Tobacco-related diseases are the most preventable cause of death worldwide; smoking cessation leads to improvement in cancer treatment outcomes, as well as decreased tumor recurrence. According to the American Cancer Society, in 2015, nearly 171,000 of the estimated 589,430 cancer deaths in the...
Patients treated with definitive concurrent chemotherapy and radiation therapy for stage III non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) have longer overall survival when treated by highly experienced facilities, whether or not they are academic or community cancer centers. Researchers from the Yale...
In a study reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Loupakis et al found that most treatment-naive patients with metastatic colorectal cancer had left-sided primary tumor location and that left-sided tumor location was associated with improved overall survival. Study Details The...
In a case report in JAMA Dermatology, Carrera et al described development of multiple wild-type BRAF melanomas and a metastasis with a different BRAF mutation in a patient receiving dabrafenib (Tafinlar) for BRAF V600E–mutant metastatic melanoma. Development of Melanomas As described...
A higher intake by postmenopausal women of lycopene, an antioxidant found in foods like tomatoes, watermelon, and papaya, may lower the risk of renal cell carcinoma, a type of kidney cancer. A study describing these findings was published by Ho et al in Cancer. In 2014, 63,920 estimated new cases...
New clinical trial findings provide further evidence that combining chemotherapy with radiation therapy is the best treatment for people with a low-grade form of brain cancer. The findings come from a phase II study co-led by a researcher at Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer...
In a single-center study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Riedl et al found that screening with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) had greater sensitivity for detection of breast cancer in high-risk women vs mammography or ultrasound irrespective of age, mutation status, or breast...
In patients who had undergone surgery for brain metastases, the rate of recurrence at the resected site was similar between patients who received adjuvant whole-brain radiotherapy vs those who underwent adjuvant localized radiotherapy, according to a retrospective study by Hsieh et al in the...
Although blacks were diagnosed at younger ages than whites for nearly every cancer type, after adjustments for population structure shifted the comparisons toward older ages among blacks, only six statistically significant differences of 3 or more years remained, according to a study reported by...
In a single-center study reported in JAMA Oncology, Maddocks et al found that Richter’s transformation accounted for early progression-related discontinuation of ibrutinib (Imbruvica) in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and that CLL progression but not Richter’s...
A prospective, multicenter, observational study involving 992 consecutive patients with one to four asymptomatic, sonographically or cytologically benign thyroid nodules found that “the majority of nodules exhibited no significant size change during 5 years of follow-up or they actually...
At a median follow-up of 3 years, ibrutinib (Imbruvica) demonstrated continued activity with durable responses that improved in quality with extended treatment of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). In addition, grade 3 toxicity and adverse events leading to discontinuation diminished ...
Using a novel polymerase chain reaction assay “to efficiently assess” epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations in circulating free DNA (cfDNA) from blood samples of patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), the Spanish Lung Cancer Group has “shown...
A study by Brohl et al investigating the case incidence of unexpected uterine sarcoma following surgery for presumed benign leiomyoma (fibroids or myomas) has found that the risk of unexpected uterine sarcoma varies significantly across age groups, with a more than fivefold difference between the...
In an advance that could lead to better identification of malignant pediatric adrenocortical tumors, and ultimately to better treatment, researchers have mapped the genomic landscape of these rare childhood tumors. Their genomic mapping has revealed unprecedented details, not only of the aberrant...
In a phase III NRG Oncology/Gynecologic Oncology Group (GOG) trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Hensley et al found no benefit of adding bevacizumab (Avastin) to first-line gemcitabine-docetaxel in patients with metastatic uterine leiomyosarcoma. Study Details In this...
In a retrospective analysis reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Rhoads et al found that treatment of colorectal cancer patients in an integrated health-care system was associated with greater compliance with National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guidelines, better survival, and no...
Breast cancer survivors are at increased risk of developing thyroid cancer, especially within 5 years of their breast cancer diagnosis, according to a new analysis of a large national database. The study results were presented at the Endocrine Society's 97th Annual Meeting. “Recognition of...
In a phase III trial (ELM-PC 5) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Fizazi et al found that the addition of the 17,20-lyase inhibitor orteronel to prednisone in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer progressing after docetaxel therapy resulted in an overall...
The European Randomized Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer (ERSPC) trial showed a significant 29% prostate cancer mortality reduction with prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening but a marked negative impact on quality-adjusted life-years gained due to the effect of overdiagnosis on quality...
Cancer cells can cloak themselves within tumors by hiding behind a dense layer of cellular stroma. According to a new study by the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), drugs that target and strip away the stroma would pave the way for other drugs to reach the cancerous cells within the ...
The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) today announced the election of Nancy E. Davidson, MD, Director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute and UPMC CancerCenter in Pittsburgh, as its President-Elect for 2015–2016. Dr. Davidson will officially become President-Elect...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved dinutuximab (Unituxin) as part of first-line therapy for pediatric patients with high-risk neuroblastoma. Dinutuximab, a chimeric monoclonal antibody that binds to the surface of neuroblastoma cells, is being approved for use as part of a...
Patients with larger malignant tumors of the breast who undergo chemotherapy before a breast cancer operation are more likely to undergo a lumpectomy than a mastectomy, according to a study published by Killelea et al in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons. Study investigators from...
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital scientists have identified the first genetic variation that is associated with an increased risk and severity of peripheral neuropathy following treatment with a widely used anticancer drug. Investigators also found evidence of how it may be possible to...
