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Showing 9001 - 9050SIDEBAR: Expect and Encourage Questions from Your Patients
Patients and physicians need to be active coparticipants in discussions about prostate cancer treatment: “patients, by asking questions and making sure that doctors know their preferences—for example, how important sexual function or control of urination is to them—and clinicians, by inviting...
Expert Point of View: Panitumumab Is Not Beneficial in KRAS Mutations: No Exceptions
Axel Grothey, MD, of the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, found the findings presented by Marc Peeters, MD, PhD,1 at the 2011 European Multidisciplinary Cancer Congress to be of great interest, from both clinical and research perspectives. “We have two discrepant analyses now for G13D. When we...
Panitumumab Is Not Beneficial in KRAS Mutations: No Exceptions
The need to restrict treatment with panitumumab (Vectibix) to metastatic colorectal cancer patients with wild-type (normal) KRAS tumors was upheld in a study presented at the 2011 European Multidisciplinary Cancer Congress (EMCC). The investigation found a consistent lack of benefit for the drug...
Crizotinib: New Drug for ALK-positive Advanced Non–Small Cell Lung Cancer
Indication Crizotinib (Xalkori) is an oral inhibitor of receptor tyrosine kinases including anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK), hepatocyte growth factor receptor (HGFR, c-Met), and recepteur d’origine nantais (RON). In August 2011, the FDA granted the drug accelerated approval for the treatment of...
New Technologies Are Driving Up Costs: Are They Worth the Price?
Expensive new cancer therapies and technologies are alluring for both physicians and their patients. Prostate cancer, because of the sheer volume of cases and the variability of treatment options, serves as a dynamic disease model in the ongoing debate over how to curb spending and maintain...
AACR Issues Landmark Report on Cancer Progress
At a recent press conference in Washington, DC, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) assembled luminaries from the cancer research and care communities to discuss the salient points of the association’s newly released progress report on the current and future state of cancer research ...
T-DM1: Antibody Drug Conjugate Outperforms Standard Anti‑HER2 Therapy in Metastatic HER2-positive Breast Cancer
The investigational antibody-drug conjugate T-DM1 improved progression-free survival over standard chemotherapy with docetaxel plus trastuzumab (Herceptin) when given as first-line treatment of HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer, according to an open-label phase II study reported at the 2011...
No Improvement in Survival with High-dose over Standard-dose Radiation for Stage III Non–Small Cell Lung Cancer
Surprisingly, less may be more when it comes to radiation therapy with concurrent chemotherapy for patients with stage III non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to an interim analysis of the randomized phase III Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) 0617 trial presented at the 53rd Annual ...
Everolimus Overcomes Resistance to Hormonal Therapy in Advanced Breast Cancer
Adding everolimus (Afinitor) to exemestane in postmenopausal women with advanced breast cancer resistant to aromatase inhibitors significantly improved outcomes, according to the phase III BOLERO-2 trial reported at the 2011 European Multidisciplinary Cancer Congress, held September 23–27 in...
FDA Commissioner Announces Decision on Bevacizumab
On November 18, FDA Commissioner Margaret A. Hamburg, MD, said she is revoking the agency’s approval of the breast cancer indication for bevacizumab (Avastin) after concluding that the drug has not been shown to be safe and effective for that use. Bevacizumab will still remain on the market as an...
Low-level Expression of ESR1 Tied to Tamoxifen Resistance
Data from a retrospective analysis of two pivotal breast cancer studies suggest that the low-level expression of the estrogen receptor (ER) gene ESR1 “is a determinant of tamoxifen resistance in ER-positive breast cancer,” reported researchers in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. “We performed...
Oxaliplatin Improved Overall Survival in Patients under 70
The addition of oxaliplatin to fluorouracil (5-FU) plus leucovorin improved overall survival in patients younger than 70 years old participating in the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP) C-07 trial. Patients eligible for the trial had either stage II or III colon cancer and ...
Adjuvant Trastuzumab in Nonanthracycline Regimen Studied
One of four large, randomized trials to evaluate adjuvant trastuzumab (Herceptin) in early-stage HER2-positive breast cancer—and the only study to include a nonanthracycline chemotherapy regimen—found that regimen had similar efficacy to anthracycline-containing regimens, but with lower rates of...
