A study published by Beyaz et al in Nature reveals how a high-fat diet makes the cells of the intestinal lining more likely to become cancerous. It joins a growing body of research that finds obesity and eating a high-fat, high-calorie diet are significant risk factors for many types of cancer....
A majority of people with advanced cancer want to hear findings from DNA sequencing and to learn how those results may affect their health and treatment options, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute scientists report. Their findings were reported by Gray et al in Genetics in Medicine. The discovery...
Three measures of aggressive end-of-life care “were associated with relatively large differences in family member–reported quality ratings for end-of-life care and a lower likelihood that patients with advanced-stage cancer received care congruent with their preferences,”...
In the UK phase III PICCOLO trial reported in JAMA Oncology, Seligmann et al found that high expression of either of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) ligands epiregulin or amphiregulin was associated with a progression-free survival benefit with panitumumab (Vectibix)/irinotecan vs...
A study in Cancer1 finding an increasing rate of colorectal cancer among patients under the age of 50 should serve to raise awareness about the need for testing among those with “red-flag” symptoms and earlier screening for those at high risk, the study’s corresponding author, Samantha Hendren, MD, ...
In clinical practice, Samantha Hendren, MD, MPH, has been “shocked by what a large proportion of patients we are seeing who are under 50 and presenting with colorectal cancer,” often with advanced disease due to delayed diagnosis. “And that is because patients and physicians don’t even think of...
MARCH 2016 Methods in Clinical Research Workshop for Minority PhysiciansMarch 17-20 • Fort Lauderdale, FloridaFor more information:https://www.roswellpark.edu/education/diversity-clinical-research-workshop The 16th Multidisciplinary Management of Cancers: A Case-Based ApproachMarch 18-20 • Napa,...
Stock your practice with Cancer.Net resources. Cancer.Net has a comprehensive guide to colorectal cancer at www.cancer.net/colorectal and a shorter, one-page colorectal cancer fact sheet. You will also find specialized resources for caregiving, survivorship, palliative care, and managing the cost...
Working with specialized oncology teams, a provincial agency in Manitoba, Canada, has developed standardized care plans and guidelines for cancer survivors that are implemented in a transition appointment.1 This appointment, which follows the end of active treatment, marks the transfer of medical...
A study published by Bradley et al in Medical Care showed that over a recent 10-year period, the rate of metastatic colorectal cancer patients older than age 75 receiving three or more treatments increased from 2% to 53%. During this period, 1-year treatment costs increased 32% to reach an...
In the phase III SIRFLOX trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, van Hazel et al found that adding selective internal radiation therapy with yttrium-90 resin microspheres to FOLFOX (fluorouracil, leucovorin, oxaliplatin) with or without bevacizumab (Avastin) did not improve any-site...
In a retrospective case-controlled study conducted in patients with colorectal cancer who had received primary tumor resection with or without preoperative radiofrequency ablation for liver metastases, the electrical procedure was found to induce antitumor immune responses in the...
In an analysis of the ACCENT (Adjuvant Colon Cancer Endpoints) database reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Cheung et al found that factors associated with early mortality in patients in trials of adjuvant systemic therapy included age, performance status, tumor grade, stage, and ratio of ...
A new report outlines substantial progress in reducing the mortality gap between blacks and whites for some cancers, while the gap has widened or remained level for two leading cancers: breast cancer in women and colorectal cancer in men. The findings are included in Cancer Statistics for African...
Solid-organ transplant recipients have a higher rate of cancer mortality than that expected in the general population, according to a Canadian study published in JAMA Oncology. Cancer mortality among transplant recipients “was significantly elevated compared with the Ontario population,” with a...
Patients diagnosed with stage I to III rectal cancer at a younger age are at increased risk of having positive lymph nodes, according to an analysis of data published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. “This finding merits further investigation and may ultimately impact treatment...
The use of dietary supplements by patients with cancer has increased significantly over the past 20 years despite insufficient evidence of safety and effectiveness. Finding reliable sources of information about dietary supplements can be daunting. Patients typically rely on family, friends, and...
In 2015, the Office of Hematology and Oncology Products (OHOP) approved 16 new molecular entities. The most notable were drug approvals in disease areas such as non–small cell lung cancer, colorectal cancer, breast cancer, melanoma, renal cancer, and diseases that are particularly difficult to...
The 2015–2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans1 have generated comments and controversy, with some organizations expressing concern that the guidelines did not recommend limiting the consumption of red and processed meat. These organizations include the American Institute for Cancer Research...
“A missed opportunity” is how Susan Higginbotham, PhD, RD, Vice President for Research, American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR), described the “failure” of updated dietary guidelines to recommend limiting consumption of red and processed meat. Doing so would have “the potential to save...
A retrospective review to evaluate the frequency of serum tumor marker testing “found a high rate of serum tumor marker testing overuse and extreme overuse in patients with advanced solid tumors,” Melissa K. Accordino, MD, of Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New...
As neoadjuvant treatment for locally advanced rectal cancer, a shorter course of radiation therapy followed by chemotherapy may be as good as, or better than, standard chemoradiotherapy, according to a study from the Polish Colorectal Study Group presented at the 2016 Gastrointestinal Cancers...
Although the results may not yet be as impressive as those seen in melanoma, lung, and kidney cancers, monoclonal antibodies targeting the programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) are producing responses, with some durability, in gastrointestinal cancers, according to studies presented at the 2016...
Annual screening with the fecal immunochemical test is highly sensitive for detecting colorectal cancer and “is feasible and effective for population-level colorectal cancer screening,” according to a large-scale retrospective cohort study assessing the fecal immunochemical...
