In a phase III study led by researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, the oral antiangiogenic therapy lenvatinib has shown dramatic improvement in progression-free survival in patients with advanced radioiodine-refractory thyroid cancer. Their findings are published by...
In a Japanese phase III trial (Intergroup Trial JCOG0803/WJOG4307L) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Abe et al found no overall survival benefit of weekly cisplatin/docetaxel vs standard docetaxel in the first-line treatment of elderly patients with advanced non–small cell lung...
In a study of women with stage III/IV epithelial ovarian cancer, the addition of sorafenib (Nexavar) to traditional paclitaxel/carboplatin therapy resulted in no greater efficacy and increased toxicity, according to a report by Hainsworth et al in Cancer Medicine. The investigators suggested that...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Wolff et al found a low but higher-than-expected incidence of marrow neoplasms in patients receiving adjuvant radiation therapy or chemotherapy for breast cancer. The study used the National Comprehensive Cancer Network Breast Cancer...
In a preplanned interim analysis of the phase III GADOLIN trial, obinutuzumab (Gazyva) plus bendamustine (Trenada) followed by obinutuzumab alone was found to significantly improve progression-free survival compared to bendamustine alone in patients with indolent, refractory non-Hodgkin lymphoma....
In an analysis of overall survival in the phase III LUX-Lung 3 and LUX-Lung 6 trials reported in The Lancet Oncology, Yang et al found no significant difference between afatinib (Gilotrif) vs pemetrexed (Alimta)-cisplatin (LUX-Lung 3) or vs gemcitabine-cisplatin (LUX-Lung 6) in previously...
Docetaxel was being widely used by patients with metastatic prostate cancer before phase III evidence that it was more effective than standard-of-care for patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer, according to an analysis of Medicare claims from before and after the trial results and...
The phase III Gynecologic Oncology Group (GOG) 240 trial showed that the addition of bevacizumab (Avastin) to chemotherapy prolonged survival in patients with advanced cervical cancer. An analysis reported in The Lancet Oncology by Penson et al showed no reduction in quality of life among patients...
In a phase III trial to assess whether whole-breast irradiation could be omitted in women aged ≥ 65 years with early-stage breast cancer undergoing breast-conserving surgery and receiving adjuvant endocrine treatment, Kunkler et al found increased risk of local recurrence in women not receiving...
In the phase II CONCERT-2 trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Giralt et al found that treatment with the EGFR inhibitor panitumumab (Vectibix) plus concurrent radiotherapy was associated with poorer local-regional control vs cisplatin chemoradiation in previously untreated patients with...
In the phase II CONCERT-1 trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Mesía et al found that adding the EGFR inhibitor panitumumab (Vectibix) to standard cisplatin chemoradiation provided no benefit in previously untreated patients with unresected stage III to IVB head and neck squamous cell...
In a systematic review and meta-analysis reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Teulings et al found that development of vitiligo in patients receiving immunotherapy for stage III or IV melanoma was a significant predictor of improved progression-free and overall survival. The study...
In a study reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Ng et al found consistent trends suggesting benefit of aspirin use and COX-2 inhibitor use on recurrence-free, disease-free, and overall survival in patients with stage III colon cancer. Study Details This prospective...
In a retrospective analysis reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Costa et al found that crizotinib (Xalkori) treatment resulted in high systemic and intracranial disease control rates in patients with ALK-rearranged non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who had asymptomatic brain...
Janssen Research & Development, LLC, announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Priority Review for the New Drug Application (NDA) for trabectedin to treat patients with advanced soft-tissue sarcoma, including liposarcoma and leiomyosarcoma subtypes, who have...
In a phase III trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Vannucchi et al found that the JAK1/JAK2 inhibitor ruxolitinib (Jakafi) produced significantly better hematocrit control and reduction in spleen volume than standard treatment in patients with polycythemia vera with inadequate...
