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Showing 6151 - 6200Ruxolitinib for Myelofibrosis Therapy: A Good Start but a Long Road Ahead
Following a priority review process for orphan diseases, ruxolitinb (Jakafi) recently became the first drug to receive FDA approval for the treatment of intermediate- and high-risk myelofibrosis. Discovery in 2004 of the JAK2V617F mutation in a significant proportion of patients with...
BOLERO-2: Everolimus Thwarts Resistance to Hormonal Therapy in Advanced Breast Cancer
Adding an inhibitor of the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) to hormonal therapy for advanced breast cancer effectively circumvents resistance, suggest updated results of the randomized BOLERO-2 trial. With a median follow-up of 12.5 months, the likelihood of disease progression or death among...
Outpatients Need to Be Aware of High Risk of Developing Venous Thromboembolism
Most patients who develop venous thromboembolisms (VTE) while being treated for cancer, do so as outpatients, according to results of a retrospective, observational study comparing the incidence of VTE among inpatients and outpatients with cancer. Yet many outpatients do not even realize that they...
First Genomic-based Pediatric Trials Launched in Neuroblastoma
Last November, Dell announced it was donating an initial $4 million including cloud-computing technology to speed up development of personalized medicine trials for children with neuroblastoma and other pediatric cancers. According to the American Cancer Society, about 650 children under the age of ...
Therapy for Hodgkin Lymphoma in the Elderly Remains Undefined
At the 2011 Pan-Pacific Lymphoma Conference held recently in Kauai, Hawaii, Andrew M. Evens, DO, MSc, Director of the Lymphoma Program at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester, discussed Hodgkin lymphoma in elderly patients. Event-free survival and overall survival rates in...
Advances in Gynecologic Cancer Surgery Continue to Improve Outcomes
Over the past several decades, advances in chemotherapy and surgery have begun to translate into improved survival in gynecologic malignancies. The ASCO Post recently spoke with Ginger Gardner, MD, a surgical oncologist at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, who specializes in the management...
Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy for Thin Melanomas?
When sentinel lymph node biopsy for the regional staging of melanoma was first introduced, it was recommended for any patient with a melanoma 1.0 mm in Breslow thickness or greater. Patients with thin melanomas were not thought to have a sufficiently high risk to warrant the additional cost and...
Bevacizumab Breast Cancer Indication Rescinded: What Are the Downstream Implications?
Leading up to FDA’s resolution to revoke the breast cancer indication for bevacizumab (Avastin), the debate over the drug’s clinical value was imbued with contentious ideologic overtones, which culminated in a 2-day public hearing that exposed deep divisions not only in the scientific community,...
Favorable Early-stage Hodgkin Lymphoma and HD.6: The Take-Home and Don’t–Take-Home Messages
The Canadian HD.6 randomized study in patients with nonbulky early-stage Hodgkin lymphoma is mostly of historic interest.1,2 It has little relevance to current treatment standards or questions, and the risk for its inappropriate interpretation is of great concern. Radical Radiation Approach Long...
Vandetanib Demonstrates Therapeutic Efficacy in Patients with Advanced Medullary Thyroid Cancer
A phase III trial among patients with locally advanced or metastatic medullary thyroid cancer met its primary objective of progression-free survival prolongation among patients receiving vandetanib compared to placebo. The secondary efficacy endpoints of objective response rate, disease control...
Partial Breast Irradiation with Brachytherapy in Early Breast Cancer: Retrospective Analysis Looks at Trends and Guidelines
Accelerated partial breast irradiation using brachytherapy (APBIb) as an alternative to whole-breast irradiation (WBI) after breast-conserving surgery has been rapidly adopted in the United States, but the majority of patients receiving APBIb may not be considered suitable for it. A retrospective...
Surgical Oncology: Advances and Challenges in Breast Cancer Surgery
Mortality rates for breast cancer have declined steadily in the United States since 1990, resulting in an improvement in survival. Multiple factors have contributed to this positive trend, one of which is the combination of earlier detection and more sophisticated surgical techniques. The ASCO Post ...
Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor Therapy Yields Complete Remission in Patients with Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma
Targeted therapies have markedly improved outcomes in patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma, with median overall survival of greater than 2 years having been observed with sunitinib (Sutent) treatment. Objective responses, consisting mostly of partial responses, are observed in approximately...
Ablation of Small Primary Breast Tumors: The Next Step in Local Therapy?
Local treatment of breast cancer is trending toward less invasive procedures that achieve comparable outcomes to standard interventions. What will the next step along this continuum be? According to Michael S. Sabel, MD, a surgical oncologist at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer...
Study Questions Use of Partial Breast Brachytherapy in Older Women
Partial breast brachytherapy is less effective and more toxic than whole-breast irradiation when used after lumpectomy, suggests an analysis of Medicare claims data. In the 2000–2007 study of more than 130,000 older women with breast cancer—the largest of its kind to date—the rate of mastectomy in...
Shared REMS Approved for all Transmucosal Immediate-release Fentanyl Products
The FDA has approved a new transmucosal immediate-release fentanyl Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) access program. The REMS is a single shared system for all transmucosal immediate-release fentanyl products. Among the goals of the REMS access program are to mitigate the risk of...
Cost of Care: A Multidisciplinary Responsibility
I read the interview with Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel (The ASCO Post, December 15, 2011) with much interest, as the health-care policy problems that America is currently experiencing have plagued other countries for some time. Despite proactive measures and attempts to amend those situations elsewhere,...
Drug Shortages Hit Oncology Hard: Experts Weigh in on Challenges and Solutions
Periodic drug shortages are an unavoidable reality in our complicated pharmaceutical supply chain; however, over the past several years, drug shortages have expanded to crisis levels, putting vulnerable patients at risk. In 2010, there were 178 drug shortages reported to the FDA, 132 of which were...
A Second Chance for Gemtuzumab in Acute Myeloid Leukemia
Gemtuzumab ozogamicin (Mylotarg) may have a second chance for regulatory acceptance, as studies presented at ASH 2011 demonstrated that gemtuzumab can be safely and effectively given by adjusting the dosing and treatment schedule. Gemtuzumab ozogamicin was approved for the treatment of acute...
Expert Point of View: Benefits of Some Bisphosphonates Confirmed in Breast Cancer Outcomes, but Questions Remain
James Ingle, MD, of the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, formally discussed the ABCSG-12 and ZO-FAST bisphosphonate studies presented at the 2011 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, noting, “There is a lot of interest in the effect of bisphosphonates on the tumor microenvironment and the impact ...
Expert Point of View: Bevacizumab Progression-free Survival Benefit Upheld in AVEREL Trial
Modest benefit reported from AVEREL1 triggered comments among trialists about the future of bevacizumab (Avastin) in breast cancer. “Although there’s controversy about the recent revoking of FDA approval of bevacizumab for metastatic breast cancer, I think there is a consensus in our disappointment ...
Expert Point of View: Dual HER2 Blockade Substantially Delays Disease Progression
The availability of effective therapies for HER2-positive tumors has made breast cancer a better managed disease, but outcomes could be further enhanced through the targeting of other players in this pathway, emerging data suggest. C. Kent Osborne, MD, of Baylor College of Medicine, Houston,...
Facing the Future without Fear of Breast Cancer Recurrence
A year ago, I was living my dream. Married to a wonderful man, Danny, and with two young children to raise, Karl, 7, and Marcus, 4, I had given up a career in accounting to be a stay-at-home mom. At age 34, I was enjoying life, helping my children with their homework and going to their soccer and...
A Patient with Cancer Saw a Need and Left a Living Legacy
It is well documented that the rigors of delivering cancer care can unintentionally supersede valuable doctor-patient communication. Before he died in 1995, Kenneth B. Schwartz, a patient with cancer at Massachusetts General Hospital, recognized this phenomenon and founded the Kenneth B. Schwartz...
