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Showing 8851 - 8900International Cancer Corps Provides Valuable First-Time Volunteer Experience
Even as oncologists try to tackle the changing landscape of health care in the United States, many realize that both physicians and patients in this country are still in a better position than those fighting cancer abroad in low- and middle-income countries. In 2009, ASCO joined with Health...
Options for Management of Bone Health in Patients With Multiple Myeloma
Bone health is critical in patients with multiple myeloma, since up to 85% will suffer bone damage. Options for management include two FDA-approved bisphosphonates—pamidronate and zoledronic acid—and possibly the RANK-L inhibitor denosumab (Xgeva, investigational use). Importance of Supportive ...
Take-Home Messages From the NCCN Hematologic Malignancies Conference
As the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) 8th Annual Congress: Hematologic Malignancies was drawing to a close, The ASCO Post spoke with Andrew D. Zelenetz, MD, PhD, about the themes of the meeting and the take-home messages for attendees and for our readers. Dr. Zelenetz is Vice Chair...
New Strategies for Relapsed/Refractory Multiple Myeloma Explored
Although upfront therapy can achieve remission in multiple myeloma, most patients will ultimately relapse. Newer targeted therapies and genomic analysis are moving the management of relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma forward, according to Kenneth C. Anderson, MD, Director, Jerome Lipper Multiple...
The AVEX Trial
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Cunningham and colleagues and reviewed in this issue of The ASCO Post, the AVEX trial was an open-label randomized phase III trial limited to patients over the age of 70 years with previously untreated, unresectable metastatic colorectal cancer who were not...
Bevacizumab/Capecitabine Improves Progression-Free Survival in Older Patients With Treatment-Naive Metastatic Colorectal Cancer
Elderly patients are often underrepresented in clinical trials of metastatic colorectal cancer. In the phase III AVEX trial reported in The Lancet Oncology,1 David Cunningham, MD, of Royal Marsden Hospital in London and colleagues assessed the addition of bevacizumab (Avastin) to capecitabine in...
Aspirin Protects Against Colorectal Cancer Recurrence in PIK3CA-Mutant Tumors
At the 2013 European Cancer Congress, two investigative teams attempted to explain how aspirin may protect against colorectal cancer recurrences, with one study showing PIK3CA mutations associated with protection from aspirin, but not a COX-2 inhibitor, and the other study implicating HLA class I...
Optimizing Anti-HER2 Treatment for Metastatic Breast Cancer in 2013
The good news about HER2-positive breast cancer is that recurrent disease is plummeting, owing to the impact of adjuvant trastuzumab [Herceptin]. Hopefully, first-line metastatic treatment is becoming a thing of the past,” said Harold Burstein, MD, PhD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston....
FDA Approves Obinutuzumab for Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved obinutuzumab (Gazyva) for use in combination with chlorambucil (Leukeran) to treat patients with previously untreated chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Obinutuzumab is the first drug with Breakthrough Therapy designation to receive FDA...
COMMENTARY: Choosing Wisely: Good Care With Efficiency
Is more care better care? It is often said, by Americans, that the United States has the best care in the world. However, there are many population-based statistics that do not support that humble opinion. We certainly spend more money than any other nation by far. In fact, we may spend more money ...
ASCO's 2013 Top Five List in Oncology for Choosing Wisely Campaign
ASCO recognizes the importance of evidence-based cancer care and making wise choices in the diagnosis and management of patients with cancer. After careful consideration by experienced oncologists, ASCO annually highlights five categories of tests, procedures and/or treatments annually whose common ...
Patient Assistance Programs Provide Psychosocial but Not Practical Help
“Patients with breast cancer who connect to relevant patient assistance programs receive useful informational and psychosocial but not practical help,” concluded Nina A. Bickell, MD, MPH, of Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, and colleagues who conducted a randomized trial among 374 women...
