In an online report in the journal Cancer, a team of University of Chicago cancer specialists have described the first tool—11 questions, assembled and refined from conversations with more than 150 patients with advanced cancer—to measure a patient’s risk for, and ability to...
Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited announced today that it has voluntarily decided to end the development program for orteronel (TAK-700), an investigational oral, nonsteroidal, selective inhibitor of 17,20-lyase, for prostate cancer. The decision follows the results of two phase III...
Used as a conditioning regimen for allogeneic transplantation in patients with acute leukemia, reduced-intensity total-body irradiation yielded similar overall and relapse-free survival rates to those seen with myeloablative total-body irradiation but with shorter hospital stays and fewer intensive ...
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine have completed the first comprehensive survey of e-cigarettes for sale online, and the results, they believe, underscore the complexity in regulating the rapidly growing market for the electronic nicotine delivery devices....
Prone accelerated intensity-modulated radiation therapy with a concomitant boost produced excellent local tumor control and cosmesis while sparing normal tissues in women with early-stage breast cancer, according to the 5-year study results reported by Osa et al in the International Journal of...
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma is considered a “nonimmunogenic” neoplasm and does not typically respond to immunotherapy, in part due to a complex tumor microenvironment that provides a formidable barrier to immune infiltration and function. A new study by Lutz et al has found that by ...
A unique public-private collaboration among the National Cancer Institute (NCI), SWOG Cancer Research, Friends of Cancer Research, the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH), five pharmaceutical companies (Amgen, Genentech, Pfizer, AstraZeneca, and AstraZeneca’s global...
Women who begin menstruation at an older age have a significantly increased risk of developing a brain tumor, a Moffitt Cancer Center study shows. The results are part of a large multicenter study to determine potential risk factors associated with the development of glioma and meningioma. The...
Concurrent treatment with ipilimumab (Yervoy) and nivolumab resulted in a 2-year survival rate of 79% for patients with advanced melanoma. “While this is a small trial, that is very impressive 2-year survival data,” noted Mario Sznol, MD, at a press briefing on progress in immunotherapy ...
A phase III, multicenter, double-blind, placebo-controlled study found that the oral targeted drug lenvatinib is highly effective among patients with differentiated thyroid cancer resistant to standard radioiodine therapy. “The main result is an extraordinary improvement in progression-free...
A patient-centered educational and behavioral program focusing on self-care strategies appears to be an effective way to reduce the risk of lymphedema in survivors of breast cancer, according to the results of a prospective study by Fu et al at New York University. These findings, reported in the...
The addition of sorafenib (Nexavar) to yttrium-90 radioembolization was associated with higher rates of biliary complications and potentially more acute rejections prior to transplantation in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma, according to the results of a prospective randomized pilot study....
One of the first studies to analyze the effectiveness of screening survivors of childhood cancer for early signs of impending congestive heart failure found improved health outcomes but suggested that less frequent screening than currently recommended may yield similar clinical benefit. Researchers ...
According to the results from three studies published in European Urology, the 17-gene Oncotype DX Genomic Prostate Score is a significant predictor of disease aggressiveness at the time of diagnosis before intervention with radiation or surgery. The test provides more precise and individualized...
According to a large, population-based observational study of men who had a prostate-specific antigen (PSA)-only based relapse after prostate surgery or radiation therapy, delaying androgen deprivation therapy until the onset of symptoms or appearance of cancer on a scan does not substantially...
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 ...
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...
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 ...
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...
A new study has found that loss of paid employment after a diagnosis of early-stage breast cancer may be common and potentially related to the type of treatment patients received. Published early online in Cancer, the findings by Jagsi et al support efforts to reduce the side effects and burden of...
Most drugs used to treat lung, breast, and pancreatic cancers also promote drug resistance and ultimately spur tumor growth. Researchers at the University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine have discovered a biomarker called CD61 on the surface of drug-resistant tumors that may be...
Although doctors have long known that people with Down syndrome have a heightened risk of developing acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) during childhood, they haven’t been able to explain why. In a new study published online in Nature Genetics, Lane et al tracked the genetic chain of events...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Orphan Drug Designation to volasertib for acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Volasertib is currently being evaluated in a phase III clinical trial for the treatment of patients aged 65 or older, with previously untreated AML, who are ineligible for ...
Noncompliance appears to be a major challenge for active surveillance, according to the results of long-term follow-up of patients with prostate cancer presented at the European Association of Urology 29th Annual Congress in Stockholm. Over a quarter of men dropped out of the active surveillance...
The activity of four transcription factors appears to distinguish the small proportion of glioblastoma cells responsible for the aggressiveness and treatment resistance of the deadly brain tumor. The findings by Suvà et al, published online in Cell, support the importance of epigenetics in...
Using comprehensive genomic analysis, researchers have sorted low-grade brain tumors into three categories, one of which has the molecular hallmarks and shortened survival of glioblastoma multiforme, the most lethal of brain tumors. The findings were reported at the American Association for Cancer...
The investigational, oral drug BGJ398, which blocks the activity of fibroblast growth factor receptors (FGFRs), showed promising anticancer activity in patients with various types of cancer driven by FGFR genetic alterations, according to the results of a phase I clinical trial presented at the...
