On February 12, 2014, ibrutinib (Imbruvica) was granted accelerated approval for the treatment of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) who have received at least one prior therapy.1,2 Ibrutinib previously received accelerated approval for the treatment of patients with mantle cell...
The optimal time interval between surgery and initiation of adjuvant chemotherapy for early-stage breast cancer is not well established. Although most physicians aim to initiate adjuvant chemotherapy within a few weeks of surgery, clinical factors may cause delay. The influence of delay on relapse...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, de Melo Gagliato et al from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, assessed the association between time to adjuvant chemotherapy and survival in breast cancer patients.1 They found that delay of therapy is associated...
In a study reported in Clinical Cancer Research, Ye and colleagues showed that CD137 can be used to identify tumor-reactive T cells and to enrich for tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes and tumor-associated lymphocytes for use in adoptive immunotherapy. In the study, tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes from...
Encourage your patients to use social media to stay-up-to-date with the new resources available on Cancer.Net. It is easier than ever for patients to get the latest cancer information on their computer or mobile device by subscribing to the Cancer.Net Blog at www.cancer.net/blog, or on...
ASCO convened a leadership summit in late January with pharmaceutical representatives, insurance payers, patient advocates, and physicians to initiate a dialogue on the challenge of defining value in cancer care. This meeting was held amid growing concerns about the sustainability of continued...
Neoplasms originating from skin keratinocytes are increasing in frequency in the United States and include a spectrum of diseases culminating in the development of invasive cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma. Although most cases of cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma can be treated conservatively with ...
The availability of the tyrosine kinase inhibitor imatinib (Gleevec) has dramatically increased survival in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). Nonadherence to therapy with imatinib and other tyrosine kinase inhibitors is associated with disease progression and treatment resistance. In a study reported ...
In a recent study, reviewed in this issue of The ASCO Post, Li et al present data from two long- term prospective studies—the Physicians Health Study (PHS, from 1982 to 1998), and the Health Professionals’ Follow-up Study (HPFS, from 1986 to 2010)—both of which suggest a strong association between...
History of severe acne, which is a surrogate for high androgen activity, has been associated with increased risk of prostate cancer, and recent data suggest that severe teenage acne is a risk factor for melanoma. Such findings suggest a role of androgens in etiology for both prostate cancer and...
February 12, 2014: Ibrutinib (Imbruvica) receives accelerated approval for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia who have received at least one prior therapy. January 10, 2014: Trametinib (Mekinist) and dabrafenib (Tafinlar) receive approval for use in combination in the treatment of...
Anas Younes, MD, Chief of the Lymphoma Service at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, told The ASCO Post, “Of the 800 or so ALK-positive anaplastic large-cell lymphoma patients in the United States, 70% to 80% are cured by CHOP [cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine,...
Crizotinib (Xalkori) produced promising results in patients with ALK-positive lymphoma in two small studies presented at the 2013 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting. Crizotinib exerted potent antitumor activity in advanced ALK-positive lymphoma and achieved durable responses in...
The monoclonal antibody gemtuzumab ozogamicin (Mylotarg) improved event-free survival and reduced the risk of relapse in children with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in a study from the Children’s Oncology Group, presented at the 55th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting and Exposition ...
The addition of bevacizumab (Avastin) to adjuvant chemotherapy did not improve invasive disease-free survival or overall survival in patients with high-risk HER2-positive breast cancer in the large randomized phase III BETH trial. Although not specifically designed to answer this question, BETH...
In an interim analysis of a phase II trial, 97% of patients with progressive metastatic neuroendocrine tumors achieved clinical benefit with the combination of capecitabine and temozolomide (CAPTEM). The results were reported at the 2014 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium by Robert L. Fine, MD,...
The fight against colorectal cancer leaves many survivors with battle wounds, according to studies that show a high incidence of assorted morbidities that can affect quality of life. Clinicians, in fact, may be unaware of the struggles with bowel function that occur during survivorship, researchers ...
