In The News
This week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accepted new drug applications for enzalutamide in metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer and zanubrutinib in relapsed or refractory mantle cell lymphoma, and granted both applications Priority Review.
Researchers have developed the largest descriptive genomic analysis of patients with Merkel cell carcinoma to date. Their analysis, published by Knepper et al in Clinical Cancer Research, will provide important information to improve the care and treatment of patients with Merkel cell carcinoma.
In a single-center phase III trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Noronha et al found that the addition of pemetrexed/carboplatin to gefitinib improved progression-free and overall survival in first-line treatment of advanced EGFR-mutant non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), but toxicity was worse with the combined therapy.
In the phase II ORATOR trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Nichols et al found a statistical but not clinically meaningful improvement in swallowing-related quality of life outcomes 1 year after treatment with radiotherapy vs transoral robotic surgery and neck dissection in patients with oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma.
A study by Duffy et al in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology reported on specific gene variations affecting the number and types of moles on the body and their role in causing skin cancer.
In the final analysis from a phase II California Cancer Consortium trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Sadeghi et al found the combination of gemcitabine and eribulin showed activity in cisplatin-ineligible patients with metastatic urothelial carcinoma.
In a phase II trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Chera et al found that deintensified chemoradiotherapy produced favorable outcomes in human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma.
As reported in JAMA, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommended risk assessment and, if indicated, genetic counseling and testing for potentially harmful BRCA1/2 mutations in women with a personal or family history of breast, ovarian, tubal, or peritoneal cancer or who have ancestry associated with BRCA1/2 mutations.
In a study by Mahal et al published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, researchers conducted a population-based assessment of the incidence and demographic burden of human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma in the United States.
New research published by Loree et al in JAMA Oncology found that race and race subgroup analysis reporting does not occur frequently and that black and Hispanic populations are underrepresented in oncology trials that have led to U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approvals.
A study published by Veitch et al in JNCCN—Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, which looked at the impact of dose reduction of the adjuvant combination of fluorouracil, epirubicin, cyclophosphamide, and docetaxel, found early dose reductions negatively impacted survival rates. However, outcomes were not compromised with dose reductions that came later in the course of treatment.
In a phase I dose-escalation trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Cuneo et al established the phase II dose of the Wee1 kinase inhibitor adavosertib in combination with gemcitabine and radiotherapy in locally advanced pancreatic cancer.
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Zinzani et al, findings in a phase II expansion cohort of the CheckMate 436 study indicated high levels of activity with the combination of nivolumab and brentuximab vedotin in relapsed or refractory primary mediastinal large B-cell lymphoma.
In a meta-analysis reported in JAMA Network Open, Mincu et al found that the risk of some types of cardiovascular adverse events was higher with combined BRAF and MEK inhibitor treatment vs BRAF inhibitor monotherapy in patients with melanoma.
A study published by Koroukian et al in JAMA Network Open found that from 2000 to 2016, incident obesity-associated cancers were increasingly found in younger age groups. The authors suggest that interventions are needed to reduce obesity and to implement individualized screening programs.
In a first-in-human phase I/II study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Doran et al found that autologous genetically engineered T cells expressing a T-cell receptor directed against the human papillomavirus (HPV)16 E6 oncoprotein were capable of inducing tumor regression in metastatic, HPV-associated epithelial cancers.
In the phase II LORELEI trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Saura et al found that the addition of the phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase inhibitor taselisib to neoadjuvant letrozole improved objective response rates but not pathologic complete response rates in women with estrogen receptor (ER)-positive, HER2-negative early-stage breast cancer.
Women with severe sleep apnea appear to also have an elevated risk of developing cancer, according to findings from a study by Pataka et al in the European Respiratory Journal. No causal relationship was demonstrated, but a link between nocturnal hypoxia in women and higher cancer risk was established.
The National Cancer Institute (NCI) has awarded 53 grants to researchers in the NCI Community Oncology Research Program (NCORP) to conduct multisite cancer clinical trials and cancer care delivery studies in their communities.
A new population-based study showed that novel oral androgen signaling inhibitor therapies may be associated with an increased risk of death in patients with preexisting cardiovascular conditions. The research was published by Lu-Yao et al in European Urology.
In an analysis reported in The Lancet Oncology, Antonia et al identified long-term survival rates with nivolumab therapy in patients with previously treated advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
In an Italian prospective cohort study reported in JAMA Surgery, Maggino et al found that among patients receiving primary chemotherapy for newly diagnosed pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, conversion to surgical resection was achieved in 24% of those with borderline resectable disease and 9% of those with locally advanced disease.
Patients with metastatic colorectal cancer who engaged in moderate exercise while undergoing chemotherapy tended to have delayed progression of their disease and fewer severe side effects from treatment, according to the results of a new study published by Guercio et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
Syapse and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Oncology Center of Excellence (OCE) have signed a multiyear research collaboration agreement focused on the use of real-world evidence to support regulatory decision-making. Syapse and the OCE will work with stakeholders across the FDA to address key regulatory questions about testing and treatment patterns, dosing and safety, and outcomes in oncology with a focus on precision medicine.
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved fedratinib (Inrebic) for adults with intermediate-2 or high-risk primary or secondary (postpolycythemia vera or postessential thrombocythemia) myelofibrosis.
Recently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted Breakthrough Therapy designation to acalabrutinib in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), accepted a new drug application for avapritinib in some types of gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST), and granted 510(k) clearance to market the TULSA-PRO for ablation of prostate tissue.
In a single-institution retrospective study reported in the Journal of Oncology Practice, Davis et al found that next-generation sequencing (NGS) testing of tumor tissue resulted in changes in management in a relatively small proportion of patients.
In a study reported in JAMA Oncology, Garcia-Murillas et al found that detection of circulating tumor DNA during follow-up after initial treatment for early breast cancer was associated with a high risk of relapse. Detection at diagnosis was also associated with poorer relapse-free survival.
In a single-institution study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Hamilton et al found that relapses of clinical stage I nonseminomatous germ cell tumors (NSGCT) during postorchiectomy active surveillance most frequently occurred in the retroperitoneum and were cured by single-modality therapy.
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to entrectinib (Rozlytrek) for adult and adolescent patients whose cancers have an NTRK (neurotrophic tyrosine receptor kinase) genetic fusion and for whom there are no effective treatments. Entrectinib was also approved today for the treatment of adults with metastatic, ROS1-positive non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
A U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) review of additional data found no increased risk of prostate cancer with the use of entacapone to treat Parkinson’s disease. The FDA conducted this review after an earlier trial suggested this possible risk. As a result, the FDA’s recommendations for using entacapone (Comtan) and the combination of entacapone, carbidopa, and levodopa (Stalevo) will remain the same in the prescribing information.
Immunology researchers have uncovered a biomarker that may help explain why some patients respond better than others to sorafenib, a common chemotherapy used in the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Their analysis of immune responses among patients receiving sorafenib, published by Kalathil et al in JCI Insight, may lead to more individualized treatment options and better overall outcomes for patients diagnosed with the disease.
A phase I/II study of the combination of olaparib and temozolomide in patients with relapsed small cell lung cancer has found that the therapy had substantial clinical activity in these patients, and may offer a potential new therapeutic strategy for this difficult-to-treat cancer. The research by Farago et al was published in Cancer Discovery.
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Cespedes Feliciano et al found that increased visceral and intramuscular adiposity were associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease among breast cancer survivors, independent of baseline risk factors and cancer treatment.
In a study reported in JAMA Oncology, Ludmir et al found that the median age of patients with common cancers enrolled in clinical trials was substantially lower than the median age of patients with the same cancers in the general population.
Using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to target biopsies is more effective at detecting prostate cancers that are likely to need treatment than standard ultrasound-guided biopsies alone, according to research published by Elwenspoek et al in JAMA Network Open.
Scientists who studied a highly cancer-prone single family have identified a rare, inherited gene mutation that may raise the lifetime risk of pancreatic and other cancers. Their findings were published by Nissim et al in Nature Genetics.
In a single-center analysis reported in the Journal of Oncology Practice, Balaji et al found that immune-related adverse events associated with immune checkpoint inhibitor treatment often require hospitalization and multidisciplinary management.
In a study reported in JAMA Oncology, Coghill et al found that outcomes are often worse among HIV-positive patients aged 65 years or older with cancer vs HIV-negative patients with cancer, after adjustment for the first courses of treatment.
In the phase II SWOG S0905 trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Tsao et al found that the addition of cediranib to cisplatin/pemetrexed was associated with limited benefit and greater toxicity in chemotherapy-naive patients with unresectable malignant pleural mesothelioma.
A recent study has found that nonalcoholic fatty liver disease–associated hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is associated with greater surgical morbidity and postresection liver failure, but long-term survival was better than in non–nonalcoholic fatty liver disease etiologies. These findings were published by Koh et al in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons.