In a European open-label noninferiority trial (German Hodgkin Study Group [GHSG)] HD13) reported in The Lancet, Behringer et al found poorer outcomes with omission of dacarbazine or bleomycin from treatment with ABVD (doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine) in patients with...
In a Danish retrospective population-based study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Bertelsen et al found that complete mesocolic excision resulted in better disease-free survival compared with conventional colon resection in patients with stage I to III colon cancer. Study Details The study...
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Bradley and colleagues, the phase III Radiation Therapy Oncology Group 0617 trial showed no survival benefit of high- vs standard-dose radiotherapy or for addition of cetuximab (Erbitux) to concurrent paclitaxel-carboplatin chemoradiation in patients with...
Amgen and its subsidiary Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc, announced the submission of a supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for carfilzomib (Kyprolis) to seek approval for the treatment of patients with relapsed multiple myeloma who have received at...
A population-based study of women who had undergone surgery for breast cancer has found that many lacked understanding of the basic characteristics of their disease, including stage, grade, and tumor characteristics. Minority patients were less likely than white patients to have the correct...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Mittendorf et al found no differences in recurrence-free, disease-specific, or overall survival between patients with American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) stage IA breast cancer and those with stage IB disease. Estrogen receptor status...
In a Chinese study reported in JAMA, Huang et al found that treatment with entecavir (guanosine analog reverse transcriptase inhibitor) reduced hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related hepatitis and HBV reactivation compared with lamivudine (cytidine analog reverse transcriptase inhibitor) in HBV-positive...
In the phase III SEARCH trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Zhu et al found no overall survival benefit of adding erlotinib (Tarceva) to sorafenib (Nexavar) in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma. Study Details In this double-blind trial conducted in 26 countries in...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Fast Track designation to Celator Pharmaceuticals’ investigational agent CPX-351, a liposomal formulation of cytarabine-daunorubicin, for the treatment of elderly patients with secondary acute myeloid leukemia. The FDA established the...
The immunooncology company Vicus Therapeutics announced the presentation of two separate studies demonstrating a safety and survival benefit for VT-122, the company's lead compound, when combined with standard-of-care therapy in patients with advanced liver and pancreatic cancers. Results from both ...
Additional analyses from the global phase III NAPOLI-1 study of MM-398 (aka PEP02), a nanoliposomal encapsulation of irinotecan, in metastatic pancreatic cancer were presented by Chen et al in an oral session at the 2015 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium (Abstract 234). The primary analysis ...
New data from the phase II PEAK and phase III PRIME studies support the first-line use of panitumumab (Vectibix) in combination with FOLFOX (fluorouracil, leucovorin, oxaliplatin) in patients with wild-type RAS metastatic colorectal cancer. The study results were presented during a poster session...
A simple change to a two-drug therapy for metastatic pancreatic cancer provides similar cancer control while significantly improving quality of life and reducing the cost of care, according to data reported by researchers at the The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur...
Patients with early-stage breast cancer still undergo imaging for distant metastases despite evidence-based local, national, and international guidelines, and a recommendation from ASCO to avoid such imaging, according to a retrospective review of staging imaging for distant metastases in patients...
In an integrated analysis of two phase II trials reported in The Lancet Oncology, Garcia et al found that treatment with anamorelin, an oral ghrelin-receptor agonist with appetite-enhancing and anabolic activity, produced a gain in lean body mass in patients with cancer anorexia-cachexia syndrome. ...
A large population-based analysis of women 65 and older in the United States diagnosed with endometrial cancer has found that women with metabolic syndrome—characterized by low HDL cholesterol, hypertension, high triglycerides, and elevated waist circumference—have an increased risk of...
Although scientists know that all cancers contain a mixture of both rapidly and slowly proliferating cancer cells, which complicates the detection and treatment of patients with cancer and may cause disease relapse long after apparently curative treatment, the circumstances and molecular details of ...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Frazier et al used data from U.S. and UK clinical trials to identify a high-risk group of patients with pediatric extracranial germ cell tumors. Study Details The study involved data from seven germ cell tumor trials conducted by the...