Among patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated with the investigational immune checkpoint inhibitor MK-3475, those whose tumors had high levels of the protein PD-L1 had significantly better outcomes, according to results of a phase I clinical trial presented at the American...
Findings from the I-SPY 2 randomized phase II clinical trial for women with newly diagnosed stage II breast cancer show that a neoadjuvant regimen containing the investigational drug neratinib, a pan-HER inhibitor, and standard chemotherapy is beneficial for patients with hormone...
Among melanoma patients treated with the PD-1 inhibitor MK-3475, those whose tumors had the protein PD-L1 had better immune responses and higher survival rates, according to results presented at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2014 in San Diego. When the protein...
Doctors should focus on life expectancy when deciding whether to order mammograms for their oldest female patients, since the harms of screening likely outweigh the benefits unless women are expected to live at least another decade, according to a review published online in JAMA by Walter and...
“Use of e-cigarettes does not discourage, and may encourage, conventional cigarette use among US adolescents.” This was the conclusion of a cross-sectional analysis of survey data from a representative sample of middle and high school students who completed the National Youth Tobacco...
A new era of lung cancer therapy is dawning, using drugs that can prevent tumor cells from evading the immune system, experts reported at the 4th European Lung Cancer Congress. For decades, scientists and doctors thought immunotherapy was of marginal benefit in lung cancer, said ESMO spokesperson...
Preliminary research suggests that a targeted oral agent may improve outcomes while minimizing side effects in women with gynecologic cancers who carry a BRCA mutation and whose disease is not responding to other therapies. According to a phase II study presented at the Society of Gynecologic...
While many cancer researchers believe that predictive somatic genomic testing holds the potential to usher in the era of precision medicine for patients with cancer, research by Gray et al suggests that not all physicians are eager to embrace the technology. The variation in attitudes was in part...
Women who had bariatric surgery to lose weight had a 70% lower risk of uterine cancer and an even lower risk if they kept the weight off, according to findings presented at the Society of Gynecologic Oncology (SGO) Annual Meeting on Women’s Cancer, held in Tampa, Florida, from March 22 to 25. ...
Both obesity and diabetes have adverse effects on outcomes in breast cancer patients who receive neoadjuvant chemotherapy, according to research presented at the 9th European Breast Cancer Conference. Although a high body mass index (BMI) is known to have a negative impact on cancer development and ...
Genetic analyses of results from 1,125 postmenopausal women being treated for estrogen-responsive breast cancer have shown that some of them are more likely than others to have a late recurrence of their cancer and might benefit from 10 years of hormone therapy rather than 5 years. Women who had...
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) is recommending that newly diagnosed colorectal cancer patients be screened for Lynch syndrome, previously called hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer. The NCCN’s proactive position should greatly help identify individuals and their...
In a pilot trial (PediQUEST) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Wolfe et al assessed the effects of use of the PediQUEST electronic patient-reported feedback survey on health-related quality of life in children with advanced cancer. Although few significant improvements were observed,...
The overexpression of Hedgehog family proteins contributes to the development of many cancers. Research by Konitsiotis et al has found that blocking the function of the Hedgehog acyltransferase (Hhat) enzyme slows the growth and spread of pancreatic cancer. Targeting inhibition of the Hedgehog...
A phase I study by Wagle et al of a combination of everolimus and pazopanib in patients with advanced solid tumors has identified a patient with bladder cancer who had a 14-month complete response. The patient had two concurrent mutations in mTOR, the target of everolimus (Afinitor), which may have ...
A novel approach to cancer immunotherapy may provide a new and cost-effective strategy against ovarian cancer and mesothelioma. In a study published in the Journal of Hematology & Oncology, Yuan et al reported that a fusion protein engineered to combine a molecule targeting a tumor-cell-surface ...
Patients with terminal cancer who receive chemotherapy during the last months of their lives are less likely to die where they want and more likely to endure invasive medical procedures than those who do not receive chemotherapy, according to a study by Wright et al published in BMJ. The findings...
Immunotherapy for ovarian, breast, and colorectal cancer has so far had limited success, primarily because the immune system often can’t destroy the cancer cells. According to a report published in Oncotarget, researchers at Johns Hopkins have identified genes that have been repressed through ...
A new study suggests that levels of bisphenola A (BPA) in men’s urine may be a marker of prostate cancer and that low levels of BPA exposure can cause cellular changes in both nonmalignant and malignant prostate cells. The research, published in PLOS ONE, provides the first evidence that...
There is currently a lack of reliable methods for distinguishing ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) that would never become symptomatic from DCIS that is likely to progress to life-threatening invasive cancer. Spurred by uncertainty about the optimal clinical management of DCIS, researchers have...
The St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital–Washington University Pediatric Cancer Genome Project has identified the most common genetic alteration ever reported in the brain tumor ependymoma and evidence that the alteration drives tumor development. The findings were published online in...
Using next-generation sequencing and the clinical data of patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, researchers found that combining mutant-allele tumor heterogeneity as a biomarker with patients’ human papillomavirus (HPV) status provides a reliable predictor of patient survival....
New study findings show that patients with head and neck cancer receiving daily humidification of the mouth and throat during radiation therapy had reduced symptoms of muscositis and spent nearly 50% fewer days in the hospital to manage their treatment side effects. The study by Macann et al was...