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Showing 6451 - 6500GU 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...
GU Symposium 2016: Cabozantinib Improves Upon the Standard of Care for Advanced Kidney Cancer
New analyses from a phase III clinical trial of patients with previously treated advanced kidney cancer demonstrated that patients of all risk levels experience more benefit from cabozantinib (Cometriq) than from the current standard of care, everolimus (Afinitor). The greater activity of...
Benefit of Adjuvant Tamoxifen in ER-positive DCIS
Retrospective analyses of hormone receptors among patients enrolled in the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP) B-24 study showed that women with estrogen receptor (ER)-positive ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) who received tamoxifen after standard therapy had significant...
Sorafenib plus Capecitabine for HER2-negative Advanced Breast Cancer
The addition of sorafenib (Nexavar) to capecitabine (Xeloda) improved progression-free survival among women with locally advanced or metastatic HER2-negative breast cancer in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase IIB trial. “There was no significant improvement for overall survival,” ...
Oncology Professionals and Leaders to be Honored at ASCO Annual Meeting
Each year through its Special Awards Program, ASCO recognizes researchers, patient advocates, and leaders of the global oncology community who, through their work, have made significant contributions to enhancing cancer care. These recipients of ASCO’s highest, most prestigious awards collectively...
ASCO’s Blueprint Sets Goals for Accelerating Cancer Progress
ASCO recently issued a report, Accelerating Progress Against Cancer: ASCO’s Blueprint for Transforming Clinical and Translational Cancer Research, which outlines the Society’s 10-year plan for improving cancer outcomes. Central to achieving that goal are three steps, including (1) therapy...
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 ...
FDA Commissioner Statement: Surgeon General’s Report on Youth Smoking
The recent report on “Preventing Tobacco Use Among Youth and Young Adults” by the Surgeon General not only documents the devastating consequences of tobacco use for our nation’s youth, but also represents a clarion call for bold action at every level of government to implement proven strategies to...
Update on Novel Anticoagulants: Dabigatran Etexilate
Efficacy and safety of traditional anticoagulants (eg, vitamin K antagonists) are well recognized, given their long-standing use in clinical practice. However, the novel anticoagulants have several potential advantages over the vitamin K antagonists. Even so, in light of their recent introduction...
Treating Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia without Chemotherapy
Throughout the course of medical history, we have witnessed innovations that have initially been met with skepticism but have later revolutionized our management of patients with specific disorders. The recent history of oncology drug development is full of instances where a drug that was...
2012 Annual Meeting to Highlight NCI’s ‘Provocative Questions’ and Offer First-ever Pre–Annual Meeting Seminars
As this year’s ASCO Annual Meeting was being planned, the NCI was developing and releasing its “Provocative Questions” project—an effort to stimulate the cancer community to ask itself 24 key questions in order to advance the treatment of cancer and provide better care. It quickly became clear to...
SIDEBAR: Lessons Learned from caBIG
The Cancer Biomedical Informatics Grid (caBIG) is an NCI program that was launched in 2004 in reaction to a “health information tsunami,” said Daniel R. Masys, MD, Chair of the caBIG Oversight Committee and Affiliate Professor in the Department of Biomedical Informatics and Medical Education,...
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 ...
ACCC Releases Survey on ‘Oncology Medical Home’
The Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC) released findings from a survey that explores how community-based cancer care programs view the concept of the “oncology medical home”—a patient-centered model for coordinated care, whereby payers would reimburse physicians for services that keep...
Summary of ASCO Provisional Clinical Opinion on Palliative Care
The ASCO provisional clinical opinion on palliative care recently published1 was based largely on data from seven published randomized controlled trials, including a phase III lung cancer trial by Temel and colleagues, which was the trigger for the new recommendations.2 The trial’s principal...
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,...
Surgeon General Releases New Report on Youth Smoking
The fight against tobacco use among young people was accelerated recently by Surgeon General Regina M. Benjamin, MD, MBA, with the release of the Surgeon General’s Report, Preventing Tobacco Use Among Youth and Young Adults. This report details the scope, health consequences, and influences that...
George Kovach, MD, Named as President of the Association of Community Cancer Centers
George Kovach, MD, became President of the Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC) at its 38th Annual National Meeting in March 2012. Dr. Kovach is the medical director of the Genesis Cancer Center, Davenport, Iowa, and one of the founding members of the Iowa Oncology Society (IOS). “I am...
Controlled Study Links ‘Chemobrain’ to Longitudinal Changes in Brain
The phenomenon called “chemobrain”—impaired cognitive functioning following chemotherapy—correlates with longitudinal changes in the brain’s white matter, according a recent study in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.1 Structural changes in the white matter, measured by magnetic resonance diffusion...
