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Showing 7351 - 7400UN Summit to Focus on Noncommunicable Diseases This Month
For the second time since its inception 65 years ago, the United Nations General Assembly is holding a “High-level Meeting” that will focus on health. During the September 19–20 meeting, world leaders will shine a spotlight on the devastation that noncommunicable diseases are causing and have...
Screening for Ovarian Cancer Does Not Reduce Mortality and Leads to Unnecessary Tests for False-Positives
Using a CA-125 blood test combined with transvaginal ultrasound for early detection of ovarian cancer failed to reduce the risk of mortality associated with the disease and led to a large number of false-positive tests with unnecessary related biopsies and other follow-up procedures in the large,...
Genomic Researchers Identify Weak Points in Breast Cancer Cells
A large-scale project in genetic profiling has identified weak points in breast tumor cells that not only represent potentially new “druggable” targets but could lead to an entirely new classification of all cancers. The findings were recently reported in Cancer Discovery, a journal of the American ...
Patients with HER2-positive Breast Cancer Benefit from Trastuzumab plus Chemotherapy
Adding trastuzumab (Herceptin) to standard anthracycline/taxane–based chemotherapy continued to produce disease-free and overall survival benefits in patients with HER2-positive breast cancer enrolled in the North Central Cancer Treatment Group (NCCTG) N9831 and the National Surgical Adjuvant...
Many Women Treated for High-risk Breast Cancer Do Not Receive Recommended Postmastectomy Radiation Therapy
Despite major studies showing that postmastectomy radiation therapy improves survival for women with high-risk breast cancer and evidence-based guidelines supporting the use of postmastectomy radiotherapy, 45% of these patients do not receive such treatment, according to an analysis of data from...
Treating Cancer in Japan: A Conversation with Kensei Tobinai, MD
In this installment of Oncology Worldwide, internationally regarded lymphoma expert and cancer survivor, Kensei Tobinai, MD, Chief, National Cancer Center Hospital, Tokyo, sheds light on the Japanese oncology experience. Medical Education What was the medical school experience in Japan like? When...
Integrative Oncology Modalities Supported by Varying Levels of Evidence, but More Research Needed Overall
Over the past couple of decades, unregulated nonstandard oncology approaches have gained growing popularity among cancer patients. The relatively new field of integrative oncology was established to promote a more holistic and multidisciplinary approach to cancer care and to encourage scientific...
FDA Clears Genetic FISH Panel for Leukemia Patient Prognosis
Abbott announced it has received 510k clearance from the FDA for a new in vitro diagnostic test to aid in determining the prognosis of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Abbott’s Vysis CLL FISH Probe Kit is the first FDA-cleared CLL test to aid in prognosis. The test detects genetic...
ASCO’s Immediate Past President Helps Build Future of Cancer Research and Care by Supporting Conquer Cancer Foundation
George W. Sledge, Jr, MD, has been treating patients with breast cancer, and pursuing research in the field, for more than 30 years—the last few electrified by a rapid proliferation of knowledge. “We have so much to offer our patients today,” says Dr. Sledge, who serves as Ballve-Lantero Professor...
Developing Targeted-agent Combinations: Business and Regulatory Issues, and Legal Obstacles
The Institute of Medicine’s National Cancer Policy Forum recently convened a public workshop, “Facilitating Collaborations to Develop Combination Investigational Cancer Therapies,” to address the promises and challenges involved in the development of combination oncologic drug therapies. In the...
FDA Approves Brentuximab Vedotin in Two Lymphoma Indications
The antibody-drug conjugate brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris) was granted accelerated approval on August 19 for the treatment of relapsed or refractory Hodgkin lymphoma and systemic anaplastic large cell lymphoma. Brentuximab vedotin is the first new drug to be approved in Hodgkin lymphoma in more...
Giving Women a Fighting Chance When They Have Breast Cancer
I knew there was a chance I could get breast cancer, I just never thought it would really happen to me. I am one of 2.5 million breast cancer survivors living in our country today. Just weeks after getting a clean mammogram and my 41st birthday, I felt a lump in my breast. As a young and otherwise...
