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Showing 3151 - 3200Enzalutamide Significantly Prolonged Survival in Men with Castrate-resistant Metastatic Prostate Cancer
“Enzalutamide significantly prolonged the survival of men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer after chemotherapy” in an international phase III, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, investigators reported in The New England Journal of Medicine. Median overall survival, the...
CT Scans in Childhood Can Triple Risk of Leukemia and Brain Cancer Later in Life, Study Finds
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. Computed tomography scans with...
All Oncology Care Practices Urged to ‘Be Counted’ in Groundbreaking Census
The National Oncology Census, sponsored by the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), represents the first-ever attempt to capture comprehensive, real-time data on the state of oncology practice in the United States. ASCO is urging all U.S. oncology practices—representing oncologists in...
VEGF Pathway Biomarker for Outcome with Bevacizumab
No biomarkers are available to guide patient selection for treatment with the anti-VEGF monoclonal antibody bevacizumab (Avastin). Lambrechts and colleagues from VIB and KULeuven and University Hospital Gasthuisberg, Belgium, and F. Hoffmann-La Roche in Basel, Switzerland, have identified a locus...
Lack of Sleep Found to Be Risk Factor for Aggressive Breast Cancers
Lack of sleep is linked to more aggressive breast cancers, according to new findings published in the August issue of Breast Cancer Research and Treatment by physician-scientists from University Hospitals Case Medical Center’s Seidman Cancer Center and Case Comprehensive Cancer Center at Case...
Which Rituximab-based Regimen Works Best in Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma?
The treatment of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) patients has been recently informed by several important studies, which were discussed at the Best of ASCO Boston meeting by Michael E. Williams, MD, of the University of Virginia Cancer Center in Charlottesville. Bendamustine Outperforms R-CHOP in NHL...
New Therapies Capitalize on Lung Cancer’s Molecular Vulnerabilities
Research reported at this year’s ASCO Annual Meeting attests to the tremendous molecular diversity of non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and the power of appropriately selected treatment, according to Leora Horn, MD, of Vanderbilt University Medical Center, who presented data on molecular findings...
SIDEBAR: Is Vitamin D Supplementation Ready for Prime Time?
The VITAL study generated a host of questions about vitamin D among ASCO Annual Meeting attendees, including whether the study’s findings are ready for clinical application, according to Debra L. Barton, RN, PhD, of the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, speaking at the Best of ASCO San Diego...
SIDEBAR: Expect Questions from Patients
A recently reported study finding that anticoagulants and particularly aspirin were associated with a reduced risk of prostate cancer–specific mortality1 has the potential to generate a lot of questions because of the large number of patients potentially affected. As the study’s corresponding...
How to Recognize and Manage Vandetanib-induced Photosensitivity
Vandetanib (Caprelsa) is an inhibitor of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor, epidermal growth factor receptor, and rearranged during transfection (RET) tyrosine kinase receptors. It has been approved by regulatory agencies for the treatment of unresectable or metastatic medullary thyroid...
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 ...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
Role of Crizotinib in Previously Treated ALK-positive Advanced NSCLC
In yet another success story for personalized medicine, a targeted therapy extended survival in patients whose cancers expressed the target. Crizotinib (Xalkori), the first-in-class ALK inhibitor, extended progression-free survival and improved response rates compared with single-agent chemotherapy ...
Challenging Times: A Day in the Life of a Community Oncologist
Community oncologists man the front line of cancer care, treating upward of 85% of our nation’s patients. Over the past 2 decades, regulatory and economic changes have left many practices in a state of flux and uncertainty, some struggling to keep their doors open. To shed light on the community...
Combination of BRAF and MEK Inhibitors Paves Way for Phase III Studies in BRAF-mutated Metastatic Melanoma
Two late-breaking studies presented at the 2012 European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress highlight the promising potential of combining dual BRAF and MEK inhibitors for the treatment of BRAF-mutated metastatic melanoma. A phase II study showed that combining full doses of the BRAF...
Intermittent Androgen Suppression in Prostate Cancer Noninferior to Continuous Suppression, Associated with Some QOL Benefit
A recently reported National Cancer Institute of Canada (NCIC) Clinical Trials Group study, reported by Crook and colleagues in The New England Journal of Medicine, showed that intermittent androgen suppression was associated with noninferior overall survival when compared with continuous...