A Conversation with Craig B. Thompson, MD
In November 2010, Craig B. Thompson, MD, was named President and CEO of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) in New York, succeeding Harold Varmus, MD, who is now Director of the NCI. A cancer clinician and researcher, before coming to Memorial Sloan-Kettering Dr. Thompson was Director of...
Researchers Explore Reasons for Higher Risk of Triple-negative Breast Cancer in Underserved African-American Women
Triple-negative breast cancer, one of the most aggressive forms of the disease, has a bad reputation, and among socioeconomically disadvantaged black women, that reputation is especially well deserved. In fact, according to Lisa A. Newman, MD, Director of the Breast Care Center, University of...
‘Breakthrough’ Approach to Advanced Basal Cell Carcinoma via Inhibition of Hedgehog Pathway
The first-in-class Hedgehog pathway inhibitor vismodegib appears to be a successful treatment for advanced basal cell carcinoma, a disfiguring and debilitating disease, according to a pivotal multicenter nonrandomized trial presented as a Best Abstract at a Presidential Session during the recent...
Improved Survival with Concurrent Chemotherapy plus Radiotherapy for Patients with Stage III Non–Small Cell Lung Cancer
Five-year survival was statistically significantly higher for patients with stage III non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who received concurrent rather than sequential cisplatin-based chemotherapy combined with thoracic radiotherapy, according to the phase III Radiation Therapy Oncology Group...
A Conversation with Judith Redwing Keyssar, RN
The number of patients seeking hospice and palliative care has grown significantly since 1974, when the NCI funded the first hospice facility in Branford, Connecticut. Nevertheless, according to the National Center for Health Statistics, 85% of Americans still die in hospitals or nursing homes....
Geriatric Oncology, a Much Needed Discipline for Future Cancer Care
The U.S. health-care system, with its rapidly aging population, faces a multitude of difficult clinical and financial challenges in caring for its burgeoning population of older patients with cancer. Moreover, age-related social and medical issues among older patients need to be addressed by a...
Chemotherapy Generally Safe in Pregnancy
The diagnosis of cancer in a pregnant woman causes concerns for both the mother and her unborn child. But studies suggest that most chemotherapy regimens can be delivered with reasonable safety after the first trimester. Cancer is diagnosed in about 1 per 1,000 to 2,000 pregnancies, mostly breast...
FDA Approves Molecular Test to Detect HPV
Gen-Probe recently announced that the FDA has approved its APTIMA HPV assay, an amplified nucleic acid test that detects high-risk strains of human papillomavirus (HPV) that are associated with cervical cancer and precancerous lesions. The test has been approved to run on Gen-Probe’s fully...
Tamoxifen vs Surgery Study Shows Older Patients with Breast Cancer Can Achieve a ‘Personal Cure’
A truly final review—when all the patients in the trial have died and the cause of death is known for each—of a randomized trial comparing tamoxifen to surgery in patients over the age of 70 with operable breast cancer found no differences in the survival rates or deaths attributable to breast...
Predictive Biomarker for Bevacizumab: Are We Getting Closer?
The need to identify a biomarker to guide treatment with bevacizumab (Avastin) is abundantly clear, and studies presented at the 2011 European Multidisciplinary Cancer Congress suggest this goal may be in sight. “Finding predictive biomarkers is a challenge, but there are candidates,” said Eric Van ...
Expert Point of View: Fewer Rectal Side Effects with IMRT than with 3D-CRT for Prostate Cancer
Although the early toxicity findings of RTOG 0126 seem to favor IMRT over 3D-CRT, formal discussant of this trial, Juanita Crook, MD, FRCPC, of the British Columbia Cancer Agency, Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada, put the study’s findings in perspective. “Whether or not this is a significant...
NCCN Meeting Addresses Issues in Hematologic Malignancies
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) 6th Annual Congress on Hematologic Malignancies, held recently in New York, included reviews of the management of hematologic diseases as well as discussions of outstanding issues in the field. The following is a synopsis of some of the important...