Reexcision Rates Following Breast-conservation Surgery Vary Widely
In the News focuses on media reports that your patients may have questions about at their next visit. This continuing column will provide summaries of articles in the popular press that may prompt such questions, as well as comments from colleagues in the field. Reexcision rates for women with...
ASCO Seeks Better Access to Clinical Trials for Patients with Cancer
ASCO and other organizations submitted recommendations to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to influence development of a clinical trials coverage regulation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The health-care law requires insurers to cover routine care costs for...
Career Development Award Recipient Susan K. Parsons, MD, Supports Next Generation of Researchers
Like all pediatric oncologists, Susan K. Parsons, MD, MRP, knows that when a child is diagnosed with cancer, it happens to the whole family. Siblings must cope with everything from disruption of routine to reduced parental attention, to the often-new possibility of mortality. Parents must navigate...
Atypical Breast Lesions: How High Is the Cancer Risk?
Women with atypical breast lesions have approximately a 5% to 11% risk of developing breast cancer within 5 years, depending on histology, and this risk can be reduced with chemoprevention, according to a presentation at the 2011 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.1 Investigators tracked the...
Inefficient Markets Impede Cancer Pain Relief
The potent analgesic property of morphine was first isolated in 1804, and after more than 2 centuries morphine is still the gold standard for moderate to severe pain. It is relatively easy to produce, and compared to most pharmaceuticals, morphine is dirt-cheap. Therein lies the cruel conundrum:...
A Visionary Call for the ‘Creative Destruction’ of Medicine
According to nationally regarded cardiologist and geneticist Eric Topol, MD, Chief Academic Officer of Scripps Health, the next frontier of the digital revolution can create exponentially better health care. Dr. Topol, who is also Director of the Scripps Translational Science Institute and...
Two Novel Agents Prolong Survival in Advanced Prostate Cancer
Two novel agents with distinct mechanisms of action join ranks of treatments that extend survival for patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer: MDV3100 and radium-223. Both drugs achieved a survival advantage compared with placebo, with relatively benign side-effect profiles, according to ...
VEGFR Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors Linked to Increased Risk of Fatal Adverse Events
A meta-analysis of 10 randomized controlled trials involving 4,679 patients showed that the use of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitors was associated with an increased risk of fatal adverse events. “The crude incidence of [fatal adverse events] in patients ...
Surviving Cancer Means Making Many Difficult Decisions
The best advice I received after getting a diagnosis of stage I invasive lobular carcinoma in my left breast was from my radiologist, who told me, “Remember, be your own best advocate.” Those words have stayed with me through my 6-year struggle with breast cancer and its aftermath. Extraordinary...
Adolescents and Young Adults with Cancer: A Distinct Population of Patients Who Need to Be Treated Differently
In the News focuses on media reports that your patients may have questions about at their next visit. This continuing column will provide summaries of articles in the popular press that may prompt such questions, as well as comments from colleagues in the field. Cancer among adolescents and young...
ASH 2011 Presentations Include Novel Agents and New Strategies in Leukemia, Lymphoma, and Myeloma
Attendees at the 53rd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH), held recently in in San Diego, were able to choose from a wide range of interesting and important sessions exploring hematologic malignancies. In addition to The ASCO Post’s regular news coverage from the meeting,...
Some Patients Using Complementary and Alternative Therapies May Be Receiving ‘Parallel’ Rather Than Integrative Care
Most patients with cancer receiving complementary and alternative medicine do so not as part of integrative care, but rather as “parallel care,” according to Lynda Balneaves, RN, PhD, Associate Professor, University of British Columbia, School of Nursing in Vancouver. Dr. Balneaves is lead...
Context May Affect Benefit of Adjuvant Clodronate in Breast Cancer
A benefit of the oral bisphosphonate clodronate when used as adjuvant therapy for early breast cancer may depend on factors such as the endpoint assessed and patient age, suggests the randomized B-34 trial conducted by the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP). The trial,...
Autologous Transplant vs Consolidation Chemotherapy in Acute Myeloid Leukemia: A Recent European Trial
Investigators in the Dutch-Belgian Hemato-Oncology Cooperative Group and the Swiss Group for Clinical Cancer Research Collaborative Group recently reported in the journal Blood that autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation significantly reduced relapse rate compared with intensive...
