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Showing 26951 - 27000FOLFOXIRI Plus Bevacizumab Is Superior to FOLFIRI Plus Bevacizumab in Metastatic Colorectal Cancer
For the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer, better outcomes were achieved when bevacizumab (Avastin) was added to FOLFOXIRI (leucovorin, fluorouracil [5-FU], oxaliplatin, irinotecan), rather than FOLFIRI (leucovorin, 5-FU, irinotecan), in the phase III TRIBE trial conducted at 35 Italian...
Sequestration Will Have Shattering Impact on Entire U.S. Cancer Enterprise
March 1 marked the beginning of sequestration, the unprecedented automatic budget cuts that immediately take effect across the federal government—after months of futile negotiations by the President and Congress. Sequestration will have a shattering impact on the entire cancer enterprise in the...
Large Epidemiologic Studies Re-examine Hazards of Smoking
“Smokers lose at least one decade of life expectancy, as compared with those who have never smoked,” and the increased risk of death from cigarettes smoking “are now nearly identical for men and women,” according to two separate studies published online by TheNew England Journal of Medicine. One...
PET/CT With 124I-Girentuximab Can Identify Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma While Minimizing Invasive Diagnostic Risks
Positron-emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) with iodine-124 (124I) –girentuximab “can accurately and noninvasively identify” clear cell renal cell carcinoma, according to a phase III multicenter study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. In addition, “PET/CT with...
Short Wait for Lab Results Is Reasonable Strategy to Better Characterize AML and Design Therapy
Waiting a short period of time for laboratory results to better characterize acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and design therapeutic approaches is a reasonable strategy, researchers in Toulouse, France, found after a retrospective review of 599 newly diagnosed AML patients treated by induction...
Older Patients Do Better with Hematopoietic Transplants from Siblings of Similar Age than from Younger but Unrelated Donors
Patients ≥ 50 years old with leukemia/lymphoma are increasingly undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplants, raising questions about whether they might have better outcomes with transplants from younger allele-level 8/8 human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-matched unrelated donors than from...
Short-term Survival Advantage of Carrying BRCA Mutation Does Not Extend to Long Term
While carrying a BRCA 1 or BRCA 2 mutation was associated with a better prognosis in the 3-year period after diagnosis of invasive ovarian cancer, this short-term survival advantage did not lead to long-term survival benefit, according to a study published in the Journal of the National Cancer...
Trametinib Shows Activity in Previously Treated but BRAF Inhibitor–naive BRAF-mutant Melanoma
In a multicenter phase II study, trametinib showed “significant clinical activity” in a cohort of BRAF inhibitor–naive patients with BRAF-mutant cutaneous melanoma previously treated with chemotherapy and/or immunotherapy. Only minimal clinical activity, however, was observed among a cohort of...
SIDEBAR: Ask Patients about Their Smoking Status
“Receiving a cancer diagnosis represents a ‘teachable moment’ for delivering smoking cessation and relapse prevention interventions,” concluded a study in the journal Cancer1 about smoking relapse in patients with thoracic cancer or head and neck cancer. Previous research by two of the study’s...
Patients with Cancer Need to Know That It Is Never Too Late to Quit Smoking
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. Patients with head and neck or lung...
Fitness: Can Exercise Lengthen Survival in Patients with Cancer?
Regular physical activity has long been associated with decreased risk of disease, including many types of cancer. Such benefits may translate into increased life expectancy of up to 4.5 years, with even the lowest levels of activity providing some survival advantage.1 Most strikingly, however,...
My Life Will Never Be Normal
After being diagnosed with stage II invasive ductal carcinoma in my right breast in 2004, I did an Internet search to learn more about my treatment options so I could be prepared when I met with my oncologist to discuss my treatment plan. I was especially interested in therapies that would be...
Zora Brown, Prominent Cancer Research Advocate, Dies at 63
The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) reported with sadness the loss of Zora Brown, a trustee for the AACR Foundation for the Prevention and Cure of Cancer, a breast and ovarian cancer survivor, and a pioneering advocate for cancer research and breast cancer awareness among...
Expert Point of View: Nancy L. Keating, MD, MPH
By Nancy L. Keating, MD, MPH In this large study examining care for patients with a variety of tumor types in the Veterans Health Administration (VA), we found no clear association of tumor boards with better quality of care or outcomes. It is unclear if our findings can be generalized outside of...
Study Shows Little Association of Multidisciplinary Tumor Boards with Measures of Care
A survey of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical centers recently reported by Nancy L. Keating, MD, MPH, and colleagues at Harvard Medical School in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute showed that the presence of multidisciplinary tumor boards had little association with rates of recommended...
Focus on the Medical Oncology Association of Southern California
For more than 2 decades, the guiding principle of the Medical Oncology Association of Southern California (MOASC) has been to ensure the continuation of the private practice of medical oncology and to provide the highest quality care to cancer patients. Founded in 1990, MOASC is the largest...
Oncology Meetings
March Emerging Trends Conference: Reactivation of Hepatitis BMarch 21-22 • Arlington, VirginiaFor more information: www.aasld.org/additionalmeetings/Pages/emergingtrends.aspx 5th Thyroid Neoplasms ConferenceMarch 21-23 • Houston, TexasFor more information: www.mdanderson.org/conferences Community...