Updated results from TRIBE, an Italian phase III study of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer, indicate that FOLFOXIRI (leucovorin, fluorouracil [5-FU], oxaliplatin, irinotecan) chemotherapy in combination with bevacizumab (Avastin) is superior to the standard FOLFIRI (leucovorin, 5-FU,...
A recent study on the use of minimally invasive surgery for colorectal cancer at National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) centers has found that although laparoscopic colectomy results in equivalent oncologic outcomes compared to open colectomy, its adoption nationally has been slow. An...
New findings from an international phase III study of 1,072 patients with advanced colorectal cancer whose disease progressed on or after initial therapy indicate that a combination of the targeted drug ramucirumab (Cyramza) and FOLFIRI (irinotecan, fluorouracil, leucovorin) chemotherapy provides a ...
A retrospective review of clinical data on 145 patients with stage I to III rectal cancer indicates that patients who achieved complete response after treatment with chemoradiation and systemic chemotherapy had similar 4-year survival rates regardless of whether they had immediate surgery or...
A prospective analysis of data from a phase III study of patients newly diagnosed with metastatic colorectal cancer indicates that patients with higher vitamin D levels have better outcomes after treatment with chemotherapy and targeted therapy. The median overall survival for patients with the...
In a phase III trial reported in The Lancet, Slotman et al found that while thoracic radiotherapy vs no thoracic radiotherapy was not associated with a significant improvement in 1-year overall survival, the primary endpoint of the study, it significantly improved 2-year overall survival and...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Wuthrick et al found that patients with stage III or IV head and neck cancer in the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) 0129 trial who were treated at historically high-accruing centers in RTOG clinical trials had significantly better...
In a Canadian study reported in Journal of Clinical Oncology, Cossetti and colleagues found that temporal patterns of breast cancer relapse according to estrogen receptor and HER2 status in the period 2004–2008 were similar to those in 1986–1992 but at markedly reduced relapse rates....
In a study reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Gerber et al found that patients with prior cancer were excluded from most clinical trials in lung cancer, including nearly all with overall survival as a primary endpoint. The study involved review of data from 51 lung cancer...
In the HOPE study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Irwin et al found that a program of aerobic exercise and strength training produced significant improvement in aromatase inhibitor–associated arthralgia in breast cancer survivors. Study Details In the study, 121 women with...
In a phase III trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Cainap et al found that treatment with linifanib, an ATP-competitive inhibitor of VEGF and PDGF receptor tyrosine kinases, did not improve overall survival compared with sorafenib (Nexavar) treatment in patients with advanced...
In a Canadian study reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Kremer et al found that postdiagnosis use only or pre-and postdiagnosis use of bisphosphonates for treatment or prevention of osteoporosis in postmenopausal women with breast cancer was associated with a significant...
TH-302 is a hypoxia-activated prodrug that releases the DNA alkylator bromo-isophosphoramide mustard in hypoxic settings. In a phase II trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Borad et al found that the addition of TH-302 to gemcitabine improved progression-free survival in patients...
In an analysis reported in The Lancet Oncology, Schmoll et al found no difference in survival outcomes with adjuvant capecitabine vs fluorouracil (5-FU)/leucovorin with or without oxaliplatin in patients with stage III colon cancer and no adverse impact of adjuvant oxaliplatin on post-relapse...
Next-generation sequencing in malignant pleural mesothelioma tumors shows a complex mutational setting with a high number of genetic alterations in genes involved in DNA repair, cell survival, and cell proliferation pathways, according to a study by Lo Iacono et al in the Journal of Thoracic...
In a phase III PROFILE 1014 trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Solomon et al found that the ALK inhibitor crizotinib (Xalkori) improved progression-free survival vs standard chemotherapy in first-line treatment of advanced ALK-positive non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)....