In Early Brain Radiation Recovery Studies, Cranial Grafting of Stem Cell–Derived Therapy Improves Cognition and Reduces Neuropathology
While stem cells have shown promise for treating brain regions damaged by cancer radiation treatments, University of California, Irvine (UCI) researchers have found that microscopic vesicles isolated from these cells provide similar benefits without some of the risks associated with stem cells....
Joseph B. Narus, DNP, GNP-BC, ANP, on Sexual Function in Survivors: Guideline Update
Joseph B. Narus, DNP, GNP-BC, ANP, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses the impact of cancer treatment on men’s sexual health, and treatment options to improve erectile function.
FDA Approves Defibrotide Sodium for the Treatment of Hepatic Veno-Occlusive Disease Following Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation
On March 30, 2016, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved defibrotide sodium (Defitelio) for the treatment of adult and pediatric patients with hepatic veno-occlusive disease, also known as sinusoidal obstructive syndrome, with renal or pulmonary dysfunction following hematopoietic...
DigniCap Scalp Cooling System Now Available for Women With Breast Cancer at 10 U.S. Cancer Treatment Centers
Dignitana Inc. announced today that the DigniCap scalp cooling system, which was cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in December 2015 to effectively reduce the likelihood of chemotherapy-induced hair loss in women with breast cancer, is now available at 10 cancer treatment...
Phone Triage System Offers Potential to Reduce Patient Visits to the Emergency Department for Cancer Treatment–Related Symptoms
A quality improvement initiative to reduce the reliance of patients on visits to the emergency department for treatment of side effects related to cancer treatment was reported to be highly effective, according to early findings from a new study. 1 The strategy, involving a telephone triage...
Anticoagulation in Patients With Cancer: Understanding the Complexities of Prophylaxis and Management
Venous thromboembolic events are more prevalent in patients with cancer than in persons without it. Cancer is associated with a high rate of venous thromboembolism recurrence, bleeding, requirement for long-term anticoagulation, and reduced quality of life. Moreover, thrombosis is the second most...
Neurofeedback Reduces Pain, Increases Quality of Life for Cancer Patients Suffering From Chemotherapy-Induced Neuropathy
A new study from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center evaluating the use of neurofeedback found a decrease in the experience of chronic pain and an increase in quality of life among patients with neuropathic pain. The study was presented at the annual meeting of the American...
Fosaprepitant Combination Reduces Risk of Emesis During Chemoradiotherapy for Cervical Cancer
The addition of fosaprepitant (Emend) to palonosetron and dexamethasone reduced the risk of emesis during 5 weeks of chemoradiotherapy for cervical cancer, according to the phase III GAND-emesis trial reported in The Lancet Oncology by Ruhlmann et al. Study Details In the double-blind trial, 234...
Selected Abstracts From 2015 ASH Annual Meeting: Part 3
Here are several more abstracts selected from the proceedings of the 2015 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting and Exposition, focusing on the topic of anticoagulation and the cancer patient. For other selected abstracts from this conference, see the December 25, 2015, and the...
How Cancer and Its Treatments Affect Cognitive Function
Although chemotherapy is often cited as the main culprit for diminishing cognitive function in patients with cancer, ushering the term “chemobrain” into the vernacular, research by Tim A. Ahles, PhD, and his colleagues is showing that multiple factors may contribute to the condition.1 Using breast...
Mario E. Lacouture, MD, on Management of Dermatologic Toxicities Associated With Targeted Therapies
Mario E. Lacouture, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses the effect on patients of dermatologic toxicities associated with targeted therapies: their psychosocial impact, financial burden, physiological pain, and potential to alter therapy. But the side effects of targeted treatments can and should be addressed.