In a study published by Boehmer et al in Cancer, researchers found access to care among sexual minority cancer survivors was lacking. Moreover, sexual minority women with poor access to care, in particular, had a worse quality of life.
In the phase II DESMOPAZ trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Toulmonde et al found that the oral vascular endothelial growth factor receptor inhibitor pazopanib was active in adult patients with progressive desmoid tumors.
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Twist et al, use of reduced therapy for subsets of pediatric patients with intermediate-risk neuroblastoma in the Children’s Oncology Group (COG) study ANBL0531 did not affect the excellent overall survival rates observed in prior COG studies in this setting.
As reported in JAMA, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), in a reaffirmation of its 2004 recommendation, has recommended against screening for pancreatic cancer in asymptomatic adults.
Researchers have developed a new method for tracking residual disease in patients with breast cancer that could one day help doctors better tailor treatments and prevent unnecessary surgeries for some people with the disease. Findings were published by McDonald et al in Science Translational Medicine.
New data suggest that people who have a parent, sibling, or child with blood cancer have a higher likelihood of being diagnosed with a hematologic malignancy themselves. A study by Sud et al published in Blood offers the first evidence that such familial risks exist across the spectrum of hematologic malignancies.
A new study published by Stump et al in Genetics in Medicine investigated whether genetic testing would motivate people at risk of developing melanoma to alter their behavior in order to reduce their risk.
In a single-center study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Calais et al found that the use of gallium Ga-68 prostate-specific membrane antigen-11 positron-emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) resulted in higher detection rates of early biochemical recurrence of prostate cancer after radical prostatectomy in patients with low prostate-specific antigen concentrations than fluciclovine F-18 PET/CT.
A new report published by DeSantis et al in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians examined cancer statistics in adults 85 and older and found incidence and mortality trends are generally similar to those in people aged 65 to 84 years, but disease screening rates are unexpectedly high and survival is poorer.
According to research published by Boas et al in the American Journal of Roentgenology, aspirin therapy is associated with improved liver function test results and survival after transarterial embolization for hepatocellular carcinoma.
In a study reported in the Journal of Oncology Practice, Duckworth et al found that many patients with cancer had more optimistic treatment goals vs their physicians and that patients who did not understand adverse effects associated with treatment had higher distress scores.
On August 7, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized the decision to cover U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy.
In the phase II EV-201 trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Rosenberg et al found the antibody-drug conjugate enfortumab vedotin showed high activity in patients with metastatic urothelial carcinoma who had previously received platinum-based therapy and anti–programmed cell death protein 1 or programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-1/L1) therapy.
In a study published by Salem et al in Circulation, researchers examined how several testosterone-blocking drugs commonly used in the treatment of prostate cancer affect the heart's QT interval.
People whose diets included high levels of vitamin A had a 17% reduction in risk for developing cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma, as compared to those who ate modest amounts of foods and supplements rich in vitamin A. These findings were published by Kim et al in JAMA Dermatology.
In a systematic review and meta-analysis reported in JAMA Oncology, Lu et al found that multiplex immunohistochemistry/immunofluorescence assays appeared to have greater accuracy vs other types of assays in predicting response to anti–programmed cell death protein 1/programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-1/PD-L1) treatment for solid tumors.
In the phase III ECOG-ACRIN 5508 trial, reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Ramalingam et al, maintenance pemetrexed or bevacizumab was associated with no significant improvement in overall survival vs the bevacizumab control group alone and was associated with greater toxicity in patients with advanced nonsquamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
In a study reported in the Journal of Oncology Practice, Greenup et al found that cancer treatment costs influenced women’s decisions on breast cancer surgery. Researchers reported many women, even at the highest income levels, said that costs were higher than expected, and that most women never discussed costs with their cancer treatment team.
A study by Willis et al published in Clinical Cancer Research investigated the accuracy of microsatellite instability detection using the Guardant360 liquid biopsy assay in comparison to tissue-based testing among patients with advanced cancer. Results showed that the liquid biopsy assay was highly concordant with tissue-based testing in nearly 1,000 patients.
A case study on pembrolizumab and the onset of liver injury in patients with cancer was published by Tsung et al in Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics. “Our study’s goal was to determine not only the incidence of liver injury associated with pembrolizumab therapy, but also [its] cause and outcomes,” the authors explained.
Artificial intelligence (AI) may improve the efficiency and accuracy of an advanced imaging technology used to screen for breast cancer, according to a study published by Conant et al in Radiology: Artificial Intelligence.
In an interim analysis of the phase III E1912 trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Shanafelt et al found that ibrutinib/rituximab improved progression-free and overall survival vs standard chemoimmunotherapy in patients 70 years old or younger with previously untreated chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) without chromosome 17p13 deletion.
In a study published by Urakawa et al in Annals of Surgery, researchers found that the response of lymph nodes to neoadjuvant chemotherapy is more effective in predicting disease recurrence and patient survival in individuals with esophageal cancer than the response of primary tumors.
In a study published by Louvanto et al in Clinical Infectious Diseases, researchers investigated the ability of a DNA methylation panel to determine between disease progression and regression among women of childbearing age with untreated cervical intraepithelial dysplasia.
In a phase I trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Hont et al found that treatment of relapsed or refractory solid tumors with ex vivo expanded autologous multiantigen-associated specific cytotoxic T cells—or, tumor-associated antigen cytotoxic T cells—was safe and showed evidence of antitumor activity.
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Clarke et al found that hysterectomy-corrected rates of uterine corpus cancer—particularly nonendometrioid subtypes—have been increasing in the United States, with racial disparities in incidence and survival being observed.
On August 2, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted approval to pexidartinib (Turalio) capsules for the treatment of adult patients with symptomatic tenosynovial giant cell tumor associated with severe morbidity or functional limitations and not responsive to improvement with surgery.
This week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Breakthrough Therapy designation to bempegaldesleukin in combination with nivolumab for advanced melanoma and cleared an investigational new drug application for a phase I trial of SB 11285 in advanced solid tumors.
A large cohort study has found that psychological stress is associated with increased cancer-specific mortality among women with cervical cancer, independent of tumor characteristics and treatment modality. The findings support the integration of psychological screening and intervention in the clinical management of patients with cervical cancer, especially at the time of diagnosis. The study by Lu et al was published in Cancer Research.
Many patients with cutaneous T-cell lymphoma contract Staphylococcus aureus infections in the skin. In a new study, researchers have shown that aggressive treatment with antibiotics for patients with these infections not only inhibits the staphylococcal bacteria—but also the cancer cells. In the study, the number of cancer cells was reduced and the cancer was significantly diminished for up to 8 months in patients with severe skin inflammation. These findings were published by Lindahl et al in Blood.
In a post hoc 5-year follow-up of the KEYNOTE-006 trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Robert et al found that pembrolizumab maintained overall and progression-free survival benefits over ipilimumab in patients with advanced melanoma.
In patients with prostate cancer with surgical positive margins or extracapsular extension of their disease, the risk of disease recurrence postprostatectomy is higher than in cases where the cancer cells are confined within the prostate. The Finnish FinnProstataX study investigated whether radiotherapy administered after the removal of the prostate benefited patients whose cancer had spread to the surface of the prostate or beyond the capsule that surrounds the prostate. Findings were published by Hackman et al in European Urology.
A recent analysis looked at the global burden of pediatric cancer through the lens of years of affected and lost life. This work shows a much greater burden of childhood cancer, placed largely in low- and middle-income countries, than previous estimates. The findings were published in The Lancet Oncology.
Nearly-three quarters of Americans are not familiar with cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma, the second most common type of cancer in the United States, according to a new survey conducted by The Harris Poll on behalf of The Skin Cancer Foundation.
In the first stage of a phase II trial reported in JAMA Oncology, O’Reilly et al found poor activity of durvalumab with or without tremelimumab in metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. Owing to the lack of efficacy, study expansion was not pursued.
In a phase II study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Adkins et al found that the combination of palbociclib and cetuximab showed activity in patients with either platinum- or cetuximab-resistant human papillomavirus (HPV)-unrelated head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.
Findings from a cohort of a phase II study reported by Stacchiotti et al in The Lancet Oncology indicated activity of the antiangiogenic agent pazopanib in advanced extraskeletal myxoid chondrosarcoma.
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Muss et al, long-term findings from the phase III CALGB 49907 trial support the finding from the primary analysis—that standard adjuvant chemotherapy improved recurrence-free survival vs capecitabine in women aged 65 years or older with early breast cancer.
On July 30, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the programmed cell death protein 1 inhibitor pembrolizumab (Keytruda) as monotherapy for the treatment of patients with recurrent locally advanced or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus whose tumors express programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1, at a combined positive score ≥ 10, as determined by an FDA-approved test), with disease progression after one or more prior lines of systemic therapy.
On July 30, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved darolutamide (Nubeqa) for the treatment of nonmetastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.
