As reported in a research letter in JAMA Dermatology, Watanabe et al found that diffuse erythema at presentation in patients with leukemic T-cell lymphoma was associated with better response to low-dose alemtuzumab (Campath) compared with patients presenting with preexisting plaques or tumors....
In a phase II feasibility study (MRC FOCUS3) reported in British Journal of Cancer, Maughan et al used KRAS and BRAF mutation status and topoisomerase-1 expression status to randomly assign patients with advanced colorectal cancer to molecular hypothesis–driven treatment or control treatment. ...
The use of cord blood cells as hematopoietic stem cell grafts for patients with hematologic malignancies receiving an allogeneic stem cell transplant has been limited to children due to the small number of stem cells present in a single cord blood collection. The result of these limitations has...
In a report in JAMA Dermatology, Zhu et al discuss two cases in which clinically significant squamous cell carcinoma was found within the tumor bed of locally advanced basal cell carcinoma during vismodegib (Erivedge) treatment for basal cell carcinoma. In one, basal cell carcinoma tumor shrinkage...
A new study by researchers at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center–Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC–James) provides evidence that genetically modifying immune cells might effectively treat multiple myeloma. The findings by ...
Positive positron-emission tomography (PET) scans have low positive predictive value after chemotherapy in patients with Hodgkin lymphoma. In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Kobe et al assessed whether use of pretreatment and post-treatment computed tomography (CT) could...
In a study reported in British Journal of Cancer, Shaw et al assessed the accuracy of several reported criteria for identifying insignificant prostate cancer for active surveillance in a population of unscreened men. None of the examined tools provided sufficient discrimination of insignificant...
Cowden syndrome, an autosomal-dominant disorder characterized by the development multiple hamartomas, is associated with increased risk of breast, thyroid, endometrial, and renal cancers in patients with underlying germline PTEN mutations. In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology,...
In patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), preoperative positron-emission tomography (PET) has been shown to limit the number of unnecessary surgeries, according to the results of a study presented by Zeliadt et al in the Journal of Nuclear Medicine. Besides its value in accurate...
A new method for using immunotherapy to specifically attack tumor cells that have mutations unique to a patient’s cancer has been developed by scientists at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health. The researchers demonstrated that the human immune...
In 2010, Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) registries began collecting data on HER2 receptor status in breast cancer cases. In a study reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Howlader et al identified U.S. incidence rates for breast cancer by joint hormone...
Researchers from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital conducted a phase I study of hu14.18K322A, an experimental monoclonal antibody genetically engineered at the hospital, in 38 children with refractory or recurrent neuroblastoma. The patients received escalating doses of hu14.18K322A...
In a UK trial (EnROL) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Kennedy et al compared outcomes with open vs laparoscopic resection of colorectal cancer within a multimodality enhanced recovery program. Such programs are intended to improve all aspects of perioperative care and have been shown...
There are limited data on outcomes after surgery for intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma. In a systematic review and meta-analysis reported in JAMA Surgery, Mavros et al found that tumor characteristics are the primary predictors of survival after curative intent surgery, indicating the need for...
The effect of false-positive mammograms on women undergoing screening is being investigated by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. In a study reported in JAMA Internal Medicine, Tosteson et al assessed responses to false-positive screening mammograms. According to the authors, their findings...
Few options are available to treat pain from bone metastases in patients refractory to drug and radiation therapy. In a phase III study reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Hurwitz et al found significant pain relief using magnetic resonance–guided focused ultrasound...
Inhibiting enzymes that cause changes in gene expression could decrease chemotherapy resistance in patients with ovarian cancer, according to research by Cacan et al. The study investigated the silencing of RGS10 expression in ovarian cells by epigenetics and identified two epigenetic regulators,...
Preclinical data suggest that triple-negative breast cancer is sensitive to interstrand crosslinking agents and that the combination of a taxane, trastuzumab (Herceptin), and a platinum may have synergistic effects in HER2-positive breast cancer. In a randomized phase II trial (GeparSixto, German...
Geographic proximity to services has been identified as a potential barrier to cancer screening, and there is evidence of disparity in colorectal cancer outcomes between urban and rural U.S. residents. In a study reported in JAMA Surgery, Aboagye et al identified a significantly greater density of...
An analysis of the metabolic profiles of hundreds of ovarian tumors has revealed a new test to determine whether ovarian cancer cells have the potential to metastasize. The study, which was published in Molecular Systems Biology, also suggests how ovarian cancer treatments can be tailored based on...
Men who begin taking statins after prostate cancer surgery are less likely to have a recurrence of their cancer, according to a retrospective analysis led by researchers at Duke Medicine. The study by Allott et al was published in BJU International. “Our findings suggest that beginning...
In a Spanish trial (PETHEMA ALL-AR-03) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Ribera et al found high disease-free and overall survival rates with delayed consolidation and maintenance chemotherapy in high-risk Philadelphia chromosome–negative acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL)...
In a Chinese study reported in JAMA Surgery, Huang et al found that preoperative elevated hepatitis B virus (HBV) surface antigen (HBsAg) level is an independent risk factor for hepatocellular carcinoma recurrence and mortality in patients with low HBV DNA levels undergoing hepatic resection....
There are few treatment options for breast cancer patients with progressive disease after two or more HER2-directed regimens for recurrent or metastatic disease. In the open-label phase III TH3RESA trial reported in The Lancet Oncology by Krop and et al, ado-trastuzumab emtansine (Kadcyla)...
A surgical method combining two techniques for removing precancerous polyps during colonoscopies can substantially reduce the recovery time and the length of hospital stays, which may translate into significant cost savings, according to research presented this week at Digestive Disease Week in...
