TERT promoter mutations have been found to occur at high frequency in cutaneous melanoma tumor samples, exhibit a UV-signature, and lead to increased TERT gene expression. In a study reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Griewank et al found that TERT promoter mutation was...
A recently reported U.S. population-based case-control study in women aged 55 to 74 years indicated that current use of calcium channel blockers for ≥ 10 years was associated with increased risk of ductal breast cancer (odds ratio [OR] = 2.4) and lobular breast cancer. In a Swedish case-control...
In a pooled analysis reported in The Lancet Haematology, Trotman et al found that 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron-emission tomography/low-dose computed tomography (PET-CT) provides improved prognostic information over conventional contrast-enhanced CT in assessment of response to first-line...
In a Dutch study reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Boekel et al found no increase in risk of cardiovascular mortality among 5-year survivors of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) compared with the general population. Among DCIS patients, risk of cardiovascular events did not...
Increased risk of subsequent malignant neoplasms has been reported in hereditary retinoblastoma survivors after radiotherapy. In a study reported in Journal of Clinical Oncology, Wong et al found that chemotherapy plus radiotherapy was associated with increased risk of subsequent malignant...
There are no large-scale direct comparisons of outcomes with intensity-modulated radiation therapy vs conventional external-beam radiation therapy in patients with soft-tissue sarcoma of the extremity. In a single-institution experience reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Folkert et al at ...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Sorror et al found that a composite comorbidity-age index was better than age alone in predicting nonrelapse mortality and survival in patients undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation. Study Details The study included data...
In a phase II expansion study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Smith et al found that the multikinase inhibitor cabozantinib (Cometriq) showed activity in previously treated metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. Cabozantinib targets include VEGFR2 and MET kinases. Study...
In a phase II study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Chawla et al found that the combination of a hypoxia-activated alkylating prodrug (TH-302) and doxorubicin was active in first-line treatment of advanced soft-tissue sarcoma. TH-302 is a prodrug of the cytotoxic alkylating agent...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Kosturakis et al found that the majority of patients with multiple myeloma had subclinical peripheral neuropathy prior to chemotherapy and that deficits corresponded with decreased fingertip innervation density. Study Details In the study,...
In the phase I portion of a phase I/II study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Gadgeel et al found that the novel ALK inhibitor alectinib showed activity against systemic disease and brain metastases in patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) resistant to the ALK inhibitor crizotinib...
In a randomized study reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Shike et al found that soy supplementation resulting in high genistein levels was associated with overexpression of the tumorigenic growth factor receptor FGFR2 and genes that drive cell cycle and proliferation...
In a European phase III trial reported in The Lancet, Slotman et al found benefits of thoracic radiotherapy in patients with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer who had responded to chemotherapy and had received prophylactic cranial radiotherapy. Although thoracic radiotherapy did not...
In a systematic review and meta-analysis of individual patient data reported in The Lancet Oncology, Rossi et al found no overall survival benefit with six vs fewer than six planned cycles of first-line platinum-based treatment in patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). A...
In the phase III FIRST trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Benboubker et al found that continuous lenalidomide (Revlimid) plus dexamethasone significantly improved progression-free survival vs melphalan/prednisone/thalidomide (Thalomid) in transplant-ineligible myeloma patients....
In a population-based study reported in JAMA Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, Bann et al found that the average annual percent increase in thyroid cancer incidence in Pennsylvania approaches twice that in the rest of the country. The incidence of thyroid cancer in the United States has more...
In the introduction to a cohort study reported in JAMA Surgery, Parsons et al stated “Surgical innovations disseminate in the absence of coordinated systems to ensure their safe integration into clinical practice, potentially exposing patients to increased risk for medical error.” Their ...
In a phase III trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, du Bois et al found that maintenance therapy with the VEGFR and PDGFR inhibitor pazopanib (Votrient) significantly prolonged progression-free survival vs placebo in women with ovarian cancer without progression after first-line...
Eruptive melanocytic nevi are observed in patients receiving the multikinase inhibitor sorafenib (Nexavar) and the selective BRAF inhibitor vemurafenib (Zelboraf). In a case reported in JAMA Dermatology, Shen et al found that the addition of the MEK inhibitor cobimetinib to vemurafenib in a woman...
In the phase III PANORAMA1 trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, San-Miguel and colleagues found that adding the pan-deacetylase inhibitor panobinostat to bortezomib (Velcade) and dexamethasone improved progression-free survival in patients with relapsed or relapsed and refractory multiple...
In a Scottish study reported in The Lancet Psychiatry, Walker et al assessed the prevalence and adequacy of treatment of major depression in patients with cancer of different primary sites. The prevalence of major depression ranged from 5.6% in patients with genitourinary cancers to 13.1% in those...
In the SMaRT Oncology-3 study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Walker et al found that an integrated collaborative treatment program for depression (‘depression care for people with cancer’) was associated with significantly reduced severity of depression compared with usual care in...
In a Scottish study (SMaRT Oncology-2) reported in The Lancet, Sharpe, Walker et al found that an integrated collaborative treatment program for depression (‘depression care for people with cancer’) was associated with significantly higher depression response and remission rates...
Abdominal irradiation for childhood cancer has been associated with increased risk of diabetes. In a Dutch study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, van Nimwegen and colleagues assessed the relationship between infradiaphragm radiotherapy and risk of diabetes in long-term survivors of...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Loibl et al found that PIK3CA mutation was associated with lower pathologic complete response rate in patients with HER2-positive breast cancer receiving trastuzumab (Herceptin), lapatinib (Tykerb), or both in addition to neoadjuvant...