Impact of Hormone Replacement Therapy on Breast Cancer Risk Varies by Race, Weight, and Breast Density
The impact of hormone replacement therapy on breast cancer risk varies according to the patient’s to race/ethnicity, body mass index, and breast density. An analysis of 1,642,824 screening mammograms with 9,300 breast cancer cases in postmenopausal women aged 45 years or older found that hormone...
CancerCare Launches New Edition of Financial Resource Guide for People With Cancer
CancerCare recently announced the launch of a new edition of A Helping Hand: The Resource Guide for People With Cancer, Financial Edition, a reference guide to assist patients with cancer and their families in navigating the financial resources available to them. A Helping Hand is a comprehensive...
Omega-3
Common Name: Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) Brand Names: Omegaven, Max-EPA The use of dietary supplements by patients with cancer has increased significantly over the past 2 decades despite insufficient evidence of safety and effectiveness. Finding reliable sources of information about...
SIDEBAR: Five Proposals for the FDA
At a forum convened by Friends of Cancer Research in September 2013, a panel of experts presented five proposals outlining how sponsors and FDA may be able to improve and expedite the process for the codevelopment and review of a companion diagnostic designed for use with a drug that has received...
FDA Hears Proposals on Codevelopment of Companion Diagnostics for Breakthrough Therapies
A companion diagnostic developed for use with a drug that has received Breakthrough Therapy designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) should automatically be eligible for priority review, according to an expert panel that presented this proposal and four others to the FDA in...
NIH Awards $17 Million in Grants to Augment Genomics Research in Africa
The National Institutes of Health has awarded 10 new grants totaling up to $17 million over the next 4 years to support genomics research in Africa, as part of the Human Heredity and Health in Africa (H3Africa) program. This set of grants is the second disbursement of H3Africa awards and brings the ...
FDA Approves Transducer Array Layout System for Use in Patients With Recurrent Glioblastoma Multiforme
Novocure recently announced that it has received FDA approval for its NovoTAL (Transducer Array Layout) System through a Premarket Approval supplement. The NovoTAL System allows certified physicians to use the individual magnetic resonance imaging data of recurrent glioblastoma multiforme patients...
IOM Presents 2013 Lienhard Award to Leader of Smoking Cessation and Tobacco Prevention Efforts
The Institute of Medicine has (IOM) presented the 2013 Gustav O. Lienhard Award to Steven A. Schroeder, MD, whose pioneering efforts to control tobacco use have helped save millions from premature, smoking-related deaths. The award also recognizes Dr. Schroeder’s leadership in general medicine as...
Focus on the Texas Society of Clinical Oncology
The second largest state in the nation (after Alaska), Texas covers a total area of 268,581 square miles and has a diverse population of over 26 million people. In 1987, the Texas Society of Medical Oncology, now the Texas Society of Clinical Oncology (TxSCO), was formed to address the oncology...
Yoga to Manage Sleep Disruption in Cancer Survivors: A Low-Risk Intervention With High Potential for Benefit
Impaired sleep quality is a concerning problem for many patients with cancer, and pharmacologic treatments come with many negative effects. Several small studies indicate that yoga improves persistent fatigue, sleep disturbance, anxiety, and quality of life, in addition to reducing the need for...
Yoga Improves Sleep Quality in Patients With Cancer Suffering From Sleep Disruption
It is estimated that 30% to 90% of patients with cancer experience impairment of sleep quality post-treatment, and such impairment can be severe enough to increase morbidity and mortality. Preliminary evidence indicates that yoga may improve sleep in cancer patients. In a study reported in the...
No Progression-Free Survival Difference for Cediranib or Cediranib/Lomustine vs Lomustine in Recurrent Glioblastoma
In a phase III study (REGAL trial) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Tracy T. Batchelor, MD, MPH, of the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, and colleagues compared oral monotherapy with the investigational pan–vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) receptor tyrosine kinase ...
In International Study, Patients Prefer Subcutaneous Over Intravenous Trastuzumab for Breast Cancer
Subcutaneous trastuzumab (not available in the United States) has been shown to have noninferior efficacy and similar pharmacokinetic and safety profiles compared with intravenous trastuzumab (Herceptin) in patients with early-stage HER2-positive breast cancer. In the PrefHer trial reported in...
