog...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Microbiology Devices Panel of the Medical Devices Advisory Committee has recommended unanimously that the benefits of the cobas human papillomavirus (HPV) test outweigh the risks as a first-line primary screening tool to assess the risk of cervical cancer ...
The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) conducted a survey of U.S. oncologists between October 2012 and March 2013, evaluating satisfaction with work-life balance and career plans. The findings, reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Shanafelt et al, indicate that most are...
A phase I study by Wagle et al of a combination of everolimus and pazopanib in patients with advanced solid tumors has identified a patient with bladder cancer who had a 14-month complete response. The patient had two concurrent mutations in mTOR, the target of everolimus (Afinitor), which may have ...
In a phase I study published in PLOS ONE, treating patients with advanced melanoma and kidney cancer with an antibody that targets a tumor-enhancing protein was found to have an acceptable safety profile and showed preliminary evidence of antitumor activity. The findings by Morris et al shed light...
The first-ever comprehensive assessment of challenges facing the U.S. cancer care system suggests that patient access to cancer care will be threatened as growing demand for care outstrips the supply of oncologists, and as cost pressures force the closure of small physician practices that form the...
Computed tomography (CT) scans routinely taken to guide the treatment of pancreatic cancer may provide an important secondary benefit. According to new research published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation by Koay et al, the scans also reflect how well chemotherapy will penetrate the tumor,...
Seemingly healthy cells may in fact hide clues that lung cancer will later develop, according to a study led by researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. The research is published online in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Examination of gene expression in...
A new clinical study has found that erlotinib (Tarceva) has promising potential to improve treatment for cervical cancer. Published in Cancer, the findings by Nogueira-Rodrigues et al indicate that larger trials are warranted to determine whether the drug should become part of standard therapy for...
IDH1 mutation in patients with malignant astrocytomas may serve as a predictive molecular biomarker to guide aggressive surgical resection, according to the results of a study reported by Beiko et al in Neuro-Oncology. Maximal surgical resection may contribute a survival benefit in those who have...
Although elevated markers of bone turnover are associated with poor survival in castration-resistant prostate cancer, the association of these markers with outcome in the setting of bone-targeted therapy is uncertain. In a study reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Lara et al...
Many breast cancer survivors experience fatigue and other debilitating symptoms that persist months to years after their course of treatment has ended. Now researchers at the Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University have found clues that may explain how these symptoms can linger. Chemotherapy...
A novel approach to cancer immunotherapy may provide a new and cost-effective strategy against ovarian cancer and mesothelioma. In a study published in the Journal of Hematology & Oncology, Yuan et al reported that a fusion protein engineered to combine a molecule targeting a tumor-cell-surface ...
A study by Ong et al has found that people who had nonmelanoma skin cancer were at an increased risk for subsequently developing melanoma and a spectrum of 29 other cancer types. The risk was especially high among people who develop nonmelanoma skin cancer before the age of 25. The findings are...
In an open-label phase III trial (MITO-7) reported in The Lancet Oncology, Pignata et al found that while a lower-dose weekly carboplatin/paclitaxel regimen did not improve progression-free survival compared with standard every-3-week carboplatin/paclitaxel as first-line treatment of advanced...
Patients with terminal cancer who receive chemotherapy during the last months of their lives are less likely to die where they want and more likely to endure invasive medical procedures than those who do not receive chemotherapy, according to a study by Wright et al published in BMJ. The findings...
Immunotherapy for ovarian, breast, and colorectal cancer has so far had limited success, primarily because the immune system often can’t destroy the cancer cells. According to a report published in Oncotarget, researchers at Johns Hopkins have identified genes that have been repressed through ...
In a population-based cohort study (Adult Life after Childhood Cancer in Scandinavia, or ALiCCS) reported in The Lancet, Licht et al assessed the lifetime risk of endocrine disorders in Scandinavian long-term survivors of childhood cancer. They found a nearly fivefold increased risk of hospital...
Research by Viprey et al has found that the detection of neuroblastoma mRNAs in peripheral blood and bone marrow aspirates from children diagnosed with stage IV neuroblastoma are independent predictors of event-free survival and overall survival. Their findings could help identify children with...
Cervical cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in women in India, a nation where large-scale Pap smear screening is not feasible. As reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Shastri et al have performed a large cluster-randomized study of education and screening of Indian...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Larkin et al, interim results of a safety study designed to reflect the spectrum of patients encountered in routine practice suggest that vemurafenib (Zelboraf) has a safety profile in patients with BRAF V600–mutated metastatic melanoma similar to that...
A new study suggests that levels of bisphenola A (BPA) in men’s urine may be a marker of prostate cancer and that low levels of BPA exposure can cause cellular changes in both nonmalignant and malignant prostate cells. The research, published in PLOS ONE, provides the first evidence that...