In a prospective cohort study in the population of the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian (PLCO) Cancer Screening Trial, Zhou et al found that frontal plus moderate vertex baldness at age 45 is associated with increased risk of aggressive prostate cancer. The findings were reported in the...
In a study reported in Journal of Clinical Oncology, Vo et al in the International Neuroblastoma Risk Group Project found significant differences in clinical and biologic features of neuroblastoma according to primary tumor site, including poorer survival for adrenal sites of primary disease and...
In a phase III trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Palumbo et al found that consolidation therapy with high-dose melphalan plus autologous stem cell transplantation improved progression-free survival and overall survival compared with melphalan/prednisone/lenalidomide (Revlimid)...
In a Korean phase II trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Hong et al found that adjuvant FOLFOX (oxaliplatin, fluorouracil [5-FU], leucovorin) prolonged progression-free survival and overall survival vs 5-FU/leucovorin in patients with locally advanced rectal cancer who had received neoadjuvant...
There are few data available on long-term risk of colorectal cancer mortality after adenoma removal. In a Norwegian study reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Løberg et al found that patients who had low-risk adenomas removed had lower colorectal cancer mortality risk and those...
In a randomized phase II trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Liu et al found a significant improvement in progression-free survival and an increase in toxicity with the addition of the antiangiogenic agent cediranib (VEGFR-1,-2,-3 inhibitor) to the PARP inhibitor olaparib in women with recurrent ...
The UK phase III ProtecT trial is comparing the effectiveness of active monitoring, radical prostatectomy, and radiotherapy in men with localized prostate cancer. Lane et al have provided baseline results of the trial in an article in The Lancet Oncology. Study Details In the trial, men aged 50...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Kochenderfer et al found that single infusions of autologous T cells expressing an anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) produced responses in nearly all patients with chemotherapy-refractory CD19-positive B-cell malignancies, including...
In a study reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Prat et al found that there was little difference in downstream gene or protein expression according to intrinsic breast cancer subtypes among clinical HER2-positive vs -negative breast cancers and that clinical HER2 status did...
In the phase III ROSE/TRIO-12 trial, reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Mackey et al found no significant improvement in investigator-assessed progression-free survival by adding the antiangiogenic VEGFR-2 inhibitor ramucirumab (Cyramza) to first-line docetaxel in women with...
Airline pilots and cabin crew are occupationally exposed to higher levels of cosmic and ultraviolet radiation. In a meta-analysis reported in JAMA Dermatology, Sanlorenzo et al found that these people have a more than twofold greater risk of melanoma compared with the general population. Increased ...
A modeling study reported in JAMA Internal Medicine by van Hees and colleagues showed that colonoscopy screening at intervals shorter than 10 years or continuing past 75 years of age in the Medicare population is associated with a reduced net health benefit from a societal perspective. Study ...
In a study reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Portschy et al found an absolute 20-year overall survival difference of < 1% with contralateral prophylactic mastectomy in women with stage I or II breast cancer without BRCA mutation. The authors had hypothesized that the...
In a study reported in JAMA Surgery, Morrow et al found that breast reconstruction after mastectomy for breast cancer largely reflects patient demand, with the majority of women being satisfied with the decision-making process. However, black women were significantly less likely to have...
Preclinical data indicate a role of vitamin D metabolism in pancreatic tumor development. In a study reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Van Loon et al found that baseline serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) levels were not associated with progression-free survival or overall...
Use of cisplatin or cetuximab (Erbitux) with radiotherapy improves overall survival in stage III or IV head and neck carcinoma, and adding cetuximab to platinum therapy improves overall survival in metastatic disease. In the phase III Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) 0522 trial reported in...
The ASCO Clinical Practice Guidelines Committee and the Cancer Care Ontario (CCO) program in evidence-based care have released a clinical practice guideline on systemic therapy in men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. The guideline is reported by Basch et al in the Journal of...
In a retrospective study reported in JAMA Surgery, Black et al found that the sentinel lymph node biopsy rate was lower and risk for lymphedema higher in black vs white women with early-stage breast cancer in the Medicare population. Study Details The study used the Surveillance, Epidemiology,...
Maintenance rituximab (Rituxan) has been shown to improve progression-free survival vs observation in low-tumor-burden follicular lymphoma. In the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) E4402 Trial (RESORT), reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Kahl et al found no significant difference ...
The American Society of Clinical Oncology has released a new clinical practice guideline on chemotherapy and targeted therapy for women with advanced HER2-negative or unknown HER2 status breast cancer. The guideline is published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. In formulating the consensus...
In the phase III CENTRIC EORTC 26071-22072 trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Stupp et al found that adding the selective αvβ3 and αvβ5 integrin inhibitor cilengitide to standard temozolomide chemoradiotherapy produced no survival benefit in newly diagnosed glioblastoma...
High mitotic rate in primary melanomas appears to be an independent predictor of poorer survival. In a single-institution study reported in JAMA Dermatology, Shen et al found that high mitotic rate primary melanoma is associated with male sex, older age, amelanosis, and several aggressive...
A phase II study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Nowakowski et al indicates that the addition of lenalidomide (Revlimid) to R-CHOP (rituximab [Rituxan] plus cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone)—a regimen known as R2CHOP—overcomes the negative...
In the phase III REVEL trial reported in The Lancet, Garon et al found that the addition of the antiangiogenic VEGFR-2 inhibitor ramucirumab (Cyramza) to docetaxel produced a statistically significant improvement in overall survival as second-line treatment in patients with non–small...
The ACOSOG Z0011/Alliance trial showed that axillary lymph node dissection provides no benefit over sentinel lymph node biopsy in patients with breast cancer with one or two positive sentinel lymph nodes undergoing lumpectomy, radiotherapy, and systemic therapy. In an analysis reported in the...