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Showing 2501 - 2550Will Funding for Lung Cancer Ever Improve?
Lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer-related death in the world. In the United States alone, an estimated 228,190 new cases of lung cancer and 159,480 deaths from lung cancer will occur in 2013. These are alarming statistics when compared to the next four common causes of cancer-related...
Access to and Appropriate Use of Oncology Drugs Called Into Question by ASCO Studies
Studies presented at this year’s ASCO Annual Meeting suggest that despite the wealth of amazing oncolytics on the market, drug shortages persist, drug substitutions are common, off-label use of drugs occurs frequently, and patients find their costs burdensome. Drug Shortage Persists The shortage of ...
Tackling Overdiagnosis and Overtreatment, by Words and by Deeds
The complexity of the pathologic condition called cancer,” according to a Viewpoint article in the Journal of the American Medical Association,1 “complicates the goal of early diagnosis.” Failure to recognize that cancers are heterogeneous, and that not all progress to metastases and death, can...
Prominent Surgeon and Teacher LaSalle D. Leffall, Jr, MD, Promotes Hard Work and Education to Overcome Boundaries
Reminiscing about his 65 years in medicine, LaSalle Doheny Leffall, Jr, MD, FACS, cites three events in his early childhood that would ultimately lead him to his position today as the Charles R. Drew Professor of Surgery at Howard University College of Medicine in Washington, DC. First, he was...
The Direction of Immunotherapy Over the Next Decade
The use of immunotherapy to target malignant cells in a variety of cancers—especially the PD-1 inhibitors lambrolizumab and nivolumab in the treatment of metastatic melanoma and the anti–PD-L1 agent MPDL3280A in the treatment of melanoma and lung, kidney, colorectal, and gastric cancers—made...
Felice Schnoll-Sussman, MD, Named Director of Jay Monahan Center for Gastrointestinal Health at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell
NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center has appointed Felice Schnoll-Sussman, MD, Director of its Jay Monahan Center for Gastrointestinal Health. Dr. Schnoll-Sussman, has served as the Center’s Director of Research since 2007 and Acting Director since 2012. As Director, Dr....
Alcohol Consumption Between Menarche and Pregnancy and Breast Cancer Risk: Factors in Risk Accumulation
In a study recently published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute and summarized in this issue of The ASCO Post, we found a relationship between alcohol intake between menarche and first pregnancy and risk for breast cancer. Placing this study in context can help us interpret the data...
Important Findings in Metastatic Colorectal Cancer Studies Address Treatment, Management Options
At the Best of ASCO Meeting in Los Angeles, Tony Reid, MD, PhD, Director of the Early Phase Clinical Research Program and Professor of Hematology/Oncology at the University of California, San Diego, reviewed important findings in metastatic colorectal cancer presented at the 2013 ASCO Annual...
FDA Approves First Generic Capecitabine to Treat Colorectal and Breast Cancers
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the first generic version of capecitabine (Xeloda), an oral chemotherapy agent used in the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer and breast cancers. Teva Pharmaceuticals USA has gained FDA approval to market generic capecitabine in 150...
Inequality in Delivery of Palliative Radiotherapy Among Black Patients With Cancer and Elderly With Comorbidities
An analysis of data from more than 51,000 patients with stage IV cancer shows “significant inequality” in the delivery of palliative radiotherapy among the elderly, patients with comorbidity, and black patients with prostate and colorectal cancer, reported James D. Murphy, MD, MS, and colleagues...
SIDEBAR: 2013 New Drug/Indication Approvals*
1. September 30, 2013: Pertuzumab (Perjeta) Accelerated approval in combination with trastuzumab and docetaxel for the neoadjuvant treatment of HER2-positive, locally advanced, inflammatory, or early-stage breast cancer. 2. September 6, 2013: Paclitaxel protein-bound particles (albumin-bound)...
ASCO President-Elect Candidate Lynn M. Schuchter, MD, FASCO
Cost of Care and Federal Funding How can ASCO address the high cost of cancer care and diminishing federal resources for basic and translational research? In answer to the first part of this question, the rising cost of cancer care has certainly become a focus of national conversation given the...
