The first class of National Cancer Institute (NCI) Outstanding Investigator Award recipients showcases the cutting edge of oncologic research and the 43 investigators behind it. NCI’s Outstanding Investigator Award supports accomplished leaders in cancer research, who are providing significant...
The recently updated ASCO Answers: Guide to Colorectal Cancer helps people who are newly diagnosed better understand the disease and their treatment options. This information-packed guide includes treatment information; an emphasis on palliative care; an expanded follow-up care section; questions...
Over 10 years ago, we welcomed a new approach to cancer surgery when the 2004 COST trial demonstrated the benefits of laparoscopic compared with open surgery for colon cancer. This randomized trial of 872 patients showed improved perioperative recovery with laparoscopic colectomy without...
Two phase III trials, reported in JAMA by James Fleshman, MD, of Baylor University Medical Center, Dallas, and colleagues1 and Andrew R. Stevenson, MBBS, FRACS, of the University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia, and colleagues,2 failed to show noninferiority of surgical outcome for laparoscopic...
A gene that is known to suppress the growth and spread of many types of cancer has the opposite effect in some forms of colorectal cancer, University of Missouri (MU) School of Medicine researchers have found. It is a finding that may lay the foundation for new colorectal cancer treatments. Results ...
Follow-up times of abnormal screening exams were shorter for breast cancer than they were for colorectal and cervical cancers, according to a recent study involving more than 1 million individuals who underwent these screenings. Recently published by Tosteson et al in the Journal of General...
Thyroid cancer survivors report poor quality of life after diagnosis and treatment compared with other patients who are diagnosed with more lethal cancers, according to new research from the University of Chicago Medicine. The findings, published by Aschebrook-Kilfoy et al in the journal Thyroid,...
As reported by Murphy et al in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, an analysis of Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) data from patients with stage II or III colorectal cancer indicated that the use of adjuvant chemotherapy in colon cancer declined slightly between 2005 and ...
In the first study of its kind, University of Southern California (USC) researchers have found that colorectal cancer risk in Californian Latinos varies widely depending on the country of origin. Their study was published by Stern et al in Cancer Causes & Control. “Hispanics are a very...
In a nested case-control study in the Women’s Health Initiative Clinical Trial, reported in Journal of the National Cancer Institute by Murphy et al, endogenous estrogen levels were inversely associated with and sex hormone–binding globulin (SHBG) levels were positively associated with...
As reported by Tournigand et al in The Lancet Oncology, final analysis of the phase III GERCOR DREAM (OPTIMOX3) trial suggested a benefit of maintenance bevacizumab (Avastin)-erlotinib vs bevacizumab after bevacizumab-based induction therapy in patients with previously untreated metastatic...
A coalition formed by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) to increase colorectal cancer screening rates in New York resulted in a 40% increase in screening rates over 4 years. The program may serve as a foundation for other communities to boost cancer screening rates,...
Ten-year results of the MOSAIC trial, reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by André et al show a continued overall survival benefit with adjuvant FOLFOX4 (fluorouracil [5-FU] leucovorin plus oxaliplatin) vs 5-FU/leucovorin in patients with stage III colon cancer and in the entire...
Disparities in colorectal cancer death rates take a large toll on the national economy, with poorer, less-educated communities bearing the greatest burden, according to data presented at the Eighth American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Conference on the Science of Cancer Health...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Renfro et al found that low but not high body mass index (BMI) was associated with poorer progression-free and overall survival in patients receiving first-line treatment for metastatic colorectal cancer. The analysis included individual...
Two phase III trials, reported in JAMA by Fleshman et al and Stevenson et al, failed to show noninferiority of surgical outcome for laparoscopic vs open resection in patients with rectal cancer. ACOSOG Z6051 Trial In the American College of Surgeons Oncology Group (ACOSOG) Z6051 trial, reported...
