In a post hoc analysis reported in the journal Cancer Prevention Research, Galet et al analyzed the effects of diet on men with prostate cancer. They found that men who were on a low-fat diet and fish oil supplementation had lower cell-cycle progression scores, which are associated with less...
A new study has found that several months after surgery for esophageal cancer, different symptoms cluster together in different types of patients. In addition, patients with certain symptom clusters have an increased risk of dying from their disease. The findings by Wikman et al were published...
In a study reported in the journal PLoS One, Allison Jones, MD, of the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Institute for Women’s Health, University College London, and colleagues analyzed the functional role of epigenetic factors in endometrial cancer development. They found that HAND2 methylation...
An Internet-based intervention may significantly improve both sexual function and satisfaction in women with sexual dysfunction years after treatment for breast or gynecologic cancer, according to a randomized trial reported in the November issue of the Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer...
Brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris) is active in patients with relapsed/refractory Hodgkin’s lymphoma. In a phase I study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Anas Younes, MD, of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (formerly of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center), and colleagues...
On October 31, 2013, Ariad Pharmaceuticals, the manufacturer of ponatinib, agreed to an FDA request to suspend marketing and sales of the drug due to the risk of life-threatening blood clots and severe narrowing of blood vessels. The FDA states that it will continue to evaluate ponatinib to further ...
Because statins exhibit immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory effects that may ameliorate graft-vs-host disease, they may be a safe strategy following allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation. In a phase II study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Mehdi Hamadani, MD, and colleagues ...
In a Canadian study reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Kerry S. Courneya, PhD, of the University of Alberta, and colleagues assessed the impact of different levels of physical exercise on physical functioning in women receiving adjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer....
In a phase III trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Thomas E. Hutson, DO, PharmD, of Baylor Sammons Cancer Center and colleagues compared the second-generation VEGFR inhibitor axitinib (Inlyta) with sorafenib (Nexavar) as first-line treatment of metastatic renal cell carcinoma. There was no...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Julia Wade, PhD, of Bristol University, United Kingdom, and colleagues assessed the psychological impact of prostate biopsy. They found that postbiopsy symptoms can be associated with increased anxiety, independent of anxiety associated...
Men who spend the most time engaged in sedentary behaviors are at greatest risk for recurrence of colorectal adenomas, benign tumors that are known precursors of colorectal cancers, according to results presented at the 12th Annual AACR International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention...
Men with short-ended chromosomes in the immune cells in their blood were at increased risk for aggressive prostate cancer compared with men with long-ended chromosomes in blood immune cells, according to results presented at the 12th Annual AACR International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer...
Measuring the presence and amount of the protein Vav2 may help identify breast precancers that will progress to invasive cancers, according to results presented at the 12th Annual AACR International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research, held October 27 to 30 in National Harbor,...
New research ties preparative procedures and complications associated with blood or bone marrow transplant with diminished sexual health in both men and women who have undergone the procedure. Study data, published today in Blood, confirm chronic graft-vs-host disease as a potential source of...
Treating aggressive lung cancer with the diabetes drug metformin along with radiation and chemotherapy may slow tumor growth and recurrence, suggested new preliminary findings from researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. The findings will be presented by...
Previously reported results of the phase III EORTC intergroup 40983 trial showed that perioperative chemotherapy with FOLFOX4 (leucovorin, fluorouracil [5-FU], and oxaliplatin) increased progression-free survival compared with surgery alone in patients with initially resectable liver metastases...
In a phase III trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Daniel D. Von Hoff, MD, of Translational Genomics Research Institute in Phoenix, and colleagues assessed the addition of nanoparticle albumin-bound (nab)-paclitaxel (Abraxane) to gemcitabine in patients with previously untreated...
Axitinib plasma exposure may correlate with efficacy in metastatic renal cell carcinoma, according to population pharmacokinetic data. In a phase II study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Brian I. Rini, MD, of the Cleveland Clinic, and colleagues evaluated the effects of axitinib dose titration in...