According to new recommendations from the U.S. Multi-Society Task Force on Colorectal Cancer published by Kahi et al in Gastroenterology, postoperative colonoscopy is associated with improved overall survival for colorectal cancer patients. Therefore, it is critically important that colorectal...
Annual testing for blood in the stool using high-sensitivity guaiac fecal occult blood tests or fecal immunochemical tests is one of several recommended colorectal cancer screening strategies for adults 50 to 70 years old. However, although a positive finding requires a follow-up colonoscopy to...
James K.V. Willson, MD, Associate Dean of Oncology Programs and Professor and Director of the Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center at University of Texas (UT) Southwestern Medical Center, has been named Chief Scientific Officer of the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas...
FEBRUARY 10th AACR-JCA Joint Conference on Breakthroughs in Cancer Research: From Biology to TherapeuticsFebruary 16-20 • Maui, Hawaii For more information: www.aacr.org The Biomarker ConferenceFebruary 18-20 • San Diego, California For more information:...
In a study reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Dalerba et al found that absence of the transcription factor CDX2, although prognostic for poor outcome in stage II and III colon cancer vs cancers with CDX2 expression, identified a subgroup of high-risk patients who appeared to benefit...
In a Dutch trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Simone D. Hennink, MD, of Leiden University Medical Center in Leiden, the Netherlands, and colleagues found that a 6-year colonoscopic surveillance interval is sufficient for many individuals with familial colorectal cancer.1 However,...
Axel Grothey, MD, of the Mayo Clinic Cancer Center, discusses how the NCCN Guidelines can help oncologists make strategic choices of the various agents available to treat metastatic colorectal cancer, individualizing patient care.
Eric Van Cutsem, MD, PhD, of University Hospitals Gasthuisberg/Leuven, and Axel Grothey, MD, of the Mayo Clinic, discuss the Italian-led study on trastuzumab and lapatinib in HER2-amplified metastatic colorectal as well as other colorectal cancer findings discussed at ASCO (Abstract 3508).
Dung T. Le, MD, of Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins University, and Axel Grothey, MD, of the Mayo Clinic, discuss how mismatch repair status predicts clinical benefit of immune checkpoint blockade with pembrolizumab (Abstract LBA100).
Chloe Evelyn Atreya, MD, PhD, of the University of California, San Francisco, talks with Axel Grothey, MD, of the Mayo Clinic, about new data on trametinib, dabrafenib, and panitumumab in patients with the BRAF V600E mutation and vemurafenib plus irinotecan and cetuximab in BRAF-mutated metastatic...
John L. Marshall, MD, of Georgetown University, discusses how the cost of care affects behavior and decision-making on the part of patients and oncologists.
Martine Frouws, MD, PhD Candidate, of Leiden University Medical Centre discusses her study, which showed a significant increase in overall survival among patients with GI cancers who took aspirin compared to those who did not (Abstract 2306).
Michel Ducreux, MD, PhD, of the Institut Gustave Roussy, discusses the efficacy and safety in this study of nab-paclitaxel in patients with previously treated metastatic colorectal cancer (Abstract 2131).
Milena Sant, MD, of Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, discusses the question of whether Europe is doing better in cancer care since the 1990s (Abstract LBA1).
Leonard Gunderson, MD, of the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, discusses PET/CT imaging in upper and lower gastrointestinal cancers, which can be of value as a baseline study prior to treatment, in determining the degree of response to treatment, and in helping decide whether there is a relapse...
Heinz-Josef Lenz, MD, of the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses in German the findings of this phase II study of mFOLFOX6/bevacizumab vs FOLFIRI/bevacizumab with biomarker stratification in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (Abstract 493).
Heinz-Josef Lenz, MD, of the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses the findings of this phase II study of mFOLFOX6/bevacizumab vs FOLFIRI/bevacizumab with biomarker stratification in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (Abstract 493). To view the German language version of this...
Krzysztof Bujko, MD, of the Maria Skłodowska Curie Memorial Cancer Centre, discusses the results of a multicenter Polish study on neoadjuvant chemoradiation for fixed cT3 or cT4 rectal cancer (Abstract 489).
Daniel G. Haller, MD, of the Abramson Cancer Center, discusses emerging global approaches to these diseases, emphasizing the studies that allow physicians to individualize treatments.
Eric Francois, MD, of the Centre Antoine-Lacassagne, discusses in French the 5-year follow-up results from this phase III study of neoadjuvant treatment in rectal cancer (Abstract 490).
Eric Francois, MD, of the Centre Antoine-Lacassagne, discusses the 5-year follow-up results from this phase III study of neoadjuvant treatment in rectal cancer (Abstract 490). To view the French language version of this newsreel, click here.
Ten years ago, ASCO created the Journal of Oncology Practice to address a gap in the literature; there were no peer-reviewed journals dedicated to the practical issues of delivering quality oncology care. The original research and editorials published in JOP focus on care delivery topics such as...
In a phase II pilot study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Scott Kopetz, MD, PhD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, and colleagues found little clinical activity of vemurafenib (Zelboraf) in patients with metastatic BRAF-mutated colorectal cancer.1 The BRAF V600E...
JANUARY 2016 8th Annual T-Cell Lymphoma ForumJanuary 28-30 • San Francisco, CA For more information: www.tcellforum.com/ 3rd Annual University of Southern California Multidisciplinary Breast Cancer SymposiumJanuary 30 • Los Angeles, California For more information:...
In a population-based study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Suzanne P. Moore, PhD, of Charles Darwin University, Northern Territory, Australia, and colleagues compared cancer incidence in indigenous people in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the United States with the incidence in nonindigenous ...
The ASCO Post is pleased to introduce this special focus on the worldwide cancer burden, beginning in this issue with a close look at the cancer incidence and mortality rates in the United States. The aim of this special feature is to highlight the global cancer burden for various countries of the...