AETHERA is the first study to show a significant effect of a post-transplant strategy in patients at high risk of relapse after transplant,” said Brad S. Kahl, MD, Associate Professor at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison. “The question remains whether...
In patients with Hodgkin lymphoma who are at risk for disease progression following autologous stem cell transplantation, early consolidation with brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris) post-transplant significantly improved progression-free survival compared with placebo in the phase III AETHERA trial.1...
As session moderator, Fredrick Hagemeister, MD, Professor of Medicine, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, commented during the discussion of Dr. Connors’ study. He first emphasized the need to establish the safety of new drugs in clinical trials before incorporating them...
Several studies presented at the 2014 ASH Annual Meeting supported the use of brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris) in Hodgkin lymphoma. The Reed-Sternberg cells of classical Hodgkin lymphoma typically express CD30, which is targeted by brentuximab vedotin, an anti-CD30 monoclonal antibody conjugated by a ...
Results of the large International Breast Cancer Study Group (IBCSG)-coordinated SOFT trial present a convincing argument for the addition of ovarian function suppression to adjuvant hormonal therapy to reduce the risk of tumor recurrence in younger women with hormone receptor–positive early-stage...
Anyone who has awoken from a decades-long amnestic spell can be forgiven for thinking that physicians cannot do anything right nowadays. Compared with decades ago, when physicians did mostly right, we now seem to be nowhere close to correctness. Nearly every malady that befalls the health-care...
David H. Vesole, MD, PhD, FACP, Co-Division Chief and Director of Research for the Multiple Myeloma Division at the John Theurer Cancer Center at Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey, commented after the presentation of the ASPIRE trial data that the findings were “impressive.” “It’s ...
The phase III global ASPIRE trial documented an “unprecedented” duration of remission in relapsed multiple myeloma patients receiving carfilzomib (Kyprolis) plus a standard-of-care doublet, according to Keith Stewart, MB, ChB, Professor of Medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Arizona, who...
Two years ago, my son was diagnosed with the rare vascular sarcoma epithelioid hemangioendothelioma, on which there is incredibly little reseach and knowledge (see here for more on this rare cancer). PubMed revealed a “characteristic” description: unpredictable behavior, no correlation with...
Epithelioid hemangioendothelioma is a rare and devastating vascular sarcoma that affects between 100 and 200 people, mostly young adults, each year in the United States. The cancer may arise as a solitary lesion but more commonly presents with metastatic involvement, usually in the liver and lungs. ...
“People with a high genetic propensity to obesity have higher risks of esophageal metaplasia and neoplasia than people with a low genetic propensity,” according to analyses of data from the Barrett’s and Esophageal Adenocarcinoma Genetic Susceptibility Study. “These analyses provide the strongest...
Patients with unresectable stage III or IV melanoma treated with ipilimumab (Yervoy) plus sargramostim (Leukine) had longer overall survival and less toxicity than did those treated with ipilimumab alone, according to a phase II randomized clinical trial conducted by the Eastern Cooperative...
A study on the prevalence of mammographically dense breasts in the United States “estimated that approximately 43% of women aged 40 to 74 years have heterogeneously or extremely dense breasts, corresponding to approximately 27.6 million U.S. women,” researchers reported in the Journal of the...
Artificial antigen-presenting cells have been shown to stimulate antigen-specific T-cell responses, but their effect in vivo may be compromised by rapid macrophage clearance. In a study reported in Clinical Cancer Research, Bruns and colleagues added CD47 to classic two-signal artificial...
The oncoprotein and transcription factor MYB is overexpressed in colorectal cancer and critical to proliferation and tumor cell survival. In a study reported in Clinical & Translational Immunology, Cross and colleagues developed a DNA vaccine to generate an MYB-specific immune response on the...
The bisphosphonate zoledronic acid has been reported to produce antitumor effects, although the mechanisms of such effects remain unclear. In a study reported in Clinical Cancer Research, Gonzalez-Villasana and colleagues found evidence that zoledronic acid inhibited ovarian cancer angiogenesis by...