In an analysis in the Gynecologic Oncology Group (GOG 182) trial population reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Horowitz et al found that more complex surgery was not an independent predictor of progression-free or overall survival among patients with advanced epithelial ovarian or...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Denkert et al found that increased tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes and the presence of lymphocyte-predominant breast cancer were associated with increased rates of pathologic complete response in patients receiving neoadjuvant...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Krop et al found that ado-trastuzumab emtansine (Kadcyla) had an acceptable cardiac safety profile when used after anthracycline-based (neo)adjuvant therapy in women with early-stage HER2-positive breast cancer. Study Details In the study,...
Family members often play an important role in providing care for patients with cancer, but which patients are more or less likely to involve family members in decisions regarding their care is not well known. A new study published by Hobbs et al in Cancer provides some insights and may help...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Hershman et al found that nonadherence to adjuvant hormonal therapy for early-stage breast cancer was more common among black women and patients with lower household net worth, with the latter factor partly accounting for the racial...
Bisphosphonate use for treatment or prevention of osteoporosis in postmenopausal women has been associated with a reduced risk of breast cancer, including in a study in the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) population. In a WHI study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Newcomb et al...
The Italian SCORE trial is among several recent large European randomized trials showing the benefit of flexible sigmoidoscopy screening on colorectal cancer incidence and mortality. In a study reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Senore et al found that characteristics of...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today approved filgrastim-sndz (Zarxio), the first biosimilar product approved in the United States. A biosimilar product is a biologic product that is approved based on a showing that it is highly similar to an already-approved biologic. The biosimilar...
Immune cells engineered to seek out and attack a type of deadly brain cancer were found to be safe and effective at controlling tumor growth in mice that were treated with these modified cells, according a team from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and the Novartis...
In the phase III INSPIRE trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Paz-Ares et al found that the addition of the anti-EGFR IgG1 monoclonal antibody necitumumab to first-line pemetrexed (Alimta)-cisplatin did not improve overall survival in patients with previously untreated stage IV nonsquamous...
Harold Varmus, MD, who has led the National Cancer Institute (NCI) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for nearly 5 years, has announced that he will step down from his post, effective March 31, 2015. Dr. Varmus will be joining Weill Cornell Medical College's faculty as the Lewis Thomas...
In a phase II study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Melichar et al found that the oral aurora kinase A inhibitor alisertib was active in solid tumors, particularly breast cancer and small cell lung cancer. Aurora kinases play central roles in mitosis. Inhibition of aurora kinase A, which is...
A recent analysis of 55 Internet websites marketing a broad range of tests and services that promise the ability to personalize cancer treatment has found that the websites often overemphasize their purported benefits and downplay their limitations. In addition, the study results show that the...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today approved the PD-1 inhibitor nivolumab (Opdivo) for the treatment of patients with metastatic squamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who have progressed on or after platinum-based chemotherapy. Nivolumab is a monoclonal antibody that binds ...
In a new study reported by de Leeuw et al in Clinical Cancer Research, researchers found that the novel taxane cabazitaxel (Jevtana) has properties that could make it more effective than docetaxel in some patients with advanced prostate cancer. This hypothesis is currently being tested in a phase...
In a study reported in The Lancet, the Collaborative Group on Epidemiological Studies of Ovarian Cancer found that use of menopausal hormone therapy was associated with an increased risk of ovarian cancer, with the risk being highest among current users. The study consisted of meta-analyses of...
In the phase III ELM-PC 4 trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Saad et al found that the addition of the CYP 17,20 lyase inhibitor orteronel to prednisone did not improve overall survival in chemotherapy-naive patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. Improvement in...
In a study reported in The Lancet, Hersch et al found that use of a decision aid containing information on overdetection in breast cancer screening was associated with an increased rate of informed choice regarding screening, a reduced rate of positive attitudes toward screening, and reduced...
In the Spanish phase III DART01/05 GICOR trial reported in Lancet Oncology, Zapatero and colleagues found that long-term androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) increased biochemical disease-free survival and overall survival vs short-term ADT when combined with high-dose radiotherapy in men with...
As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Swain et al, the final prespecified overall survival analysis in the phase III CLEOPATRA study showed a significant 15.7-month increase in median overall survival over 50 months of follow-up with the addition of pertuzumab (Perjeta) to...
Cancer patients with limited brain metastases (one to four tumors) who are 50 years old and younger should receive stereotactic radiosurgery without whole-brain radiotherapy, according to a study by Saghal et al in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology • Biology • Physics....
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Orphan Drug designation for Oncolytics Biotech’s proprietary formulation of the human reovirus (Reolysin) for the treatment of fallopian tube cancer. The designation was granted on the basis of the company's December 2014 application for ...
Patients who received chemotherapy after bladder cancer surgery demonstrated an approximately 30% lower risk of death than those who underwent surgery alone, according to an analysis presented by researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai at the 2015 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium, ...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted Breakthrough Therapy designation to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Atara Biotherapeutics’ optioned cytotoxic T lymphocytes activated against Epstein-Barr virus (EBV-CTL) in the treatment of patients with rituximab...
Researchers investigating whether tumor genotype correlates with benefit from immune therapy in melanoma has found that patients whose tumors had NRAS mutations had better response to immunotherapy and better outcomes than patients whose tumors had other genetic subtypes. The results suggest that...