As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Im et al, an interim analysis of the phase III MONALEESA-7 trial has shown an overall survival benefit with the addition of ribociclib to endocrine therapy in pre- or perimenopausal women with advanced hormone receptor (HR)-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer.
The World Health Organization (WHO) Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic 2019 analyzes national efforts to implement the most effective measures from the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control that are proven to reduce demand for tobacco.
For patients with colorectal cancer, new research shows a clearer connection than previously known between fat deposits in certain areas of the body and higher rates of death from all causes within 7 years of cancer diagnosis. These findings were published by Brown et al in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by de Boer et al, a post hoc updated survival analysis of the phase III PORTEC-3 trial has shown a significant overall survival benefit of adjuvant chemoradiotherapy vs radiotherapy alone in women with high-risk endometrial cancer.
As reported by Topalian et al in JAMA Oncology, long-term follow up of patients from a phase I expansion cohort study indicated 5-year overall survival rates of 34.2%, 27.7%, and 15.6% among heavily pretreated patients who received nivolumab monotherapy for advanced melanoma, renal cell carcinoma, and non–small cell lung cancer, respectively.
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Bachy et al, 9-year follow-up of the phase III PRIMA trial indicated a maintained progression-free survival benefit of maintenance rituximab vs observation following first-line induction therapy for follicular lymphoma. As in the prior reports from the trial at 3 and 6 years, a progression-free survival benefit was not accompanied by an overall survival benefit.
A new laboratory test developed to identify chemical changes to a group of cancer-related genes may be able to accurately detect which breast tumors are cancerous or benign. Such a test could result in a more timely diagnosis of breast cancer for women in developing countries with less access to screening and pathology programs. A report on the effectiveness of this assay was published by Downs et al in Clinical Cancer Research.
In a study reported in JAMA Internal Medicine, Kerlikowske et al found that the combined use of Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS) breast density and Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium (BCSC)-defined risk for breast cancer may be an effective way of identifying women with dense breasts at high risk for advanced cancer who require discussion of need for supplemental imaging.
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Armstrong et al, findings from the phase III ARCHES trial have shown significant improvement in radiographic progression-free survival with enzalutamide plus androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) vs placebo plus ADT in men with metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer.
As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Loriot et al, the fibroblast growth factor receptor 1-4 tyrosine kinase inhibitor erdafitinib showed activity in FGFR-altered advanced urothelial carcinoma.
A research letter published by Wang et al in JAMA Oncology has found that inherited mutations in the BRCA2 gene are linked to an increased risk for non-Hodgkin lymphoma in children and adolescents.
Recently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the inclusion of overall survival from the PACIFIC trial in the U.S. prescribing information for durvalumab and accepted applications for a new drug in the treatment of epithelioid sarcoma and two orphan drugs in the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML).
A research team has devised a noninvasive and individualized technique for detecting and treating bladder cancer. Their findings were published by Jiang et al in Protein & Cell.
Scientists have demonstrated that an artificial intelligence tool can perform as well as human reviewers—and much more rapidly—in extracting clinical information regarding changes in tumors from unstructured radiology reports for patients with lung cancer. These findings were published by Kehl et al in JAMA Oncology.
In a phase II study reported in JAMA Oncology, Theelen et al found that although use of stereotactic body radiotherapy prior to treatment with pembrolizumab increased the objective response rate vs pembrolizumab alone in metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), the difference did not meet study criteria for clinical benefit, and the greatest benefit was observed in patients with programmed cell death ligand 1–negative tumors.
In a study reported in the Journal of Oncology Practice, Lyons et al found that transfer to the intensive care unit or on-ward death occurred in 9% of admissions to cancer wards at an urban tertiary cancer hospital. Investigators identified factors associated with clinical deterioration resulting in these events.
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requested that Allergan, the manufacturer of a specific type of textured breast implant, recall specific models of its textured implants from the U.S. market due to the risk of breast implant–associated anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL). Following the agency’s request, Allergan has notified the FDA that it is moving forward with a worldwide recall of its BIOCELL textured breast implant products. The agency also issued a safety communication today for patients with breast implants, patients considering breast implants, and health-care professionals outlining the known risks and what steps patients should consider when monitoring for symptoms of breast implant–associated ALCL, including swelling and pain in their breasts.
In a retrospective analysis published by Si et al in Surgical Endoscopy, researchers found minimally invasive surgery led to higher survival and lower local recurrence in patients with small hepatocellular carcinoma vs radiofrequency ablation, whereas radiofrequency ablation was associated with shorter operating times and hospitalization duration, as well as lower complication rates.
In a case-control study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Nené et al found that younger women with ovarian cancer or a BRCA1 mutation without cancer were more likely to have cervicovaginal microbiota characterized by a lower vs higher proportion of species of Lactobacillus.
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved rituximab-pvvr (Ruxience), a biosimilar to rituximab (Rituxan), for the treatment of adult patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), and granulomatosis with polyangiitis and microscopic polyangiitis.
A study by Wei et al in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology has found that individuals with a first-degree relative with a history of melanoma are at an increased risk for melanomas and keratinocyte cancers such as squamous cell carcinoma and basal cell carcinoma.
In a retrospective analysis reported in JAMA Surgery, Ogura et al found that persistently enlarged nodes in the internal iliac compartment on restaging magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) after neoadjuvant chemoradiation or radiation therapy for low rectal cancer were associated with high risk of lateral local recurrence, and that such risk was reduced with lateral lymph node dissection.
When chemotherapy is recommended as part of a treatment plan, women with breast cancer should start postoperative treatment ideally within 4 months of their cancer diagnosis. New study findings published by Kupstas et al in the Annals of Surgical Oncology show delaying chemotherapy further is associated with poorer overall survival.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Breakthrough Therapy designation to pembrolizumab in combination with lenvatinib for the potential first-line treatment of patients with advanced unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) not amenable to locoregional treatment.
In a cohort study reported in JAMA Surgery, Armer et al found that longer duration of neoadjuvant chemotherapy and increasing body mass index were associated with increased risk of lymphedema in women with node-positive breast cancer who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy and axillary dissection.
In a single-center phase II trial reported in JAMA Oncology, Bauml et al found that pembrolizumab given after locally ablative therapy appeared to be associated with improved outcomes in patients with oligometastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
For oncologists in the beginning of their careers, scientific conferences present an opportunity to network, share research, gain new knowledge, and advance in their career. However, many women find themselves skipping these conferences because of family obligations, a new research letter published by Knoll et al in JAMA Oncology has found.
In a phase II study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Hillmen et al found that the combination of ibrutinib and venetoclax resulted in high rates of minimal residual disease eradication in patients with relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
A new study published by Virostko et al in Cancer found that the proportion of adults diagnosed with colorectal cancer under age 50 in the United States has continued to increase over the past decade, and younger adults are diagnosed with more advanced disease.
To learn more about the processes that lead to chemotherapy-associated cardiotoxicity, researchers conducted a study to investigate whether early changes in energy-related metabolites in the blood—measured shortly after chemotherapy—could be used to identify patients who developed cardiotoxicity at a later time. The study, published by Asnani et al in the Journal of Cardiovascular Translational Research, found that metabolites associated with the mitochondria of the cell changed differently in patients who later developed cardiotoxicity compared to those who did not.
In a proof-of-concept study, an international scientific team has shown that a laboratory test using artificial intelligence tools has the potential to more accurately sort out which people with pancreatic cysts will eventually develop pancreatic cancers. Their findings were published by Springer et al in Science Translational Medicine.
In a report published by Jayadevappa et al in JAMA Network Open, researchers found that among older patients with prostate cancer, treatment with androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) was associated with a subsequent diagnosis of Alzheimer disease or dementia over a follow-up period of at least 10 years.
A small phase I study by Smaglo et al investigating a nonengineered, multiantigen-specific T-cell therapy for the treatment of pancreatic cancer has found that the therapy had clinical activity and was safe and well tolerated. The study was presented at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) conference on immune cell therapies for cancer.
New research published by Li et al in JNCCN–Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network has identified a way to help clinicians caring for patients with multiple myeloma to predict blood clots in order to take preventive action. The researchers established a set of risk factors to determine which patients are most likely to need anticoagulants to prevent venous thromboembolism (VTE) associated with treatment with an immunomodulatory drug in combination with a moderate-to-high dose of steroids.
Nonmelanoma skin cancers may display an aggressive histologic subtype that is not diagnosed on initial biopsy. In a prospective, cross-sectional study reported by Kyllo et al in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, researchers determined that a significant portion of nomelanoma skin cancers were upgraded at the time of Mohs micrographic surgery to a more aggressive subtype than at initial biopsy.
Patients who experienced a disaster-level hurricance during radiotherapy for lung cancer had worse overall survival than those who completed treatment in normal circumstances, with longer disaster declarations associated with increasingly worse survival. These findings come from a research letter published by Nogueira et al in JAMA, which suggests several mitigation strategies, including arranging for transferring treatment and eliminating patient out-of-network insurance charges during disasters.