Mechanisms of lung cancer metastasis remain largely undefined. In a study reported in Cell Death & Differentiation that used genome-wide transcriptional analysis in a metastasis model, Moon and colleagues found that the epithelial basement membrane protein laminin γ2 (LAMC2) was significantly...
In a study reported in Cancer Gene Therapy, Xu and colleagues found that the addition of pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF) to radiation improved tumor response in a mouse model of lung cancer. Lewis lung cancer allografts in nude mice were treated with radiation, PEDF, and PEDF plus...
Resistance to castrating therapy and androgen deprivation therapy in prostate cancer is due in part to adaptive upregulation of androgen receptor levels by castration-resistant prostate cancer cells in the setting of prolonged exposure to a low-testosterone environment. In a study reported in...
The concept of “chemobrain” is underrecognized, noted Serena Wong, MD, co-investigator of a clinical trial examining the effects of chemotherapy and hormonal therapy on the brain. Dr. Wong is a medical oncologist at Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey and Assistant Professor of Medicine at...
The novelty of our approach is that we are going to be using multiple modalities” to study the effects of chemotherapy and hormonal therapy on the brain, looking for structural changes within the brain and how these changes might affect psychomotor function, particularly upper-extremity movements...
The American Association of Clinical Chemistry (AACC) has announced that Loretta L. Doan, PhD, has assumed the position of Vice President of Policy and Global Affairs. Prior to joining AACC, Dr. Doan served as Director of Science Policy at the Endocrine Society, an organization representing more...
Elizabeth M. Jaffee, MD, a pioneer in the field of vaccine therapy for pancreatic cancer and leader in immunology research, has been appointed Deputy Director of the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center. Dr. Jaffee, the Dana and Albert “Cubby” Broccoli Professor of Oncology at the Johns Hopkins...
ASCO Answers: Managing the Cost of Cancer Care explains the various costs associated with cancer treatment, including health-care coverage through the Affordable Care Act. It also provides a list of financial resources available to help offset expenses related to care and tips for organizing...
In the fall of 2010, I developed a sore throat and tonsillitis while on a hike in North Carolina. Although it was not uncommon for me to have sore throats accompanied by some swelling on my tonsils, this time much of the inflammation and swelling were centered on just my left tonsil. After 7 days...
FEBRUARY AACR-SNMMI Joint Conference: State-of-the-Art Molecular Imaging in Cancer Biology and TherapyFebruary 11-14 • San Diego, California For more information: www.aacr.org 2015 BMT Tandem Meeting American Society for Blood and Marrow TransplantationFebruary 11 - 15 • San Diego, California For...
The information contained in this Clinical Trials Resource Guide includes actively recruiting clinical studies for patients with newly diagnosed or recurrent glioblastoma multiforme. The studies include pilot, phase I, I/II, III, and observational trials investigating chemoradiation therapy;...
The Melanoma Research Alliance has reported that Suzanne Topalian, MD, Chair of the group’s Scientific Advisory Panel, and former Chief Scientific Officer, has been named one of 10 people in science who mattered in 2014 by the Nature International Weekly Journal of Science. Dr. Topalian was cited...
West Cancer Center has announced the establishment of The University of Tennessee (UT)/West Institute for Cancer Research, a nonprofit public charity fully dedicated to raising funds for adult cancer research in Memphis. The UT/West Institute for Cancer Research is soliciting grants from government ...
Friends of Cancer Research, in conjunction with the Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform at Brookings, recently held the seventh annual Conference on Clinical Cancer Research in Washington, DC. The panels that comprised the daylong meeting discussed a future that has already begun. The most...
Forum participants agreed that: Defining quality in cancer care is challenging. Each stakeholder group—practitioners, payers, patients—has its own definition of quality. Given the growing number of accrediting/quality improvement organizations/standards and reporting requirements, some...
In an oncology health-care system that is increasingly changing its delivery and payment models, how do busy oncologists successfully bridge the transition from a volume- to value-based, patient-centric model? This, and other topics on value fueled a robust discussion at the Association of...