A retrospective study published online ahead of print in Urology by researchers at Roswell Park Cancer Institute found that patients with metastatic kidney cancer—even those with chronic renal insufficiency—can tolerate and benefit from high-dose interleukin-2 (HDIL-2) immunotherapy....
Of 53 National Cancer Institute cancer centers, only 43% report implementing survivorship care plans for at least some of their cancer survivors. In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Blanch-Hartigan et al found that a minority of a nationally representative sample of oncologists ...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, D’Souza et al found that while human papillomavirus (HPV)-positive patients with oropharyngeal cancer had high prevelances of oncogenic oral HPV DNA and oral HPV16 DNA, their sexual partners did not appear to have increased risk of...
As many as half of patients with metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer develop brain metastases over time. The American Society of Clinical Oncology recently released a clinical practice guideline on disease management for patients with advanced HER2-positive breast cancer and brain metastases. A...
Approximately 15% of patients with breast cancer have tumors that overexpress the HER2 protein, and these patients can benefit from HER2-targeted therapies. The American Society of Clinical Oncology recently released a clinical practice guideline on systemic therapy for patients with advanced...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved omacetaxine mepesuccinate (Synribo) for injection, for subcutaneous use, to include home administration, and also approved a related Medication Guide and Instructions for Use. With this approval, physicians who treat adults with chronic- or...
In a trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Spathis et al found that that the central nervous system (CNS) stimulant modafinil had no effect on fatigue compared with placebo in patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Fatigue improved in both groups during the...
In a study reported in JAMA Otolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery, Davies and Gilbert found that the incidence of thyroid cancer has nearly tripled since 1975. However, the increase appears to represent an “epidemic of diagnosis” and to almost exclusively represent increased diagnosis...
A phase III trial reported in 2013 showed noninferiority of pazopanib (Votrient) vs sunitinib (Sutent) for progression-free survival in first-line treatment of clear cell metastatic renal cell carcinoma. In a letter to the editor in The New England Journal of Medicine, Motzer et al provided the...
Patients with locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck treated with hyperfractionated radiation therapy experienced improved local-regional control and, with patients censored at 5 years, improved overall survival with no increase in late toxicity, according to a study...
Surgery for metastatic breast cancer conveys a significantly increased risk for morbidity and mortality at 30 days vs surgery for earlier-stage disease, according to researchers from the University of Toronto who presented their findings at the American Society of Breast Surgeons Annual Meeting in...
Radiation therapy, an emerging treatment modality for breast cancer in the lymph nodes, is associated with significantly fewer postoperative complications than axillary lymph node dissection, according to a detailed analysis of morbidity from the AMAROS trial presented at a press briefing prior to...
Cryoablation of breast tumors, which destroys lesions by exposing them to extremely low temperatures, may be a promising alternative to surgery in carefully selected women with early-stage disease, according to a study presented at the American Society of Breast Surgeons Annual Meeting in Las...
Researchers at the University of Louisville School of Medicine are using breath analysis to detect the presence of lung cancer. Preliminary data indicate that this noninvasive tool offers the sensitivity of PET scanning and has almost twice the specificity of PET for distinguishing patients with...
In a retrospective study of salivary gland cancer survival reported in JAMA Otolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery, Russell et al found black patients with mucoepidermoid or squamous cell carcinoma have poorer disease-specific survival than white patients, with no difference being observed between...
Expression of the inflammatory cytokine interleukin (IL)-1 alpha is a very early step in the inflammatory response that characterizes the malignant phenotype and that is associated with angiogenesis, tumor invasiveness, metastasis, and cachexia. In a phase I dose-escalation study reported in The...
In a single-blind phase III trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Zhu et al compared the use of 125iodine seed–loaded vs conventional covered stents along with single high-dose brachytherapy as palliative treatment in patients with unresectable esophageal cancer. Use of the irradiated stents ...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted accelerated approval to ceritinib (Zykadia) for patients with a metastatic anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)-positive non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who were previously treated with crizotinib (Xalkori). Ceritinib is an ALK tyrosine...
A study investigating vitamin D status and prostate cancer diagnosis in high-risk men has found an association between vitamin D deficiency and aggressive prostate cancer. The study enrolled 667 men, ages 40 to 79 years, who were undergoing their first prostate biopsy following an abnormal...
Quality of life is rarely reported in surgical publications, yet it can be an important metric that can be of use to physicians and patients when making treatment decisions. Prior studies of average-risk patients undergoing lobectomy suggested that low baseline quality-of-life scores predict worse...
Different mechanisms of carcinogenesis and molecular characteristics have been proposed for human papillomavirus (HPV)-positive and HPV-negative oropharyngeal carcinomas, and better outcomes have been observed in patients with HPV-positive tumors. Some experts advocate classification of the two as...
Active prostate cancer cells in the bone environment can disrupt the bone remodeling process, promoting a “vicious cycle” of extensive bone destruction and formation that yields nutrients allowing prostate cancer cells to grow. To simulate this complex biologic process, researchers have ...
The incidence of breast cancer in women treated with chest radiation therapy for childhood cancer previously has been estimated at 5% to 14% by age 40 years and is among the highest reported for any population. In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Moskowitz et al found that the...
Molecular diagnosis and preventive surgery have been successful in preventing medullary thyroid cancer in patients with multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2 syndrome. In a retrospective population-based study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Castinetti et al found no difference in disease-free...
On April 28, 2014, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a 20 mg/mL oral suspension of mercaptopurine (Purixan) indicated for the treatment of patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) as part of a combination regimen. Successive clinical trials have demonstrated that mercaptopurine ...