Autologous Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation for Adult Acute Myeloid Leukemia: A Question That Doesn’t Go Away
More than 3 decades ago, the first trials of autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation as consolidation therapy for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in first remission were conducted. The initial results were inconclusive; most patients survived the procedure, but post-transplant relapse was common ...
Important News Briefs: New Data Reported in Prostate, Bladder, and Kidney Cancers
The recent 2012 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium featured a wealth of presentations on prostate, bladder, kidney, and other genitourinary cancers. Brief summaries of some of the oral and poster sessions are presented. Exercise and Recurrence Vigorous exercise has been shown to reduce cancer...
Searching for Quality in an Increasingly Complex Health-care Environment
With the Presidential election just around the corner, the health-care debate will undoubtedly heat up. The ASCO Post spoke with Sean R. Tunis, MD, MSc, Founder and Director, Center for Medical Technology Policy, and former Chief Medical Officer for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, ...
GU Symposium 2016: New Blood Test Technology Shows Promise for Guiding Prostate Cancer Treatment Decisions
An early study suggests that an experimental blood test may help guide individualized decisions on the most appropriate treatments for patients with prostate cancer. The new noninvasive “liquid biopsy” scans the entire landscape of different kinds of cancer cells in blood and analyzes...
Long-Term Follow-up of Risk of Cancer Among Twins
In a long-term follow-up study among approximately 200,000 Nordic twin individuals, there was an increased cancer risk in twins whose co-twin was diagnosed with cancer, with an increased risk for cancer overall and for specific types of cancer, including prostate, melanoma, breast, ovary, and...
Everolimus Improves Progression-Free Survival in Advanced Neuroendocrine Tumors of the Lung or Gastrointestinal Tract
In a phase III RADIANT-4 trial reported in The Lancet, Yao et al found that everolimus (Afinitor) and supportive care significantly prolonged progression-free survival vs placebo and supportive care in patients with advanced nonfunctional neuroendocrine tumors of the lung or gastrointestinal tract. ...
Liposomal Vincristine Receives Positive Vote from ODAC
Talon Therapeutics, Inc, announced the Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee voted 7 yes, 4 no, and 2 abstain that evidence from clinical studies supports a favorable benefit-risk assessment for use of vincristine sulfate liposomes injection (Marqibo). The manufacturer is seeking an indication for the ...
FDA Approves New Silicone Gel–filled Breast Implant
The FDA recently approved a silicone gel-filled breast implant manufactured by Sientra Inc for breast augmentation in women at least 22 years old and breast reconstruction in women of any age. As a condition of approval, Sientra is required to conduct postapproval studies that will assess long-term ...
2012 Breast Cancer Symposium to Expand Tumor Board Session, Add ‘Meet the Professors’ Session
The days of attending the Breast Cancer Symposium, just quietly listening to useful lectures, and then going home are over. In recent years, the meeting’s sponsors and planners have worked to make the 3-day gathering far more interactive and as intimate as a meeting with 1,500 attendees can be....
Cancer Informatics: A Future Necessity, but Challenges Abound
The National Cancer Policy Forum of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) recently convened a workshop on cancer informatics to examine and discuss needs and challenges facing biomedical researchers, which will in turn affect the way oncology is practiced in the future. “This is a time of huge scientific ...
Not All KRAS Mutations Are Alike in Non–Small Cell Lung Cancer
Mutations in the KRAS oncogene play a critical role in cancer cell growth and resistance to treatment. In colorectal cancer, the presence of any mutant amino acid substitution in the K-Ras protein predicts a poorer response to targeted therapy. In non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), however, there...
An Expert Shares Insight into the Future of Lung Cancer Treatment
Despite growing national focus on early detection, prevention, and new molecular-based treatments, lung cancer persistently remains the number 1 cause of cancer death for men and women in the United States. The ASCO Post spoke to lung cancer specialist Paul A. Bunn, Jr, MD, Executive Director,...
