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Showing 7751 - 7800SIDEBAR: Is Watch and Wait the Best Strategy for Indolent NHL in the Rituximab Era?
Data from the RESORT and its planned subanalysis can guide oncologists in optimizing treatment for indolent non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) with low–tumor burden advanced-stage disease, according to Michael E. Williams, MD, of the University of Virginia Cancer Center in Charlottesville. The phase III...
Which Rituximab-based Regimen Works Best in Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma?
The treatment of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) patients has been recently informed by several important studies, which were discussed at the Best of ASCO Boston meeting by Michael E. Williams, MD, of the University of Virginia Cancer Center in Charlottesville. Bendamustine Outperforms R-CHOP in NHL...
SIDEBAR: Does Lapatinib Prevent CNS Metastases in HER2-positive Breast Cancer?
Lapatinib has shown some efficacy against existing brain metastases in patients with HER2-positive breast cancer but not in preventing them in the first place, according to Hope S. Rugo, MD, Professor of Medicine and Director, Breast Oncology and Clinical Trials Education at the UCSF Helen Diller...
Refining Current Treatments and Looking Ahead in HER2-positive Breast Cancer
In a study presented at the ASCO Plenary Session, trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1), the antibody-drug conjugate linking trastuzumab (Herceptin) to a cytotoxic agent, improved progression-free survival by 3.2 months, representing a 35% reduction in risk of progression in the phase III EMILIA trial.1...
Cytotoxic Chemotherapy for Breast Cancer: Are We Done Tweaking It?
While novel targeted agents may grab the headlines in the treatment of breast cancer, oncologists still debate the optimal delivery of conventional cytotoxic chemotherapy, still a vital component of treatment. At the Best of ASCO Boston meeting, Steven J. Isakoff, MD, PhD, of Massachusetts General...
New Therapies Capitalize on Lung Cancer’s Molecular Vulnerabilities
Research reported at this year’s ASCO Annual Meeting attests to the tremendous molecular diversity of non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and the power of appropriately selected treatment, according to Leora Horn, MD, of Vanderbilt University Medical Center, who presented data on molecular findings...
Reduced Disease Progression in Patients with Continued Gemcitabine Maintenance or Erlotinib Switch Maintenance
A phase III study showed that progression-free survival was significantly prolonged with continuation maintenance with gemcitabine or switch maintenance with erlotinib (Tarceva) compared with observation in patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who received first-line treatment...
2012 Is ‘Banner Year’ for Research on Symptom Management
The year 2012 was “a banner year for symptom management,” according to Debra L. Barton, RN, PhD, of the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, who presented data on patient and survivor care at the Best of ASCO San Diego meeting. “I have been doing symptom management for about 20 years, and it seems...
Radiotherapy Not Helpful in Early-stage Parotid Acinic Cell Cancer
Adjuvant radiotherapy for patients with parotid acinic cell carcinoma “does not confer a therapeutic advantage in low-grade and early-stage tumors if resection is complete,” but the benefit for patients with higher-grade or higher-stage disease is uncertain because there were few of these patients...
Starting Over after Cancer Treatment
When bloody discharge started oozing from the nipple on my left breast, I knew instinctively that it was serious. Although I was just 43, having lost two aunts to breast cancer, I knew my family history increased my risk for developing the disease. So when I saw my gynecologist for an exam, I was...
New Studies Explore Exposure to Cancer-causing Agents
Key studies on cancer epidemiology and prevention delivered both reassuring and not-so-reassuring findings on exposure to agents believed to be cancer-promoting. Kala Visvanathan, MD, MHS, of The Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and School of Public Health, Baltimore,...
For Advanced Sarcomas, New Agents Prolong Remission but Not Survival
“We are beginning to understand the molecular biology underlying a portion of the 80 or so subtypes of sarcomas, and we hope this will lead to subtype-specific treatments,” said William D. Tap, MD, of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, at the Best of ASCO Boston meeting. “And in...
New Drug Application Submitted for Regorafenib to Treat GIST
Bayer HealthCare and Onyx Pharmaceuticals recently announced that Bayer HealthCare has submitted a New Drug Application (NDA) to the FDA for the oral multikinase inhibitor regorafenib for the treatment of metastatic and/or unresectable gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) in patients whose...
