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Showing 9601 - 9650Radiation, Still Misunderstood after All These Years
Over the past few decades, radiation therapies have rapidly advanced, due, in large part, to an increasing technologic armamentarium. Among modern science’s most impressive machines, for example, 220-ton particle accelerators can generate near-light-speed beams of protons, with sniper-like...
Majority of Ovarian Cancer Patients Do Not Receive Recommended Treatment, Study Shows
Women are 30% less likely to die of ovarian cancer if they have guideline-recommended treatment, yet nearly two-thirds of those with the disease do not receive it, often because they are cared for at hospitals that treat a small number of ovarian cancer patients. These are the findings of a study...
Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy Gives Ovarian Cancer Patients Better Chance of Survival
Patients with advanced ovarian cancer who undergo intensive treatment with chemotherapy that bathes the abdomen are significantly more likely to live longer than those who receive standard intravenous (IV) chemotherapy, according to a study that analyzed long-term follow-up from two landmark...
Oncology Meetings
April IV Latin American Symposium of Gastroenterology OncologyApril 17-20 • Vina del Mar, ChileFor more information: www.slago.com 3rd ITLT Essen 2013 - Interdisciplinary Treatment of Liver TumorsApril 18-20 • Essen, GermanyFor more information: www.itlt.org The Arizona Clinical Oncology Society...
Effects of Menarche and Menopause on Breast Cancer Risk: Meta-analysis Findings
Menarche and menopause mark the onset and offset of ovarian and endocrine activity associated with reproduction, and early menarche and late menopause are known to increase risk of breast cancer. In a recent Lancet Oncology article, the Collaborative Group on Hormonal Factors in Breast Cancer...
New ACCC Officers and Trustees
Results of the election of new officers and trustees (2013–2014) for the Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC) were announced recently at the ACCC Annual National Meeting. First Nonphysician ACCC President Elected Virginia Vaitones, MSW, became ACCC President at the 39th Annual National...
SIDEBAR: Further Reflections on a Successful Trial
The authors are to be congratulated for successfully conducting a randomized study of FLAG (fludarabine, cytarabine, and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor [Neupogen]) vs FLAG plus liposomal daunorubicin (DaunoXome) in relapsed pediatric acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The difficulty in conducting ...
Addition of Liposomal Daunorubicin Improves Early Outcome in Patients with Pediatric Relapsed AML
Optimal reinduction therapy for patients with relapsed pediatric acute myeloid leukemia (AML) remains undefined. Liposomal daunorubicin (DaunoXome), which offers the potential for reduced cardiotoxicity compared with traditional daunorubicin, is effective in this setting. Gertjan J.L. Kaspers, MD,...
Qigong Practice Associated with Quality-of-life Benefits in Women Undergoing Radiation Therapy for Breast Cancer
Qigong (“qi” or “chi” = energy flow, “gong” = skill or achievement) is an integrated mind-body exercise and meditative practice that involves rhythmic breathing coordinated with repetition of fluid movements and calm focus on the body. A study reported in Cancer by Zhen Chen, MD, and colleagues...
Pilot Study Seeks to Offer Social Support to Patients with Mesothelioma
Researchers at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) reported that group therapy sessions may help patients cope with mesothelioma. Their two-part pilot study, which began recruitment in May 2011, is examining the emotional burden of the cancer and offers discussion groups as a source of...
Tobacco Cessation Treatment Needed in Routine Cancer Care
Researchers at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center reported that a new behavioral tapering intervention combined with cessation counseling and pharmacotherapy did not affect short- and long-term abstinence rates compared to cessation counseling and pharmacotherapy alone among smokers newly...
SIDEBAR: APOS Best Program Award
This poster by Ms. Zadeh and colleagues was one of two tied for the Best Program award, presented by the APOS Scientific Program Committee at the Annual Meeting. The two award-winning posters were: Helping Providers to Help Adolescents and Young Adults be Involved in End-of-life Care: The...
Highlights of ACCC Annual Meeting Include Discussion of Trends Shaping the Future of Health Care
The 39th Annual National Meeting of the Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC) was held in Washington, DC, in March. With a focus on business, economics, and policy, the program included the inauguration of a new ACCC President (see page 102), a keynote speech on the future of health care,...
