Search Results
Your search for The A,The A matches 32343 pages
Showing 24451 - 24500FDA Approves New Treatment for Severe Neutropenia
The FDA recently approved Sicor Biotech’s tbo-filgrastim (Neutroval) to reduce the time certain patients receiving chemotherapy experience severe neutropenia. The new drug is a short-acting recombinant granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) agent. It is marketed as Tevagrastim in Europe,...
New Drug Application Submitted for Regorafenib to Treat GIST
Bayer HealthCare and Onyx Pharmaceuticals recently announced that Bayer HealthCare has submitted a New Drug Application (NDA) to the FDA for the oral multikinase inhibitor regorafenib for the treatment of metastatic and/or unresectable gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) in patients whose...
Childhood Radiation Increases Breast Cancer Risk
The risk of developing breast cancer after receiving radiotherapy to the chest as a child are as high as those for BRCA1/2 mutation carriers, according to review of 1,268 cancer survivors and 4,570 female first-degree relatives of participants in the Women’s Environmental Cancer and Radiation...
SIDEBAR: Trials’ Shortcomings Leave Role of Induction Chemotherapy Unclear
Given certain shortcomings of the DeCIDE and PARADIGM trials, the true role of induction chemotherapy in head and neck cancer is still not clear, said George R. Blumenschein, Jr, MD, Associate Professor at The Unviersity of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, at the Best of ASCO San Diego...
Pivotal Trials in Head and Neck Cancers Yield Mixed Results
The latest research in head and neck cancer reported at this year’s ASCO Annual Meeting presents a mixed picture, according to George R. Blumenschein, Jr, MD, Associate Professor at The Unviersity of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, who presented the data at the Best of ASCO San Diego...
Enzalutamide for Metastatic Castrate-resistant Prostate Cancer
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 August 31, enzalutamide (Xtandi) was approved for the ...
Hormonal Therapy with Enzalutamide Increases Survival in Castrate-resistant Prostate Cancer after Chemotherapy
The androgen receptor–signaling inhibitor enzalutamide (Xtandi) is reported to differ from conventional antiandrogen agents in that it inhibits androgen receptor nuclear translocation, DNA binding, and coactivator recruitment, has a greater affinity for the androgen receptor, and induces tumor...
Conquer Cancer Foundation Honors Oncology Professionals for High-quality Research in Breast Cancer
More than 15 leading young oncology professionals were honored this year by the Conquer Cancer Foundation of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) with 2012 Breast Cancer Symposium Merit Awards for their work in breast cancer research. These trainees submitted high-quality abstracts...
New ASCO Tobacco Cessation Practice Resources Will Offer Help for Providers as Well as Patients
It is well recognized that tobacco use increases the risk of several kinds of cancer. However, it is less well recognized that quitting tobacco remains important once an individual has been diagnosed with cancer, a common misconception held by oncologists and patients alike. Patients with cancer...
CancerLinQ Addressing Institute of Medicine Core Recommendations for ‘Learning Health System’
ASCO is applauding new Institute of Medicine (IOM) recommendations for establishing a “learning health system” in the United States, and is calling upon other medical specialties to join in achieving this vision of high-quality, high-value medical care. ASCO’s recently launched multiphased...
ASCO Achieves Highest Level of Accreditation for Continuing Medical Education Program
In July, ASCO was awarded “Accreditation with Commendation” (the highest level achievable) by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME). Fewer than 25% of continuing medical education (CME) providers carry the “Commendation” status distinction, which signifies an...
SIDEBAR: Trials Establish New Standard of Care for Anaplastic Oligodendroglioma
Long-term results of two cooperative group phase III trials have determined radiation therapy and chemotherapy is the new standard of care for newly diagnosed anaplastic oligodendroglioma with 1p19q loss,” commented Eric L. Chang, MD, of the USC Norris Cancer Hospital and Keck School of Medicine,...
