In a phase II trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Choueiri et al found that a neoadjuvant four-cycle/8-week regimen of dose-dense methotrexate, vinblastine, doxorubicin, and cisplatin was well tolerated and effective in patients with muscle-invasive urothelial cancer. Study Details ...
Retrospective studies have shown that pharmacologic thromboprophylaxis is underutilized in hospitalized patients with cancer, who are believed to be at high risk of venous thromboembolism. In a prospective cross-sectional study reported in Journal of Clinical Oncology, Zwicker et al found that...
As reported in a research letter in JAMA Dermatology, Watanabe et al found that diffuse erythema at presentation in patients with leukemic T-cell lymphoma was associated with better response to low-dose alemtuzumab (Campath) compared with patients presenting with preexisting plaques or tumors....
In a phase II feasibility study (MRC FOCUS3) reported in British Journal of Cancer, Maughan et al used KRAS and BRAF mutation status and topoisomerase-1 expression status to randomly assign patients with advanced colorectal cancer to molecular hypothesis–driven treatment or control treatment. ...
In a report in JAMA Dermatology, Zhu et al discuss two cases in which clinically significant squamous cell carcinoma was found within the tumor bed of locally advanced basal cell carcinoma during vismodegib (Erivedge) treatment for basal cell carcinoma. In one, basal cell carcinoma tumor shrinkage...
Positive positron-emission tomography (PET) scans have low positive predictive value after chemotherapy in patients with Hodgkin lymphoma. In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Kobe et al assessed whether use of pretreatment and post-treatment computed tomography (CT) could...
In a study reported in British Journal of Cancer, Shaw et al assessed the accuracy of several reported criteria for identifying insignificant prostate cancer for active surveillance in a population of unscreened men. None of the examined tools provided sufficient discrimination of insignificant...
Cowden syndrome, an autosomal-dominant disorder characterized by the development multiple hamartomas, is associated with increased risk of breast, thyroid, endometrial, and renal cancers in patients with underlying germline PTEN mutations. In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology,...
In 2010, Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) registries began collecting data on HER2 receptor status in breast cancer cases. In a study reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Howlader et al identified U.S. incidence rates for breast cancer by joint hormone...
In a UK trial (EnROL) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Kennedy et al compared outcomes with open vs laparoscopic resection of colorectal cancer within a multimodality enhanced recovery program. Such programs are intended to improve all aspects of perioperative care and have been shown...
There are limited data on outcomes after surgery for intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma. In a systematic review and meta-analysis reported in JAMA Surgery, Mavros et al found that tumor characteristics are the primary predictors of survival after curative intent surgery, indicating the need for...
The effect of false-positive mammograms on women undergoing screening is being investigated by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. In a study reported in JAMA Internal Medicine, Tosteson et al assessed responses to false-positive screening mammograms. According to the authors, their findings...
Few options are available to treat pain from bone metastases in patients refractory to drug and radiation therapy. In a phase III study reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Hurwitz et al found significant pain relief using magnetic resonance–guided focused ultrasound...
Preclinical data suggest that triple-negative breast cancer is sensitive to interstrand crosslinking agents and that the combination of a taxane, trastuzumab (Herceptin), and a platinum may have synergistic effects in HER2-positive breast cancer. In a randomized phase II trial (GeparSixto, German...
Geographic proximity to services has been identified as a potential barrier to cancer screening, and there is evidence of disparity in colorectal cancer outcomes between urban and rural U.S. residents. In a study reported in JAMA Surgery, Aboagye et al identified a significantly greater density of...
In a Spanish trial (PETHEMA ALL-AR-03) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Ribera et al found high disease-free and overall survival rates with delayed consolidation and maintenance chemotherapy in high-risk Philadelphia chromosome–negative acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL)...
In a Chinese study reported in JAMA Surgery, Huang et al found that preoperative elevated hepatitis B virus (HBV) surface antigen (HBsAg) level is an independent risk factor for hepatocellular carcinoma recurrence and mortality in patients with low HBV DNA levels undergoing hepatic resection....
There are few treatment options for breast cancer patients with progressive disease after two or more HER2-directed regimens for recurrent or metastatic disease. In the open-label phase III TH3RESA trial reported in The Lancet Oncology by Krop and et al, ado-trastuzumab emtansine (Kadcyla)...
Of 53 National Cancer Institute cancer centers, only 43% report implementing survivorship care plans for at least some of their cancer survivors. In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Blanch-Hartigan et al found that a minority of a nationally representative sample of oncologists ...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, D’Souza et al found that while human papillomavirus (HPV)-positive patients with oropharyngeal cancer had high prevelances of oncogenic oral HPV DNA and oral HPV16 DNA, their sexual partners did not appear to have increased risk of...
As many as half of patients with metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer develop brain metastases over time. The American Society of Clinical Oncology recently released a clinical practice guideline on disease management for patients with advanced HER2-positive breast cancer and brain metastases. A...
Approximately 15% of patients with breast cancer have tumors that overexpress the HER2 protein, and these patients can benefit from HER2-targeted therapies. The American Society of Clinical Oncology recently released a clinical practice guideline on systemic therapy for patients with advanced...
In a trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Spathis et al found that that the central nervous system (CNS) stimulant modafinil had no effect on fatigue compared with placebo in patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Fatigue improved in both groups during the...
In a study reported in JAMA Otolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery, Davies and Gilbert found that the incidence of thyroid cancer has nearly tripled since 1975. However, the increase appears to represent an “epidemic of diagnosis” and to almost exclusively represent increased diagnosis...
A phase III trial reported in 2013 showed noninferiority of pazopanib (Votrient) vs sunitinib (Sutent) for progression-free survival in first-line treatment of clear cell metastatic renal cell carcinoma. In a letter to the editor in The New England Journal of Medicine, Motzer et al provided the...