Stereotactic Radiosurgery May Offer Therapeutic Option for Patients with Primary Renal Cancer, Early Study Indicates
Stereotactic radiosurgery may hold potential as a therapeutic option for patients with localized primary renal cancer who are considered poor surgical candidates and who do not have a prior history of pelvic or abdominal radiation, according to data from a safety and toxicity study recently...
Contralateral Breast Cancer Risk Is Highly Overestimated
Breast cancer is highly unlikely to develop in the contralateral breast of women treated for primary breast cancer, yet many women continue to fear it and undergo prophylactic mastectomies. “Regardless, the perceived risk of developing and dying from a contralateral breast cancer is highly...
Seeking Solutions to the Dilemmas of Overdiagnosis and Overtreatment
Widespread use of screening technologies has markedly increased early detection rates of cancer, saving countless lives. However, while screening technologies have remarkable sensitivity, their inability to identify which tumors will progress and which will not has created the phenomenon of...
Promoting a More Balanced Approach to Cancer Prevention and Treatment
Margaret I. Cuomo, MD, is a board-certified radiologist who served for many years as an attending physician in diagnostic radiology at North Shore University Hospital, Manhasset, New York. Dr. Cuomo is the daughter of former New York Governor Mario Cuomo and sister to Governor Andrew Cuomo. She is...
Acupuncture: Does It Alleviate Symptoms Associated with Cancer Care?
A therapeutic modality of traditional Chinese medicine, acupuncture has been extensively investigated in Western medical settings. Its clinical use is increasingly common for the management of pain and other conditions. In the oncology setting, research demonstrates that acupuncture can...
The Practice of More than One Art
The positive healing effects of music can be traced as far back as ancient Greece and the belief that Apollo was God of medicine and music. In his book De Anima, Aristotle wrote that flute music could purify the soul. By the end of the 19th century, researchers were showing a correlation between...
Top 10 Most Viewed Articles on ASCOPost.com for 2012
Novel Multikinase Inhibitor Improves Survival in Metastatic Colorectal CancerBy Caroline HelwickThe novel tyrosine kinase inhibitor regorafenib, given as a single agent to patients with treatment-refractory metastatic colorectal cancer, significantly improved overall survival and delayed disease...
Early Quality of Life Better with Proton-beam Therapy, but Late Effects Similar to Other Treatment Modalities for Prostate Cancer
Differing patterns of patient-reported quality of life for three-dimensional (3D) conformal radiotherapy, intensity-modulated radiation therapy, and proton-beam therapy were reported in a nonrandomized comparison of three modern cohorts of patients with prostate cancer. The study was presented at...
Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy Produces Impressive Results in Organ-confined Prostate Cancer
Stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) delivered via the CyberKnife can achieve excellent outcomes with minimal toxicity in patients with prostate cancer. Importantly, this technique delivers therapeutic doses of radiation in four to five fractions, which reduces the number of clinic visits...
SIDEBAR: How Other Countries Are Controlling Oncology Costs
The refrain is familiar: The United States spends more on health care than any other industrialized country, but the investment does not correspond to superior care. A recent study by The Commonwealth Fund, a health-care policy research foundation, shows just how stark the contrast is. Instructive ...
Genetic Variation in Vitamin D Pathway Is Tied to Colorectal Cancer Risk among African Americans
African Americans’ risk of colorectal cancer varies according to whether they have certain genetic variants that affect vitamin D metabolism, according to a study presented at the Fifth American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Conference on The Science of Cancer Health Disparities, held...
Significant Reduction in Cancer Risk Seen with Daily Multivitamin Use in Middle-aged and Older Men
Large-scale trials over the past several years have shown a general lack of effect of single vitamins or small numbers of vitamins given at high doses in preventing cancer. However, as recently reported in JAMA by Gaziano and colleagues, the Physicians’ Health Study II has found a modest but...
Revised Everolimus Dosing and New Safety/Efficacy Data for Approval in Subependymal Giant Cell Astrocytoma
On August 29, 2012, everolimus in a tablet for oral suspension form (Afinitor Disperz) was given accelerated approval for the treatment of pediatric and adult patients with tuberous sclerosis complex who have subependymal giant cell astrocytoma (SEGA) that requires therapeutic intervention but...
Statin Use Associated with Reduced Cancer-related Mortality in Danish Study
Cancer-related mortality among patients in the Danish population receiving a diagnosis of cancer at age ≥ 40 years between 1995 and 2007 was significantly reduced in those who were receiving statin therapy at the time of diagnosis, according to an analysis reported by Nielsen and colleagues in The...