In a trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Baron et al found that daily vitamin D and calcium supplementation did not reduce recurrence of colorectal adenomas in patients with recently diagnosed adenomas and no known polyps remaining after complete colonoscopy. Study Details In...
Cologuard stool DNA testing for colorectal cancer was found to be an accurate noninvasive screening option for Alaska Native people, a population with one of the world's highest rates of colorectal cancer, concluded researchers from the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium and Mayo Clinic. The...
Researchers investigating the role of exosomes, comprised of tumor-derived proteins, in the development of cancer metastasis have found that an “exosomal protein signature” could identify patients at risk for metastasis. The research also indicates that integrin expression profiles of...
In a multi-institutional phase II trial (ACOSOG Z6041) reported in The Lancet Oncology, Garcia-Aguilar et al found that neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy and local excision was associated with an acceptable disease-free survival rate, albeit not so high as anticipated, in patients with clinical stage...
On October 21 in Washington, DC, the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship (NCCS) hosted a reception to honor Richard Pazdur, MD, and Ellen Goodman. Special guest Robert M. Califf, MD, Deputy Commissioner for Medical Products and Tobacco at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA),...
In a German noninferiority phase III trial (AIO 0207) reported in The Lancet Oncology, Hegewisch-Becker et al found that maintenance treatment with bevacizumab (Avastin) was noninferior to a fluoropyrimidine plus bevacizumab in time to maintenance strategy failure following first-line treatment...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Allegra et al, ASCO has issued a provisional clinical opinion (PCO) update on extended RAS mutation testing in metastatic colorectal cancer to predict response to anti-EGFR monoclonal antibody treatment. The update revises a 2009 PCO and is based...
The potential risks and harms of low-dose computed tomography lung cancer screening in current 20 to 29 pack-year smokers needs to be assessed before recommending such screening to this group, according to a study published by Pinsky and Kramer in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute....
While most cancer survivors in the United States are motivated to seek information about food choices and dietary changes to improve their health, a new study comparing their dietary patterns to federal guidelines indicates that they often fall short. By Zhang et al in Cancer, the findings point to ...
For a malignant tumor to form, cancer cells must evade the immune system's attack. Numerous studies have already shown that cancer spreads particularly aggressively if there is an unfavorable balance between suppressing and active immune cells in the tumor microenvironment. “But we didn't...
In a study reported in The Lancet, Smyth et al found that alcohol consumption was associated with increased risk of cancer at sites known to be related to alcohol consumption, with evidence of increased risk being found in both higher- and lower-income countries. The study examined associations...
As time lapses, many patients who have undergone a colonoscopy become less and less likely to recall when and where they last had the procedure performed, who the doctor was who performed it, whether polyps were found, and, if so, the number and size of those polyps, according to new study results...
All relatives of individuals with colorectal cancer are at increased risk for this cancer, regardless of the age of diagnosis of the index patient in the family, according to a study published by Samadder et al in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology. These findings may impact future guidelines ...
The effectiveness of antiretroviral therapy in the treatment of patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has prolonged lives and resulted in cancer becoming increasingly common in this population, with a higher burden than the general population due to impaired immune function, including...
Colorectal cancer is on the rise among younger patients. Although some of the younger-onset cases can be explained by hereditary factors, the majority arise spontaneously. Researchers have now found that tumors in younger patients with colorectal cancer may be molecularly distinct from those of...
Aspirin improved survival in patients with tumors situated throughout the gastrointestinal tract, results from a large study in the Netherlands showed. This is the first time that survival data from patients with tumors in different gastrointestinal locations have been analyzed at the same time;...
Comparisons of cancer patients’ survival and care in Europe up to 2007 showed that although more patients are surviving for at least 5 years after diagnosis, there are large variations among countries, which are particularly significant in cancers of the blood. Milena Sant, MD, from the...