The AVEX Trial
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Cunningham and colleagues and reviewed in this issue of The ASCO Post, the AVEX trial was an open-label randomized phase III trial limited to patients over the age of 70 years with previously untreated, unresectable metastatic colorectal cancer who were not...
Bevacizumab/Capecitabine Improves Progression-Free Survival in Older Patients With Treatment-Naive Metastatic Colorectal Cancer
Elderly patients are often underrepresented in clinical trials of metastatic colorectal cancer. In the phase III AVEX trial reported in The Lancet Oncology,1 David Cunningham, MD, of Royal Marsden Hospital in London and colleagues assessed the addition of bevacizumab (Avastin) to capecitabine in...
Panitumumab vs Cetuximab in Chemorefractory Colorectal Cancer: Survival Benefits Comparable
For the treatment of wild-type KRAS metastatic colorectal cancer in previously treated patients, a head-to-head comparison of the two antibodies—cetuximab (Erbitux) and panitumumab (Vectibix)—that target the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) concluded that they convey similar overall survival ...
Expert Point of View: Alberto Sobrero, MD
Alberto Sobrero, MD, who discussed the VICTOR trial at the European Cancer Congress, said that at this point, adjuvant trials may be unethical, if the findings of multiple observational studies are to be trusted. Apparently, Dr. Sobrero is a believer: He introduced his remarks at the ECC session by ...
Aspirin Protects Against Colorectal Cancer Recurrence in PIK3CA-Mutant Tumors
At the 2013 European Cancer Congress, two investigative teams attempted to explain how aspirin may protect against colorectal cancer recurrences, with one study showing PIK3CA mutations associated with protection from aspirin, but not a COX-2 inhibitor, and the other study implicating HLA class I...
'Clear and Consistent Protective Effect of Marriage' Found in Patients With 10 Most Clinically Significant Cancers
A clear and consistent protective effect of marriage among patients harboring one of the 10 most clinically significant malignancies affecting Americans” was found in a study analyzing Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEE) data for 734,889 patients diagnosed with lung, colorectal,...
Omega-3
Common Name: Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) Brand Names: Omegaven, Max-EPA The use of dietary supplements by patients with cancer has increased significantly over the past 2 decades despite insufficient evidence of safety and effectiveness. Finding reliable sources of information about...
New Recommendations on HER2 Testing and Colorectal Cancer Follow-up Care
The latest additions to Cancer.Net’s patient-friendly versions of ASCO’s Clinical Practice Guidelines include guidance on HER2 testing, as well as an endorsement of colorectal cancer follow-up care recommendations from Cancer Care Ontario. ASCO Care and Treatment Recommendations (formerly called...
Finasteride for Prostate Cancer Prevention: Long-Term Results Disappointing but Reassuring
All medical care should seek to achieve one or more of three goals: to relieve suffering, to prevent future suffering, or to prolong life. Care for cancer is no exception, and minimizing suffering from cancer and prolonging life has primarily resulted from advances in treatment. Although there are...
Long-Term Colorectal Cancer Incidence and Mortality After Lower Endoscopy
Colonoscopy and sigmoidoscopy have been shown to provide protection against colorectal cancer, but the magnitude and duration of protection, particularly against proximal colon cancer, remain undefined. A study of long-term colorectal cancer incidence and mortality after lower endoscopy reported in ...
In Mismatch Repair–Deficient Colon Cancer, Side Matters
In general, we have come to think of mismatch repair–deficient colon cancer as having a more favorable prognosis, being less likely to metastasize to regional nodes or distant sites, and being resistant to fluoropyrimidines. Much of our data, however, come from trials combining stage II and III...
Impact of Deficient DNA Mismatch Repair on Disease-Free Survival in Stage III Colon Cancer
In an analysis reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Frank A. Sinicrope, MD, of the Mayo Clinic and North Central Cancer Treatment Group (NCCTG), and colleagues investigated the association of deficient DNA mismatch repair with prognosis in patients with stage III colon cancer treated with...
Cediranib Achieves 'Groundbreaking' Results in Relapsed Ovarian Cancer
The investigational oral vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) inhibitor cediranib extended progression-free survival when given with platinum-based chemotherapy and improved overall survival when given as maintenance therapy in patients with recurrent ovarian cancer. Experts are hopeful that...