In a retrospective study of salivary gland cancer survival reported in JAMA Otolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery, Russell et al found black patients with mucoepidermoid or squamous cell carcinoma have poorer disease-specific survival than white patients, with no difference being observed between...
Expression of the inflammatory cytokine interleukin (IL)-1 alpha is a very early step in the inflammatory response that characterizes the malignant phenotype and that is associated with angiogenesis, tumor invasiveness, metastasis, and cachexia. In a phase I dose-escalation study reported in The...
In a single-blind phase III trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Zhu et al compared the use of 125iodine seed–loaded vs conventional covered stents along with single high-dose brachytherapy as palliative treatment in patients with unresectable esophageal cancer. Use of the irradiated stents ...
Different mechanisms of carcinogenesis and molecular characteristics have been proposed for human papillomavirus (HPV)-positive and HPV-negative oropharyngeal carcinomas, and better outcomes have been observed in patients with HPV-positive tumors. Some experts advocate classification of the two as...
The incidence of breast cancer in women treated with chest radiation therapy for childhood cancer previously has been estimated at 5% to 14% by age 40 years and is among the highest reported for any population. In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Moskowitz et al found that the...
Molecular diagnosis and preventive surgery have been successful in preventing medullary thyroid cancer in patients with multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2 syndrome. In a retrospective population-based study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Castinetti et al found no difference in disease-free...
Patients with radioactive iodine-refractory, locally advanced or metastatic differentiated thyroid cancer have a poor prognosis. In the double-blind phase III DECISION trial reported in The Lancet, Brose et al found that sorafenib (Nexavar) increased progression-free survival in this setting. The...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Fokas et al found that prospectively evaluated tumor regression grading was a significant prognostic factor for distant metastasis and disease-free survival after 132 months of follow-up in patients with locally advanced rectal carcinoma...
Activating EGFR mutations are found in approximately 10% of Western patients and 50% of Asian patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors are recommended for use in first-line treatment in this setting. Both tyrosine kinase inhibitors and cytotoxic...
In a phase III double-blind crossover trial (North Central Cancer Treatment Group [NCCTG] N09C6, Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology cooperative group) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Leenstra et al found that oral doxepin hydrochloride rinse significantly reduced...
In a phase IIa trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Miller et al assessed combined HER2-targeted therapy with the antibody-drug conjugate ado-trastuzumab emtansine (Kadcyla) and pertuzumab (Perjeta) in women with HER2-positive locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer. Pertuzumab...
Nationwide data on mortality and morbidity from colorectal cancer resections in the aging population are lacking. In a study reported in JAMA Surgery, Jafari et al found that there has been an overall decrease in numbers of resections and improved in-hospital mortality in older patients, although...
Disease progression in HER2-positive breast cancer treated with trastuzumab (Herceptin) may be associated with PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway activation, and use of an mTOR inhibitor might restore trastuzumab sensitivity. In the double-blind phase III BOLERO-3 trial reported in The Lancet Oncology,...
In a population-based study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Eriksson et al found that Swedish men with cutaneous malignant melanoma have more advanced stage at diagnosis and worse disease-specific survival if they live alone. Women living alone did not have worse disease-specific...
Antibiotic monotherapy is considered standard in empiric therapy in febrile neutropenic cancer patients, but the approach may be insufficient given the increase in infections due to multidrug-resistant microorganisms. Tigecycline (Tygacil), the first in a new class of glycylcycline antibiotics, has ...
In a prospective cohort study reported in JAMA Internal Medicine, Li et al found that recent and ever use of sildenafil for erectile dysfunction was associated with increased risk of subsequent melanoma, but not squamous cell or basal cell carcinoma. The RAS/RAF/MAPK and ERK kinase/ERK cascade is...
In an analysis from the EPIC study reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Sieri et al found that high dietary intake of total fat and saturated fat were associated with increased risk of estrogen receptor–positive/progesterone receptor–positive breast cancer and that...
Bevacizumab has exhibited limited activity in advanced melanoma. In an interim analysis of the open-label phase III AVAST-M trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Corrie et al found that adjuvant bevacizumab (Avastin) in patients with resected melanoma at high risk of recurrence has thus far...
As reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Riester et al have identified gene-expression signatures predictive of survival and debulking status in late-stage ovarian cancer. Study Details The study involved meta-analytic techniques using integrated data from 13 publicly...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Tombal et al, a single-arm phase II trial of the androgen receptor inhibitor enzalutamide (Xtandi) has shown that the agent is active in suppressing disease and well tolerated in men with hormone-naive prostate cancer. In this ongoing trial, 67 men with...
Pulmonary nodules are common and many more will be found with implementation of lung cancer screening. In a retrospective cohort study reported in JAMA Internal Medicine, Wiener et al found that patients with pulmonary nodules were at high risk of both underevaluation and overevaluation for cancer, ...
In a study of health-care organization data reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Corley et al assessed the relationship between proportion of colonoscopies performed by a gastroenterologist that detect an adenoma and risk of subsequent interval colorectal cancer and colorectal cancer...
The optimal extent of surgical resection is unclear in patients with parotid superficial lobe lymph node metastasis from cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma and malignant melanoma. In a single-institution retrospective review reported in JAMA Otolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery, Thom et al found...
In the open-label noninferiority phase III ASPECCT trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Price et al found that anti-EGFR monoclonal antibody treatment with panitumumab (Vectibix) produced a noninferior overall survival outcome vs cetuximab (Erbitux) in patients with chemotherapy-refractory...
Cytogenetically normal acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is the largest and most heterogeneous cytogenetic AML subgroup. As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Pastore et al have developed a widely applicable prognostic model for cytogenetically normal AML that combines established patient and ...