Amgen and its subsidiary Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc, announced the submission of a supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) carfilzomib (Kyprolis) to seek approval for the treatment of patients with relapsed multiple myeloma who have received at least...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Fast Track designation to Celator Pharmaceuticals’ investigational agent CPX-351, a liposomal formulation of cytarabine:daunorubicin, for the treatment of elderly patients with secondary acute myeloid leukemia. The FDA established the Fast...
Nearly 5,000 scientific abstracts were presented at the 2014 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting and Exhibition in San Francisco. Along with our targeted coverage of the meeting’s key newsmakers, The ASCO Post provides you with these brief reports of other interesting...
Researchers from Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida have participated in a global effort that has identified six new regions of the genome that increase risk of epithelial ovarian cancer, according to a news release from Moffitt. The collaborative study was published recently in Nature...
Matthew J. Ellis, MB, BChir, PhD, Director of the Lester and Sue Smith Breast Center at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, commented on endocrine resistance and the potential of the four-gene panel for assessing resistance for The ASCO Post. Endocrine response and resistance is a research focus...
At the 2014 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, a research team led by Michael Dixon, MD, of Western General Hospital in Edinburgh, shed light on the development of endocrine resistance and presented a four-gene messenger RNA (mRNA) profile that can predict response to letrozole with a high degree ...
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. In December 12, 2014, ramucirumab (Cyramza) was approved for use in ...
ASCO has released a policy statement calling for greater access to and education about phase I clinical trials, the first-in-human studies of new agents designed to fight cancer. In “The Critical Role of Phase I Trials in Cancer Research and Treatment” ASCO policy statement, the Society stresses...
Encourage your patients to consider participating in clinical trials, including phase I clinical trials. Direct your patients to www.cancer.net/clinicaltrials for detailed information about the purpose and advantages of clinical trials and why today’s phase I studies are different. On the...
In just a year’s time, four new therapies have been approved for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), treatments that are highly effective and far easier for patients to tolerate. These therapies are a major step forward, bringing renewed hope to nearly 120,000 people living with CLL...
The Conquer Cancer Foundation of ASCO has announced the five recipients of the 2015 International Innovation Grant. This grant supports novel and innovative projects that may improve diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of cancer in low- and middle-income countries. For 2015, the 1-year grants of...
Frank M. Muller, Jr, the newest member of the Conquer Cancer Foundation (CCF) Cornerstone Planned Giving Society, has a 40-year history of successfully leading investment and high-tech corporations. He served 8 years on active duty in tours to Vietnam. It is rare for him to experience a challenge...
Radical cystectomy is the standard therapeutic option for patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer. However, 5-year overall survival for high-risk patients with pT3, pT4, pN-negative, and pN-positive M0 bladder cancer after radical cystectomy is only about 50% and ranges from 32% in patients...
As reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Anirban P. Mitra, MD, PhD, of the University of Southern California, and colleagues identified a novel genome-based signature that improves prediction of postcystectomy recurrence in patients with high-risk bladder cancer.1 Use of the...
Warren Shlomchik, MD, has been named Director of Stem Cell Transplantation and Cell Therapies for the University of Pittsburgh’s Division of Hematology-Oncology and the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI). His appointment is effective March 1, 2015. He also will serve as UPCI’s...
Treatment of advanced bladder cancer continues to prove challenging, and therapies that offer long-term survival remain elusive. The ASCO Post recently spoke with Derek Raghavan, MD, PhD, FACP, FRACP, FASCO, President of the Levine Cancer Center, Charlotte, North Carolina, about the current state...
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. On December 4, 2014, ruxolitinib (Jakafi) was approved for the...
U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Margaret A. Hamburg, MD, has appointed Robert Califf, MD, as the FDA Deputy Commissioner for Medical Products and Tobacco. Dr. Califf is a leader in cardiology, clinical research, and medical economics, who is currently serving as Vice...