In a phase II trial reported in JAMA Oncology, Pietrantonio et al found that maintenance panitumumab alone was inferior in terms of progression-free survival compared to maintenance panitumumab plus fluorouracil/leucovorin in RAS wild-type metastatic colorectal cancer.
A report published by Liu et al in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found an association between diet quality and microbiome composition in human colonic mucosa. The researchers found that a high-quality diet is linked to more potentially beneficial bacteria, whereas a low-quality diet is associated with an increase in potentially harmful bacteria. They proposed that modifying the microbiome through diet may be a part of a strategy to reduce the risk of chronic diseases, including some cancers.
Results from a phase IB trial expansion stage reported in The Lancet Oncology by Herbst et al showed the combination of ramucirumab plus pembrolizumab had manageable toxicity and antitumor activity in previously treated advanced gastroesophageal cancer, non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and urothelial carcinoma cohorts.
A recent study published by Chan et al in the Journal of Clinical Investigation found a cellular pathway associated with cancer may be beneficial in reducing side effects and extending duration of immunotherapy in some patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.
In an analysis reported in The Lancet Oncology, Del Paggio and Tannock found that many phase III trials supporting U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of anticancer drugs have a low fragility index—a measure of how many people in a study would have had to have a different outcome in order for the findings to become not statistically significant—indicating a lack of robustness in the demonstration of superiority over control treatments.
A new study finds that trends in colonoscopy rates did not fully align with recent increases in colorectal cancer incidence in younger adults. The findings were published by Fedewa et al in the Journal of Medical Screening.
In a study reported in the Journal of Oncology Practice, Van Tine et al found that infusion-related reactions occurred in 14.4% of patients receiving olaratumab in clinical trials, with grade ≥ 3 events occurring in 2.3%.
In a nearly 20-year follow-up of a Scandinavian trial reported in The Lancet, Utjés et al found no difference in survival outcomes with 2-cm vs 4-cm surgical excision margins for primary localized cutaneous melanoma with a thickness > 2 mm.
The biliary microbiome was altered in patients who received neoadjuvant therapy prior to undergoing surgery for pancreatic cancer, according to a study published by Goel et al in HPB. Additionally, more bacteria in patients who underwent surgery after neoadjuvant therapy were resistant to cephalosporins, a form of broad-spectrum antibiotics, compared with patients who were treated with surgery alone.
Blood and intratumoral regulatory T-cell activity may one day provide a method for predicting breast cancer relapse, according to findings published by Wang et al in Nature Immunology.
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Wallner et al found that many patients with differentiated thyroid cancer reported feeling they had no choice in receipt of radioactive iodine treatment.
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Ehrhardt et al found that long-term health outcomes were comparable in patients receiving contemporary Lymphome Malin de Burkitt (LMB) vs non-LMB chemotherapy regimens for pediatric mature B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma, except for adverse neurologic effects.
In a Chinese study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Wei et al found that neoadjuvant three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy improved outcomes vs hepatectomy alone in patients with resectable hepatocellular carcinoma with portal vein tumor thrombus.
Today, the Biden Cancer Initiative announced it would suspend all operations. The Initiative, which was launched on June 26, 2017, is an independent nonprofit organization that was built on the goals of the White House Cancer Moonshot program.
In a phase II/III trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Bonvalot et al found that preoperative addition of the radioenhancer hafnium oxide nanoparticle NBTXR3 to radiotherapy may improve outcomes in patients with locally advanced soft-tissue sarcoma.
Ivosidenib, a small-molecule inhibitor of isocitrate dehydrogenase-1 (IDH1), is currently being studied in a phase I clinical trial assessing its efficacy in patients with IDH1-mutated solid tumors. In a report published by Lowery et al in The Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology, researchers discuss data from the cholangiocarcinoma cohort of the trial.
There were more than 8.7 million person-years of life lost and $94.4 billion in earnings lost due to cancer among people aged 16 to 84 in the United States in 2015. The calculation comes from a new report published by Islami et al in JAMA Oncology.
Researchers have discovered two distinct subtypes of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (pNETs) associated with different risks of recurrence following surgical treatment. The finding could yield predictive tests while focusing vigilant follow-up monitoring on patients with pNETs that have a higher rate of recurrence. These findings were published by Cejas et al in Nature Medicine.
In a study reported in JAMA Oncology, Banerjee et al found that higher cumulative anesthesia exposure and duration of exposure during treatment of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) may be associated with adverse neurocognitive and abnormal neuroimaging outcomes in long-term survivors.
Fertility treatment is not associated with an increased long-term risk of ovarian cancer, according to the results of a large-scale multicenter study presented by Spaan et al at the 35th Annual Meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology.
Recently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Fast Track designation to a phospholipid-drug conjugate in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma; granted Orphan Drug designation to an immunotherapy for small cell lung cancer; accepted supplemental biologics license applications in multiple myeloma, melanoma, and several other solid tumors/hematologic malignancies; and approved a companion diagnostic.
A new study published by Robinson et al in Nature Communications aimed to learn more about the biologic characteristics of upper tract urothelial carcinoma to help develop more targeted therapies for the disease.
In the EMPOWER trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Oeffinger et al found that an intervention consisting of mailed educational materials followed by telephone-delivered counseling led to an increased use of screening mammography among survivors who had received chest radiotherapy for childhood cancer.
In the phase III AML08 trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Rubnitz et al found that the use of clofarabine instead of an anthracycline and etoposide in the first course of induction therapy may be a feasible strategy in pediatric patients with acute myeloid leukemia.
Friends of Cancer Research is launching the next phase of its Real-World Evidence (RWE) pilot project after a broad stakeholder meeting in February 2019. At the meeting, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and various data partners expressed interest in continuing to address several challenges to advance understanding and inform future uses of RWE. This next phase includes 10 health-care research organizations that will be presenting their findings, establishing recommendations for real-world endpoint analysis, and evaluating whether real-world endpoints are indicators of clinical benefit at this year's 8th Annual Blueprint for Breakthrough Forum.
The results of an economic modeling study to estimate the cost-effectiveness of multigene panel sequencing as compared to standard-of-care single-gene tests for patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) showed that multigene panel sequencing tests are moderately cost-effective, but could deliver more value if patients with test results identifying actionable genetic mutations consistently received genetically guided treatments. These findings were published by Steuten et al in JCO Clinical Cancer Informatics.
Patients with biliary tract cancer have an altered genetic architecture in some immune system receptor systems, according to research published by Cornillet et al in Gastroenterology.
In the phase II ReDOS trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Bekaii-Saab et al found that a regorafenib dose-escalation strategy compared favorably with standard dosing in regard to toxicity profile and activity in patients with refractory advanced colorectal cancer.
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Sheetz et al identified the degree of centralization of high-risk cancer surgeries within hospital systems and found improved short-term outcomes with increased centralization among Medicare patients.
In a study reported in JAMA Oncology, Simonaggio et al found that rechallenge with an immune checkpoint inhibitor after occurrence of immune-related adverse events was associated with occurrence of an immune-related adverse event in approximately half of patients, with no increase in severity.
Findings from a study of patients who received radioactive iodine treatment for hyperthyroidism show a modest association between the dose of treatment and long-term risk of death from solid cancers, including breast cancer. Results were published by Kitahara et al in JAMA Internal Medicine.
Many elderly and medically complex patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC)—who are often underrepresented in clinical trials—saw overall survival benefits from treatment with targeted therapies, according to a study published by Li et al in JAMA Network Open.
Long-term results of a single-institution phase II study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Contreras et al showed that the omission of postoperative radiation therapy to the pathologically negative neck was associated with good outcomes among patients with primary head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC).
A risk-prediction model developed using clinical and radiologic features could stratify individuals presenting with a lung nodule as having a high or low risk for lung cancer, according to a study published by Nemesure et al in Cancer Prevention Research.
In a phase I trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Bagot et al found that IPH4102—a first-in-class monoclonal antibody targeting KIR3DL2—was safe and showed activity in patients with relapsed or refractory cutaneous T-cell lymphoma, particularly those with Sézary syndrome.
In an analysis from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Moskowitz et al found a significant increase in overall mortality among childhood cancer survivors who developed breast cancer vs matched controls. A numeric increase in breast cancer mortality was observed.
The three-drug combination of encorafenib, binimetinib, and cetuximab significantly improved overall survival in patients with BRAF-mutated metastatic colorectal cancer, according to results of the phase III BEACON CRC clinical trial. These findings were presented by Kopetz et al at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer 2019.
Regorafenib is often administered to patients with refractory metastatic colorectal cancer. However, some of the adverse events related to the use of this drug often limit its use in clinical practice. A study reported by Argilés et al at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer 2019 suggests the usefulness of more flexible dosing, which can improve patients’ quality of life without jeopardizing efficacy.