Daniel A. Vorobiof, MD, and Bernardo Leon Rapoport, MD, on NK-1 Inhibitors for CINV: Potentially Practice-Changing Data
Daniel A. Vorobiof, MD, of the Sandton Oncology Centre, and Bernardo Leon Rapoport, MD, of The Medical Oncology Centre of Rosebank, discuss the first study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of a single dose of intravenous fosaprepitant. The use of this NK1 inhibitor and another (rolapitant) in a second study discussed may change the management of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting and improve quality of life for patients (Abstracts 9629 and 9615).
Charles F. von Gunten, MD, PhD, Discusses Anamorelin and Olanzapine for Palliative Care
Charles F. von Gunten, MD, PhD, of OhioHealth Kobacker House discusses the ROMANA 1 and 2 trials on cachexia in NSCLC and a study on olanzapine vs fosaprepitant for the prevention of nausea and vomiting (Abstracts 9500 and 9502).
Philip Bonomi, MD, on Results of the Romana 1 and Romana 2 Trials
Philip Bonomi, MD, of Rush Medical College, summarizes the findings on anamorelin and its use in advanced NSCLC for improvement in anorexia/cachexia symptoms (Abstracts ORAL 29.01, ORAL 29.02).
Eduardo Bruera, MD, on Cachexia Assessment and Management State of the Art
Eduardo Bruera, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses exciting developments in the assessment and management of cachexia, as well as a number of emerging pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic interventions (Abstract 67).
Lorenzo Cohen, MD, on Acupuncture and Other Nondrug Pain Management Techniques
Lorenzo Cohen, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses nonpharmacologic approaches to symptom control. Techniques such as acupuncture for managing pain and chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting, or yoga and meditation to help improve quality of life, can be safely integrated into oncology care.
Lawrence H. Einhorn, MD, on CINV Clinical Trial Results: The Alliance A221301 Study
Lawrence H. Einhorn, MD, of Indiana University Simon Cancer Center, discusses the encouraging study findings on olanzapine for prevention of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting in patients receiving highly emetogenic chemotherapy (Abstract 176).
Amelie Harle, MD, on Aprepitant for Cough in Lung Cancer
Amelie Harle, MD, of the Christie NHS Foundation Trust, discusses a clinical trial––the first of its kind—designed to assess the efficacy of an antitussive in patients with lung cancer (Abstract 2).
Charles L. Loprinzi, MD, on Olanzapine for Prevention of CINV
Charles L. Loprinzi, MD, of the Mayo Clinic, discusses olanzapine for the prevention of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting in patients receiving highly emetogenic chemotherapy (Abstract 176).
Bridgett Harr, CNP, on Reducing ER Visits and Admissions in High-Risk Head and Neck Cancer Patients
Bridgett Harr, CNP, of Cleveland Clinic, discusses the advanced practice nurse follow-up clinic, which focuses on symptom management in the first 90 days postchemoradiation (Abstract 3169).
Acupuncture for Cancer Symptom Clusters
Acupuncture has been practiced for thousands of years in Eastern Asian cultures as a component of traditional Chinese medicine.1 In the United States, acupuncture became known to the public as a complementary and alternative medicine technique in the 1970s, but it took many years before it was...
Vanderbilt Oncologists Partner with Cardiologists to Research Chemotherapy-related Cardiac Toxicity
Cardiac toxicity related to chemotherapy is not a new topic but it is an increasingly important one, as concerns are no longer limited to the anthracyclines. Targeted agents unfortunately “target” the cardiovascular system as well, especially bevacizumab (Avastin), trastuzumab (Herceptin) when...
Experts Address Cancer-related Distress—the ‘Sixth Vital Sign’
More research is needed to investigate the effects of screening and treatment for distress in cancer care, according to a recent issue of the international journal Psycho‑Oncology. This special edition of the journal includes a review of screening for distress and depression over 40 years in cancer ...
A Conversation with Constance M. Chen, MD, MPH
Although incidence data vary widely, breast cancer–related lymphedema may affect as many as 54% of the 2.3 million survivors of breast cancer in the United States. The condition is often disabling and can result in both long-term devastating physical consequences for survivors, including the loss...
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...