Implementing a National Cancer Clinical Trials System for the 21st Century
In March 2011, the National Cancer Policy Forum of the Institute of Medicine (IOM), in conjunction with ASCO, held a workshop to discuss a collaborative approach to making the National Cancer Institute (NCI)-funded clinical trials system more viable and productive. That workshop included...
Dual Awards Pay Tribute to Gender Equity Trailblazers
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston recently recognized two leading advocates for women in medicine and research. Karen Antman, MD, Provost of the Boston University Medical Campus and Dean of its School of Medicine since 2005, was the recipient of the 2013 Margaret L....
Indiana University Researchers Earn $3.2 Million Grant to Develop, Improve Therapies for Pancreatic Cancer
Two Indiana University researchers have been awarded a multiyear, $3.2 million grant to develop and improve therapies for pancreatic cancer, the fourth leading cause of cancer death in the United States. Mark R. Kelley, PhD, Betty and Earl Herr Professor of Pediatric Oncology Research, and Melissa...
C. Everett Koop, MD, Surgeon General Under Ronald Reagan, Dies at 96
Appointed by the President and called “America’s Doctor,” the Surgeon General’s chief task is to protect and advance the health of the nation. Most of our Surgeon Generals have tiptoed around hot-button public health issues that might bruise political sensibilities and their own careers. C....
ASCO’s State Oncology Societies Booth Provides a Place for Relationship Building and Sharing Best Practices
Want to learn how to best lobby your local state legislators on the issues that affect your practice in your state? Or finally meet the executive director of your state’s oncology society? Look for the State Oncology Societies Booth at ASCO’s Annual Meeting this year. The booth will be located in...
Gene Transfer Therapy Is Producing Prolonged Remissions in Patients with Advanced Leukemia
In August 2011, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania published their breakthrough findings of a pilot study showing sustained remissions of up to 1 year in a small number of patients with advanced chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) who had been treated with genetically engineered...
Similar Outcomes for 18 vs 36 Months of Androgen Blockade in High-risk Prostate Cancer Treated with Radiation
Eighteen months of hormone therapy appears to be as safe and effective as 36 months when combined with radiation for patients with high-risk prostate cancer.1 Patients who received the shorter course of hormone therapy plus radiation had survival rates similar to those who received 36 months of...
CT Colonography Reconsidered
The parallel SIGGAR trials recently published in Lancet add to the growing body of literature regarding the utility of computed tomographic (CT) colonography in the detection of colorectal polyps and cancers. These papers reinforce the results seen in other large multicenter trials1-3 and echo the...
SIGGAR Trials Compare CT Colonography vs Barium Enema and Colonoscopy in Evaluation for Colon Cancer
The companion UK Special Interest Group in Gastrointestinal and Abdominal Radiology (SIGGAR) trials compared computed tomographic (CT) colonography with barium enema and colonoscopy in patients with symptoms suggestive of colon cancer. As recently reported by the SIGGAR investigators in The...
NCCN Adds Two New Member Institutions
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) recently announced the addition of two new NCCN Member Institutions: UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center in La Jolla, California, and the University of Colorado Cancer Center in Aurora, Colorado. “We are extremely pleased that UC San Diego Moores...
Ado-Trastuzumab Emtansine in Metastatic 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 February 22, 2013, ado-trastuzumab emtansine...
SIDEBAR: Two Caveats on the PCOS Follow-up
Dr. Resnick and colleagues are to be congratulated for following men on the PCOS study out to 15 years. The main result—“At 15 years, no significant relative differences in disease-specific functional outcomes were observed among men undergoing prostatectomy or radiotherapy”—should be interpreted...
Similar 15-year Functional Outcomes after Prostatectomy or Radiotherapy for Localized Prostate Cancer
Comparative longer-term functional outcomes of radical prostatectomy and external-beam radiation therapy for localized prostate cancer remain undefined. In a study recently reported in The New England Journal of Medicine,1 Matthew J. Resnick, MD, and colleagues at Vanderbilt University, Nashville,...