Survival Analysis by Gastric Cancer Subtypes in AVAGAST Phase III Trial
Subset analysis of the AVAGAST trial, which evaluated the benefit of bevacizumab (Avastin) in advanced gastric cancer, has demonstrated distinct differences in outcomes according to disease subtype, reported Manish A. Shah, MD, of Weill Cornell Medical College and New York Presbyterian Hospital, at ...
Targeting KRAS in GI Cancers: The Hunt for the Holy Grail in Cancer Research
The RAS oncogenes are the most frequently mutated class of oncogenes in human cancers, and this has prompted a search for Ras inhibitors to effectively treat tumors with these mutations. Despite intensive efforts, however, none has materialized clinically because K-Ras is proving to be a very...
‘We Need an Index of Biologic Aging’
As a retired elderly (soon to be 83-year-old) oncologist, I read the recent article on the subject of geriatric oncology, in the March 15 issue of The ASCO Post, with great interest ("Moving the Field of Geriatric Oncology Forward," by Stuart M. Lichtman, MD, FACP, FASCO.) This was particularly so...
ACCC Meeting Focuses on Affordable Care Act: Its Future, and What It Might Accomplish
The Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC) mid-March Annual Meeting devoted several sessions to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act: Will it still be here after the Supreme Court decides its fate? If so, how much of it will survive, and how will it affect oncology practice? In...
Our Patients, Our Teachers
There is no greater professional satisfaction than the knowledge that you have cared for a patient and the care brought an improvement in the patient's health. Regardless of the level of appreciation, whether the patient is cured or not, and even if the patient's sense of well-being may be...
SIDEBAR: Could HPV Testing Be Used Alone?
“In the United States, there are no recommendations currently for HPV screening alone as a primary screening test for cervical cancer,” Michael L. LeFevre, MD, MSPH, Co-Vice Chair of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) told The ASCO Post. “Cytology picks up very few cases of...
New Guidelines Recommend Less Frequent Screening for Cervical Cancer, but That Doesn’t Mean Screening Is Less Important
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. In March 2012, the U.S. Preventive...
Bone Morphogenesis Protein 4 Pathway as Treatment Target in Hepatocellular Carcinoma
Bone morphogenesis protein 4 (BMP4), which belongs to the transforming growth factor (TGF)-β family, is a multifunctional cytokine that is known to be involved in human carcinogenesis. The cytokine exerts its effects through pathways dependent on and independent of SMAD proteins, which are the...
PEDF Has Cytotoxic Effect on Breast Cancer Cells and Neuron-protective Effect
The cytokine pigment epithelium–derived factor (PEDF) is downregulated in brain metastases of breast cancer by approximately 14-fold compared with primary breast tumors, suggesting that promoting its expression might inhibit metastatic spread. Normal breast epithelial cells express high levels of...
Institute of Medicine Report on Omics-based Testing Bolsters ASCO’s Blueprint for Transforming Cancer Research
A recent report by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) addresses elements that ASCO has stated are necessary for transforming the therapeutic development and clinical trial processes. In March, the IOM released the report “Evolution of Translational Omics: Lessons Learned and the Path Forward,” which...
Constructing a Top Five List in Oncology
The American Society of Clinical Oncology has joined the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) Foundation and eight other medical specialty societies to take a collective stand in improving patient care and addressing rising health-care costs. As part of the ABIM Foundation’s Choosing Wisely®...
FDA Approves Investigational New Drug Application for Clinical Testing of Oncology Drug Candidate ME-344
Marshall Edwards, Inc, an oncology company focused on the clinical development of novel therapeutics targeting cancer metabolism, announced that it has received approval from the FDA of its Investigational New Drug (IND) application for ME-344, the Company’s lead mitochondrial inhibitor. The...
Novel Agents and Genomic Sequencing Show Promise in Improving Multiple Myeloma Management
For over 30 years, Kenneth C. Anderson, MD, Kraft Family Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Director of the Jerome Lipper Multiple Myeloma Center and LeBow Institute for Myeloma Therapeutics at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, has focused his translational research on B-cell ...
Defining Meaningful Benefit: The Debate Continues in Bevacizumab’s Wake
The events surrounding the labeling of bevacizumab (Avastin) have been well covered since last November when the FDA withdrew the drug’s accelerated approval as a treatment for metastatic breast cancer. However, the controversy initiated a debate over the value of endpoints in clinical trials in...
Expert Point of View: Novel Multikinase Inhibitor Improves Survival in Metastatic Colorectal Cancer
The results of the CORRECT trial created some degree of “buzz” at the 2012 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium, with experts predicting that regorafenib will become FDA-approved and have strong clinical utility. While numerically, the benefit appeared small, “There is a real difference with this...
ASCO Continues to Support Oncologists in Electronic Health Records Adoption at 2012 Annual Meeting
As part of its ongoing effort to support oncology practices in adopting Electronic Health Records (EHR) to improve their quality of care, ASCO is holding its sixth annual EHR Vendor Lab, from June 2-4 at the 2012 ASCO Annual Meeting in Chicago. This resource gives attendees the opportunity to test...