Estrogen for Vulvovaginal Atrophy in Breast Cancer: Debate Continues
Vulvovaginal atrophy is a concern for the majority of patients with breast cancer, not only because of its physical and psychosexual consequences, but because the optimal treatment—estrogen replacement—is controversial. Patients and physicians alike remain concerned that external estradiol may...
Glucarpidase Approved to Treat Methotrexate Toxicity
The FDA has approved intravenous glucarpidase (Voraxaze) to treat patients with toxic levels of methotrexate in their blood due to kidney failure. Glucarpidase is an enzyme that rapidly reduces methotrexate levels by breaking down the chemotherapy drug to a form that can be eliminated from the...
Oral Rivaroxaban Is Noninferior to Standard Anticoagulant Therapy in Acute Pulmonary Embolism
Thromboembolic disease is common in patients with cancer and increases risk of mortality. Recent studies showed that the oral factor Xa inhibitor rivaroxaban (Xarelto) was as effective and safe as standard anticoagulant therapy in treating deep-vein thrombosis, with superior efficacy of rivaroxaban ...
Managing Febrile Neutropenia: What Are the Best Antibiotic Regimens?
Management of patients with cancer who have fever and a low neutrophil count is one of the most common scenarios oncologists face today. “Physicians have to be keenly aware of the infection risks, diagnostic methods, and microbial therapies required for managing febrile neutropenic patients because ...
Surviving the Aftermath of Cancer
With medical information now just a click away, it’s difficult to imagine a time before the Internet existed, when finding answers to questions about serious diseases was nearly impossible. When I was diagnosed with liposarcoma 33 years ago, there was only one oncologist in my hometown of Tyler,...
Antipsychotic Effectively Controls Chemotherapy-induced Breakthrough Nausea and Vomiting
Olanzapine (Zyprexa), an FDA-approved antipsychotic, effectively controlled chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) in patients who failed to respond to guideline-recommended antiemetic therapy in a phase III trial presented at the ASCO Annual Meeting.1 “This is the first randomized trial...
Statin Use Associated with Reduced Cancer-related Mortality in Danish Study
Cancer-related mortality among patients in the Danish population receiving a diagnosis of cancer at age ≥ 40 years between 1995 and 2007 was significantly reduced in those who were receiving statin therapy at the time of diagnosis, according to an analysis reported by Nielsen and colleagues in The...
Automated Telephone Monitoring Reduces Chemotherapy-related Symptoms
The use of an automated computer-based telephone monitoring system to assess symptoms during outpatient chemotherapy—and provide intervention where appropriate by a nurse practitioner—substantially reduced the number of days with symptoms in a study reported at the 18th Annual Conference of the...
FDA Approves Antiemetic Drug for New Line of Prefilled Generic Injectables
BD Rx Inc, announced that the FDA has approved metoclopramide hydrochloride, an injectable antiemetic, as the second drug to be offered in the recently launched BD Simplist line of ready-to-administer prefilled generic injectables. BD Simplist prefilled injectables are designed to help improve...
Diagnosing and Treating Acute Graft-vs-Host Disease
Dermatologic Events in Oncology is guest edited by Mario E. Lacouture, MD, an Associate Member in the Division of Dermatology, Department of Medicine, at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York. He is a board-certified dermatologist with a special interest in dermatologic conditions that...
New Medical Device Treats Urinary Symptoms Related to Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has authorized the marketing of the UroLift system, a permanent implant to relieve low or blocked urine flow in men age 50 and older with benign prostatic hyperplasia. As men age, the prostate can become enlarged, also known as benign prostatic hyperplasia....
How to Measure the Impact of Dermatologic and Mucosal Adverse Events on Symptom Burden and Quality of Life
Targeted anticancer therapies like epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitors, multitargeted tyrosine kinase inhibitors (mTKIs), and mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitors frequently result in dermatologic adverse events and mucosal adverse events, or, taken together, mucocutaneous ...
