For some patients with human papillomavirus (HPV)-related cancer of the tonsils and tongue, reduced-intensity radiation therapy and chemotherapy may be as effective as standard-dose radiation and chemotherapy, and result in fewer acute side effects, according to research presented by Chera et al...
Researchers at King's College London have investigated a new method that could be used by general practitioners to quickly determine the number of moles on the entire body by counting the number found on a smaller “proxy” body area, such as an arm. These findings were published by...
A study led by Johns Hopkins researchers has linked the immunosuppressive drug mycophenolate mofetil to an increased risk of central nervous system lymphoma in solid organ transplant patients. But the same study also found that another class of immunosuppressive drugs, calcineurin inhibitors, given ...
Among children with intermediate-risk rhabdomyosarcoma that is negative for a fusion gene, those who had a high score for expression of a specific gene signature called MG5 had poorer survival outcomes compared with those who had a low MG5 score, according to a study published by Hingorani et al in ...
Cancer is the result of normal cellular functions going wildly awry on a genetic level. That fact has been known for some time, but increasing evidence is showing that the human microbiome, the diverse population of microorganisms within every person, may play a key role in either setting the stage ...
Badly designed studies may lead to the efficacy of drugs being overestimated and money being wasted on trials that prove fruitless, according to new a study from McGill University in Montreal. The findings, published by Henderson et al in eLife, highlight the importance of ensuring that other...
Accelerated partial-breast irradiation was designed to be a faster, more convenient, and potentially safer way for many women with breast cancer to reduce their mortality risk and help keep their cancer from returning after surgery. But a new study shows that despite the availability of accelerated ...
A survey exploring the relationship between spiritual support and end-of-life care by evaluating clergy members’ opinions and experiences related to care provided to congregants at the end of their life has found that a majority of clergy endorse religious beliefs regarding their...
Surgical removal of melanoma that has metastasized to the abdomen appears to help patients live more than twice as long as those who receive only medical therapy, according to study results presented at the 2015 Clinical Congress of the American College of Surgeons. In more than 1,600 patients...
An innovative service model that partners radiation oncology with palliative care leads to better results for patients, according to a new analysis. The model of care, established at Mount Sinai Medical Center, is one of only a handful in the country. The study (Abstract 110) will be presented at...
Almost half of patients with advanced lung cancer receive more than the recommended number of radiation treatments to reduce their pain, according to a new study published by Koshy et al in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Radiation therapy that is palliative can reduce the pain from...
In a special session on cancer in pregnancy at the 2015 European Cancer Congress (Abstract 3205), Frédéric Amant, MD, PhD, said that new results from a study of 129 children, aged 1–3, born after prenatal exposure to cancer treatment, showed normal development of their...
Unraveling the genetic sequences of cancer that has spread to the brain could offer unexpected targets for effective treatment, according to new research (Abstract 2905) presented at the 2015 European Cancer Congress in Vienna, Austria, and published simultaneously by Brastianos et al in...
In the phase III RADIANT trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Kelly et al found no disease-free survival improvement with adjuvant erlotinib (Tarceva) vs placebo in patients with EGFR-expressing stage IB to IIIA non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, there was evidence of ...
Young women undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer may be more likely to remain fertile if they also receive hormonal treatment, according to new research (Abstract 1957) presented at the 2015 European Cancer Congress in Vienna, Austria, and published simultaneously by Lambertini et al in Annals ...
The targeted drug nivolumab (Opdivo) significantly prolonged survival in patients with advanced kidney cancer whose disease had progressed after their first treatment, according to the results (Abstract 3LBA) presented at the 2015 European Cancer Congress (ECC) in Vienna, Austria, and published...
A rare form of skin cancer known as desmoplasmic melanoma may possess the highest burden of gene mutations of any cancer, suggesting that immunotherapy may be a promising approach for treatment, according to an international team led by University of California San Francisco (UCSF) scientists. One...
A study among patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated with carboplatin-paclitaxel or carboplatin-paclitaxel-bevacizumab (Avastin) found that those receiving the bevacizumab combination were more likely to experience a toxicity event but were less likely to be...
In a phase III trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Demetri et al found that treatment with trabectedin significantly improved progression-free survival vs dacarbazine in patients with advanced liposarcoma or leiomyosarcoma after prior conventional chemotherapy. Interim analysis of...
Adjuvant radiation therapy may be omitted for elderly women with estrogen receptor–positive, early-stage breast cancer who receive hormone therapy. Limited data exist to guide treatment decision-making for elderly women with triple-negative breast cancer. As some findings thus far have shown...
In a phase I/II trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Lokhorst et al found that the CD38-targeting human IgG1κ monoclonal antibody daratumumab had an acceptable safety profile and produced durable responses in relapsed multiple myeloma. Study Details In the dose-escalation...
In a Japanese phase II trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Hamanishi et al found that the anti–PD-1 (programmed cell death protein 1) antibody nivolumab (Opdivo) was active in patients with relapsed or advanced platinum-resistant ovarian cancer. Study Details In the study,...
In a phase II study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Atkins et al found that combined treatment with the recombinant peptide-Fc fusion protein trebananib and the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) inhibitor sunitinib (Sutent) was active in metastatic renal cell cancer and...
In two phase II studies reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Tiacci et al found that the BRAF inhibitor vemurafenib (Zelboraf) produced responses in nearly all patients with BRAF V600E–positive hairy cell leukemia who relapsed after treatment with a purine analog or who had...
Smoking cessation among patients enrolled in a low-dose computed tomography screening program is associated with a three- to five-time reduction in mortality, according to research (Abstract PLEN04.07) presented at the 16th World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC) in Denver, Colorado. The Conference...