Younger Patients Treated with Systemic Carboplatin at Higher Risk of Ototoxicity
Patients younger than 6 months at the start of systemic carboplatin treatment for retinoblastoma have a significant risk of developing hearing loss, according to a study in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. A review of audiologic test results of 60 patients with retinoblastoma who received...
Oncology Professionals and Leaders to be Honored at ASCO Annual Meeting
ASCO is recognizing researchers, patient advocates, and leaders of the global oncology community through its Special Awards Program at this year’s Annual Meeting in Chicago. Recipients of ASCO’s special awards collectively represent significant strides in cancer treatment and leadership in the...
Novel Initiative to Address Oncology Drug Crisis
Much has been written about the oncology drug shortage crisis in the United States. In the spirit of being part of the solution to that problem, a group of oncologists has formed the Citizen’s Oncology Foundation (COF). The goal of the start-up not-for-profit association is two-pronged: to find...
Brachytherapy Associated with Increased Complications Compared to Whole-breast Irradiation following Lumpectomy for Breast Cancer
Among older women with invasive breast cancer and treated with lumpectomy, brachytherapy compared with whole-breast irradiation was associated with a decreased likelihood of long-term breast preservation and an increased likelihood of complications, but no difference in overall survival, according...
Inhibition of IL-8 Receptor Reduces Colorectal Cancer Proliferation and Sensitizes the Disease to Oxaliplatin
Recent studies have shown that interleukin-8 (IL-8) and its receptors CXCR1 and CXCR2 are significantly upregulated in colorectal cancer tumors and their microenvironment and act as regulators of proliferation, angiogenesis, and metastasis. Ning and colleagues from the University of Southern...
ASCO President Michael P. Link, MD, Makes Statement on Passage of FDA Safety and Innovation Act
ASCO President Michael P. Link, MD, recently issued the following statement in response to the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee’s Passage of the FDA’s Safety and Innovation Act: “ASCO commends the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee for taking steps to...
State Oncology Societies Honored for Promising New Programs that Improve Patient Care
The State Affiliate Grant Program provides funding to ASCO State and Regional Affiliates to develop and implement new efforts that will lead to improved medical practice, collaboration, and research. ASCO’s State/Regional Affiliates are a vital resource for addressing issues of concern to the...
Geriatric Oncologists: A Small but Passionate Group
Although age is the major risk factor for developing cancer, geriatric oncology is still a relatively new discipline within the oncology community. To gain insight into this evolving component of cancer care, The ASCO Post recently spoke with a leader in the field, Stuart M. Lichtman, MD, FACP,...
Expert Point of View: Chemoradiation with Fluorouracil and Mitomycin Reduces Recurrence of Muscle-invasive Bladder Cancer
In an editorial accompanying the recently reported UK phase III Bladder Cancer 2001 (BC2001) trial, Shipley and Zietman, from Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, point out that this trial shows that “the addition of a very tolerable regimen of chemotherapy to radiotherapy...
New Research Shows Promise in Cachexia, a Persistent Clinical Challenge
In the late 1980s, researchers led by Alfred L. Goldberg, PhD, first isolated the large protein complexes now called 26S proteasomes, which are the sites where most cellular proteins are degraded back to amino acids. Protein degradation by the proteasome pathway is critical in regulating many...
More New Data Support Use of Daily Aspirin to Prevent Cancers
Three new studies have added data to the growing evidence that low-dose, daily aspirin helps prevent colorectal cancer and other malignancies and may be useful in preventing metastases as well.1-3 Coming on the heels of other recent studies, the results appear to strengthen the case for using...
FDA Strengthens Monitoring of Postapproval Drug Safety
A strengthened and modernized postmarket drug safety program has resulted in a substantial improvement in the FDA’s oversight of drugs once they reach the American public, according to a new report released by the agency’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER). The report, Advances in...
Automated HER2 Immunohistochemical System Approved
Leica Biosystems, a division of Leica Microsystems, announced that it has received premarket approval from the FDA for its Bond Oracle HER2 IHC System, a semi-quantitative immunohistochemical assay to determine human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 oncoprotein status in formalin-fixed,...
FDA Strengthens International Collaboration to Ensure Quality, Safety of Imported Products
FDA Commissioner Margaret A. Hamburg, MD, recently released the agency’s Global Engagement Report, detailing the many activities and strategies FDA is using to transform from a domestic to a global public health agency. The report describes the steps the agency is taking to ensure that imported...
JAMA Highlights New Comparative Effectiveness Studies
A recent press briefing moderated by Phil B. Fontanarosa, MD, MBA, Executive Editor, JAMA, presented new findings on comparative effectiveness research, and two of the studies discussed focused on cancer. Dr. Fontanarosa started by defining comparative effectiveness research, which gained...