Investigators’ Perseverance Pays Off in Treating Anaplastic Oligodendroglioma
The theme of this year’s key abstracts on central nervous system tumors is that “perseverance and analysis of long-term outcomes lead to practice-changing results and important insights,” according to Eric L. Chang, MD, of the USC Norris Cancer Hospital and Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, who ...
Bosutinib in Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia Patients with Resistance or Intolerance of Prior Therapy
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 September 4, 2012, bosutinib (Bosulif) was approved...
Kinase Inhibitors Compared in First-line Treatment of CML
Bosutinib (Bosulif) is an oral dual Src/Abl kinase inhibitor that is active against many Bcr-Abl mutations associated with imatinib (Gleevec) resistance and that has reduced activity against nonspecific molecular targets associated with toxicities reported for other second-generation kinase...
Pediatric Pathologist Sidney Farber, MD: The ‘Father of Modern Chemotherapy’ and Cofounder of the Jimmy Fund
In June 3, 1948, The New England Journal of Medicine published a study by Sidney Farber, MD, showing that a synthetic compound, 4-aminopteroylglutamic acid (aminopterin), could induce remissions in seriously ill children with acute leukemia.1 Although the study was small—just 16 children—10 showed...
Radiation to the Skin and Later Risk of Basal Cell Carcinoma Studied
The likelihood of developing basal cell carcinoma was approximately 40 times higher among participants of the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study (CCSS) who received a dose of 35 Gy or more to the skin from radiation therapy than survivors who were not treated with radiation, according to a study...
Cognitive Impairment in Patients with Cancer
Cancer therapy, including radiation and chemotherapy, can be harmful to multiple organ systems. The central nervous system (CNS) has generally been considered less vulnerable to the toxic effects of cancer therapy. However, the use of more aggressive treatment modalities combined with prolonged...
Neuropathy Not Predictive of Outcomes with Adjuvant Taxane Therapy in Breast Cancer
Neuropathy is a common and potentially disabling adverse effect of taxane therapy, particularly weekly paclitaxel. A number of recent studies have identified single nucleotide polymorphisms that appear to increase risk of grade 2 to 4 neuropathy in patients with breast cancer who receive taxanes....
In DCIS, Radiotherapy Benefits ‘Good Risk’ Patients
Radiation therapy will improve outcomes for patients with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), even if they are considered at low risk for recurrence, according to the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) 9804 trial.1 But the follow-up time is short, and the findings still leave some wiggle room,...
SIDEBAR: Treatment Decisions for Locally Advanced NSCLC Draw on 'Art of Medicine'
With treatment advances, there are now fewer absolutes in managing locally advanced NSCLC, according to Dr. Reckamp. “We are moving toward treating performance status 2 patients, and obviously, that is a heterogeneous group of people,” she elaborated. “For those who need a lot of care, you need to...
Progress, Slow but Sure, Seen for Current Lung Cancer Therapies
This year, we have some abstracts that help move things forward in lung cancer, maybe at a little bit slower pace than in previous years. But there are important points that we can learn from some of these abstracts,” commented Karen L. Reckamp, MD, of the City of Hope, who presented findings on...
SIDEBAR: From Small Centers to Academic Centers
The use of cytoreduction plus hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) to treat carcinomatosis “came from the smaller centers,” noted Nita Ahuja, MD, Director of the Peritoneal Surface Malignancies Program at Johns Hopkins Medicine. “A lot of things in medicine come from academia and move...
Successful Use of Cytoreduction and Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy May Hinge on Prior Experience
A review of 60 consecutive patients with peritoneal carcinomatosis who underwent cytoreductive surgery plus hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC)—sometimes called “hot chemotherapy”—found 0% mortality and 33% morbidity, with “a significant reduction of grade III/IV morbidity,...
Expert Point of View: Clifford A. Hudis, MD
Clifford A. Hudis, MD, of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, said that the findings of the US Oncology study should be “very reassuring” to physicians and patients. “Several recent publications and SEER (Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results) database analyses have reported...
Adjuvant Chemotherapy for Breast Cancer Not Linked to Acute Myeloid Leukemia and Myelodysplastic Syndromes
Contradicting what some previous investigations have found, a study from The US Oncology Network found that adjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer does not increase the risk of acute myeloid leukemia and myelodysplastic syndromes (AML/MDS), at least within the first 3 years of treatment.1 The...