The incidence of gastric cancer has been increasing in younger individuals, and those under 40 with chronic digestive symptoms should be more actively investigated. These findings follow new data from a retrospective, observational study in Mexico, which showed that 1 in 7 of over 2,000 patients diagnosed with gastric cancer between 2004 and 2016 were under 40. These findings from a study, reported by Calderillo-Ruiz et al, support U.S. National Cancer Institute data showing an increase in the incidence of gastric cancer in the younger population.
In a retrospective study reported in the Journal of Oncology Practice, Kelly et al identified the frequency of diagnostic and postprogression biopsies, complication rates, and associated costs in patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
In a study reported in a research letter in JAMA Oncology, Jiang et al found that 34.6% of cancer survivors in the United States report chronic pain and 16.1% report high-impact chronic pain.
The final overall survival analysis of the phase III GOG-0218 trial, reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Tewari et al, showed no benefit of adding bevacizumab to chemotherapy in women with newly diagnosed, incompletely resected, advanced ovarian cancer.
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to selinexor (Xpovio) in combination with dexamethasone for adult patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma who have received at least four prior therapies and whose disease is refractory to at least two proteasome inhibitors, at least two immunomodulatory agents, and an anti-CD38 monoclonal antibody.
A novel therapy using two targeted treatments for prostate cancer has been shown to maximize efficacy while reducing side effects, according to research presented at the 2019 Annual Meeting of the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) and published by Emmett et al in The Journal of Nuclear Medicine.
Patients with cancer who took cholesterol-lowering statin medication following radiation therapy of the chest, neck, or head had significantly reduced risk of suffering a stroke—and possibly other cardiovascular complications—according to research published by Boulet et al in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
Researchers at the University of Washington are developing a user-friendly vest with technology that collects data to tailor personalized lutetium Lu-177 dotatate therapy for patients with metastatic, somatostatin receptor 2–positive neuroendocrine tumors (NETs). Their study was presented at the 2019 Annual Meeting of the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) and published by Miyaoka et al in The Journal of Nuclear Medicine.
In a pooled analysis of the phase I/II TOPACIO/KEYNOTE-162 study reported in JAMA Oncology, Konstantinopoulos et al found evidence of activity of combined niraparib and pembrolizumab in a cohort of patients with recurrent ovarian carcinoma.
In the phase III ENLIVEN trial reported in The Lancet, Tap et al found that the colony-stimulating factor 1 inhibitor pexidartinib produced responses in patients with advanced tenosynovial giant cell tumors not amenable to surgical resection.
Peptide receptor radionuclide therapy has been shown to be safe and effective for patients with grade 3 neuroendocrine neoplasms, according to research presented at the 2019 Annual Meeting of the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) and published by Zhang et al in The Journal of Nuclear Medicine.
Prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) positron-emission tomography (PET) imaging of patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer after two cycles of lutetium-177 (Lu-177)-PSMA radioligand therapy has shown a significant predictive value for patient survival. The research was presented at the 2019 Annual Meeting of the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) and published by Gaftia et al in The Journal of Nuclear Medicine.
In a new report by Black et al in the Journal of Thoracic Oncology, the authors of the National Lung Screening Trial (NLST) research—which examined lung cancer mortality in high-risk current and former smokers screened with low-dose computed tomography vs chest x-ray—report on an extended analysis of the patient cohort that was followed up on after the initial 2011 study was published.
Limiting ovarian cancer surgery to high-volume hospitals could improve survival but may also reduce access for many rural and underserved patients, a study from researchers at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons has found. The findings were published by Wright et al in Obstetrics & Gynecology.
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Long et al, the phase III ECHO-301/KEYNOTE-252 trial showed no improvement in progression-free or overall survival with the addition of the IDO1 inhibitor epacadostat to pembrolizumab in unresectable stage III or stage IV melanoma.
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Phillips et al found that immune-related cutaneous adverse events in patients receiving immune checkpoint inhibitors generally responded to symptom- and phenotype-directed dermatologic therapies, and that biologic therapies were effective in corticosteroid-refractory adverse events.
In a single-center retrospective analysis reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Funt et al found that the presence of teratoma in advanced nonseminomatous germ cell tumors was associated with a greater risk for disease-related death.
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Agochukwu et al validated the sexual interest and sexual satisfaction single-item measures of the Patient-Reported Outcome Measurement Information System (PROMIS) in men who underwent radical prostatectomy for prostate cancer.
In the phase II ECOG-ACRIN 1412 trial, presented by Nowakowski et al at the 15th International Conference on Malignant Lymphoma (ICML), researchers sought to compare the addition of lenalidomide to R-CHOP (rituximab plus cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone) vs R-CHOP alone in previously untreated diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL).
Data presented by Lokhande et al at the 15th International Conference on Malignant Lymphoma (ICML; Abstract 360) focused on noninvasive strategies to guide patient stratification for relapsed mantle cell lymphoma. Researchers used an antibody-based platform to identify serum proteins in patients treated in the Nordic MCL6 PHILEMON trial.
Recently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accepted a new drug application for niraparib in the treatment of certain pretreated gynecologic cancers; granted Fast Track designation to a T-cell product; accepted investigational new drug applications for a myelopreservation agent and an engineered toxin body; and cleared a scalp-cooling system for the prevention of chemotherapy-associated hair loss.
On June 28, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved bevacizumab-bvzr (Zirabev), a biosimilar to bevacizumab (Avastin), for the treatment of five types of cancer: metastatic colorectal cancer; unresectable, locally advanced, recurrent, or metastatic nonsquamous non–small cell lung cancer; recurrent glioblastoma; metastatic renal cell carcinoma; and persistent, recurrent, or metastatic cervical cancer.
In the Scandinavian phase III HYPO-RT-PC trial reported in The Lancet, Widmark et al found that ultrahypofractionated radiotherapy was noninferior to conventionally fractionated radiotherapy in terms of failure-free survival in patients with intermediate- to high-risk prostate cancer.
Jens Hillengass, MD, Chief of Myeloma at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, led an International Myeloma Working Group (IMWG) effort to compile new recommendations—the first in 10 years—for imaging techniques that offer more sensitive and accurate diagnosis and monitoring for patients with multiple myeloma and other plasma cell disorders. Their findings were published in The Lancet Oncology.
New research published in JNCCN—Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network and presented by Jarushka Naidoo, MBBCh, at the NCCN 2019 Annual Conference suggests that institutions and networks that utilize immunotherapy should consider establishing multidisciplinary teams for providing central, coordinated service for diagnosis and management of immunotherapy-related adverse events.
The Dutch FaMRIsc study, reported in The Lancet Oncology by Saadatmand et al, found that the addition of screening magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to mammography resulted in the identification of more breast cancers—and identification at an earlier stage—vs mammography alone among women with a familial risk of disease without causative hereditary gene mutations.
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved daratumumab (Darzalex) in combination with lenalidomide and dexamethasone for the treatment of patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma who are ineligible for autologous stem cell transplant.
Final analyses from the ALCANZA study, a phase III trial investigating brentuximab vedotin vs physician’s choice for the treatment of CD30-positive cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL), were presented by Horwitz et al at the 15th International Conference on Malignant Lymphoma.
Today, the American Association for Cancer Research, Moffitt Cancer Center, and Biden Cancer Initiative hosted a congressional briefing titled “Let’s End HPV-Related Cancers” in Washington, DC. In conjunction with this briefing, leading health organizations and patient advocates issued a call to action to policymakers.
The ROBUST trial compared the addition of lenalidomide to R-CHOP (rituximab plus cyclophosphamide/doxorubicin/vincristine/prednisone) vs placebo/R-CHOP in previously untreated, prospectively selected, CD20-positive patients with activated B-cell–like (ABC)-type diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). Vitolo et al presented findings from the study at the 15th International Conference on Malignant Lymphoma.
An abstract presented by Camus et al at the 15th International Conference on Malignant Lymphoma (ICML) found that targeted genotyping of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) in classical Hodgkin lymphoma at diagnosis “may help to assess early treatment response in complement to positron-emission tomography.”
In the phase II TOPACIO/KEYNOTE-162 trial reported in JAMA Oncology, Vinayak et al found evidence of activity of combined niraparib and pembrolizumab in a cohort of patients with advanced or metastatic triple-negative breast cancer, with higher response rates seen in patients with BRCA mutations or programmed cell death ligand 1–positive tumors.
In the French phase III PHARE trial reported in The Lancet, Pivot et al found that noninferiority of 6 months vs 12 months of adjuvant trastuzumab combined with standard chemotherapy could not be demonstrated for disease-free survival in HER2-positive early breast cancer.
In a single-center study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Ricciuti et al found better outcomes with immune checkpoint inhibitor treatment among patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) receiving baseline prednisone equivalent of ≥ 10 mg daily for cancer-unrelated indications vs cancer-related palliative indications.