Study Shows New Approach Connecting Smokers to Quit Lines Increases Smoking Cessation Treatment Enrollment
Self-identified smokers directly connected to a tobacco cessation quit line are 13 times more likely to enroll in a treatment program as compared to smokers who are handed a quit line referral card and encouraged to call on their own, according to a new study published online in JAMA Internal...
IBM's Watson Goes Through Basic Training in Oncology
While IBM’s Watson supercomputer may have defeated two former champions on the TV game show Jeopardy! 2 years ago, it is now facing its greatest challenge yet: deciphering huge amounts of scientific data and interpreting clinical information to help oncologists make personalized evidence-based...
Survey Shows Public's Knowledge of Cancer Progress Is Rising, But Myths Persist
People are more optimistic today about their chances of surviving cancer, according to findings from a new international survey commissioned by Lilly Oncology. The phone survey of 4,341 individuals (including people in the general population, cancer survivors, and caregivers) in six countries (the...
Jane Cooke Wright, MD, ASCO Cofounder, Dies at 93
The practice of oncology advances incrementally; each step forward, no matter how painfully small at times, leads to the next. The oncology community readily offers tribute to predecessors in the field who took those first steps into the uncharted regions of cancer care, without which today’s...
City of Hope Names Robert Stone, JD, as New Chief Executive Officer
After 10 years at City of Hope, in Duarte, California, former FDA acting Commissioner Michael A. Friedman, MD, has decided to retire from his position as Chief Executive Officer, and the Board of Directors has selected current President Robert Stone, JD, to assume the dual role of President and...
Research Leader Helen Piwnica-Worms, PhD, Appointed Vice Provost, Science, at UT MD Anderson Cancer Center
Helen Piwnica-Worms, PhD, a leader and scientist whose success in cancer research spans the spectrum from basic science discovery through arduous preclinical follow-up and delivery of potential new drugs to clinical trial, will lead science research at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer...
Analysis Shows No 10-year Survival Advantage in Patients with Ovarian Cancer and BRCA1 or BRCA2 Mutations
Several studies have suggested that short-term overall survival for women with ovarian cancer and BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations is better than that in patients without such mutations. Indeed, a recent report by Kelly L. Bolton, PhD, and colleagues indicated that 5-year overall survival was 36% for...
Medication Safety at Home
A risk assessment to identify how errors occur when oral chemotherapies are used by pediatric patients at home (and to propose risk-reduction strategies) relied on input from those primarily in charge of oral chemotherapy use at home—the parents. A total of 18 parents were recruited at three...
Enhanced Electronic Module Aims to Prevent Errors in Oral Chemotherapy Prescribing
An oral chemotherapy prescription-writing module grafted to a shared electronic medical record is part of a series of quality improvement efforts undertaken at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston to prevent errors in prescribing oral chemotherapy agents. While oncologists have readily accepted...
High Infection Rates Found in Multiple Myeloma Patients, With High Mortality
A large Swedish study using population-based data to estimate the risk of bacterial and viral infections among 9,610 patients with multiple myeloma (9,253 eligible for analysis) found that the myeloma patients had a 7-fold risk of developing any infection compared to 34,931 matched controls from...
SIDEBAR: Damages to Medical Center Estimated at $1 Billion
NYU Langone Medical Center, which stretches across four blocks on Manhattan’s East Side and comprises four hospitals, a medical school, and an outpatient cancer institute, sustained an estimated $1 billion in damages to its main inpatient campus, which is located one block from the East River....
Preparing for the Next Superstorm: Protecting Patients during Natural Disasters
When Hurricane Sandy slammed into the East Coast last October, the magnitude of devastation it left in its wake exceeded even the most dire predictions. Eighty mile per hour winds and record storm surges destroyed antiquated electrical grids and flooded subway stations, leaving much of New York...
FDA Approves Regorafenib for Advanced Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors
The FDA has expanded the approved use of regorafenib (Stivarga) to treat patients with metastatic or unresectable gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) that no longer respond to treatment with imatinib (Gleevec) or sunitinib (Sutent). Regorafenib, a multikinase inhibitor, blocks several enzymes...
Inaugural Winners of $3 million Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences Announced
Art Levinson, Sergey Brin, Anne Wojcicki, Mark Zuckerberg, Priscilla Chan, and Yuri Milner recently announced the launch of the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences, recognizing excellence in research aimed at curing intractable diseases and extending human life. The prize will be administered by...
FOXP3 Expression Linked to Better Survival with Adjuvant Anthracycline Not Followed by Taxane in Breast Cancer
The French UNICANCER-PACS 01 trial compared six cycles of anthracycline-based adjuvant therapy with FEC (epirubicin, cyclophosphamide, fluorouracil; FEC6) vs three cycles of FEC followed by three cycles of docetaxel (FEC/docetaxel) in patients with node-positive primary breast cancer. After...
Expert Point of View: Elizabeth Mittendorf, MD
“This study confirms previously published racial disparities in access to care, but factors that drive these disparities have not been elucidated,” stated Elizabeth Mittendorf, MD, Department of Surgical Oncology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston. The study was...
