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Showing 6551 - 6600Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy Improves Survival in Patients With Head and Neck Cancer
Patients with cancers of the head and neck who received intensity-modulated radiation therapy experienced improved outcomes, as well as reduced toxicities, compared to patients receiving conventional radiation therapy, according to findings published online in Cancer by Beadle et al. The study is...
One-Fifth of Hospitalizations for Patients With Gastrointestinal Cancer Considered Avoidable
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Brooks et al found that oncology clinicians considered 19% of hospitalizations for patients with gastrointestinal cancers to be avoidable. Study Details In the study, 201 sequential hospital admissions in 154 patients with gastrointestinal...
High Prevalence of Platinum-Related Hearing Loss in Children With High-Risk Neuroblastoma, With Differences According to Audiometry Scales
The reported prevalence of platinum-associated ototoxicity in children with high-risk neuroblastoma varies widely due to small patient samples and use of disparate grading scales. In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Landier et al in the Children’s Oncology Group assessed...
Maintenance Capecitabine/Bevacizumab Delays Disease Progression in Metastatic Colorectal Cancer and Extends Survival in Subgroups
According to the final results of the phase III CAIRO3 trial by the Dutch Colorectal Cancer Group, maintenance treatment with capecitabine plus bevacizumab (Avastin) significantly delayed progression compared to observation in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer, and in a subset of patients, ...
Adding Chemotherapy to Radiotherapy Does Not Appear to Affect Cognitive Function in Patients With Low-Grade Glioma
The addition of PCV (procarbazine [Matulane], lomustine [CeeNu], vincristine) chemotherapy to radiotherapy improves progression-free survival in patients with grade 2 glioma, but the potential effect of treatment intensification on cognitive function is a concern in this group of patients with good ...
Cetuximab Fails to Improve Survival in Nonoperable Esophageal Cancer
More data have emerged that discount the potential for benefit with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitors in esophageal cancer. The latest comes from the RTOG 0436 randomized phase III trial in patients with nonoperable esophageal cancer, the results of which were presented at the 2014 ...
Both Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction and, More So, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Improve Insomnia in Cancer Patients
In a noninferiority trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Garland et al compared the effects of mindfulness-based stress reduction vs cognitive-behavioral therapy for treatment of insomnia in patients with cancer. They found that both techniques improved insomnia, with...
Study Questions the Anticancer Mechanism of Metformin
The drug metformin, which is approved for the treatment of type 2 diabetes, has been tested in clinical trials as a tumor suppressor in different cancers due to its role in activating the AMPK signaling pathway. However, a new study by Liu et al published in Proceedings of the National Academy of...
Immunotherapy Strategy Boosts Survival in Metastatic Pancreatic Cancer
Overall survival was improved in patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer through an innovative immunotherapy strategy in a multicenter study to be reported at the 2014 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium (Abstract 177). The results were announced at a press briefing prior to the meeting....
High Presurgical Levels of Angiogenic and Growth Factors Are Associated With Poorer Survival After Gastric Resection
In patients undergoing gastric resection for gastric/gastroesophageal junction cancers, high levels of angiogenic and growth factors are associated with poorer overall survival, according to the results of a retrospective study presented by Park et al in the Annals of Surgical Oncology. Thus, these ...
Multiple Myeloma Study Shows Widespread Genetic Heterogeneity
A detailed study of tissue samples from more than 200 patients with multiple myeloma has found that an individual patient’s tumor can harbor populations of cancer cells equipped with different mutations. The result could have therapeutic ramifications for future patients, according to study...
Combination Capecitabine/Temozolomide Appears Highly Effective in Patients With Treatment-Resistant Neuroendocrine Tumors
Interim results from an ongoing phase II clinical trial in patients with various types of advanced neuroendocrine tumors show that a new chemotherapy combination of capecitabine and temozolomide either stalled disease progression or shrank tumors in 95% of patients whose disease worsened after...
Known Lung Cancer Oncogenes ALK and ROS1 May Also Drive Certain Colorectal Tumors
ALK and ROS1 gene rearrangements, which are known to drive subsets of lung cancer, appear to be present in some colorectal cancers as well, according to the results of a study published in Molecular Cancer Research. The findings by Aisner et al suggest that therapies used to target these two...
Ibrutinib Promising as Initial Therapy for Elderly Patients With CLL in Phase IB/II Trial
Chemoimmunotherapy has produced improved response and survival in young patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), but its use in elderly patients has been limited by myelosuppression and infection. In a phase IB/II study reported in The Lancet Oncology, O’Brien et al assessed the use...
