In a phase II trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Illidge et al evaluated radioimmunotherapy with fractionated 90Y-ibritumomab tiuxetan (Zevalin) as initial treatment in patients with mostly advanced follicular lymphoma. The treatment was well tolerated, with manageable...
Five years of treatment with anastrozole reduced the risk of primary breast cancer by 53% in postmenopausal women at high risk for developing the disease, according to an analysis of the IBIS II trial. Anastrozole reduced the risk of estrogen receptor–positive invasive cancers by 58%. The...
Among older women with hormone receptor–positive breast cancer, it is reasonable to omit whole-breast radiation therapy after breast-conserving surgery and neoadjuvant hormone therapy if the patient’s tumors have high levels of estrogen receptor expression, but radiation should remain...
Final results of the phase III NeoALTTO trial have confirmed the value of pathologic complete response to dual HER2 blockade in the neoadjuvant setting. The achievement of pathologic complete response was associated with significantly improved event-free survival and overall survival in some women...
Bevacizumab (Avastin) failed to extend invasive disease–free survival when added to trastuzumab (Herceptin)-directed adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with HER2-positive breast cancer in the phase III BETH trial. Although not specifically designed to answer this question, BETH also...
Re-examination of data from four large studies of the benefits and harms of mammography screening shows that the benefits are more consistent across these studies than previously understood and that all the studies indicate a substantial reduction in breast cancer mortality with screening,...
Women with HER2-positive breast cancer who had the highest levels of immune cells in their tumors gained the most benefit from presurgery treatment with chemotherapy and trastuzumab (Herceptin), according to results presented today at the 2013 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (Abstract S1-05)....
The antibody-drug conjugate brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris) has shown “compelling” antitumor activity in patients with non-Hodgkin lymphomas who were no longer responding to treatment, in a study presented at the American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting and Exposition...
In the phase III INTORSECT trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Hutson et al compared temsirolimus (Torisel) vs sorafenib (Nexavar) as second-line treatment in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma after progression on sunitinib (Sutent). There was no significant difference...
In the phase III INTORACT trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Rini et al compared temsirolimus (Torisel)/bevacizumab (Avastin) vs interferon alfa/bevacizumab in first-line treatment of metastatic renal cell carcinoma. There were no significant differences between the two regimens in ...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Zimmer et al assessed the incidence of spontaneous new primary melanomas in patients with stage III or IV melanoma in order to help clarify risk of BRAF inhibitor–related new melanomas. They found that patients not receiving BRAF...
Nearly all of the patients with high-risk chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) in a phase II clinical trial responded to treatment with the targeted therapy ibrutinib (Imbruvica) and the antibody rituximab (Rituxan), researchers reported at the 55th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting ...
High plasma levels of vitamin B12 (cobalamin) have been reported in patients with cancer of different types. In a Danish study reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Arendt et al assessed cancer risk in subjects presenting with elevated cobalamin. They found that cancer risk...
A high proportion of mantle cell lymphoma patients may achieve an objective and durable response to treatment with an initial chemotherapy-free regimen, according to Jia Ruan, MD, PhD, of Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, who presented the results of a multicenter phase II study at the 55th...
A new analysis of the multiple myeloma IFM 2005-02 trial showed that lenalidomide (Revlimid) maintenance prolongs progression-free survival after stem cell transplantation, but does not improve overall survival. This is possibly attributed to the shorter survival time after first disease...
In a study reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Shiels et al identified 11 circulating inflammation markers significantly associated with lung cancer risk. A risk score using four of the markers distinguished risk levels among current and former smokers. Study Details This...
Five commonly used hematology tests, treatments, and procedures are not always necessary, according to the Choosing Wisely® initiative of the ABIM (American Board of Internal Medicine) Foundation. The American Society of Hematology (ASH) Choosing Wisely list of these five tests was...
In the United States, African American men are 1.6 times more likely to develop prostate cancer and more than 2.5 times as likely to die from the disease than non-Hispanic white men, according to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. A study by David P. Turner, PhD, Assistant...
In patients with indolent B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) refractory to both rituximab (Rituxan) and an alkylating agent, monotherapy with the selective oral PI3K-delta inhibitor idelalisib produced a high response rate, with responses persisting for 1 year in the average patient, according to...
First-line treatment of newly diagnosed multiple myeloma using continuous treatment with the doublet of lenalidomide (Revlimid) and low-dose dexamethasone was superior to standard triplet treatment with melphalan, prednisone, and thalidomide (Thalomid) for 72 weeks, according to initial results of...
The monoclonal antibody gemtuzumab ozogamicin (Mylotarg) improved event-free survival and reduced the risk of relapse in children with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in a study from the Children’s Oncology Group, presented at the 55th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting and...
Years after receiving treatment, many patients who survive prostate cancer continue to experience treatment-related symptoms, according to the findings of a study by Darwish-Yassine et al published in the Journal of Cancer Survivorship. These findings highlight the need for improvements in survivor ...
Two novel agents—the small-molecule PI3K inhibitor IPI-145 and the Bcl-2 inhibitor ABT-199—show promising activity in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), according to two phase I studies presented at the 55th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting and Exposition (Abstracts...
Obinutuzumab (Gazyva) plus chlorambucil (Leukeran) was superior to rituximab (Rituximab) plus chlorambucil as first-line therapy in older chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) patients with comorbidities, with an acceptable safety profile, according to final results of the phase III CLL11 trial....