Pivotal Trials in Head and Neck Cancers Yield Mixed Results
The latest research in head and neck cancer reported at this year’s ASCO Annual Meeting presents a mixed picture, according to George R. Blumenschein, Jr, MD, Associate Professor at The Unviersity of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, who presented the data at the Best of ASCO San Diego...
SIDEBAR: Trials Establish New Standard of Care for Anaplastic Oligodendroglioma
Long-term results of two cooperative group phase III trials have determined radiation therapy and chemotherapy is the new standard of care for newly diagnosed anaplastic oligodendroglioma with 1p19q loss,” commented Eric L. Chang, MD, of the USC Norris Cancer Hospital and Keck School of Medicine,...
Investigators’ Perseverance Pays Off in Treating Anaplastic Oligodendroglioma
The theme of this year’s key abstracts on central nervous system tumors is that “perseverance and analysis of long-term outcomes lead to practice-changing results and important insights,” according to Eric L. Chang, MD, of the USC Norris Cancer Hospital and Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, who ...
Kinase Inhibitors Compared in First-line Treatment of CML
Bosutinib (Bosulif) is an oral dual Src/Abl kinase inhibitor that is active against many Bcr-Abl mutations associated with imatinib (Gleevec) resistance and that has reduced activity against nonspecific molecular targets associated with toxicities reported for other second-generation kinase...
Progress, Slow but Sure, Seen for Current Lung Cancer Therapies
This year, we have some abstracts that help move things forward in lung cancer, maybe at a little bit slower pace than in previous years. But there are important points that we can learn from some of these abstracts,” commented Karen L. Reckamp, MD, of the City of Hope, who presented findings on...
Successful Use of Cytoreduction and Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy May Hinge on Prior Experience
A review of 60 consecutive patients with peritoneal carcinomatosis who underwent cytoreductive surgery plus hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC)—sometimes called “hot chemotherapy”—found 0% mortality and 33% morbidity, with “a significant reduction of grade III/IV morbidity,...
Anthracycline Use Steadily Declining in Early Breast Cancer Population
Anthracycline use in early-stage breast cancer has been steadily declining, especially for patients with stage I/II or HER2-positive disease, according to an analysis of patients treated at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) School of Medicine.1 Treatment Alternatives Lead author...
Noncolorectal GI Cancer Evidence Incorporated into Guidelines
The noncolorectal gastrointestinal cancer studies selected for this year’s Best of ASCO meetings include some whose results are being folded into practice guidelines or are good candidates for incorporation, according to Alexandria T. Phan, MD, Associate Professor at The University of Texas MD...
Developments in Hematologic Cancers Include New Considerations in Treating Challenging Leukemias and Multiple Myelomas
Speakers at the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) 7th Annual Congress on Hematologic Malignancies reviewed the current standard of care for various hematologic cancers and explored new concepts in treatment. Below are highlights from presentations on chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML),...
Breast Cancer Symposium Features Surgical Data, Updated Results from BOLERO-2, and Other Important News
The annual Breast Cancer Symposium, held September 13 to 15 in San Francisco, is jointly sponsored by ASCO, the American Society for Radiation Oncology, the American Society of Breast Disease, the American Society of Breast Surgeons, the National Consortium of Breast Cancers, and the Society of...
SIDEBAR: Future of PARP Inhibitors in Ovarian Cancer Hangs in Balance
"It’s become clear that the PARP inhibitors in general … are active in this disease, and we are just trying to find out the level of activity and … get to the point hopefully where at least one of these agents will be approved for use” in ovarian and related cancers, commented Jonathan S. Berek,...
Major Strides Seen in Treatment of Gynecologic Cancers
Research reported at this year’s ASCO Annual Meeting shows major strides in treating ovarian and cervical cancers, suggesting the potential of new agents and adding evidence in areas where optimal management is unclear, according to Jonathan S. Berek, MD, of the Stanford Women’s Cancer Center,...