Novel HDAC Inhibitor May Restore Estrogen Sensitivity in Breast Cancer
The addition of the investigational histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor entinostat significantly delayed breast cancer progression and showed a trend for a survival benefit in the phase II ENCORE 301 study. The study was conducted in women with advanced estrogen receptor–positive breast cancer...
Chemotherapy Drug Shortages: A Preventable Human Disaster
The issue of chemotherapy drug shortages continues with no end in sight. Many heartfelt human interest stories have been told on television, in newspapers, and even to Congress, but the bottom line is that little, if any, action has been taken. Uniquely American Problem News of the generic...
Neural Stem Cell Transplantation May Improve Cognitive Function in Brain Cancer
The potentially devastating long-term consequences on cognitive function in patients with brain cancer following cranial irradiation led Charles L. Limoli, PhD, Professor of Radiation Oncology, University of California, Irvine, to study neural stem cell transplantation and how the procedure may...
Evidence of Improved Survival for Lobectomy vs Limited Resection in Early-stage Lung Cancer
“Evidence is statistically inconclusive but suggestive that lobectomy, compared with limited resection, is associated with increased long-term survival for early-stage lung cancer,” according to a study reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. The study analyzed data from 679...
Significant Neurologic and Executive Function Impairment among Breast Cancer Survivors
Women who survive breast cancer show significant neurologic impairment, with outcomes appearing to be significantly poorer for those treated with chemotherapy, according to a report in the Archives of Neurology. Investigators at Stanford University School of Medicine in California conducted an...
The Art and Grace of Just Letting Go
Like a breeze rippling across a lake, the end of your career is approaching and you cannot escape its path. You can see it coming, and before you know it the inexorable movement will rush past you. You have two choices: Build a sail so that you can capture the energy and move with it, or remain...
Researchers Find Remarkable Heterogeneity in Sarcomas
Does one size fit all for the treatment of sarcoma? The answer is a resounding “no,” according to Jean-Yves Blay, MD, Department of Medicine, Université Claude Bernard, and Unité INSERM (National Institute of Health and Medical Research Unit), Lyon, France. Researchers have been able to classify...
SIDEBAR: Patient Advocates Form Huge Presence at EMCC 2011
Patient advocate and two-time breast cancer survivor Kathi Apostolidis from Greece spoke at a session on patients’ and physicians’ use of social media. “Social media is not a fad. It has real value,” she said. She uses social media to connect with oncologists and policymakers across the globe, and...
FDA Approves First Drug to Treat Myelofibrosis
The FDA has approved ruxolitinib (Jakafi), the first drug approved to specifically treat patients with the bone marrow disease myelofibrosis. Myelofibrosis is a disease in which the bone marrow is replaced by scar tissue resulting in blood cells being made in organs such as the liver and the...
Clinical Cancer Advances 2011: ASCO’s Report on Progress Against Cancer
This year marks the 40th anniversary ofthe National Cancer Act and places a more prominent focus on how much progress against cancer has been made over the past 4 decades. In the past year alone, significant advances have been made in cancer prevention and screening, hard-to-treat cancers, and...
Lessons from a Northern Neighbor: A Conversation with Joseph M. Connors, MD
Policy analysts searching for a better understanding of health-care models often compare the cancer delivery systems of Canada and the United States. The ASCO Post recently spoke with Joseph M. Connors, MD, Clinical Professor and Director of the BC Cancer Agency’s Centre for Lymphoid Cancer,...
Gathering Data Point to Potential Advantages of Vismodegib in Basal Cell Carcinoma and Other Advanced Cancers
Vismodegib is a small-molecule, orally active hedgehog pathway inhibitor that has shown considerable promise in treating basal cell carcinoma and is currently being evaluated alone and in combination in early-phase trials in medulloblastoma and a long list of other cancers.1 Owing to its...
Expert Point of View: Benefit of Panitumumab Seen Primarily in Patients with Recurrent or Metastatic Head and Neck Cancer and HPV-negative Tumors
Discussing the presentation, Jean Bourhis, MD, PhD, of the Institut Gustave Roussy in Villejuif, France, said that while HPV has become a major prognostic factor in locally advanced head and neck cancer, its prognostic value in recurrent and metastatic disease is less clear. “The role of HPV in...