Susan G. Komen for the Cure® Announces 2011 Brinker Award Winners for Scientific Distinction
Armando Giuliano, MD, and Carlos Arteaga, MD, are being honored as this year’s winners of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure® Brinker Awards for Scientific Distinction in basic science and clinical research. The awards will be presented on December 7 at the 34th Annual San Antonio Breast Cancer...
LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Treating Cancer or Fear?
I read the article by Deb Stewart, “Acting on Fear” (The ASCO Post, August 15, 2011, page 1) with interest, disappointment, and empathy. “Acting on fear” in cancer treatment generally, and particularly in breast cancer, is not uncommon. Hence, I was most interested in the article’s major thrust, as ...
Cancer Information on Wikipedia as Accurate as on PDQ but Harder to Understand
A comparison of cancer information on Wikipedia and the patient version of information on the NCI’s Physician Data Query (PDQ) “found that although Wikipedia had similar accuracy and depth to the PDQ, the written style was more complex and thus might be less understandable to patients.” According...
Hepatic Resection Remains Preferred Strategy for Colorectal Liver Metastases
Hepatic resection was shown to be superior to radiofrequency ablation (RFA) for the treatment of colorectal liver metastases, according to a model used to stimulate a randomized controlled trial. Researchers from the Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery Program at the Providence Portland Medical...
Replacing Epirubicin with Docetaxel for Three Cycles Improved Outcomes for Node-positive Breast Cancer
Substituting docetaxel for epirubicin in the final three cycles of chemotherapy resulted in improvement in disease-free and overall survival in a trial among postmenopausal women with node-positive early breast cancer. Following complete excision, women enrolled in the Docetaxel Epirubicin Adjuvant ...
Comparing Therapies for Managing Hot Flashes in Women with Breast Cancer
In a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, two often-prescribed treatments recommended in clinical guidelines for the management of hot flashes were found to be effective in managing hot flashes in patients with breast cancer. Patient-reported hot flash scores showed that venlafaxine, a selective ...
Doxorubicin/Cyclophosphamide with Docetaxel Equally Effective in Combination or Sequentially
Five-year disease-free survival and overall survival rates were “indistinguishable” in patients with operable, node-positive, HER2-nonamplified breast cancer treated with the sequential or combination regimens of doxorubicin/cyclophosphamide (AC) and docetaxel (T). The Breast Cancer International...
Elderly Patients with Ovarian Cancer Least Likely to Receive Chemotherapy
An analysis of data for 4,617 women aged 65 years or older diagnosed with epithelial ovarian cancer found that those in the oldest age group, 80 and up, were least likely to receive any chemotherapy. While 53% of patients 80 and older received no chemotherapy, the rate was less than half (22%) for...
SIDEBAR: Expect Questions from Patients and Colleagues
Among the merits of good clinical studies, according to David P. Ryan, MD, of Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center and Harvard Medical School, is being able to cite them when a physician sits down with a patient to explain the possible benefits and drawbacks of treatment. Dr. Ryan stressed, ...
‘Hot Chemotherapy’ Generates Heated Debate about Its Use with Cytoreductive Surgery to Manage Peritoneal Metastases
"Hot chemotherapy” has become the common term for hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC), which together with cytoreductive surgery is being used by some surgeons to treat patients with carcinomatosis from colorectal cancer. While HIPEC is not considered the most important component of...
ASCO Issues Policy Statement to Reduce Cancer Care Disparities
Last August, ASCO issued the policy statement, “Opportunities in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to Reduce Cancer Care Disparities” in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.1 The statement builds on ASCO’s policy on disparities in cancer care released in 2009. It calls on both the...
Yoga, Geriatric Assessment, and Nausea/Vomiting Addressed in Session on Supportive Care and Survivorship Issues
Marie E. Wood, MD, of the Familial Cancer Program at the University of Vermont, Burlington, addressed clinically relevant issues in supportive care and survivorship at the Best of ASCO® Annual Meeting ‘11 in Miami. Delayed Nausea and Vomiting Two studies addressed the problem of...
Improvements Highlighted in Treatment of Leukemias and Preleukemias
Certain preleukemic conditions and leukemia in high-risk patients have remained challenging to treat despite advances in hematology, according to Wendy Stock, MD, of the University of Chicago. But studies reported at the Best of ASCO® Annual Meeting ‘11 in Seattle show progress even in these ...