The MAVORIC study—presented by Scarisbrick et al at the 15th International Conference on Malignant Lymphoma (ICML)—examined the efficacy of mogamulizumab, a monoclonal antibody that targets the CC chemokine receptor 4, in patients with previously treated mycosis fungoides/Sezary syndrome, the most common form of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma.
In an abstract presented by Rushton et al at the 15th International Conference on Malignant Lymphoma (ICML), researchers found that patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) with specific mutations in relapse-enriched genes may be at a higher risk of treatment failure.
In a report published in the Journal of Oncology Practice, Keshvani et al found that transitioning from inpatient to outpatient ambulatory infusional EPOCH (etoposide, prednisone, vincristine, cyclophosphamide, and doxorubicin)-based chemotherapy in patients with lymphoma at a safety net hospital was feasible. Moreover, the change resulted in reduced costs from drug acquisition and hospitalization.
In an analysis of the phase II GETUG-AFU 26 NIVOREN study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Flippot et al found that nivolumab had limited activity in patients with previously untreated brain metastases from clear cell renal cell carcinoma.
In the phase III GOG 258 trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Matei et al found that 6 months of adjuvant platinum-based chemotherapy plus radiation therapy did not improve relapse-free survival vs chemotherapy alone in stage III or IVA endometrial cancer.
Exposure to carcinogens and tumor-promoting agents contained in dust from the fallen World Trade Center towers may be responsible for an increased risk of prostate cancer among first responders, according to a new study by Gong et al published in Molecular Cancer Research.
In the phase II OpACIN-neo study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Rozeman et al identified a promising dosing schedule for neoadjuvant ipilimumab/nivolumab in macroscopic stage III melanoma.
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Cornell et al found that cardiovascular adverse events are common in patients receiving proteasome inhibitor therapy for relapsed multiple myeloma and are associated with poorer outcome.
An international group of researchers has found that antibodies to the human papillomavirus type 16 (HPV16) may develop in the body between 6 to 40 years prior to a clinical diagnosis of oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma, and their presence indicates a strong increased risk of the disease. These findings were published by Kreimer et al in Annals of Oncology.
A new study published by McDonough et al in the Journal of Oncology Practice found that while primary care physicians are often involved in cancer survivorship care, many do not feel adequately prepared for key components of it.
Poor oral health is associated with an increased risk of hepatocellular carcinoma, according to new research published by Jordão et al in the United European Gastroenterology Journal.
In a study presented by Caban-Martinez et al at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) conference on Environmental Carcinogenesis: Potential Pathway to Cancer Prevention, researchers sought to describe the types of occupational environmental exposures encountered by firefighters specifically, compare exposures among different kinds of occupational activities, and test the use of a wristband designed for monitoring exposures in the field.
A study by Temkin et al assessing nitrate exposure from drinking water has found several types of cancers—especially colorectal cancer—may be associated with nitrate exposure. Additionally, combining nitrate-specific risk estimates for colorectal, ovarian, thyroid, kidney, and bladder cancers, the study found that up to 12,594 cases of cancer a year may be nitrate-attributable.
The Colorectal Cancer Alliance is calling on allies to participate in its 2019 Young-Onset Colorectal Cancer Survey. The survey enables the Alliance to learn about and track the self-reported medical, psychosocial, and quality-of-life experiences of patients, survivors, and caregivers. It is available now and will remain open through July.
A study investigating the effects of the cumulative environmental quality on aggressive breast cancers in North Carolina has found that patients living in a county with the worst land environmental quality were 5% more likely to be diagnosed with distant/metastatic breast cancer than DCIS. Socioeconomic status impacted the type of breast diagnosis, too—those with a higher income were less likely to be diagnosed with distant/metastatic breast cancer. The study by Gearhart-Serna et al is being presented at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) conference on Environmental Carcinogenesis: Potential Pathway to Cancer Prevention.
In an analysis of the phase III ENGOT-OV16/NOVA trial in recurrent ovarian cancer reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, del Campo et al found that patients had clinical benefit from niraparib maintenance vs placebo irrespective of whether they had a partial response or complete response to their last platinum-based regimen.
In a prospective study of directly measured body fat distribution and prostate cancer risk, investigators found that higher levels of abdominal and thigh fat are associated with an increased risk of aggressive prostate cancer. The findings—published by Dickerman et al in Cancer—may lead to a better understanding of the relationship between obesity and prostate cancer, as well as provide new insights for treatment.
In a study conducted under the supervision of researchers from the MedUni Vienna, human experts competed against computer algorithms in diagnosing pigmented skin lesions. The algorithms achieved better results when diagnosing, but had decreased performance for out-of-distribution images. These findings were published by Tscahndl et al in The Lancet Oncology.
The speed at which individuals with blood cancers are able to walk 4 meters holds information about their overall health and may help to predict survival and unplanned hospital visits, according to study published by Liu et al in Blood. The association was strongest in patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Sixty percent of patients with triple-negative breast cancer will survive more than 5 years without disease after standard treatment, but 4 out of 10 women will have a rapid recurrence of the disease. There are currently no clinical tests to assess an individual patient’s prognosis, so all patients receive aggressive chemotherapy. Recently published findings by Stewart et al in Cancer Research may allow for more personalized assessment of risk of recurrence.
The 4-year disease-free survival results of the UK phase III PERSEPHONE trial, reported by Earl et al in The Lancet, found that 6 months of adjuvant trastuzumab was noninferior to 12 months when given with chemotherapy in HER2-positive early breast cancer.
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Liu et al determined the frequency of allergic reactions and consequences of development of antibodies to pegaspargase among pediatric patients with newly diagnosed acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Wang et al identified the rates and outcomes of relapses of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma in patients who had achieved 24-month event-free survival after immunochemotherapy.
The randomized, global, multicenter, open-label phase III ASCEND trial evaluated the efficacy and safety of acalabrutinib vs investigator’s choice of rituximab/idelalisib or rituximab/bendamustine in patients with relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Ghia et al presented the results at the 24th Annual Congress of the European Hematology Association.
At the 24th Annual Congress of the European Hematology Association (EHA), Langerbeins et al presented findings from the phase III CLL12 trial, which evaluated whether ibrutinib prolongs event-free survival in patients with previously untreated, Binet stage A chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).
The phase III BELLINI trial—reported by Kumar et al at the 24th Annual Congress of the European Hematology Association—investigated the efficacy and safety of venetoclax/bortezomib/dexamethasone vs bortezomib/dexamethasone in patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma.
In a phase II study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Ma et al found that aggressive radiotherapy dose de-escalation in adjuvant chemoradiotherapy for human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma was associated with disease control rates comparable to historical rates with higher radiotherapy doses.
In the phase II CASPS trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Judson et al found evidence of activity of cediranib in alveolar soft-part sarcoma.
In the phase III CASSIOPEIA trial, reported in The Lancet and presented at the 24th Annual Congress of the European Hematology Association (EHA) by Moreau et al, daratumumab plus bortezomib/thalidomide/dexamethasone (D-VTd) given before and after autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) improved the depth of response vs VTd alone in patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma.
A new retrospective study examined outcomes for patients after receiving treatment for locally advanced non–small cell lung cancer, finding that the average radiation dose delivered to the heart was associated with an increased risk of major adverse cardiovascular events and death. Among patients who did not have preexisting coronary heart disease, risk of having a major cardiovascular event after treatment exceeded the rates of people considered at high risk of such events. The findings were published by Atkins et al in The Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
Through a systematic review of published studies, researchers report they have identified a distinct subtype of primary central nervous system lymphoma that should be considered for surgical removal, suggesting a major shift in how this type of tumor is evaluated and managed. These findings were reported by Labak et al in World Neurosurgery.
On June 17, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to the anti–programmed cell death protein 1 therapy pembrolizumab (Keytruda) as monotherapy for the treatment of patients with metastatic small cell lung cancer (SCLC) with disease progression on or after platinum-based chemotherapy and at least one other prior line of therapy.
In the phase III QuANTUM-R trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Cortes et al found that the FLT3 inhibitor quizartinib produced a modest but significant improvement in overall survival vs salvage chemotherapy in relapsed or refractory FLT3 internal tandem duplication (FLT3-ITD)-positive acute myeloid leukemia (AML).
As reported at the 2019 ASCO Annual Meeting and in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Hurvitz et al, 3-year outcomes in the phase III KRISTINE trial showed that neoadjuvant trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1) plus pertuzumab was associated with increased risk of event-free survival events vs docetaxel/carboplatin/trastuzumab plus pertuzumab in patients with stage II or III HER2-positive breast cancer.
In the single-center, phase II NeoCombi trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Long et al found that neoadjuvant dabrafenib plus trametinib produced promising response rates in resectable, stage IIIB/C, BRAF V600–mutant melanoma.