Targeted biologic agents have improved long-term outcomes in metastatic colorectal cancer, but debate continues as to their relative efficacy and proper sequencing. At the 2014 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium, a number of studies attempted to answer these questions by interrogating the clinical...
Neal J. Meropol, MD, Chief of Hematology and Oncology at University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center and Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, discussed the study by Kothari et al presented at the Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium. He noted that complex interactions exist between PIK3CA and...
Contrary to emerging data from other studies, the regular use of aspirin was not associated with improved survival in patients with PIK3CA-mutant metastatic colorectal cancer in a study reported at the 2014 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium in San Francisco.1 Large Dataset “We did not validate...
Screening for colorectal cancer based on age alone may contribute to both underuse and overuse of colonoscopy, sigmoidoscopy, and fecal occult blood testing among older people, according to a study by investigators at the University of Michigan and the Veterans Affairs Center for Clinical...
The 10th Genitourinary Cancers Symposium, sponsored by ASCO, the American Society for Radiation Oncology, and the Society of Urologic Oncology, was held January 29–February 1, 2014, in San Francisco. The more than 630 abstracts presented addressed essential research in genitourinary malignancies,...
Over the past 5 decades, National Cancer Institute (NCI) Clinical Trials Cooperative Groups have played an enormous role in the fight against cancer, tackling a broad social agenda, including cancer prevention, quality-of-life issues for patients with cancer, and comparison of benefits among...
The 2014 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium, held in San Francisco from January 29 to February 1, brought together more than 3,100 participants from around the world involved in the care of patients with genitourinary malignancies. The abstract presentations and plenary discussions offered the latest...
Oncology is a demanding field that requires special qualities to care for very sick patients, many of whom will die prematurely of their disease. Research indicates that years of facing life-and-death decisions in the clinic can be associated with oncology burnout syndrome, which effects physician...
Analysis of data from 20,560 women undergoing mastectomy for breast cancer found that breast reconstruction use “increased from 46% in 1998 to 63% in 2007 (P< .001), with increased use of implants and decreased use of autologous techniques over time (P < .001),” according to a report...
The members of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) have elected five members to serve on the AACR Board of Directors for the 2014–2017 term and four members to serve on the Nominating Committee for the 2014–2016 term. They assumed their roles at the AACR Annual Meeting 2014, held in ...
Scientific name: Ganoderma lucidum Common names: Ling zhi, lin zi, mushroom of immortality Overview A fungus, reishi mushroom is an important component of the traditional medical systems of China, Japan, Korea, and other Asian countries. It is used to increase energy, stimulate the immune system,...
The mechanism of action of lenalidomide (Revlimid) in multiple myeloma and other B-cell neoplasms remains largely uncharacterized. In a study reported in Science, Krönke and colleagues identified one of the effects of lenalidomide in this setting. Use of quantitative proteomics showed that...
INSIDE THE BLACK BOX is an occasional column providing insight into the FDA and its policies and procedures. In this installment, Robert Dean, MBA, Director, and Michael Sauers, Deputy Director, of Division II in the FDA’s Office of Prescription Drug Promotion discuss the FDA’s Bad Ad program. The...
Specialist bias, in which specialists recommend the therapy that they are capable of delivering, is thought to influence the treatment of patients with localized prostate cancer and to contribute to overtreatment of men with limited life expectancy,” Ayal A. Aizer, MD, MPH, and colleagues, from the ...
For decades, dedicated members of the oncology community have fought to increase the nation’s focus on lung cancer prevention and treatment. Although smoking cessation initiatives have reduced cigarette consumption, lung cancer 5-year survival has remained stagnant at 15%, lagging far below most...
Pathologic complete response to neoadjuvant therapy has been proposed as a surrogate endpoint for long-term clinical benefit in breast cancer. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) established the international Collaborative Trials in Neoadjuvant Breast Cancer (CTNeoBC) working group to...