New ASCO Focused Update Recommendation on Maintenance Treatment of Stage IV Non–Small Cell Lung Cancer
A focused update to the 2009 ASCO Clinical Practice Guideline Update on Chemotherapy for Stage IV Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer reflects new evidence on maintenance therapy in patients with response or stable disease after four cycles of first-line cytotoxic chemotherapy.1 The 2009 update...
Can Bayesian Design Streamline Our Sluggish Clinical Trial System?
The randomized controlled clinical trial has long been the gold standard for new cancer drugs to demonstrate worthiness of FDA approval; however, many experts contend that that our method of bringing drugs to the market is plagued by undue costs, long delays, and overregulation. According to Donald ...
Health-care Policy: A Three-act Play
The health of Americans, the economy, the debt crisis, and the action or inaction in Washington are all seriously interrelated. Decades ago, the bank robber Willie Sutton was asked why he robs banks. His famous answer, “Because that’s where the money is,” succinctly describes the approach that...
Expert Point of View: Studies Validate Safety of Breast-conserving Surgery in Young Patients with Breast Cancer
Rakesh Patel, MD, Medical Director of the Targeted Radiation Institute at Western Radiation Oncology, Pleasanton, California, was the invited discussant of the second study. He noted that in spite of well documented equivalent survival rates between the surgical approaches, mastectomy rates are...
Studies Validate Safety of Breast-conserving Surgery in Young Patients with Breast Cancer
Young age is not a reason, in itself, to recommend mastectomy for early breast cancer in women aged 40 and under, according to two studies presented at the 2011 Breast Cancer Symposium in San Francisco. While younger women have been pegged as having more aggressive disease, the results suggest that ...
SIDEBAR: Expert Q and A
D. Neil Hayes, MD, MPH, of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, discusses the role of HPV status in head and neck cancer. Are you convinced human papillomavirus (HPV) positivity is associated with better prognosis? Dr. D. Neil Hayes: The HPV story influences almost everything we do in...
Adjuvant Treatment Still Standard in Melanoma, but New Drugs Prolong Life in Metastatic Setting
At the Best of ASCO® Miami meeting, Omid Hamid, MD, The Angeles Clinic and Research Institute (www.theangelesclinic.org), Los Angeles, California, reviewed abstracts that received a great deal of attention at this year’s Annual Meeting—the new treatments for metastatic melanoma. He also described...
Screening for Ovarian Cancer May Do More Harm Than Good, but New Therapies for the Disease Are Improving Outcomes
At the Best of ASCO Miami meeting, Daniela Matei, MD, Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center, Indianapolis, described how new approaches are significantly prolonging remission in ovarian cancer. Ovarian Screening Provides No Benefit The Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian (PLCO) ...
Novel Management Strategies Assessed in Renal Cell and Prostate Cancers
At the Best of ASCO Miami meeting, William Oh, MD, of the Tisch Cancer Institute, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, described new trends and remaining questions in the management of renal cell and prostate cancers. Axitinib vs Sorafenib in Second-line RCC Axitinib, a potent and selective...
Similar Outcomes Confirmed in Variety of Lymphoma Treatment Comparisons
Three abstracts reported at the Best of ASCO® meeting in Seattle provide guidance to hematologists when it comes to long-standing gray areas in lymphoma management, according to Oliver Press, MD, PhD, of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the University of Washington, Seattle....
SIDEBAR: Will East-West Differences Limit Transferability of Clinical Trial Results?
Differences in patients’ tumor characteristics and in surgical practices between eastern and western countries may limit the transferability of clinical trial results in early gastric cancer, according to Dr. Lockhart. One major difference is tumor location. For example, in the Asian CLASSIC...
Practice-changing Evidence in Treatment of Noncolorectal GI Cancers
Studies presented at the ASCO Annual Meeting in the field of noncolorectal gastrointestinal cancer both reaffirmed certain standards of care and introduced some practice-changing data, according to A. Craig Lockhart, MD, of Washington University in St. Louis. Perioperative Therapy for Gastric...
SIDEBAR: Will Aflibercept Break Dry Spell in New Agents for Colorectal Cancer?