Expert Point of View: Andrew D. Seidman, MD
Andrew D. Seidman, MD, of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, said the study “highlights the fact that despite hormone receptor positivity and HER2 negativity, many patients will have a high risk of recurrence despite receiving chemotherapy and appropriate endocrine therapy. This gene ...
21-gene Recurrence Score Predicts Outcomes of Node-positive, ER-positive Patients after Adjuvant Chemoendocrine Therapy
The 21-gene recurrence score (obtained with Oncotype DX) can help identify patients with estrogen receptor (ER)-positive, node-positive breast cancer who do not respond well to adjuvant chemoendocrine therapy, according to a retrospective analysis of the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel...
Novel Device May Eliminate Need for Re-excision after Lumpectomy
A novel device employed during breast surgery reduces the need for re-excision due to positive margins. This lessens patient anxiety, lowers treatment costs, and helps preserve the cosmetic appearance of the breast, according to a large prospective study reported at the 2012 Breast Cancer...
Expert Point of View: Stephen E. Jones, MD
In a debate about the benefit of anthracycline therapy at the Symposium, Stephen E. Jones, MD, of US Oncology Research, The Woodlands, Texas, advocated for greater use of non–anthracycline-containing regimens. Dr. Jones was the principal investigator of US Oncology Research Trial 9735,1 which found ...
Anthracycline Use Steadily Declining in Early Breast Cancer Population
Anthracycline use in early-stage breast cancer has been steadily declining, especially for patients with stage I/II or HER2-positive disease, according to an analysis of patients treated at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) School of Medicine.1 Treatment Alternatives Lead author...
Noncolorectal GI Cancer Evidence Incorporated into Guidelines
The noncolorectal gastrointestinal cancer studies selected for this year’s Best of ASCO meetings include some whose results are being folded into practice guidelines or are good candidates for incorporation, according to Alexandria T. Phan, MD, Associate Professor at The University of Texas MD...
Viral Infection and Liver Cancer: A Global Health Crisis
It is estimated that at least 15% of all cancers worldwide can be attributed to infectious etiologies, mostly viral infections. At this year’s ASCO Annual Meeting, an intriguing session on virally induced cancers provided critical clues that could be of real practical value in advancing our battle...
NCCN Appoints Dr. Robert Carlson as Chief Executive Officer
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) has appointed Robert W. Carlson, MD, a leading expert in the field of breast medical oncology, as Chief Executive Officer. “Dr. Carlson is highly regarded in the oncology community, and NCCN is extremely pleased to appoint him as CEO. Over the last...
Developments in Hematologic Cancers Include New Considerations in Treating Challenging Leukemias and Multiple Myelomas
Speakers at the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) 7th Annual Congress on Hematologic Malignancies reviewed the current standard of care for various hematologic cancers and explored new concepts in treatment. Below are highlights from presentations on chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML),...
Regorafenib Approved for Advanced Colorectal Cancer
The FDA recently approved regorafenib (Stivarga) to treat patients with metastatic colorectal cancer that has progressed after treatment. Regorafenib is a multikinase inhibitor that blocks several enzymes that promote cancer growth. The drug was reviewed under the FDA’s priority review program that ...
On Mentoring: Looking Back with Gratitude and Paying It Forward
Upon graduation from medical school, doctors are given a gift that lasts a lifetime—the gift of respect. That respect needs to be re-earned every day, but it is accompanied by other rewards that come with caring for people: the ability to gain another’s trust, to reverse illness that alters the...
Despite Progress, Chemotherapy Drug Shortages Still Vex the Oncology Community
During the first week of November 2011, President Obama signed an Executive Order directing the FDA to take steps to help resolve the drug shortages that were affecting patient care across the country. The oncology community was hit especially hard; many of the drug shortfalls were generic...