Half of Patients With Stage I Pediatric Malignant Ovarian Germ Cell Tumors Can Be Spared Chemotherapy After Initial Surgery With Surveillance Strategy
In a Children’s Oncology Group study (AGCT0132) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Billmire et al found that overall survival can be preserved in patients with stage I pediatric malignant ovarian germ cell tumor with a strategy of initial surveillance after surgical resection....
Major Decline in Lung Cancer Reported
“Eliminating tobacco use is the most important thing we can do to prevent lung and other cancers, as well as the many other diseases its use causes. Today’s news confirms that we are making progress. However, the global health challenges from tobacco are still growing. “This new...
Rates of New Lung Cancer Cases Drop in U.S. Men and Women
Tobacco control efforts are having a major impact on Americans’ health, a new analysis of lung cancer data suggests. The rate of new lung cancer cases decreased among men and women in the United States from 2005 to 2009, according to a report in this week’s Morbidity and Mortality...
Survey Finds Many General Internists Are Uncomfortable Caring for Adult Survivors of Childhood Cancer
A National Cancer Institute–funded survey of general internists asking about their attitudes and knowledge about the care of adult childhood cancer survivors has found that few internists are comfortable caring for these patients. Moreover, many are unfamiliar with the Children’s...
ASCO Issues Statement in Response to American Cancer Society Report
Today the American Cancer Society issued a report showing a 20% decline in cancer death rates between 1991 and 2010, and estimating that 1.3 million deaths have been averted as a result of the decline. ASCO issued the following statement: “This is tremendous progress and a direct result ...
No Survival Difference for Autologous vs Reduced-Intensity Conditioning Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplant in Chemotherapy-Sensitive Mantle Cell Lymphoma
In an analysis reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Fenske et al compared outcomes with early or late autologous vs reduced-intensity conditioning allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in a population of patients with chemotherapy-sensitive mantle cell lymphoma. They found no...
Recurrent Ovarian Cancers Respond to Cancer Vaccine After ‘Reprogramming’ With Decitabine
Treatment with the drug decitabine prior to administration of chemotherapy and a cancer vaccine yielded clinical benefit for women with recurrent ovarian cancer, suggesting that this combinatorial chemoimmunotherapy may provide a new treatment option for patients with the disease, according to a...
No Difference for Aprepitant vs Dexamethasone for Chemotherapy-Induced Delayed Emesis in Patients With Breast Cancer
In a phase III study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Roila et al compared aprepitant vs dexamethasone in prevention of delayed emesis in breast cancer patients treated with anthracycline/cyclophosphamide who had received palonosetron/aprepitant/dexamethasone prophylaxis for acute...
Oral Insulin Sensitizers Associated With Decreased Cancer Risk in Women With Type 2 Diabetes
According to the findings of a meta-analysis by Sun et al published in Diabetes, Obesity, and Metabolism, patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus who are on certain therapies, such as insulin secretagogues, may be at higher risk for cancer. This increased risk was seen more frequently in women, and...
Imiquimod 5% Cream Inferior to Surgical Excision in Nodular and Superficial Basal Cell Carcinoma
In a noninferiority trial (SINS) reported in The Lancet Oncology, Bath-Hextall et al compared imiquimod 5% cream vs surgical excision for nodular and superficial basal cell carcinomas. Imiquimod cream was found to be inferior to surgical excision, but it may have a role in treatment of low-risk...
Science Magazine Names Cancer Immunotherapy as Scientific Breakthrough of the Year
While acknowledging that the full potential of cancer immunotherapy remains unclear, the editors of the journal Science said that the approach of using the immune system to attack tumors marks a turning point in the treatment of cancer. The successes of cancer immunotherapy in clinical trials in...
Sustained Complete Responses With Novel Immunotherapy in Lymphoma
Approximately 40% of patients with Hodgkin or non-Hodgkin lymphoma have tumor cells that express the type II latency Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) antigens latent membrane protein 1 (LMP1) and LMP2. T cells specific for these antigens are present in low levels and may be rendered nonreactive by the...
Julie M. Vose, MD, MBA, FASCO, Elected ASCO President for 2015-2016 Term
Julie M. Vose, MD, MBA, FASCO, has been elected President of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) for a 1-year term beginning in June 2015. She will take office as President-Elect during the ASCO Annual Meeting in Chicago in June 2014. Additionally, four new members were elected to the...