One in Three American Adults Do Not Comply With Screening Guidelines for Colorectal Cancer
The percentage of American adults aged 50 to 75 who are up-to-date with recommended screening for colorectal cancer “increased from 54% in 2002 to 65% in 2010, primarily driven by increased use of colonoscopy,” according to data from the 2012 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey....
With Genetic Discoveries, Breast Cancer Complexity Grows
Oncologists are getting a handle on BRCA1/2 in breast cancer, becoming more adept at treating and counseling patients with these mutations. But the BRCA mutation is only one example of a host of genetic variations that can increase breast cancer risk, according to James M. Ford, MD, Associate...
Two Studies Highlight Communication Challenges Facing Medical Oncology
In one study presented at ASCO’s second annual Quality Care Symposium in San Diego, patients receiving chemotherapy with palliative care intent were at high risk of side-effect–related hospitalization, which defeats the clinical purpose and adds preventable costs to health care.1 “There is an...
Cetuximab Confers Survival Benefit in All-RAS Wild-Type Colorectal Tumors
The FIRE-3 study compared the two epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) antibodies, on top of chemotherapy, in the first-line treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer. A preplanned analysis of KRAS wild-type patients without RAS mutations, ie, “all-RAS wild-type,” showed overall survival to be...
Time to Think Beyond KRAS in Metastatic Colorectal Cancer
Eric Van Cutsem, MD, PhD, Professor of Internal Medicine at the University of Leuven in Belgium, told attendees at the 2013 European Cancer Congress that in the management of metastatic colorectal cancer, it is time to expand KRAS testing to include more rare mutations. Until recently, KRAS status...
Expert Point of View: Eric Van Cutsem, MD, PhD
Eric Van Cutsem, MD, PhD, Professor of Internal Medicine at the University of Leuven in Belgium, the formal discussant of the late-breaking abstract, noted there is strong rationale for studying TP53 status in relation to rectal cancer outcomes, but he felt the findings of EXPERT-C could not yet be ...
TP53 Status May Predict Benefit From Cetuximab in Locally Advanced Rectal Cancer
In a retrospective analysis of the randomized phase II EXPERT-C trial, TP53 emerged as a strong, independent predictive biomarker for the benefit of cetuximab (Eribitux) in MRI-defined high-risk, locally advanced rectal cancer, according to Francesco Sclafani, MD, of The Royal Marsden NHS...
In Operable Rectal Cancer, No Support Found for Adjuvant Chemotherapy
For patients with operable rectal cancer, there is no clear role for adjuvant chemotherapy, according to an analysis of the PROCTOR and SCRIPT trials from the Dutch Colorectal Cancer Group. The findings were presented by Anne J. Breugom, MD, of Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands,...
SIDEBAR: FDA Drug Approvals, 2013
Ibrutinib (Imbruvica) for mantle cell lymphoma Obinutuzumab (Gazyva) for chronic lymphocytic leukemia Pertuzumab (Perjeta) for breast cancer Paclitaxel protein-bound particles (Abraxane) for pancreatic adenocarcinoma Afatinib (Gilotrif) for non-small cell lung cancer, with Therascreen EGFR...
Innovative Payment Models Needed to Sustain Quality Cancer Care
Nationally regarded health-care expert Lee N. Newcomer, MD, MHA, began his presentation at this year’s ASCO Quality Care Symposium with a rhetorical question. “Why are we talking about money when we’re gathered in San Diego for 2 days to discuss some wonderful ways to impact the quality of cancer...
Perception of Bias
I am a veteran member of ASCO (> 33 years) and a regular reader of The ASCO Post Evening News, which usually provides very interesting information. A recent issue contained an article about a review presented by Tony Reid, MD, PhD, at a Best of ASCO meeting on “Important Findings in Metastatic...
Clinical Cancer Advances 2013: ASCO's Annual Report on Progress Against Cancer
The Society has recently published Clinical Cancer Advances 2013: ASCO’s Annual Report on Progress Against Cancer, a comprehensive review of progress in clinical cancer research that has come to fruition in 2013. The report highlights advances across the entire continuum of cancer care, from...
Expert Point of View: Howard Hochster, MD
Addressing a presentation by Scott Kopetz, MD, PhD, at the 2013 Chemotherapy Foundation, Howard Hochster, MD, Yale University Cancer Center, New Haven, Connecticut, said he agrees with Dr. Kopetz about the need for expanded RAS testing. “Now we have two studies suggesting that tumors with all the...