In a phase III trial (EORTC [European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer]/GIMEMA [Gruppo Italiano Malattie Ematologiche dell’Adulto] consortium AML-17 trial) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Sergio Amadori, MD, of Tor Vergata University Hospital in Rome, and...
The National Institutes of Health has awarded 10 new grants totaling up to $17 million over the next 4 years to support genomics research in Africa, as part of the Human Heredity and Health in Africa (H3Africa) program. This set of grants is the second disbursement of H3Africa awards and brings the ...
In a phase III trial (NSABP B-41) performed to assess the potential benefit of neoadjuvant dual HER2 blockade in HER2-positive breast cancer, André Robidoux, MD, of Centre Hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal and colleagues in the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and...
In a phase II trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Patrick G. Morris, MD, of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, and colleagues assessed the efficacy of rituximab (Rituxan), methotrexate, procarbazine (Matulane), and vincristine (R-MPV) followed by consolidation reduced-dose ...
In patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), increased hepatocyte growth factor/MET signaling is associated with poor prognosis and acquired resistance to EGFR-targeted treatment. In a phase II study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, David R. Spigel, MD, of Sarah...
There is an absence of biomarkers to indicate which patients with stage I non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) would best benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy. In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Juan Sandoval, PhD, of the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute in...
The anti-cytomegalovirus agent CMX001 is an oral lipid acyclic nucleoside phosphonate that is absorbed in the small intestine and transported throughout the body as a phospholipid. It is converted intracellularly to cidofovir diphosphate, but unlike cidofovir, is not a substrate of organic ion...
The 5-year results of the UK Standardisation of Breast Radiotherapy (START) trials suggested that lower total doses of radiotherapy delivered in fewer, larger doses were at least as safe and effective as the historical standard regimen of 50 Gy in 25 fractions as adjuvant therapy for early breast...
Aurora A kinase is overexpressed in aggressive lymphomas and may correlate with more histologically aggressive forms of disease. In a phase II study reported in Journal of Clinical Oncology, Jonathan W. Friedberg, MD, of University of Rochester Wilmot Cancer Center, and colleagues assessed the...
As reported in The Lancet by Aron Goldhirsch, MD, of the European Institute of Oncology in Milan, and colleagues, 2 years of trastuzumab (Herceptin) showed no advantage over 1 year of trastuzumab treatment in patients with HER2-positive early breast cancer in the phase III HERA trial. An update of...
A shorter course of androgen suppression therapy prior to radiation therapy, when compared to an extended course of androgen suppression therapy, yields comparable outcomes and fewer adverse effects for intermediate-risk prostate cancer patients, according to research presented today at the...
Researchers from University of Rochester Medical Center have shown scientifically what many women report anecdotally: that tamoxifen is toxic to cells of the brain and central nervous system (CNS), producing mental fogginess similar to “chemo brain.” In the study, published in the...
Tremelimumab is an anticytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen 4 (CTLA4) monoclonal antibody, a class of inhibitor that has shown activity in multiple tumor types. Ipilimumab (Yervoy), another agent in this class, was found to significantly prolong overall survival in metastatic melanoma despite a...
Tivozanib is a selective tyrosine kinase inhibitor of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 1 (VEGFR1), -2, and -3. In a phase III trial reported in Journal of Clinical Oncology by Robert J. Motzer, MD, of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) and colleagues, tivozanib was found to...
Pomalidomide (Pomalyst) alone has shown limited efficacy in relapsed multiple myeloma, but synergistic effects have been noted when it is combined with dexamethasone. In a phase III trial (MM-003) reported in The Lancet Oncology, Jesus San Miguel, MD, of Universidad de Salamanca, and colleagues...
In a study reported in Journal of Clinical Oncology, Shukui Qin, MD, of People’s Liberation Army Cancer Centre, Bayi Hospital, in Nanjing, and colleagues compared FOLFOX4 (infusional fluorouracil [5-FU], leucovorin, and oxaliplatin) with doxorubicin as palliative chemotherapy in patients with ...
