Men with localized prostate cancer who received androgen-deprivation therapy were at significantly higher risk of heart failure than men who did not receive this therapy, according to a Kaiser Permanente study published by Haque et al in the British Journal of Cancer. In the past,...
Results from the C SCANS (Colorectal Cancer: Sarcopenia, Cancer, and Near-Term Survival) study indicate that prediagnosis systemic inflammation and at-diagnosis sarcopenia are associated with an increased mortality risk in patients with nonmetastatic colorectal cancer. The findings were reported in ...
AS REPORTED in JAMA, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) has recommended against thyroid cancer screening in asymptomatic individuals.1 The current USPSTF statement is an update of a 1996 USPSTF recommendation statement. The recommendation was based on Task Force review of evidence on ...
A study in postmenopausal women in the French E3N prospective cohort indicated bisphosphonate use was not associated with a reduced risk of breast cancer. These findings were reported by Fournier et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. Study Details The study included 64,438 postmenopausal...
A study in the offspring and third-generation cohorts of the Framingham Heart Study showed that eligibility for statin therapy was associated with an increased risk for cancer and cancer mortality. These findings were reported by Pursnani et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. Study Details...
More than half of patients with cancer undergo radiotherapy. Due to a phenomenon known as radiation-induced bystander effect, in which irradiated cells leak chemical signals that can travel some distance to damage unexposed healthy cells, many suffer side effects such as hair loss, fatigue, and...
“In 1981, 2 days after my older brother Matthew was born, my father sawed off the tip of his index finger.” So begins No Apparent Distress: A Doctor’s Coming of Age on the Front Lines of American Medicine, a memoir by Rachel Pearson, MD, who is currently a resident at Seattle Children’s Hospital. ...
Over the past decade, there has been renewed interest in developing immunologic therapies in cancer. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved several new biologic agents that target a patient’s immune system, some of which have produced profound clinical responses. However, the...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Ian E. Smith, MD, of The Royal Marsden Hospital and Institute of Cancer Research, and colleagues, final results of the phase III FACE trial showed no difference in disease-free or overall survival for adjuvant letrozole vs anastrozole in...
I was diagnosed with stage IV prostate cancer in 2002. I had no idea the disease and its treatment would cause me to gain more than 50 pounds and nearly cripple me with pain. I had a transurethral resection of the prostate following my diagnosis and have had multiple testosterone-suppression...
As reported by Stolley et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, a community-based interventionist-guided weight loss program for African American breast cancer survivors (Moving Forward) proved successful in achieving weight loss goals compared with a self-guided weight loss program. African...
Michael Berry, MD, a breast surgeon who is Director of the Margaret West Comprehensive Breast Center at The West Cancer Center, Memphis, told the The ASCO Post that these findings “echo what surgeons already know,” which is that lymphedema is a result of multiple insults to the axilla. But one...
In a study from the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, the risk of lymphedema in a population-based breast cancer cohort was related to multimodality therapy and not axillary surgery alone, investigators reported at the American Society of Breast Surgeons (ASBrS) Annual Meeting.1 “Most patients...
Tree nut consumption, as well as a generally healthy lifestyle, significantly reduced the risk of cancer recurrence and death in patients with stage III colon cancer treated in the Cancer and Leukemia Group B (CALGB) 89803 trial, researchers reported at the 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting. Two subanalyses ...
Sunday, June 4, 2017, marks the 30th anniversary of National Cancer Survivors Day. Here’s a look at the progress that has been made over the past 2 to 3 decades in reducing cancer incidence and cancer deaths and the challenges that remain. Increasing Rates of Cancer Survivorship In 1971, the...
Stand Up to Cancer (SU2C) has announced the award of $7.5 million in Innovative Research Grants focused on immuno-oncology to 10 early-career scientists, in a program funded by a grant from Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (BMS), an SU2C Visionary Supporter. These awards were announced at the 2017...
Research is still lacking to support a link between obesity and an increased risk of developing all types of cancer. Nevertheless, a review1 of more than 1,000 epidemiologic studies by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), a division of the World Health Organization, examining...
According to the American Cancer Society, over 252,700 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed in 2017, and about 40,610 women will die of their disease. Between 7% and 10% of those new cases will be diagnosed in women younger than age 40, accounting for more than 40% of all cancer...
As reviewed in this issue of The ASCO Post, a recent issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology featured an ASCO Clinical Practice Guideline on the management of small renal masses reported by Finelli and colleagues.1 This comprehensive guideline is written by a group of well-regarded and...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Antonio Finelli, MD, of Princess Margaret Cancer Center, Toronto, and colleagues, ASCO has released a clinical practice guideline on management of small renal masses.1 The guideline was derived from an expert panel literature search for and...
An observational study of 826 patients with stage III colon cancer showed that those who consumed 2 ounces or more of nuts per week had a 42% lower chance of cancer recurrence and 57% lower chance of death than those who did not eat nuts. A secondary analysis revealed the benefit of nut consumption ...
ASCO and the oncology community are deeply saddened by the loss of Robert L. Comis, MD, FASCO, who passed away on May 10, 2017, at the age of 71. Dr. Comis was a powerful voice in support of clinical trials, cooperative group research, and patient advocacy throughout his career. “Bob helped...
As reported in JAMA, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) has recommended against thyroid cancer screening in asymptomatic individuals. The current USPSTF statement is an update of a 1996 USPSTF recommendation statement. The recommendation was based on task force review of evidence on...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Renfro et al have derived a nomogram for predicting early mortality in metastatic colorectal cancer using data from more than 20,000 patients in the ARCAD (Aide et Recherche en Cancérologie Digestive) database. Study Details The analysis...