FDA Approves New Radioactive Diagnostic Imaging Agent to Help Locate Lymph Nodes in Patients with Certain Cancers
The FDA has approved technetium Tc 99m tilmanocept (Lymphoseek Injection), a radioactive diagnostic imaging agent that helps doctors locate lymph nodes in patients with breast cancer or melanoma who are undergoing surgery to remove tumor-draining lymph nodes. Tilmanocept is an imaging drug that...
BRAF Mutations in Colorectal Cancer: The Next Frontier
Some 5% to 10% of patients with colorectal cancer harbor the BRAF mutation, placing them at risk for poor treatment response and worse outcomes. The ASCO Post interviewed S. Gail Eckhardt, MD, an expert in this area who is Professor and Head of the Division of Medical Oncology at the University of...
New Findings in Prostate and Kidney Cancers Clarify the Roles of Abiraterone, Finasteride, Bevacizumab, and Surveillance
Attendees at the 2013 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium in Orlando, Florida, were brought up to date with the latest news on cancers of the prostate, testes, bladder, and kidney. Below are selected highlights from the meeting describing findings of noteworthy abstracts to extend our regular news...
Errata
In the March 1 issue of The ASCO Post, the article on page 2, “Outcomes Comparable for Panitumumab and Bevacizumab in Metastatic Colorectal Cancer,” contained an inaccuracy about the FDA-approved indications of bevacizumab (Avastin) in colorectal cancer. Specifically, the article noted that...
Homoharringtonine/Omacetaxine: The Little Drug that Could
First, a clarification: Homoharringtonine is a natural plant alkaloid derived from Cephalotaxus fortunei; from the 1970s until the present, it was the subject of intensive research efforts by Chinese investigators to clarify its role as an antileukemic agent.1-3 Omacetaxine mepesuccinate (Synribo)...
Sexual Health after Cancer: Communicating with Your Patients
Studies show virtually all cancer survivors will experience some form of sexual dysfunction following a cancer diagnosis and treatment. Yet few cancer survivors seek help for physical problems they may be experiencing, such as vaginal dryness, dyspareunia, chemically induced menopause, reduced...
Is Aspirin Protective against Colorectal Cancer?
A growing body of evidence provides biologic and clinical evidence that nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agents are protective against colorectal cancer. “It is fascinating for me as a medical oncologist and epidemiologist to see how the worlds of colorectal cancer treatment and epidemiology are...
Duloxetine Reduced Painful Chemotherapy-induced Peripheral Neuropathy
The use of duloxetine (Cymbalta) for 5 weeks “was associated with a statistically and clinically significant improvement” in painful chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy when compared with placebo in a phase III randomized, double-blind crossover trial reported in the Journal of the American...
Bortezomib Added to Standard Induction Therapy Produced Encouraging AML Remission Rate
Adding bortezomib (Velcade) to standard daunorubicin and cytarabine induction chemotherapy for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) “resulted in an encouraging remission rate” in previously untreated older adults, according to results of Cancer and Leukemia Group B (CALGB/Alliance) study 10502. The...
Increase in Advanced Breast Cancer among Younger Women Is Small but Significant, and Trend Is Likely to Continue
The incidence of advanced breast cancer among women aged 25 to 39 years increased by an average of 2.07% per year from 1976 to 2009 and the trend seems likely to continue, according to an analysis of data for 936,497 women diagnosed with malignant breast cancer. The small but statistically...
Oncology Meetings
May 2013 Annual Paris Melanoma ConferenceMay 2-3 • Paris, FranceFor more information: www.primeoncology.org/parismelanoma2013 5th IMPAKT Breast Cancer ConferenceMay 2-4 • Brussels, BelgiumFor more information: www.esmo.org Florida Society of Clinical Oncology Third Annual AVBCC ConferenceMay 2-5 •...
Rally for Medical Research Draws Thousands in Person and on Social Media
In estimated 10,000 demonstrators filled the streets in front of Washington, DC’s historic Carnegie Library on April 8 to protest budget cuts at the National Institutes of Health. The Rally for Medical Research was held to “emphasize to our policymakers that medical research must become a national...