For women with breast cancer undergoing radiation therapy, yoga offers unique benefits beyond fighting fatigue, according to a study by Chandwani et al published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. While simple stretching activities counteracted fatigue, patients who participated in yoga exercises ...
In a systematic review and individual patient meta-analysis reported in The Lancet, the NSCLC Meta-analysis Collaborative Group found that neoadjuvant therapy for non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) was associated with a significant 13% reduction in risk of death. Significant benefits in...
A molecule in cells that shuts down the expression of genes might be a promising target for new drugs designed to treat the most frequent and lethal form of brain cancer, according to a new study by Yan et al published in Cancer Research. The findings show that high levels of the enzyme PRMT5...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Dearnaley et al, the 10-year follow-up of the phase III open-label MRC RT01 trial showed continued benefit of escalated-dose vs control-dose conformal radiotherapy in biochemical progression-free survival in patients with prostate cancer but no overall survival ...
Researchers have identified a potential new gene mutation that may drive lung cancer development and growth. In a study in the Journal of Clinical Investigation by Imielinski et al, a patient with advanced lung cancer who was found to have the ARAF S214Csomatic gene mutation achieved nearly a...
A large population-based study by Landgren et al has found that African Americans are more likely to have a higher prevalence of monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS), a precursor to the development of multiple myeloma, compared with whites or Hispanics. The study is published...
Patients with the most common type of esophageal cancer are less likely to respond to chemotherapy when their tumors are high in a protein called leptin, according to a study by Bain et al published in the British Journal of Cancer. Study Details Researchers from the University of Aberdeen...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Maurer et al found that patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) treated with immunochemotherapy who achieve event-free survival at 24 months have overall survival that does not differ significantly from that in the general...
In a recent study published in Science Translational Medicine, Davila et al found that 88% of patients with relapsed or refractory B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) who were treated with genetically modified versions of their own immune cells achieved overall complete response. Most...
A multicenter study led by Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center has found that high-dose supplementation with both the trace element selenium and vitamin E may increase the risk of high-grade prostate cancer. This risk is dependent upon a man’s selenium status prior to taking the...
The findings of a large international prospective study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Finch et al suggest for the first time that women with BRCA1 mutations should have prophylactic oophorectomy by age 35, as waiting until a later age appears to increase the risk of ovarian...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Bhojwani et al from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital assessed clinical, pharmacokinetic, and genetic risk factors for methotrexate-related clinical neurotoxicity and asymptomatic leukoencephalopathy in children with acute...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Jagsi et al found that use of breast reconstruction in patients with breast cancer undergoing mastectomy has increased over time but varies according to a number of treatment and demographic characteristics. Study Details The study involved ...
A common compound known to fight lymphoma and skin conditions actually has a second method of action that makes it particularly deadly against certain aggressive breast tumors, according to a study reported by Xia et al in PLOS ONE. The compound, psoralen, is a natural component found in foods such ...
The St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital–Washington University Pediatric Cancer Genome Project has identified the most common genetic alteration ever reported in the brain tumor ependymoma and evidence that the alteration drives tumor development. The findings were published online in...
Patients with oropharyngeal cancer treated with combined chemotherapy and radiation therapy reported a decrease in their voice and speech quality for up to 1 year after the completion of treatment, according to research presented today at the 2014 Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancer Symposium....
Pancreatic cystic lesions are frequently detected radiologic incidentalomas, a considerable proportion of which are pancreatic cancer precursors. In a study reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Jabbar et al found that proteomic mucin profiling of cyst fluid was more accurate...
Using next-generation sequencing and the clinical data of patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, researchers found that combining mutant-allele tumor heterogeneity as a biomarker with patients’ human papillomavirus (HPV) status provides a reliable predictor of patient survival....
New research from the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center and Georgia Regents University has found that a protein that regulates an inflammatory pathway does not turn off in breast cancer, resulting in an increase in cancer stem cells. This finding may provide a potential target for...
Using whole-genome mRNA-expression profiling, researchers have identified three molecular subtypes of muscle-invasive bladder cancers that shared molecular features with basal and luminal breast cancers. The findings have important implications for prognostication, the future clinical development...
Researchers have identified a microRNA, miR-146a, that accelerates in the presence of BRAF and NRAS genetic mutations—which occur in 70% of melanoma cases—by activating the Notch signaling pathway. The finding could provide a new drug development target for patients with melanoma. The...
In a population-based study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Vaz-Luis et al assessed duration and toxicity of adjuvant trastuzumab (Herceptin) in older patients with early-stage breast cancer. They found that age and comorbidity affected treatment completion rates and that significant...