In a population-based cohort study reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Su-Hsin Chang, PhD, of the Washington University School of Medicine, and colleagues found that overweight and obesity were associated with an increased risk of transformation of monoclonal gammopathy of...
Just 32 when I first felt a lump in the top of my left breast, I never expected it to be cancer or my life would irrevocably change in that instant. With no history of breast cancer in my family, I initially shook off any thoughts that I could have a serious disease and instead consoled myself...
A test that measures the levels of five chemicals in the breath has shown promising results for the detection of cancers of the esophagus and stomach, in a large patient trial presented by Markar et al at the 2017 European Cancer Congress (Abstract 6LBA).1 Together, stomach and esophageal cancers...
A study of data from large prospective U.S. cohorts has shown that current cigarette smoking, greater pack-years, and heavy smoking were associated with poorer survival among patients with pancreatic cancer. The study was reported by Yuan et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. Study Details...
To better understand the conditions and mechanisms driving health disparities in the United States, The Lancet partnered with physicians and public health researchers from the City University of New York, Harvard Medical School, Cornell University, Yale School of Medicine, and the New York...
The Applied Proteogenomics Organizational Learning and Outcomes (APOLLO) network, which represents a partnership among the National Cancer Institute (NCI), the Department of Defense, and the Department of Veterans Affairs, has tapped the Paulovich Laboratory at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research...
A multinational equivalence trial has shown no difference in disease-free survival with total laparoscopic hysterectomy vs total abdominal hysterectomy in women with treatment-naive stage I endometrial cancer. The findings were reported by Janda et al in JAMA. Study Details In the trial, 760...
In a phase III trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Tamas Hickish, MD, of Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Dorset, England, and colleagues found that treatment with MABp1, an antibody that targets interleukin 1α and exhibits antitumor activity, was associated with improvement in the composite ...
Since the mid-2000s, medication and illicit drug abuse in the United Sates has steadily increased, creating what has now been termed an “opioid epidemic.” In response, Congress and the Bush and Obama Administrations have launched intervention and regulatory proposals to help turn the troubling...
Patients with metastatic colon cancer who exercise may live longer, according to an analysis of the CALGB/SWOG 80405 trial presented at the 2017 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium.1 According to the authors, this is the first study to demonstrate an association between physical activity and...
In a large European cohort study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Smith Byrne et al found that vasectomy was not associated with an increased overall risk of prostate cancer or death from prostate cancer but appeared to increase the risk of lower-grade disease. Other studies have...
In a biomarker analysis of the CATCH trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Alok A. Khorana, MD, of the Cleveland Clinic, and colleagues found that elevated circulating tissue factor levels were associated with an increased risk of recurrent venous thromboembolism in cancer patients on ...
Kevin C. Oeffinger, MD, Director of the Adult Long-Term Follow-up Program at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, highlighted the typical fat distribution of this population while noting the limitations of standard criteria for metabolic syndrome, which include waist circumference....
Despite advances in treating chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), the 5% to 10% of patients who develop Richter transformation continue to have poor outcomes. For these patients, median progression-free survival is approximately 6 months, and median overall survival is about 8 months. Phase II...
Patients with esophageal cancer who suffer sarcopenia (loss of muscle mass) during neoadjuvant chemotherapy survive, on average, 32 months less than patients with no sarcopenia. This is the central finding of a recent study conducted at the Comprehensive Cancer Center (CCC) of MedUni Vienna and...
In a population-based cohort study reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Chang et al found that overweight and obesity were associated with an increased risk of transformation of monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance to multiple myeloma. Black race was also...
Although many studies have linked obesity with an increased risk for endometrial cancer, information about the influence of weight loss on the cancer in postmenopausal women has been limited. Now, a study by Luo et al evaluating the association of weight change and endometrial cancer risk among...
Postmastectomy radiation is becoming more commonly used to treat breast cancer, and at the same time, there is an increasing trend among women to have breast reconstruction. Until now, oncologists have had little evidence on what the best reconstruction options are in women who require radiation...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Smith et al, the final results of the phase III FACE trial showed no difference in disease-free or overall survival for adjuvant letrozole vs anastrozole in postmenopausal women with hormone receptor–positive node-positive early breast...
A test that measures the levels of five chemicals in the breath has shown promising results for the detection of cancers of the esophagus and stomach in a large patient trial presented by Markar et al at the 2017 European Cancer Congress (Abstract 6LBA). Together, stomach and esophageal...
Few studies have explored the association between metabolic phenotype and colorectal cancer incidence in normal-weight individuals. Now, a study comparing the risk of colorectal cancer in normal-weight postmenopausal women with a metabolically unhealthy phenotype vs those with a metabolically...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Antonio Finelli, MD, of Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Toronto, and colleagues, ASCO has released a clinical practice guideline on management of small renal masses. The guideline was derived from an expert panel literature search for and...
ASCO has launched a new journal dedicated to precision oncology, JCO Precision Oncology (JCO PO). JCO PO features original clinical research, scientific reviews, and editorials on genomics. James M. Ford, MD, the journal’s Editor-in-Chief, said JCO PO offers precision oncologists a place to...
According to the American Cancer Society, in the United States, thyroid cancer is the most rapidly increasing cancer, tripling in the past 3 decades, and is commonly diagnosed at a younger age than most other adult cancers. A study by Blackburn et al examining whether survivors of thyroid cancer...
In a study reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Kerlikowske et al identified risk factors for estrogen receptor–positive and –negative breast cancer using data from the Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium. The analysis included 1,279,443 women, aged 35 to 74...
In a phase III trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Hickish et al found that treatment with MABp1, an antibody that targets interleukin 1α and exhibits antitumor activity, was associated with improvement in the composite outcome of stabilizing/improving lean body mass and debilitating...