Black Women Less Likely to Get Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy and More Likely to Have Lymphedema on Axillary Lymph Node Dissection
Although sentinel lymph node biopsy is the recommended method for axillary staging of node-negative breast cancer, racial disparities in access to care were found in a study presented at the 2012 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. Black women were 12% less likely than white women with breast...
Expert Point of View: Seema A. Khan, MD
Responding to the results of the ACOSOG Z1071 study, Seema A. Khan, MD, Professor of Surgery at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, urged caution in adopting the practice of sentinel lymph node surgery after chemotherapy for some patients with breast cancer at this time....
Role of Sentinel Node Surgery Explored in Node-positive Breast Cancer
Sentinel lymph node surgery performed after neoadjuvant chemotherapy in women presenting with node-positive disease could spare many patients with breast cancer needless axillary lymph node dissection, according to a study of the American College of Surgeons Oncology Group presented at the 2012 San ...
Expert Point of View: Clifford A. Hudis, MD and Daniel F. Hayes, MD
Clifford A. Hudis, MD, Chief of the Breast Cancer Medicine Service at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, commented after the presentation, “It strikes me that these findings are parallel to those shown with PAM50 by Liu et al at this meeting.” In that study,1 based on the Cancer and...
21-gene Recurrence Score Does Not Predict Paclitaxel Benefit
The 21-gene recurrence score significantly predicted the risk of recurrence and death in node-positive, estrogen receptor–positive patients treated with adjuvant chemoendocrine therapy, but it did not predict benefit from the addition of paclitaxel to the regimen in a subset of patients from the...
Expert Point of View: Laura J. van ’t Veer, PhD and Andrew Seidman, MD
Laura J. van ’t Veer, PhD, Leader of the Breast Oncology Program at the University of California, San Francisco, Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, commented on the findings. “These investigators confirm in a robust meta-analysis that neoadjuvant chemotherapy response is different...
Subsets of Young Patients Have Higher Pathologic Complete Response Rates
In achieving a pathologic complete response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy, it seems that age matters, according to a study reported at the 2012 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.1 Patients with breast cancer aged 35 and younger were more likely to achieve a pathologic complete response than their...
Expert Point of View: William M. Grady, MD and Jordan Berlin, MD
William M. Grady, MD, of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, a member of the news planning team for the symposium, commented, “There has been considerable interest in determining whether molecular alterations in primary colorectal cancer are more accurate prognostic indicators than ...
Oncogenic Pathway Signatures May Guide Treatment after Colorectal Cancer Resection
Deregulation of oncogenic signaling pathways was used to molecularly subclassify colorectal cancers into clinically relevant subgroups with both prognostic and predictive implications, in a study from the Duke Institute for Genome Sciences and Policy in Durham, North Carolina.1 “There is a need to...
Expert Point of View: J. Randolph Hecht, MD
J. Randolph Hecht, MD, Professor of Clinical Medicine and Director of the Gastrointestinal Oncology Program at the University of California, Los Angeles, commented to The ASCO Post that it is premature to accept this algorithm in the absence of its correlation with clinical outcomes. The one...
Evaluating HER2 Status in Esophageal Cancers: FISH vs Immunohistochemistry
In screening patients with esophageal cancers for HER2 status, the relative efficiency of immunohistochemistry (IHC) vs fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) has been debated. Researchers from the Mayo Clinic compared the testing strategies and have proposed an algorithm that puts IHC up front, ...
The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network Welcomes New Members to Its Medical Advisory Board
The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network has named four new members to the organization’s Medical Advisory Board. The newest advisors are leading clinicians in the field of pancreatic cancer: Joseph M. Herman, MD, MSc, Johns Hopkins University; George A. Fisher Jr, MD, PhD, Stanford University; James...
Finding New Strategies to More Effectively Treat Pancreatic Cancer
While some progress has been made in understanding the molecular pathogenesis, genetic risk factors, and genomics of pancreatic adenocarcinoma, the disease remains one of the most challenging malignancies. According to Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) figures, 44,000 people were...
Greater Representation of Older Patients in Phase III Trials Needed
The median age of patients diagnosed with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has steadily increased in recent years and is presently 70 years. Despite this, the elderly are significantly underrepresented in clinical trials. A recent study published in the March 2013 issue of the...
Connecting to Conquer Cancer
One of the strengths of the Conquer Cancer Foundation of the American Society of Clinical Oncology is our relationships with others who want to join us in creating a world free from the fear of cancer. Our ability to do meaningful work is made possible by the individuals and organizations that...
Safe Storage of Cancer Medications
Cancer.Net provides several new resources to help patients and their caregivers learn about the importance of safe storage, handling, and disposal of cancer medications, particularly those prescribed to relieve pain. These materials include a special article and related podcast available at...
Journal of Oncology Practice Accepted by MEDLINE® for Indexing
The Journal of Oncology Practice (JOP), published by the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), has recently been accepted for inclusion in MEDLINE®, the premier bibliographic database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM). Journals accepted to MEDLINE undergo a rigorous review...