The intensity of transplant-related chemotherapy and radiation has effects on cognition, according to a study presented at the 55th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting and Exposition (Abstract 913). Full-intensity hematopoietic stem cell transplant was associated with cognitive...
Development of autologous genetically engineered anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-expressing T cells holds promise in the treatment of hematologic malignancies. CAR T cells are being studied in adult and pediatric acute lymphocytic leukemias and in chronic lymphocytic leukemia, and...
T-cell–depleted HLA-haploidentical hematopoietic stem cell transplantation can be made more efficacious and safer through the removal of alpha/beta-positive T cells and CD19-positive B cells from the graft, an approach pioneered by Italian investigators who reported results at the 55th...
Data from a study by Ritu Aneja, PhD, Associate Professor in the Department of Biology at Georgia State University in Atlanta, and colleagues indicate that overexpression of the protein HSET is a valuable prognostic biomarker in African American women with breast cancer, but not in Caucasian...
A new class of drugs reduced the risk of patients contracting a serious and often deadly side effect of bone marrow transplant treatments, according to a study by Choi et al published in The Lancet Oncology. The study, the first to test this treatment in humans, combined the drug vorinostat...
The presence of PIK3CA missense mutation appears to be associated with shorter disease-specific survival in grade 3 endometrioid but not serous endometrial carcinoma, according to a study in Gynecologic Oncology. Although McIntyre et al found this type of mutation across all histologic types of...
Patients receiving crizotinib (Xalkori) for the treatment of anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)-positive non?small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) had reductions in their estimated glomerular filtration rate, according to the findings of a study by Brosnan et al published in the journal Cancer. In the...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Taylor et al evaluated the ability of preoperative high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) assessment of circumferential resection margin to predict outcome in patients with rectal cancer. They found that MRI assessment was...
High levels of the cholesterol metabolite 27-hydroxycholesterol seem to function like estrogen and may independently drive the growth of breast cancer, according to the findings of a preclinical study by Nelson et al published in Science. They also found a possible connection between...
A study by researchers from Harvard School of Public Health, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and Brigham and Women’s Hospital has found that overweight or obese men with prostate cancer whose tumors were positive for the TMPRSS2:ERG genetic mutation had more than a 50% increased risk of dying...
The National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP) B-31 trial suggested that efficacy of adjuvant trastuzumab (Herceptin) extended to patients with HER2-negative breast cancer. In a study reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Pogue-Geile et al identified and...
In a brief communication published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Akbari et al reported finding a higher frequency of PPM1D mutations in circulating white blood cells from women with ovarian cancer vs controls, higher mortality associated with the mutation in women with ovarian...
In a study reported in JAMA Otolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery, George et al evaluated radiation treatment characteristics and outcomes among head and neck squamous cell carcinoma patients receiving adjuvant external-beam radiation therapy at an academic center vs other institutions....
Compared to traditional mammography, three-dimensional (3D) mammography—known as digital breast tomosynthesis—found 22% more breast cancers and led to fewer call-backs in a large screening study at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, researchers reported today at the 99th...
In a study reported in JAMA Otolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery, Hutcheson et al assessed the effects of maintained oral intake and adherence to swallowing exercises during radiation therapy or chemoradiation therapy for pharyngeal cancer. They found that both practices contributed independently ...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Wagner et al assessed whether a nurse navigator intervention improved quality of life or patient experience with care in patients who recently received a diagnosis of breast, colorectal, or lung cancer. Although no differences in...
Available data indicate that lymph node involvement predicts failure at primary and distant sites after chemoradiation for head and neck cancer. In a study reported in JAMA Otolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery, Ranck et al assessed the impact of postradiotherapy neck dissection on local and...
A phase II trial to evaluate the combination of bendamustine (Treanda) with bortezomib (Velcade) and dexamethasone in patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma “showed a remarkable response rate of 60.9%, and, when minor responses were included in 75.9% of patients,”...
Disease-free survival is an acceptable surrogate for overall survival in trials of cytotoxic agents for gastric cancer in the adjuvant setting, the GASTRIC group concluded after conducting a meta-analysis of data from 3,288 individual patients enrolled in 14 randomized clinical trials. The trials...
The results from the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO)-led Global Opioid Policy Initiative (GOPI) project show that due to a lack of access to essential opioids, more than 4 billion people—over half the world’s population—live in countries where regulatory barriers,...
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) today released its final recommendation statement on screening for oral cancer in adults without signs or symptoms of oral cancer who are seen by primary care providers. This recommendation focuses on primary care professionals and is not a...
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...
In a study reported in JAMA Internal Medicine, Smith-Bindman et al evaluated the ability of ultrasound imaging characteristics to determine risk of thyroid cancer associated with thyroid nodules. They found that a strategy of using two abnormal nodule characteristics as an indication for biopsy...
Black patients with metastatic colorectal cancer have been found to have poorer survival than white patients. In a study reported in Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Simpson et al found that black patients were less likely to have specialist consultations and to receive multimodality...
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...
ASCO has policy and procedures for endorsing clinical practice guidelines developed by other professional organizations. As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Meyerhardt et al of the ASCO Clinical Practice Guidelines Committee, ASCO has endorsed the Cancer Care Ontario (CCO)...