Pazopanib Noninferior to Sunitinib as Front-line Therapy for Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma
Pazopanib (Votrient) is poised to become another option for first-line therapy of metastatic renal cell carcinoma based on results of the phase III COMPARZ trial reported at the 2012 ESMO Congress in Vienna.1 The study met its primary endpoint by demonstrating that pazopanib was noninferior to...
SIDEBAR: European Database
In a separate presentation at the 2012 ESMO Congress, Fiona Blackhall, MD, Manchester University and Christie Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester, UK, reported findings from the European Thoracic Oncology Platform (ETOP) Lungscape Project.1 This is the first large European dataset to evaluate ...
Role of Crizotinib in Previously Treated ALK-positive Advanced NSCLC
In yet another success story for personalized medicine, a targeted therapy extended survival in patients whose cancers expressed the target. Crizotinib (Xalkori), the first-in-class ALK inhibitor, extended progression-free survival and improved response rates compared with single-agent chemotherapy ...
Will mTOR Inhibitors Change the Treatment of Endocrine-sensitive HER2-negative Breast Cancer?
For the treatment of endocrine-sensitive metastatic breast cancer, the combination of an mTOR inhibitor and an endocrine agent represents a promising new option. At the 2012 Breast Cancer Symposium, the 18-month update of BOLERO-2, which tested therapy with everolimus (Afinitor) plus exemestane,...
SIDEBAR: Dacomitinib: Better in Whom? Better in What?
Drug development is a highly competitive business. A new drug must be proven to be better than the standard one before it can be registered for public use. Starting with preclinical data, there should be evidence of lower 50% inhibitory concentrations in selective cell lines or a broader spectrum...
Phase II Study Suggests Advantage of Irreversible Pan-HER Inhibition in Advanced NSCLC
Dacomitinib is a new tyrosine kinase inhibitor that forms irreversible covalent bonds with the ATP domain of each of the three kinase-active members of the HER family—EGFR/HER1, HER2, and HER4. Agents such as erlotinib (Tarceva) and gefitinib (Iressa), which are of proven benefit in advanced...
SIDEBAR: Cardiac Events Evaluated in Trastuzumab Studies
The effect of duration on cardiac events was a key question for the PHARE and HERA trials to answer. In general, longer duration of treatment was associated with more cardiac events, especially declines in left-ventricular function, but overall the risks were low. Cardiac Endpoints In the PHARE...
Ignoring Level 1 Evidence in Invasive Bladder Cancer: Is Ignorance Bliss?
I’ve been part of the uro-oncology community for more than 30 years and have been proud to be involved in a good number of well-powered, enthusiastically subscribed randomized clinical trials. These have dated back to a time before randomization was necessarily the fashion. I have had the pleasure...
Combination of BRAF and MEK Inhibitors Paves Way for Phase III Studies in BRAF-mutated Metastatic Melanoma
Two late-breaking studies presented at the 2012 European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress highlight the promising potential of combining dual BRAF and MEK inhibitors for the treatment of BRAF-mutated metastatic melanoma. A phase II study showed that combining full doses of the BRAF...
Pulmonary Radiotherapy Can Usually Be Omitted for Nephroblastoma and Pulmonary Metastases
For the majority of patients with nephroblastoma and pulmonary metastases, pulmonary radiotherapy can be omitted and the patients will still have a relatively good outcome, according to a study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. “The rationale of omitting pulmonary [radiotherapy] for...
Conquer Cancer Foundation of ASCO Honors Researchers for Work in Measuring and Improving Quality of Cancer Care
The Conquer Cancer Foundation of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) recently announced the first-ever recipients of its Quality Care Symposium Merit Awards. This year’s recipients will be recognized at ASCO’s inaugural Quality Care Symposium, taking place November 30 and December 1 in ...
Sorafenib Fails to Improve Survival as Third- or Fourth-line Treatment of Advanced Non–Small Cell Lung Cancer
Third- or fourth-line therapy with sorafenib (Nexavar) failed to extend overall survival in patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to the main results of the phase III MISSION trial. However, a post hoc biomarker analysis of MISSION suggested that patients with...