Accidental extravasation of chemotherapy is a rare but feared complication of cancer treatment. Risk factors for extravasation include medication-related factors (such as the vesicant properties of the compound, or the volume, concentration, and duration of the infusion), patient-related factors...
On February 24, the Institute of Medicine National Cancer Policy Forum convened a workshop, “Contemporary Issues in Human Subjects Protection in Cancer Research,” in Washington, DC. In his introduction to the workshop, Steven Piantadosi, MD, PhD, Director, Samuel Oschin Cancer Institute,...
ASCO has joined 26 of the nation’s leading public health and medical organizations in signing a joint letter calling on drug stores and other retailers to end the sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products. The open letter came just weeks after CVS Caremark announced it would stop selling...
ASCO has signed a joint letter to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius asking for clear and comprehensive guidance on the tobacco cessation benefit in the Affordable Care Act regulations. In the letter, the organizations applaud the Department of Health and Human ...
Have you given any thought to the legacy you would like to leave? For many of you, your professional legacy will include the patients you have cared for, the research you have conducted, the students you have mentored, and the lives you have touched in the world of cancer care. You also have your...
Learning about the particulars of each cancer patient’s pain and treating each case uniquely is the key to keeping pain manageable. That is the goal of the Duffey Pain and Palliative Care Program at The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center in Baltimore. The team consists of physicians, nurse...
The American College of Radiology (ACR) recently issued a statement applauding steps to reign in medical imaging and radiation oncology self-referral included in the President’s fiscal year 2015 budget. However, prior authorization for imaging services, also included in the FY2015 budget, is...
Use of e-cigarettes does not discourage, and may encourage, conventional cigarette use among U.S. adolescents.” This was the conclusion of a cross-sectional analysis of survey data from a representative sample of middle and high school students who completed the National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS) ...
According to data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program, rates for new cases of thyroid cancer in the United States have been rising on average 6.4% each year over the past 10 years, and death rates have been rising on average 0.9% each year over the same period. The...
The recent study by Nam et al in The Lancet Oncology—reviewed in this issue of The ASCO Post—provides a fresh perspective on complications other than incontinence or erectile dysfunction that commonly arise after primary treatment of localized prostate cancer.1 The authors conducted a...
Colorectal cancer is a common malignancy that will impact 1.4 million individuals globally each year.1 Approximately 70% to 75% of patients will present with locally advanced disease. For patients with stage III colon cancer, adjuvant chemotherapy is commonly offered, whereas chemotherapy for those ...
"Double-hit” lymphomas remain challenging tumors, and the best means of treatment remains somewhat elusive, according to studies presented at the 2013 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting in New Orleans, and experts who commented on these findings. “We still don’t have a standard of...
A patient with advanced bladder cancer experienced a complete response for 14 months to the drug combination everolimus (Afinitor) and pazopanib (Votrient) in a phase I trial, and genomic profiling of his tumor revealed two alterations that may have caused this exceptional response, according to a...
Cancer Immunotherapy What is the role of immunotherapy in the treatment of metastatic renal cell carcinoma? The harnessing of the immune system as an effective treatment for cancer was recently selected by the journal Science as the top scientific Breakthrough of the Year for 2013.1 With this...
First-Line Therapy Please describe current medical oncology approaches to first-line therapy for metastatic renal cell carcinoma. The current first-line therapy for most patients with good- to intermediate-risk metastatic renal cell carcinoma is a vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) receptor...
Although breast-conserving therapy has been a standard practice for more than 20 years, controversy still exists over what constitutes the appropriate margin of normal breast tissue around a tumor that minimizes local recurrence while maintaining a good cosmetic outcome. Surveys of surgeons1 and...
The Society of Surgical Oncology (SSO) and American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) formed a multidisciplinary expert panel in 2013 to examine the relationship between surgical margin width and ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence and develop guidelines on margins for breast-conserving...