In a phase I/II study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Corcoran et al found that the combination of the BRAF inhibitor dabrafenib (Tafinlar) and the MEK inhibitor trametinib (Mekinist) produced responses in some patients with BRAF V600–mutant metastatic colorectal cancer. MAPK...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved trifluridine/tipiracil (Lonsurf) for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer who have been previously treated with chemotherapy and biologic therapy and are no longer responding to treatment. The new agent is an oral combination of...
There is strong evidence that the protein complex APC/C may function as a tumor suppressor in multiple cancers including lymphoma, colorectal cancer, breast cancer, and now, melanoma. A new study has revealed that a genetic mutation leading to repression of a specific protein, Cdh1, which interacts ...
In a study reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Yoon et al found that among patients with stage III colon cancer in the Alliance N0147 trial, Asians had the lowest rate of BRAF/KRAS mutations and longer disease-free survival vs whites among patients with N2 disease and that...
About 20% of patients with colorectal cancer have cancers that have metastasized beyond the colon at the time of their diagnosis, with the liver being the most common site for these metastases. The approach to treating primary tumors within the colon and metastatic tumors in the liver continues to...
As reported by Schmoll et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, the final results of the phase III NO16968 trial showed that adjuvant therapy with XELOX (capecitabine, oxaliplatin) improved overall survival vs fluorouracil (5-FU)/leucovorin in patients with resected stage III colon cancer....
In an updated analysis of the Italian phase III TRIBE trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Cremolini et al found that FOLFOXIRI (fluorouracil [5-FU], leucovorin, oxaliplatin, irinotecan) plus bevacizumab (Avastin) significantly prolonged overall survival in patients with unresectable metastatic...
In a phase II histology-independent basket study reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Hyman et al found that the BRAF V600 kinase inhibitor vemurafenib (Zelboraf) exhibited activity in some but not all nonmelanoma cancers with BRAF V600 mutations. Study Details In the study, 122...
In an analysis of a randomized trial of aspirin in patients with Lynch syndrome reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Movahedi et al found that obesity was associated with an increased risk of colorectal cancer, with the excess risk being restricted to those not receiving aspirin. ...
Research by a Veterans Affairs team has confirmed that longer-lasting colonoscopies are associated with lower cancer rates. Their findings were published by Shaukat et al in Gastroenterology, and were based on nearly 77,000 screening colonoscopies. Experts already know about the link between...
A large population-based control study of the use of low-dose aspirin or other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and colorectal cancer risk has found that taking 75 mg to 150 mg of aspirin for 5 years or longer was associated with a 27% reduced risk of colorectal cancer. In addition, 5 or more...
A large observational study investigating the effect of coffee consumption on advanced-stage colon cancer and survival has found that patients who drank four or more cups of coffee a day were 42% less likely to experience a recurrence than non-coffee drinkers and were 33% less likely to die from...
Final results of the German phase III CAO/ARO/AIO-04 trial reported in The Lancet Oncology by Rödel et al showed that adding oxaliplatin to fluorouracil (5-FU)–based neoadjuvant chemoradiation and postoperative chemotherapy improved disease-free survival in patients with locally advanced ...
Researchers investigating a risk index for colorectal cancer and advanced precancerous polyps among average-risk people have found that patients classified as low risk had fewer advanced adenomas than patients classified as high risk. Their findings suggest that those at low risk for colorectal...
A large-scale genetic study of the links between telomere length and risk for five common cancers found that long telomeres are associated with an increased risk of lung adenocarcinoma. No significant associations between telomere length and other cancer types or subtypes were observed. The study,...
Lower levels of ERCC1 (excision repair cross-complementation group 1) and thymidylate synthase expression may be predictive of longer survival in patients with metastatic colon cancer, according to a study by Choueiri et al in PLOS One. It was shown that patients with low levels of ERCC1 and...
Cancer therapy has evolved to a personalized approach, and important aspects of this method are pharmacogenomic studies that analyze associations between genetic variations and patient drug responses. Moffitt Cancer Center researchers published a study by Dressler et al in the Journal of the...