Guidelines for Chemotherapy-Induced Neuropathy: The Known Unknowns
It is a tribute to the advances in supportive care that peripheral neuropathy, along with fatigue, has become the most vexing management challenge in cancer patients receiving chemotherapy. The successes of modern antiemetic regimens and white blood cell growth factor support have radically altered ...
ASCO Releases Guideline on Prevention and Management of Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy in Survivors of Adult Cancers
ASCO has released a clinical practice guideline on prevention and treatment of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy in adult cancer patients, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.1 The guidelines resulted from the efforts of an expert panel, with representation from the fields of...
Acupuncture Treatment for Cancer Pain and Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy
Acupuncture is a traditional Chinese medicine technique that involves inserting and manipulating filiform needles into specific points of the body to achieve a therapeutic effect. According to traditional Chinese medicine, disruptions in the flow of “vital energy” (qi) throughout the body are the...
Appetite-Enhancing Agent Helps Patients Treated for NSCLC Gain Weight and Lean Body Mass and Feel Better
People have an image of stage III or IV lung cancer patients getting chemotherapy or chemoradiation, and they look terrible; they are losing weight. The fact is, when they respond, they can gain weight,” according to Philip Bonomi, MD, MS. He is the lead author of a phase III study showing that the ...
Benefits of Exercise for Relieving Fatigue in Cancer Survivors
Fatigue is such a common—and ongoing—problem among cancer survivors, last spring, ASCO published a clinical practice guideline1 to address screening, assessment, and treatment approaches for the management of fatigue after patients have completed treatment. Among the strategies included in the...
Study Reveals Gaps in Symptom Management
The Patient-Reported Outcomes Symptoms and Side-Effects Study demonstrated that many cancer patients treated in community cancer centers are not discussing their common symptoms like pain, fatigue, and emotional distress with their oncologists/health-care team or receiving advice about how to...
'Chemobrain’ Study Aims to Correlate Structural Changes Within the Brain and Psychomotor Function
The novelty of our approach is that we are going to be using multiple modalities” to study the effects of chemotherapy and hormonal therapy on the brain, looking for structural changes within the brain and how these changes might affect psychomotor function, particularly upper-extremity movements...
Scalp Cooling Caps Offer Option to Prevent Hair Loss During Chemotherapy
Hair loss remains one of the most dreaded side effects of chemotherapy, particularly for women. Scalp cooling caps worn by patients during chemotherapy infusion and for brief periods of time before and after offer these patients an option to preserve 50% or more of the hair on their heads. Although ...
Adoptive T-Cell Therapy Successfully Treats Devastating Complication of Stem Cell Transplantation
A new “off-the-shelf” treatment promises to induce remission in rituximab (Rituxan)-refractory Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-associated lymphoproliferative disorder, a potentially fatal complication of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Historically, this complication has been difficult to treat...
2015 Palliative Care in Oncology Symposium to Highlight the Science of Symptom Management
For the past few decades, ASCO has led efforts to integrate palliative care into all phases of cancer treatment. Through numerous educational programs, advocacy efforts, and most recently, the first annual Palliative Care in Oncology Symposium, ASCO has championed the idea that palliative care,...
Managing Cancer Pain at the End of Life
Cancer-related pain does not exist in a vacuum. To effectively treat it, clinicians should understand the contributing factors. Proper assessment and management of cancer pain at the end of life can significantly alleviate patient suffering, according to Eduardo Bruera, MD, FAAHPM, Department Chair ...
Dispelling the Myths Associated With Osteonecrosis of the Jaw
Osteonecrosis of the jaw associated with cancer treatment is frequently misunderstood, according to Cesar Augusto Migliorati, DDS, MS, PhD, who delivered an update on its proper recognition and management at the 2015 Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer/International Society of...
FDA Approves Rolapitant for Prevention of Chemotherapy-Induced Nausea and Vomiting
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved rolapitant (Varubi) to prevent delayed-phase chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting. Rolapitant is approved in adults in combination with other antiemetic agents that prevent nausea and vomiting associated with initial and repeat courses of...