Promising results were recently presented from VELOUR, a second-line phase III trial comparing FOLFIRI (leucovorin, fluorouracil, irinotecan) with vs without aflibercept, a fusion protein that binds placental growth factor, VEGFA, and VEGFB.1 “This is an important trial because it might lead to the ...
Other Breast Cancer Studies of Note
At this year’s Best of ASCO® Miami meeting, Harold Burstein, MD, PhD, discussed several studies he found interesting and relevant to clinical practice. Genomic Assays One study examined two genomic assays for ER-positive breast cancer, Oncotype DX and PAM50, and found considerable overlap among the ...
SIDEBAR: Studies Sparked Questions to Breast Cancer Specialists
Based on the MAP.3 findings, should we be using exemestane to prevent breast cancer in high-risk patients? Dr. Harold Burstein: The risk of developing breast cancer was 2.5% in the placebo arm, vs 1% to 1.5% risk with exemestane. Also, the cancers that were avoided were probably ones with good...
Breast Cancer Studies Explore Wide Variety of Prevention and Treatment Strategies, Offering New Insights
At the Best of ASCO® meeting in Miami, Harold Burstein, MD, PhD, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, and Carey K. Anders, MD, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, presented high-impact breast cancer abstracts that will enable clinicians to optimize their use of radiotherapy and biologics. ...
SIDEBAR: Searching for More Efficacious, Less Toxic Adjuvant Chemotherapy for NSCLC
Accumulating data are helping to better define the risk-benefit profile of various adjuvant chemotherapy regimens for non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and the impact of adding biologic agents to the mix, according to H. Jack West, MD, of the Swedish Cancer Institute in Seattle. In the randomized ...
Incremental Advances Demonstrated in Management of Locoregional Lung Cancer
Data presented at the ASCO Annual Meeting this year on the management of locoregional lung cancer present a mixed picture, with some advances and some disappointments, according to H. Jack West, MD, of the Swedish Cancer Institute in Seattle, who reviewed studies in this area at the Best of ASCO...
BRCA Mutation Has Little Effect on Outcome with Neoadjuvant Therapy
A retrospective analysis to determine the efficacy of neoadjuvant systemic therapy for breast cancer patients with and without BRCA mutations found the overall prognosis was similar in both groups of patients. “No significant differences were noted in survival outcomes with respect to BRCA status...
Physicians Can Help Patients Set Realistic Expectations for Sexual Functioning after Treatment for Prostate Cancer
Models that can be personalized to predict erectile function of individual patients following treatment for early-stage prostate cancer have been developed and validated in a study involving a total of 2,940 men, and are ready for use in clinical practice, according to Martin G. Sanda, MD, the...
Important Briefs from the 2011 Breast Cancer Symposium
The 2011 Breast Cancer Symposium was recently held in San Francisco, bringing together a multidisciplinary group of specialists and sponsored by ASCO, the American Society for Radiation Oncology, the Society of Surgical Oncology, the American Society of Breast Disease, the American Society of...
Integrative Medicine Offers Added Value for Patients with Cancer
Addressing a patient’s physical, emotional, and spiritual needs during the cancer journey, integrative medicine combines such time-honored therapies as nutrition, exercise, and meditation alongside allopathic approaches to cancer care, with the ultimate goal of improving survival rates and reducing ...
New Technologies Are Driving Up Costs: Are They Worth the Price?
Expensive new cancer therapies and technologies are alluring for both physicians and their patients. Prostate cancer, because of the sheer volume of cases and the variability of treatment options, serves as a dynamic disease model in the ongoing debate over how to curb spending and maintain...
ASCO Symposium Helps Practices Leverage Health IT, Understand EHR Policy Changes
To help community oncology practices and large institutions navigate recent health-care policy changes and leverage health information technology (HIT) to improve the quality of care, ASCO will hold the 2011 HIT/EHR Symposium at the Westin Peachtree Plaza in Atlanta on November 4–5. “This symposium ...
Susan Halabi, PhD, Is Helping to Fund Future of Cancer Research
Susan Halabi, PhD, thinks in terms of probabilities. Based at Duke University School of Medicine, where she is an Associate Professor of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Dr. Halabi specializes in the design and analysis of clinical trials, statistical analysis of biomarker and microarray data, and ...