Ruxolitinib: Novel Drug for Myelofibrosis
In the Clinic provides overviews of novel oncology agents, addressing indications, mechanisms, administration recommendations, safety profiles, and other essential information needed for the appropriate clinical use of these drugs. Indication In November 2011, ruxolitinib (Jakafi) was approved for...
Rituximab Infusion Approved for NHL
The FDA recently approved a 90-minute infusion for rituximab (Rituxan) starting at cycle 2 for patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) who did not experience a grade 3 or 4 infusion-related adverse reaction during cycle 1. Patients with clinically significant cardiovascular disease and high...
Options Shifting for First-line Treatment of Renal Cell Carcinoma
Trials with pazopanib (Votrient) have “provided significant efficacy, toxicity, and tolerability data for pazopanib to be established as a first-line standard of care” for renal cell carcinoma,” Tim Eisen, PhD, of the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom, stated at the 11th International Kidney...
Albumin-bound Paclitaxel in First-line Treatment of Advanced NSCLC
In the Clinic provides overviews of novel oncology agents, addressing indications, mechanisms, administration recommendations, safety profiles, and other essential information needed for the appropriate clinical use of these drugs. Indication On October 11, 2012, paclitaxel protein-bound particles...
Nab-paclitaxel vs Solvent-based Paclitaxel in First-line Treatment of Advanced Non–Small Cell Lung Cancer: Final Results
Nanoparticle albumin-bound (nab)-paclitaxel (Abraxane) is a solvent-free paclitaxel formulation intended to reduce solvent-related adverse reactions and improve tumor penetration via the physiologic transport properties of albumin. The final results of a phase III trial comparing nab-paclitaxel and ...
Adjuvant Chemotherapy for Breast Cancer Predicted by Disease, Age, and Insurance Type, but Not by Race
Breast cancer mortality has been found to be higher among black and Hispanic women than among white women, with the differences in outcome being attributed in part to more advanced disease stage and greater frequency of unfavorable tumor biology among black and Hispanic women. Studies to date have...
Expert Point of View: Fausto Roila, MD
Thromboprophylaxis for patients with a central venous catheter is at present not recommended by the international oncologic associations. This is based on the results of four recent randomized controlled trials, three of them double-blind, in which there was no statistically significant difference...
Does Prophylaxis Prevent Catheter-related Thrombosis?
In ambulatory patients with cancer, the risk of catheter-related deep-vein thrombosis can be reduced by almost half with anticoagulation prophylaxis, according to a single-center French study presented at the 2012 European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress in Vienna.1 Catheters implanted ...
Novel Agents for Breast Cancer and Prostate Cancer Impressive in Early Trials
Several sessions at the 2012 European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress in Vienna focused on novel targeted therapies in various stages of development. Summarized here are data on two promising drugs for breast cancer and two for prostate cancer. E-3810 in Breast Cancer Two experimental...
New Drug Application for Tivozanib for the Treatment of Advanced Renal Cell Carcinoma
AVEO Oncology and Astellas Pharma, Inc, recently announced that AVEO has submitted a New Drug Application (NDA) to the FDA for tivozanib, in patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Tivozanib is a potent, selective, long half-life inhibitor of all three vascular endothelial growth factor...
Contralateral Breast Cancer Risk Is Highly Overestimated
Breast cancer is highly unlikely to develop in the contralateral breast of women treated for primary breast cancer, yet many women continue to fear it and undergo prophylactic mastectomies. “Regardless, the perceived risk of developing and dying from a contralateral breast cancer is highly...
Trastuzumab Emtansine Improves Survival vs Capecitabine plus Lapatinib in Second-line HER2-positive Breast Cancer
Trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1) is an antibody-drug conjugate composed of trastuzumab bound to the cytotoxic microtubule inhibitor emtansine (DM1, derivative of maytansine) by a stable linker. Trastuzumab targets the conjugate to HER2 receptors, and the linker releases the cytotoxic agent when the...
Expert Point of View: John L. Marshall, MD
The pendulum continues to swing in the treatment of stage II and III colon cancer. Not 5 years ago, our party line was that essentially all patients should receive 6 months of adjuvant FOLFOX (leucovorin, fluorouracil [5-FU], oxaliplatin): patients with stage II or III disease, whether rectal or...