Diagnosis of pancreatic and biliary tract cancers is complex and challenging due to the lack of symptoms and/or the difficulty of direct, invasive, and imaging-based methods of diagnosis. In an effort to develop better diagnostic markers for these diseases, Kim et al analyzed the genome-wide expression of serum microRNAs in patients with pancreatic and biliary tract cancers. Results were published in BMC Medical Genomics.
Clinical and translational data from the TONIC trial, published in a research letter by Voorwerk et al in Nature Medicine, indicated that short-term doxorubicin and cisplatin may induce a more favorable tumor microenvironment and increase the likelihood of response to programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) blockade in triple-negative breast cancer.
There were more than 16.9 million Americans with a history of cancer on January 1, 2019, and that number is projected to reach more than 22.1 million by 2030 based on the growth and aging of the population alone, according to estimates from Cancer Treatment and Survivorship Statistics, 2019. The report is produced every 3 years by the American Cancer Society in collaboration with the National Cancer Institute to help the public health community better serve this growing population. The 2019 edition was published by Miller et al in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians.
Long-term follow-up of the phase I KEYNOTE-001 study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Garon et al showed that pembrolizumab monotherapy was associated with an estimated 5-year overall survival of 23.2% for treatment-naive patients and 15.5% for previously treated patients with locally advanced/metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
In a UK national population-based study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Parry et al found virtually no difference in gastrointestinal or genitourinary toxicity associated with prostate-only vs prostate and pelvic lymph node intensity-modulated radiation therapy in patients with high-risk localized or locally advanced prostate cancer.
In the phase III MAIA trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Facon et al found that the addition of daratumumab to lenalidomide/dexamethasone significantly improved progression-free survival in previously untreated multiple myeloma ineligible for autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT).
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved trastuzumab-anns (Kanjinti) for all approved indications of the reference product trastuzumab (Herceptin): for the treatment of HER2-overexpressing breast cancer and HER2-overexpressing metastatic gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma.
Recently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Fast Track designation for momelotinib in myelofibrosis, granted Priority Review to a biologics license application for luspatercept in myelodyslastic syndromes and beta-thalassemia, granted Orphan Drug designation for a new chemical entity in biliary tract cancer, cleared an investigational new drug application for a T-cell receptor therapy trial, and granted clearance to a device designed to improve quality of colonoscopies when bowel preparation has been insufficient.
In a retrospective multicenter study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Abu-Sbeih et al found that approximately one-third of patients resuming immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy after improvement in immune-mediated diarrhea and colitis experienced a recurrence of the adverse effect.
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Smith et al found that a high proportion of patients in community cancer centers did not report discussing, getting advice, or receiving desired help for cancer-related pain, fatigue, or emotional distress.
Results from the phase III NRG Oncology clinical trial GOG 0261 comparing paclitaxel plus carboplatin to paclitaxel plus ifosfamide in women with stage I–IV recurrent carcinosarcoma of the uterus or ovary found that treatment with paclitaxel/carboplatin was not inferior to paclitaxel/ifosfamide based on overall survival, and paclitaxel/carboplatin was associated with longer progression-free survival outcomes when compared with paclitaxel/ifosfamide. These results were presented by Powell et al at the 2019 ASCO Annual Meeting.
New research on the immunotherapy talimogene laherparepvec (T-VEC)—an injectable oncolytic virus—for patients with unresectable melanoma was presented by Milhem et al at the 2019 ASCO Annual Meeting.
In an extended analysis of the COMBI-d and COMBI-v trials reported at the 2019 ASCO Annual Meeting and in The New England Journal of Medicine, Robert et al found a 5-year overall survival rate of 34% with the combination of dabrafenib and trametinib in previously untreated metastatic melanoma with a BRAF V600E or V600K mutation.
In an international prospective cohort study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Kraaijpoel et al found that incidental pulmonary embolism in patients with cancer is associated with substantial risk of recurrent venous thromboembolism, despite anticoagulant treatment.
A study published by Moke et al in JNCI Cancer Spectrum evaluating survival trends in adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with cancer has found that while dramatic increases in survival rates have been made in this age group, most of that improvement is due to advances in the treatment for HIV/AIDS-related cancers. Survival is still worse for AYAs diagnosed with late-stage disease, for racial/ethnic minorities, and those with low socioeconomic status.
New information about adjuvant therapy to prevent recurrence of breast cancer in women 50 years of age or younger has emerged from the Trial Assigning Individualized Options for Treatment (Rx), or TAILORx. The analysis was published by Sparano et al in The New England Journal of Medicine and presented at the 2019 ASCO Annual Meeting.
The E2810 trial was conducted to determine whether treatment with the oral drug pazopanib following surgery to remove further metastases in patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma would improve their disease-free survival. Results from the study—which showed that primary endpoint of disease-free survival was not met—were presented by Appleman et al at the 2019 ASCO Annual Meeting.
Results from an experimental arm of the phase II NRG-GI002 trial using veliparib as part of total neoadjuvant therapy in patients with locally advanced rectal adenocarcinoma were recently presented by George et al at the 2019 ASCO Annual Meeting.
The poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitor olaparib may benefit some men with prostate cancer, according to findings from the phase II TOPARP-B trial presented by Mateo et al at the 2019 ASCO Annual Meeting.
Ahluwalia et al shared research results on SurVaxM at the 2019 ASCO Annual Meeting, reporting that combination therapy with the immunotherapy vaccine was more effective than standard therapy for nearly all patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma in a phase II trial.
A new study examining Medicaid expansion and cancer screening found that the five states and District of Columbia that first adopted Medicaid expansion saw larger increases in colorectal cancer screening than states that did not expand Medicaid. The study—published by Fedewa et al in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine—estimated that if nonexpansion states had experienced the same increase in recent colorectal cancer screening as the very early expansion states, an additional 355,184 people would have been screened.
The phase III CLL14 trial—reported by Fischer et al at the 2019 ASCO Annual Meeting and in The New England Journal of Medicine—found that the BCL2 inhibitor venetoclax plus the monoclonal antibody obinutuzumab prolonged progression-free survival vs obinutuzumab and chlorambucil in patients with previously untreated chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and coexisting conditions.
Findings in a cohort of the phase II CheckMate 205 study, reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Ramchandren et al, indicate that nivolumab monotherapy followed by nivolumab plus doxorubicin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine is highly active in newly diagnosed, advanced-stage classical Hodgkin lymphoma.
A recent, updated predictive analysis of the three World Health Organization (WHO)-defined molecular subgroups based on IDH mutation status and 1p/19q codeletion status represented in the high-risk treatment arms of a phase III trial found that both IDH-mutant subgroups may derive benefit from the addition of PCV (procarbazine, lomustine, and vincristine) chemotherapy to radiotherapy. These data were presented by Bell et al at the 2019 ASCO Annual Meeting.
In a study reported in JAMA Oncology, Dess et al found that after adjustment for nonbiologic differences, black men with nonmetastatic prostate cancer did not appear to have higher rates of prostate cancer–specific mortality vs white men but did have higher rates of other-cause mortality
Two studies that explored types of discrimination and gender bias in health-care organizations were presented at the 2019 ASCO Annual Meeting.
In an analysis from the UK RAPID study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Barrington et al found that a postchemotherapy positron-emission tomography (PET) score of 5 was associated with poorer outcomes among patients with early-stage Hodgkin lymphoma.
On June 10, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved pembrolizumab (Keytruda) for the first-line treatment of patients with metastatic or unresectable recurrent head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Pembrolizumab was approved for use in combination with platinum and fluorouracil for all patients, and as a single agent for patients whose tumors express programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1; combined positive score ≥ 1) as determined by an FDA‑approved test. The FDA also expanded the intended use for the PD-L1 IHC 22C3 pharmDx kit to include use as a companion diagnostic device for selecting patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma for treatment with pembrolizumab as a single agent.
On June 10, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to polatuzumab vedotin-piiq (Polivy), a CD79b-directed antibody-drug conjugate, in combination with bendamustine and a rituximab product for adult patients with relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) not otherwise specified after at least two prior therapies.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Perrot et al identified a cytogenetic prognostic index predictive of survival in patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma.
In an analysis reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Maher et al found that treatment-related adverse events of special interest and immune-mediated adverse events were more common among patients with advanced urothelial cancer with vs without response to anti–programmed cell death protein 1 or ligand 1 (anti–PD-1/PD-L1) antibody treatment.
Recently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Priority Review for daratumumab in combination with a triplet therapy in multiple myeloma, Breakthrough Therapy designation to copanlisib for marginal zone lymphoma, and Fast Track designation for ARV-110 in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.
Neoadjuvant treatment with nivolumab plus ipilimumab resulted in an overall major pathologic response rate of 33% of treated patients with early-stage, resectable non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). These results were presented by Cascone et al at the 2019 ASCO Annual Meeting.