Anti–PD-1 Antibody Pidilizumab Plus Rituximab Shows High Activity in Relapsed Follicular Lymphoma
Antitumor immune responses may be inhibited by immune checkpoints in the tumor microenvironment including effects of PD-1 (programmed cell death 1), a co-inhibitory receptor on tumor T cells that impairs T-cell function. In a phase II study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Westin et al assessed the ...
EUROCARE-5: Trends in Survival for Childhood Cancers
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Gatta et al, the population-based EUROCARE-5 study has shown improved survival for all childhood cancers combined in Europe between 1999–2001 and 2005–2007 and persistence of regional survival disparities. Study Details The study involved analysis ...
U.S. Cancer Death Rates Continue Decline, Annual Report Shows
Maintaining a 2 decade–long trend, the cancer death rate in the United States continues to decline, according to the Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer, published online this week in Cancer. The report, which covers the years 2001 to 2010, shows drops in death rates for a...
Younger Women With Younger Children Less Likely to Receive Radiation Therapy After Breast-Conserving Surgery for Breast Cancer
In a study reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Pan et al assessed factors associated with noncompliance with recommended radiation therapy following breast-conserving surgery for breast cancer. A primary factor in underuse of radiation therapy was younger patients having...
Dasatinib/Letrozole Drug Combination Delays Disease Progression in Hormone Receptor–Positive, HER2-Negative Metastatic Breast Cancer
Adding dasatinib (Sprycel) to a standard antihormone therapy, letrozole, doubled the time before disease progressed for women with hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer, according to results of a phase II clinical trial presented at the 2013 San Antonio Breast...
Adjuvant Paclitaxel/Trastuzumab Tolerable, Benefits Women With Stage I HER2-Positive, Node-Negative Breast Cancer
There may be a benefit for treating small HER2-positive tumors and this can be done with little toxicity, according to a multicenter study presented at the 2013 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (Abstract S1-04). Previous studies of chemotherapy plus anti-HER2 treatment for node-negative...
PIK3CA Mutations Predictive of Resistance to Neoadjuvant Therapy in HER2/HR-Positive Breast Cancers
Women with HER2-positive, hormone receptor-positive breast cancer with mutations in the PI3K/AKT pathway may respond poorly to neoadjuvant therapy, German researchers reported at the 2013 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (Abstract S4-06). “We found that very few women with HER2-positive...
Increased Cardiovascular Risk Despite Healthier Lifestyle Characteristics in Hematopoietic Cell Transplant Survivors
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Chow et al compared cardiovascular risk and risk factors in hematopoietic cell transplantation recipients with those in a matched general population sample. Hematopoietic cell transplantation survivors were at greater risk for cardiomyopathy, ...
Anastrozole Reduces Primary Breast Cancer Incidence by More Than 50% in High-Risk Postmenopausal Women
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...
Less Is More: Postoperative Radiation May Be Avoided in Older Women With Estrogen Receptor–Rich Tumors
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...
NeoALTTO Trial Links Pathologic Complete Response to Clinical Outcomes
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...
Addition of Bevacizumab Fails to Improve Invasive Disease-Free Survival vs Adjuvant Chemotherapy/Trastuzumab Alone in HER2-Positive Breast Cancer
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...
High Levels of Immune Cells in Tumors May Identify Breast Cancer Patients Most Likely to Benefit From Trastuzumab
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)....
Ibrutinib/Rituximab Combination Leads to High Response Rate Among Patients With CLL
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 ...
Circulating Inflammation Markers Associated With Risk of Lung Cancer
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...
Choosing Wisely® Initiative Improves Quality and Cost of Care
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...
Biologic Mechanism May be Linked to Racial Disparities in Prostate Cancer
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...
Idelalisib Achieves High Response Rates in 'Double-Refractory' Indolent NHL
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...
Gemtuzumab Ozogamicin Reduces Relapse, Improves Event-Free Survival in Pediatric AML
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...
Reduced-Intensity Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant Spares Cognition
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...
Graft Manipulation Improves HLA-Haploidentical Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant Outcomes
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...
Higher Levels of HSET Linked to More Aggressive Breast Cancers and Worse Outcomes in African American Women
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...
Vorinostat Plus Standard Immunoprophylaxis Cuts Risk of Graft-vs-Host Disease in Half
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...