Evidence-Based Opportunity to Personalize Breast Cancer Risk: The Data Are Building
The worldwide data from prospective studies of the relationship between levels of endogenous sex hormones and breast cancer risk in postmenopausal women show multiple and complex relationships.1 Nine prospective studies (different from those reported here) of women not taking exogenous sex hormones ...
Advancing Psychosocial Oncology Care Over the Next Decade
A psychiatrist for more than 40 years, Jimmie C. Holland, MD, Attending Psychiatrist and Wayne E. Chapman Chair at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and Professor of Psychiatry, Weill Medical College of Cornell University in New York, is internationally recognized as the founder of the...
New Report Examines Trends in End-of-Life Care
Although fewer Medicare patients with cancer died in the hospital in 2010 than in the years 2003–2007, aggressive treatment continues at the end of life, according to a new report from the Dartmouth Atlas Project.1 The findings also show that a significant number of patients were likely to receive...
Illness Is Personal!
For clinicians and health service researchers striving to improve care for people living with life-threatening conditions, September was a sobering month. The Dartmouth Atlas group released a brief report on Trends in Cancer Care Near the End of Life1 showing that while the proportion of patients...
ASCO Receives Additional Funding for Virtual Learning Collaborative From California HealthCare Foundation
ASCO is pleased to announce grant funding from the California HealthCare Foundation to support the Virtual Learning Collaborative (VLC). This pilot project will use the VLC to improve the quality of palliative care in routine medical oncology practice. ASCO is also collaborating with the American...
ASCO Reconfirms Commitment to Choosing Wisely® Campaign
In collaboration with the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) Foundation’s Choosing Wisely® campaign, ASCO recently released a second “Top Five” opportunities list of common practices or procedures in oncology whose clinical value is not supported by available evidence and if eliminated, can ...
Pertuzumab in Neoadjuvant Treatment of HER2-Positive Early Breast Cancer
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 September 30, 2013, pertuzumab injection (Perjeta)...
FDA Announces Strategic Plan to Prevent Drug Shortages
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is taking two actions to further enhance the agency’s ongoing efforts to prevent and resolve drug shortages. The FDA has released a strategic plan called for in the Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act (FDASIA) of 2012 to improve the...
Finasteride for Prostate Cancer Prevention: Long-Term Results Disappointing but Reassuring
All medical care should seek to achieve one or more of three goals: to relieve suffering, to prevent future suffering, or to prolong life. Care for cancer is no exception, and minimizing suffering from cancer and prolonging life has primarily resulted from advances in treatment. Although there are...
No Difference in Long-Term Survival With Finasteride or Placebo in the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial
In the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial (PCPT), initially reported in 2003, finasteride significantly reduced the risk of prostate cancer by 24.8% but was associated with a relative 26.9% increase in risk of high-grade disease compared with placebo. In a study reported in The New England Journal of ...
Technologic Innovations Are Likely to Transform Oncology Care
Oncology and medicine as a whole are likely to benefit from a variety of technologic innovations recently showcased at the third annual The Atlantic Meets the Pacific symposium, according to Peter P. Yu, MD, President-Elect of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, and medical oncologist and...
Neoadjuvant Treatment of Early Breast Cancer
INSIDE THE BLACK BOX is an occasional column providing insight into the FDA and its policies and procedures. In this first installment, FDA Clinical Reviewers Laleh Amiri-Kordestani, MD, and Suparna Wedam, MD, discuss FDA’s recent approval of pertuzumab (Perjeta) for the neoadjuvant treatment of...
Brivanib Fails to Live Up to the Promise of Early Studies
Hepatocellular carcinoma is a devastating disease worldwide. Although advances in liver transplantation, surgery, and locoregional therapies have made tumor control or even cure possible for a minority of patients, the majority of patients diagnosed with hepatocellular carcinoma will develop...