In a dose-escalation phase I study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Reid et al found that RRx-001, a representative of a new class of compounds called dinitroazetidines (sourced from the aerospace industry) that act on the tumor microenvironment, had activity in advanced cancers and a promising...
The International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) issued a new statement on Tobacco Control and Smoking Cessation on September 7 at the 16th World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC) in Denver, Colorado. The statement calls for higher taxes on tobacco products; comprehensive...
In a phase II histology-independent basket study reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Hyman et al found that the BRAF V600 kinase inhibitor vemurafenib (Zelboraf) exhibited activity in some but not all nonmelanoma cancers with BRAF V600 mutations. Study Details In the study, 122...
Recent evidence suggests that survivors of childhood cancer have a high risk of suffering a stroke at a surprisingly young age. A new study from the UC San Francisco Pediatric Brain Center shows that childhood cancer survivors suffering one stroke have double the risk of suffering a second stroke...
The American Psychosocial Oncology Society (APOS) will be celebrating 30 years of psychosocial oncology at the 13th Annual APOS Conference, to be held March 3 to 5, 2016, in San Diego. Colleagues, mentors, students, and others who have made an impact on psychosocial oncology can be nominated for an ...
Scientists have developed a blood test for breast cancer that may be able to identify which patients will suffer a relapse after treatment, months before tumors are visible on hospital scans. The test may uncover small numbers of residual cancer cells that have resisted therapy by detecting cancer...
The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) issued an updated policy statement on genetic and genomic testing for cancer susceptibility. Published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, the statement reviews the ways in which new technologies are transforming the assessment and identification of ...
The phase III NSABP B-40 (NRG Oncology) trial showed that the addition of bevacizumab (Avastin) to docetaxel-based neoadjuvant chemotherapy improved pathologic complete response rate, the primary endpoint, in patients with early HER2-negative breast cancer. In a report of secondary outcomes in The...
Research by a Veterans Affairs team has confirmed that longer-lasting colonoscopies are associated with lower cancer rates. Their findings were published by Shaukat et al in Gastroenterology, and were based on nearly 77,000 screening colonoscopies. Experts already know about the link between...
In a first-of-its-kind study, researchers demonstrated a benefit in overall survival among patients with epithelial ovarian cancer receiving generic beta-blocker heart medications. Survival was shown to be greatest among those prescribed first-generation nonselective beta-blockers. According to...
In a phase III trial reported in The Lancet, Pless et al in the Swiss Group for Clinical Cancer Research found that adding preoperative radiation following neoadjuvant chemotherapy did not appear to improve outcomes vs neoadjuvant chemotherapy alone in patients with stage IIIA/N2 non–small...
A first-of-its-kind study published by Bradley Palmer et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology found that music therapy lessened anxiety for women undergoing surgical breast biopsies for cancer diagnosis and treatment. The 2-year study, conducted at University Hospitals (UH) Seidman Cancer Center, ...
In an analysis reported in JAMA Oncology, Jagsi et al found that hypofractionation of whole-breast radiotherapy was associated with reduced acute toxicity compared with conventional fractionation. Study Details The study involved data on physician-assessed toxic effects and patient-reported...
A study from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Cancer Center researchers—the first to examine the effects of combined radiation and chemotherapy on the healthy brain tissue of glioblastoma patients—revealed not only specific structural changes within patients’ brains, but also...
A large observational study investigating the effect of coffee consumption on advanced-stage colon cancer and survival has found that patients who drank four or more cups of coffee a day were 42% less likely to experience a recurrence than non-coffee drinkers and were 33% less likely to die from...
Final results of the German phase III CAO/ARO/AIO-04 trial reported in The Lancet Oncology by Rödel et al showed that adding oxaliplatin to fluorouracil (5-FU)–based neoadjuvant chemoradiation and postoperative chemotherapy improved disease-free survival in patients with locally advanced ...
Scientists have known for years that a mutation in the BRAF gene makes moles start to grow but until now have not understood why they sometimes do not become cancerous. Researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have identified a major genetic factor that...
In a study reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Patel et al found that inflammatory cytokine levels were associated with poorer memory function in women with newly diagnosed breast cancer, with higher pretreatment levels of soluble tumor necrosis factor (TNF) receptor type ...
In a phase III VALOR trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Ravandi et al found that the addition of the quinolone derivative vosaroxin to cytarabine did not significantly improve overall survival in patients with relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML). However, differences favoring...
Lower levels of ERCC1 (excision repair cross-complementation group 1) and thymidylate synthase expression may be predictive of longer survival in patients with metastatic colon cancer, according to a study by Choueiri et al in PLOS One. It was shown that patients with low levels of ERCC1 and...
In a patient-level meta-analysis reported in The Lancet by the Early Breast Cancer Trialists’ Collaborative Group (EBCTCG), adjuvant bisphosphonate treatment in early breast cancer was associated with a reduced risk of bone recurrence and breast cancer mortality, with the benefit limited to...
After decades of overtreatment for low-risk prostate cancer and inadequate management of its more aggressive forms, patients are now more likely to receive medical care matched to level of risk, according to a study by researchers at the University of California, San...
A new study by researchers at the University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine, reveals a protein’s critical—and previously unknown—role in the development and progression of acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The finding offers a novel target for better treating AML, and...
As reported by Schnipper et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, the ASCO Value in Cancer Care Task Force has released an ASCO statement detailing a conceptual framework to assess the value of cancer treatment options. The aim of ASCO in developing the framework is to encourage more...
In a study reported in JAMA Internal Medicine, Harding et al found that on the county level in the United States, mammography screening for breast cancer is associated with an increase in detection of small breast cancers but no reduction in breast cancer mortality. Study Details This ecologic...