Screening for Ovarian Cancer: A Gynecologic Oncologist’s Perspective
The recent U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) Reaffirmation Recommendation Statement concluded that in the population of asymptomatic women without known genetic mutations that increase risk for ovarian cancer, clinicians should not screen for ovarian cancer using transvaginal ultrasound...
Four-plus Cups of Coffee Daily Linked to Lower Risk of Death from Oral/Pharyngeal Cancer
Consuming four or more cups per day of caffeinated coffee could almost halve the risk of dying from oral/pharyngeal cancer compared to drinking no coffee or drinking it only occasionally, researchers reported in the American Journal of Epidemiology. “A dose-related decline in relative risk was...
Analysis Suggests Screening Mammography Results in Substantial Overdiagnosis with Small Effect on Mortality
An analysis of Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) data from 1976 through 2008 “suggests that whatever the mortality benefit, breast-cancer screening involved a substantial harm of excess detection of additional early-stage cancers that was not matched by a reduction in late-stage...
Patients Treated for Colon Cancer Can Reduce Risk of Recurrence with Balanced Diet and Lower Carbohydrate Intake
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 who have received standard...
NCI Director Assesses Barriers to Faster Progress in Cancer Research
At a National Press Club media event in Washington, DC, on September 25, 2012, National Cancer Institute (NCI) Director Harold E. Varmus, MD, addressed a group of 75 reporters and officials. His discussion focused on impediments—biologic, economic, institutional, and cultural—to faster cancer...
Management of Brain Metastases
Pearls in Neuro-oncology is guest edited by Tracy Batchelor, MD, Director, Division of Neuro-Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, and Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Boston. The series is intended to provide the practicing oncologist with guidance in managing...
Does Health-care Quality Translate to Value?
On March 23rd, 2010, President Obama signed into law the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, enacting sweeping change in our health-care system. An underlying theme of the legislation is the realignment of our payment system so that it places value over volume of services. At ASCO’s first...
Are We Winning the War on Cancer?
On December 23, 1971, President Richard Nixon signed the U.S. National Cancer Act. This date is widely considered to mark the beginning of the so-called “War on Cancer,” although that phrase was introduced only later on. Over recent decades, journalists have from time to time questioned whether we...
'Practice-changing' ATLAS Study Supports 10 vs 5 Years of Tamoxifen Therapy in Women with Breast Cancer
"Practice-changing" is the term several physicians and researchers used when asked by the media to describe the results of a study showing that extending tamoxifen therapy from 5 to 10 years for women with estrogen receptor (ER)-positive breast cancer further reduced recurrence and mortality....
PET-negative Scan after Short-course Chemotherapy Identifies Early Hodgkin Lymphoma Patients Who Can Forgo Radiation
Positron-emission tomography (PET)-directed therapy is promising for early-stage Hodgkin lymphoma, according to results of the UK NCRI RAPID trial presented at the 54th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH).1 The use of PET scan enabled the identification of a population of...
Primary Endpoint Not Met for Eribulin vs Capecitabine in Breast Cancer
While a global phase III trial failed to meet its primary endpoint in showing an overall or progression-free survival benefit for eribulin (Halavan) in metastatic breast cancer, a trend toward greater efficacy than capecitabine (Xeloda) was observed, researchers reported at the 2012 San Antonio...
Ibrutinib in Mantle Cell Lymphoma Yields 'Unprecedented' Response Rates
The investigational agent ibrutinib demonstrated “unprecedented” single-agent activity in relapsed or refractory mantle cell lymphoma, according to the lead author of an international phase II study reported at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH).1 Durable Responses “The...
Cost of Cancer Drugs: What Price for What Benefit?
In 2011, national health-care spending in the United States was about $2.7 trillion, larger than the entire French national budget.1 U.S. national health-care spending is about 17% of the national gross domestic product. Total Medicare expenditures in 2011 were $549 million.2 In the debate about...
Survival Benefit Achieved with Four Drugs plus Maintenance in Myeloma
An overall survival benefit in newly diagnosed multiple myeloma was attained with a four-drug induction regimen followed by a duet for maintenance in a study from the Italian GIMEMA network. Antonio Palumbo, MD, Chief of the Myeloma Unit at the University of Torino in Italy, reported the findings...
Even at NCCN Institutions, a 'Sizable Minority' of Patients with Rectal Cancer Are Not Treated per NCCN Guidelines
Even at the eight cancer centers participating in the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Colorectal Cancer Outcomes project, a “sizable minority” of patients with stage II/III rectal cancer treated with curative intent neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy did not complete postoperative...