Important Briefs from the 2011 European Multidisciplinary Cancer Congress
Nearly 16,000 people from 16 countries attended this year’s European Multidisciplinary Cancer Congress, held recently in Stockholm. The ASCO Post has featured several key reports from the meeting and will offer further coverage in upcoming issues. Additional noteworthy studies presented at the...
ASH Honors Janet Rowley, MD, and Brian Druker, MD
The American Society of Hematology (ASH) recognized Janet Rowley, MD, of the University of Chicago Medical Center, and Brian Druker, MD, of Oregon Health & Science University with the 2011 Ernest Beutler Lecture and Prize for their significant advances in the diagnosis and treatment of chronic...
How Should We Treat Nodular Lymphocyte-predominant Hodgkin Lymphoma?
At the 2011 Pan-Pacific Lymphoma Conference in Kauai, Hawaii, Andreas Engert, MD, Chairman of the German Hodgkin Lymphoma Study Group (GHSG) and Professor of Medicine at the University Hospital of Cologne, Germany, discussed the treatment of nodular lymphocyte-predominant Hodgkin lymphoma (NLPHL),...
2011 in Review: Oncology Drugs/Indications Newly Approved by FDA
At press time, the FDA had granted approval for the following new agents and indications for cancer treatment in 2011. Asparaginase Erwinia chrysanthemi (Erwinaze) as a component of a multiagent chemotherapeutic regimen for the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia in patients who have...
SIDEBAR: Adding Trastuzumab to Adjuvant Chemotherapy
Adding trastuzumab (Herceptin) to adjuvant chemotherapy significantly improved disease-free survival of patients with resected stage I to III invasive HER2-positive breast cancer in the phase III North Central Cancer Treatment Group (NCCTG) N9831 trial. There was also a trend toward a further...
Prostate Cancer Screening Reconsidered
Prostate cancer is the most prevalent nonskin cancer in men. An estimated 16% of men are diagnosed with prostate cancer, yet only 3% of men die from it.1 Unlike other cancers, prostate cancer is associated with a prolonged lead-time, meaning it can take anywhere from 5 to 12 years to become...
A Conversation with Ezekiel J. Emanuel, MD, PhD
Last September, Ezekiel J. Emanuel, MD, PhD, a leading scholar in bioethics and health-care policy, was named the Diane v.S. Levy and Robert M. Levy University Professor and Vice Provost for Global Initiatives at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. His appointment will be shared between ...
Adjuvant Chemotherapy with S-1 Improves Survival in Stage II/III Gastric Cancer
Postoperative adjuvant therapy with the oral fluoropyrimidine derivative S-1 improved overall survival and relapse-free survival in patients with stage II or III gastric cancer who had D2 gastrectomy. Five-year survival rates in the phase III study were 71.7% for patients in the S-1 group vs 61.1%...
ASCO President Michael P. Link, MD, Joins Colleagues in Honoring a Friend and Touching the Future through Philanthropy
As an active member of ASCO, and as a leader of the Society in recent years, ASCO President Michael P. Link, MD, has a long history of giving to the Society-affiliated Conquer Cancer Foundation. “Our family has always felt that it’s a good thing to support,” he said. “The Foundation supports...
Young Investigator Award Renamed to Honor ASCO Founder Jane C. Wright, MD
At the 2011 Annual Meeting, the Conquer Cancer Foundation renamed one of its annual awards to honor the legacy of one of ASCO’s groundbreaking founders. The Jane C. Wright, MD, Young Investigator Award (YIA) recognizes Dr. Wright’s leadership at ASCO, her contributions to the field of oncology, and ...
Weekly Online Polls Help Define Key Concerns of ASCO Members
ASCO members now have the opportunity to help the Society gather information and opinions about important cancer policy issues. ASCO in Action, ASCO’s revamped policy news website (http://ascoaction.asco.org), features weekly polls designed to gauge the views of ASCO members on a variety of topics ...
Conquer Cancer Foundation Programs for Medical Students and Residents Support Diversity in Oncology Workforce
The Conquer Cancer Foundation funds two programs, the Medical Student Rotation (MSR) and the Resident Travel Award (RTA), to facilitate the recruitment and retention of individuals from populations underrepresented in medicine to cancer careers, with a special focus on the development of clinical...