Oncogene Addiction and the Rationale for Molecular Targeted Therapy in Lung Cancer
Over the past decade, Fadlo R. Khuri, MD, Professor and Roberto C. Goizueta Distinguished Chair of Hematology and Medical Oncology, and Deputy Director of the Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University, Atlanta, has focused his research and clinical career on investigating novel approaches in the ...
Sale of Ponatinib Suspended Due to Risk of Life-Threatening Blood Clots
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has asked the manufacturer of the tyrosine kinase inhibitor ponatinib (Iclusig) to suspend marketing and sales of the drug because of the risk of life-threatening blood clots and severe narrowing of blood vessels. Ariad Pharmaceuticals has agreed to...
FDA Approves First Extended-Release, Single-Entity Hydrocodone Product
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today approved hydrocodone bitartrate extended-release capsules (Zohydro ER) for the management of pain severe enough to require daily, around-the-clock, long-term treatment and for which alternative treatment options are inadequate. The drug, a Schedule...
Long-Term Colorectal Cancer Incidence and Mortality After Lower Endoscopy
Colonoscopy and sigmoidoscopy have been shown to provide protection against colorectal cancer, but the magnitude and duration of protection, particularly against proximal colon cancer, remain undefined. A study of long-term colorectal cancer incidence and mortality after lower endoscopy reported in ...
Important News Briefs: New Data Reported in Breast, Renal Cell, Head and Neck, and Lung Cancer
The 2013 European Cancer Congress (ECC), held September 27 to October 1 in Amsterdam, was jointly sponsored by the European Society of Medical Oncology, the European Cancer Organization, and the European Society of Radiation Oncology. With the Congress theme being “Reinforcing Multidisciplinarity,” ...
Two Trials Explore the Evolving Role of Bevacizumab in Ovarian Cancer
The optimal use of bevacizumab (Avastin) in ovarian cancer appears to be in high-risk subgroups and in patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer, according to results of two phase III trials presented at the 2013 European Cancer Congress (ECC) in Amsterdam. AURELIA investigated the safety and ...
Strong Showing for Ado-Trastuzumab Emtansine in Advanced HER2-Positive Heavily Pretreated Breast Cancer
Results of the phase III TH3RESA trial show that the antibody-conjugate ado-trastuzumab emtansine (Kadcyla), formerly known as T-DM1, extends progression-free survival in women with advanced HER2-positive breast cancer that progressed on two or more previous HER2-directed therapies including...
Standardizing the Interpretation of PET Scans: An INR Equivalent
Since its introduction, the positron-emission tomography (PET) scan has shown great potential to improve our ability to care for patients with lymphoma. By demonstrating which masses seen on a computed tomography (CT) scan represent viable tumor, and by identifying viable tumor in places that were...
IOM Report Illuminates U.S. Cancer Care Crisis and Offers Framework for Change
In September, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academies issued its report, Delivering High-Quality Cancer Care: Charting a New Course for a System in Crisis,1 published more than a decade after its first study on the quality of cancer care in the United States. The authors of the...
Ipilimumab Conveys Long-Term Survival Benefit in Pooled Analysis of Metastatic Melanoma Patients
In the treatment of metastatic or locally advanced unresectable melanoma, the anti–CTLA-4 monoclonal antibody ipilimumab (Yervoy) conveys long-term survival benefits, with some patients alive out to 10 years, according to the largest survival analysis of the immunomodulating agent, presented at the ...
One in Three American Adults Do Not Comply With Screening Guidelines for Colorectal Cancer
The percentage of American adults aged 50 to 75 who are up-to-date with recommended screening for colorectal cancer “increased from 54% in 2002 to 65% in 2010, primarily driven by increased use of colonoscopy,” according to data from the 2012 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey....
Evaluation of Breast Cancer MRI Screening Strategies
Recent years have witnessed much heated debate about the benefits of breast cancer screening and optimal screening strategies. Unlike with mammography, no randomized data are available to determine whether screening with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) reduces mortality from breast cancer....