Breast Cancer Symposium Features Surgical Data, Updated Results from BOLERO-2, and Other Important News
The annual Breast Cancer Symposium, held September 13 to 15 in San Francisco, is jointly sponsored by ASCO, the American Society for Radiation Oncology, the American Society of Breast Disease, the American Society of Breast Surgeons, the National Consortium of Breast Cancers, and the Society of...
Patients with Lynch Syndrome Who Have Had Colorectal Cancer Are at Increased Risk of Other Cancers
Patients who have had colorectal cancer and who are carriers of the DNA mismatch repair gene mutations that cause Lynch syndrome “have an increased risk of a greater range of cancers than the recognized spectrum of Lynch syndrome cancers, including breast and prostate cancers,” according to a study ...
Short Interval between Initial and Contralateral Breast Cancer Increases Risk of Dying
Breast cancer survivors who develop contralateral breast cancer have an increased risk of dying from breast cancer throughout a follow-up period of 10 or more years, according to a study of a cohort of 42,670 women diagnosed with breast cancer in Sweden. “The added risk is considerable if the...
Pathologic Nodal Status and Tumor Response Can Predict Risk of Locoregional Recurrence
Pathologic nodal status/breast tumor response following neoadjuvant chemotherapy can be used to predict locoregional recurrence in women with operable, palpable breast cancer (T1-3, N0-1, M0) previously treated with mastectomy or lumpectomy plus radiotherapy. These results from the combined...
Feminist Author Babette Rosmond Helped Propel the Adoption of Patients’ Rights to Choose Their Cancer Treatment
Then writer and editor Babette Rosmond was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1971, the second wave of the Women’s Liberation Movement that began in the mid-1960s was in its infancy. Still, when told by her doctor that she would need a radical mastectomy—a procedure developed by William Stewart...
Daniel Von Hoff, MD, Recognized with Award as Research Leader in Pancreatic Cancer
Daniel Von Hoff, MD, Physician-In-Chief of the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) is the first recipient of the Lori Groetken Memorial Lecture and Award presented recently at Washington University in St. Louis. He delivered his lecture “A Relentless Molecular Pursuit Approach to Take...
SIDEBAR: Don’t Expect Direct Questions from Patients about Pain
Just asking patients “Is there something else you want to address in the visit,” rather than “Is there anything else you want to address in the visit today,” dramatically reduced patients’ unmet concerns during a primary care visit, according to a 2007 study.1 That learning can be applied to...
Pain Remains Prevalent among Oncology Outpatients, with Odds of Undertreatment Twice as High among Minority Patients
In 1994, a landmark study of pain among oncology outpatients prompted a host of pain management initiatives.1 More than 18 years later, a recent study among more than 2,000 cancer outpatients has found that “one-third of the patients who had pain or used analgesics received inadequate treatment for ...
Cancer Genome Atlas Network Reports Comprehensive Molecular Portraits of Breast Tumors
The Cancer Genome Atlas Network recently reported findings of analyses of primary breast cancers in a total of 825 patients using genomic DNA copy number arrays, DNA methylation, exome sequencing, mRNA arrays, microRNA sequencing, and reverse-phase protein arrays.1 Integration of information across ...
A Series of Medical Missteps
Since the beginning of my symptoms—occasional pain on the upper left side of my abdomen, accompanied at times by nausea—which started nearly 20 years ago, my condition, pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor, either remained undetected or was completely misdiagnosed until just recently. A series of...
Despite the Rhetoric, Cancer Care Costs Keep Skyrocketing: Is There a Solution?
Although health-care experts routinely agree that the rising costs of oncology services are untenable, there is disagreement about how to reduce expenditures without harming access and quality of care. At this year’s ASCO Annual Meeting, Thomas J. Smith, MD, FACP, offered some interesting ideas...
Socioeconomic Disparity in Colorectal Cancer Rates Attributed to Obesity and Behavioral Risks
More than one-third of the excess risk of invasive adenocarcinoma of the colon and rectum resulting from low socioeconomic status “could be explained by differences in exposure to behavioral risk factors, particularly a healthy diet,” researchers recently reported in the Journal of the National...