The investigational agent brivanib is a selective dual inhibitor of VEGF and fibroblast growth factor receptors, both implicated in hepatocellular carcinoma. In a trial (BRISK-PS) reported in Journal of Clinical Oncology, Josep M. Llovet, MD, of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Arjun Sahgal, MD, of Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in Toronto, and colleagues evaluated the occurrence of vertebral compression fractures in patients undergoing spinal stereotactic body radiotherapy. Vertebral compression fracture ...
In the noninferiority ICOGEN trial reported in Lancet Oncology, Yuankai Shi, MD, of the Key Laboratory of Clinical Study on Anticancer Molecular Targeted Drugs. Beijing, and colleagues compared the oral epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitor icotinib with gefitinib...
An app to prevent teens from smoking and encourage them to quit if they have started is now available at no cost on the Apple iTunes Store. “Our app combines education and entertainment with comics and interactive games,” said Designer Alexander Prokhorov, MD, PhD, a Professor in the...
A trial reported in Journal of Clinical Oncology by John P. Crown, MD, of the Irish Cooperative Oncology Research Group, and colleagues assessed the addition of the antiangiogenesis agent sunitinib (Sutent) to capecitabine (Xeloda) in patients with previously treated metastatic breast cancer who...
In a study reported in Journal of Clinical Oncology, Kelly-Anne Phillips, MD, of Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and University of Melbourne, and colleagues analyzed the association of adjuvant tamoxifen use and risk of contralateral breast cancer among women carrying BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations in the ...
In a phase II study (BREAK-2) reported in Journal of Clinical Oncology, Paolo A. Ascierto, MD, of Istituto Nazionale Tumori Fondazione G. Pascale, and colleagues assessed the activity of the mutated BRAF kinase inhibitor dabrafenib (Tafinlar) in patients with BRAF-V600E/K mutant metastatic...
In a report in Journal of Clinical Oncology, Sonali M. Smith, MD, of University of Chicago Hospitals, and colleagues analyzed outcomes in a large cohort of autologous or allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation recipients with the most common T-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma histologies. Their ...
The National Lung Screening Trial found that 3 years of annual screening with low-dose helical computed tomography (CT) reduced lung cancer mortality compared with chest radiography in older persons who were heavy smokers. The Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial also...
The endothelin pathway has a role in bone metastases, which are characteristic of advanced prostate cancer, and the investigational endothelin receptor antagonist atrasentan has shown activity in prostate cancer. In the SWOG S0421 trial reported in Lancet Oncology by David I. Quinn, FRACP, of...
Intratumoral injections of plasmid DNA encoding interleukin-12 (IL-12), facilitated in its delivery by electroporation, results in tumor regression in patients with both metastatic melanoma and Merkel cell carcinoma, according to findings reported at the 2013 World Cutaneous Malignancies Congress...
In a phase II study evaluating three dosing regimens of nanoparticle albumin-bound (nab)-paclitaxel (Abraxane) given with bevacizumab (Avastin), weekly dosing of nab-paclitaxel resulted in the highest overall response rate and longest progression-free survival. The schedule of nab-paclitaxel given...
In a collaborative phase III trial of the North Central Cancer Treatment Group and Mayo Clinic reported in Journal of the National Cancer Institute by Debra L. Barton, RN, PhD, of the Mayo Clinic, and colleagues, patients with cancer-related fatigue were treated with Wisconsin ginseng (a common...
Obinutuzumab is a type II, glycoengineered, humanized anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody. In the phase II GAUGUIN studies reported in Journal of Clinical Oncology by Franck Andre Morschhauser, MD, PhD of Centre Hospitalier Régional Universitaire de Lille and Gilles A. Salles, MD, PhD, of Hospices ...
For patients with advanced gastric cancer, treatment with chemotherapy after surgery can reduce the risk of cancer-related death by 34% over 5 years compared to surgery alone, researchers reported at the 15th ESMO World Congress in Gastrointestinal Cancer (Abstract 007), held July 3 to 6 in...
In two large studies, the association between aspirin use and risk of colorectal cancer was affected by BRAF mutation status, with regular aspirin use associated with a lower risk of BRAF wild-type colorectal cancer but not with risk of BRAF-mutated cancer. The findings, published today in JAMA,...