Call for Expanded Genetic Profiling in Colorectal Cancer
Testing for codons 12 and 13 on the KRAS gene and BRAF testing can predict whether patients with colorectal cancer will respond to anti–epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) therapies. However, genetic alterations not captured by testing for KRAS codon 12 and 13 mutations may play an important...
Cancer.Net Launches New Brand of Printed Materials With Four Guides to Cancer
During the second half of 2013, four new guides to cancer, known collectively as the ASCO Answers Guides to Cancer, were released on Cancer.Net, ASCO’s patient information website. The guides to breast, prostate, lung, and colorectal cancer were completely redesigned and reimagined to help newly...
Ongoing NCI-Funded Clinical Trials Actively Recruiting Patients With Advanced Cancer
This issue of The ASCO Post launches a Clinical Trials Resource Guide to increase awareness of NCI-funded phase I, II, and III clinical studies for your patients with advanced cancer. All of the studies are listed on the National Institutes of Health website at ClinicalTrials.gov. The clinical...
Overall Survival Improved by Adding Panitumumab to FOLFOX4 but Only in Metastatic Colorectal Cancer Without RAS Mutation
Patients with metastatic colorectal cancer that harbors KRAS mutations in exon 2 and patients with other activating RAS mutations do not benefit from anti–epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) therapy and may in fact be harmed by it. In an analysis reported in The New England Journal of Medicine ...
Study Explores Protective Effect of Aspirin Against Colorectal Cancer
It has been posited that aspirin treatment may reduce risk for colorectal cancer through inhibition of WNT/cadherin-associated protein β1 (CTNNB1, or β-catenin) signaling. In a study reported recently in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Nan et al investigated the potential role of the...
International Society of Geriatric Oncology Meeting Explores Multidisciplinary, Tailored Treatment of Older Patients With Cancer
The annual meeting of the International Society of Geriatric Oncology (SIOG, www.siog.org) was held in Copenhagen from October 24 to 26. The theme of the meeting was the “Multidisciplinary Approach Towards Personalized Treatments.” The Society, which was founded in 2000, is a multidisciplinary...
Anastrozole Halves Risk of First Breast Cancer in High-Risk Postmenopausal Women
Five years of treatment with anastrozole reduced the risk of breast cancer by 53% in postmenopausal women at high risk for developing the disease, according to an analysis of the International Breast Cancer Intervention Study (IBIS)-II trial. Anastrozole reduced the risk of estrogen...
Surgeon General’s New Report Attributes Smoking as Cause of Death in More Than 20 Million Americans Over Past 50 Years
According to a new Surgeon General’s report issued last month, more than 20 million Americans have died from smoking over the past 50 years. The new report concludes that cigarette smoking kills nearly half a million Americans a year, with an additional 16 million suffering from smoking-related...
Cancer Genes, Promiscuity, and the National Debt
There is no doubt that this is a halcyon period in oncology. The unraveling of the genome has been tremendously important, and finally has helped us to move treatment selection from an era of rational empiricism to one of refined, molecular prognostication. In the care of breast cancer, the impact...
High Plasma Alkylresorcinols Associated With Reduced Risk of Distal Colon but Not Overall Colorectal Cancer
In a study reported in Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Kyrø and colleagues found that high levels of plasma alkylresorcinols, biomarkers of dietary whole-grain wheat and rye intake, were associated with reduced risk of distal colon cancer. The study involved prediagnostic plasma samples...
Nothing Prepared Me for Cancer
Fourteen years ago, when I was just 29, I was feeling weak and fatigued and had severe pain in my abdomen. I’d had these symptoms for about a year, but none of the several doctors I saw or any of the tests they performed could find the source of my problems. I even had one nurse practitioner tell...
2014 Oncology Meetings
FEBRUARY European Society for Medical Oncology Sarcoma and GIST 2014February 18-19 • Milan, ItalyFor more information: www.esmo.org 2014 BMT Tandem MeetingAmerican Society for Blood and Marrow TransplantationFebruary 19 - 23 • Orlando, FloridaFor more information: www.asbmt.org Multidisciplinary...