From One to Many, Here and Around the World
The Conquer Cancer Foundation Grants and Awards Program has grown tremendously in 30 years, from supporting just one researcher in the United States to thousands working around the world. These investigators are performing breakthrough research in all aspects of cancer and making discoveries that...
ASCO's Pre-Annual Meeting Seminar Series to Offer a New, Fourth Focus: Genetics and Genomics
ASCO’s pre–Annual Meeting seminar series continues this year, offering intimate, discussion-based seminars just before the start of the Annual Meeting in late May. The seminars are an excellent educational opportunity for health providers who are attending the Annual Meeting but would like to drill ...
A Promising New Agent's Road to Approval in CLL Raises Questions, Stirs Controversy
Early trial results in single-agent therapy with the oral Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor ibrutinib have produced excellent responses in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Moreover, ibrutinib is extremely well tolerated, allowing patients to remain on trial and receive the...
Access to Care: Who Gets Referred to a Medical Oncologist and/or Another Cancer Specialist and Who Receives Treatment for Advanced Cancer?
What factors determine who is referred to a medical oncologist and receives treatment for advanced cancers? Several articles in the Journal of Oncology Practice suggest that factors influencing referral and treatment go beyond the patient’s medical condition and preference and include such details...
Benefit of Continued Antiangiogenic Treatment with Bevacizumab after Progression in Metastatic Colorectal Cancer
As reported recently in Lancet Oncology by Jaafar Bennouna, MD, of Institut de Cancérologie de l’Ouest, Nantes, France, and colleagues, the phase III ML18147 trial showed a survival benefit with continued bevacizumab (Avastin) treatment after first progression in metastatic colorectal cancer.1 The...
Sentinel Node Biopsy in Melanoma: Essential or Optional?
Is sentinel node biopsy in melanoma an essential component of care? Despite a large multinational trial and recently published or updated guidelines, the question is still a thorny one according to experts who debated the issue at the recent meeting of the Society of Surgical Oncology in...
Medical Oncologists Underestimate Resectability of Liver Metastases
Medical oncologists are apt to underestimate the resectability of liver metastases in patients with colorectal cancer and therefore often fail to refer potential surgical candidates for surgical consultation, according to a study presented at the 18th Annual Conference of the National Comprehensive ...
Does Every Melanoma Patient with a Positive Sentinel Node Need More Lymph Nodes Removed?
When sentinel node biopsy was shown to predict whether early melanoma had spread to regional lymph nodes, it revolutionized care. Before that, dissection of all regional lymph nodes was the norm for most patients. After that, the standard of care became a sentinel node biopsy and then—only if the...
Emil 'Tom' Frei III, MD, Trailblazer in the Development of Combination Chemotherapy, Dies at 89
The pages of medical history are dog-eared with breakthroughs that have transformed medicine and saved lives. One of those dog-eared pages belongs to Emil Frei III, MD, known to his colleagues and friends as Tom. In the dawn of oncology, Dr. Frei, along with his associate, Emil Freireich, MD, did...
High-dose Liposomal Vincristine Produces Durable Responses in Advanced ALL
High-dose monotherapy with vincristine sulfate liposome injection (Marqibo) resulted in meaningful clinical outcomes, including durable responses and bridging to hematopoietic cell transplantation, in adult patients with advanced, relapsed, and refractory Philadelphia chromosome (Ph)-negative acute ...
Exemestane an Adjuvant Option for Postmenopausal Hormone Receptor–positive Breast Cancer
A phase III open-label trial of exemestane vs anastrozole in postmenopausal women with hormone-dependent early breast cancer found that both agents produced similar median rates of event-free survival—91% for exemestane and 91.2% for anastrozole—as well as similar distant disease-free and...
Most Women with Ovarian Cancer Do Not Get Guideline-specified Treatment Linked to Survival Benefits
Most women with ovarian cancer are not receiving adequate treatment, as specified in National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Guidelines,1 and as a result are being deprived of the survival benefits correlated with guideline-recommended treatment, according to a study presented at the Society...