In a trial presented by Baumann et al, patients with locally advanced cancer treated with proton chemoradiotherapy instead of traditional photon chemoradiotherapy were at a lower risk of experiencing side effects. However, cure rates were almost identical between the two groups.
In a phase II trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Fangusaro et al found that the MEK1/2 inhibitor selumetinib was active in pediatric patients with recurrent, refractory, or progressive pilocytic astrocytoma with common BRAF aberrations and neurofibromatosis type 1–associated low-grade glioma.
In a single-center phase II trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Jain et al found that the combination of ibrutinib and venetoclax was highly active in previously untreated high-risk and older patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).
In an effort to advance cancer data sharing and improve the quality and coordination of patient care, three health and technology organizations have established a core set of data elements and recommended technical specifications (the Minimal Common Oncology Data Elements [mCODE]). The mCODE initiative, a collaboration between ASCO, CancerLinQ LLC, the MITRE Corporation, and the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology Foundation (Alliance Foundation), released the initial set of common cancer data standards and specifications at the 2019 ASCO Annual Meeting.
In a propensity score analysis reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Bonnot et al found that the addition of hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy to cytoreductive surgery improved outcomes among patients with gastric cancer and peritoneal metastases.
In the phase II SARC024 trial in sarcoma subtypes reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Davis et al found that regorafenib improved progression-free survival vs placebo in the cohort of patients with metastatic osteosarcoma.
A specialized pain management program for patients who underwent robotic surgery for urologic cancers resulted in 8% of patients going home with narcotics after discharge, compared to 100% who would have received them without this enhanced recovery protocol. The group of patients who did receive narcotics went home with fewer pills than they would have under regular guidelines. These findings were presented by Talwar et al.
Results of the phase II Smart Start trial revealed activity of rituximab/lenalidomide/ibrutinib given prior to any chemotherapy for newly diagnosed patients with non–germinal center diffuse large b-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). Results of the trial were presented by Westin et al.
A questionnaire aimed at assessing how well community oncologists understand molecular profiling results from tumor specimens found that 69% of participants either said they don’t know the answers or they responded incorrectly. The results of the survey, taken at several case-based research events by 292 community oncologists who were either based in hospitals or private clinics, were presented by Singh et al.
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by West et al, the phase III IMpower130 trial found that the addition of atezolizumab to carboplatin plus nab-paclitaxel significantly improved overall and progression-free survival in first-line treatment of stage IV nonsquamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with no ALK or EGFR mutations.
Partial-breast irradiation produces similar long-term survival rates and risk for recurrence compared with whole-breast irradiation for many women with low-risk, early-stage breast cancer, according to new data from the NRG Oncology/NSABP B-39/RTOG 0413 trial. Results were presented by Ganz et al.
In a study reported in a letter to the editor in The New England Journal of Medicine, Butler et al found that the proportion of black patients with low-risk prostate cancer undergoing active surveillance remained lower than that among nonblack patients, despite increased use of the strategy in both populations during recent years.
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Oncology Center of Excellence announced a new pilot program to assist oncology health-care professionals in requesting access to unapproved therapies for patients with cancer. A new call center designated Project Facilitate will be a single point of contact where FDA oncology staff will help physicians through the process of submitting an Expanded Access request for an individual patient, including follow-up of patient outcomes.
A recent survey of U.S.-based physician members of the Society of Gynecologic Oncology found that 64% of respondents experienced sexual harassment in training or practice; among women, the rate was 71%, and among men, it was 51%. In addition, women were more likely than men to respond that gender affected career advancement and played a role in setting their salary. The study was presented by Stasenko et al.
The single-arm, phase II EV-201 trial showed treatment with enfortumab vedotin—an agent targeting Nectin-4, a protein found in 97% of urothelial cancers—produced responses in 44% of previously treated patients with locally advanced or metastatic forms of urothelial cancer. Results were presented by Petrylak et al.
The randomized Norwegian OSLO-COMET trial, presented by Fretland et al, found that laparoscopic surgery did not change chances of survival compared to open resection to remove metastases that had spread to the liver in patients with colorectal cancer.
A study that examined 10,500 health records of patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer from ASCO’s CancerLinQ database found that the use of expanded clinical trial inclusion criteria would nearly double the percentage of patients eligible to enroll in clinical trials. These findings were presented by Harvey et al.
The randomized phase III POLO trial found that maintenance therapy with the poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitor olaparib significantly delayed the progression of metastatic pancreatic cancer in patients with germline BRCA gene mutations compared with placebo. Results were presented by Kindler et al.
An interim analysis of the international, randomized phase III ENZAMET trial found that 80% of men with metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer who received the nonsteroidal antiandrogen agent enzalutamide along with standard-of-care treatment were alive after 3 years, compared with 72% of men who received other nonsteroidal antiandrogens along with standard treatment. These findings were presented by Sweeney et al.
Previous racial disparities in timely cancer treatment between African American and white patients were reduced in states where Medicaid access was expanded under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), according to a new analysis of electronic health records for over 30,000 patients presented by Adamson et al. The study also found that after Medicaid expansion, African American patients had the greatest rate of improvement in receiving care within 30 days of diagnosis as compared with white patients.
A new study analyzing demographic statistics from the National Cancer Database presented by Chamoun et al identified multiple socioeconomic factors—including private insurance, living in a regionally higher-income area, and receiving treatment in certain practice settings—as being associated with longer survival for patients with multiple myeloma.
An analysis of data from the National Cancer Database presented by Smith et al found that after implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), ovarian cancer was diagnosed and treated at an earlier stage among women younger than age 65.
Adoptive cell transfer using tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes have demonstrated durable responses in some patients with recurrent cervical cancer. Data from innovaTIL-04, a phase II trial investigating this treatment, were presented by Jazaeri et al.
The randomized, phase III KEYNOTE-062 trial achieved its primary endpoint, showing that for patients with programmed cell death ligand 1–positive, HER2-negative, advanced gastric or gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) cancer, initial therapy with pembrolizumab resulted in noninferior overall survival compared with standard chemotherapy. The results were presented by Tabernero et al.
The international, randomized phase III MONALEESA-7 trial found that the addition of ribociclib to standard-of-care endocrine therapy significantly improved overall survival for premenopausal women with advanced hormone receptor (HR)-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer compared with endocrine therapy alone. The study was presented by Hurvitz et al.
Five-year data from the phase Ib KEYNOTE-001 trial presented by Garon et al showed that treatment with pembrolizumab was safe and effective and substantially increased overall survival in patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), with the greatest benefit observed in patients with higher programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression.
Results from the phase III TITAN trial, presented by Chi et al, showed that the addition of apalutamide to androgen-deprivation therapy improved radiographic progression-free and overall survival in patients with metastatic castration-sensitive prostate cancer.
The phase III KEYNOTE-048 trial is examining the efficacy of pembrolizumab alone, pembrolizumab/cisplatin or carboplatin/fluorouracil (5-FU), or cetuximab/cisplatin or carboplatin/5-FU as first-line therapy for recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Rischin et al presented the protocol-specified final results of the trial.
In a study presented by Wasp et al studying variation in end-of-life care across cancer centers in the United States, researchers found quality of care was lower at centers that served a greater concentration of minorities. However, end-of-life care quality for minority and white patients was similar for most measures within any given center.
In the European phase II VIT-091 trial, researchers examined the efficacy of the combination of vincristine and irinotecan with or without the addition of temozolomide in children and adults with relapsed or refractory rhabdomyosarcoma. Their results were presented by Defachelles et al.
On May 29, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the addition of overall survival data in the labeling for gilteritinib (Xospata), which is indicated for adult patients who have relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with an FLT3 mutation as detected by an FDA-approved test.
New research published by Bagley et al in JNCCN—Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network used a large real-world data set to demonstrate a modest but consistent survival benefit associated with adding bevacizumab to carboplatin/pemetrexed in advanced nonsquamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
Cancer drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration took a median of 6.5 years to advance from the first clinical trial in adults to the first trial in children, according to a study published by Neel et al in the European Journal of Cancer.
As reported in The Lancet Oncology, Tilly et al found that the combination of polatuzumab vedotin with immunochemotherapy showed high response rates in the phase II portion of a phase I/II study in previously untreated diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Sharma et al, follow-up of the cohort receiving nivolumab at 1 mg/kg plus ipilimumab at 3 mg/kg in the phase I/II CheckMate 032 trial showed the regimen produced high levels of activity in platinum-treated, unresectable, locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma.
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Untch et al, long-term follow-up in the GeparSepto trial showed that patients with early breast cancer receiving neoadjuvant nab-paclitaxel vs solvent-based paclitaxel followed by epirubicin/cyclophosphamide had better invasive disease–free survival, with no difference in overall survival being observed.
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved lenalidomide (Revlimid) in combination with a rituximab product for previously treated follicular and marginal zone lymphomas.
Results from a study published early by Boehmer et al in Cancer point to the need for improved access to medical care for sexual minority cancer survivors—in particular, sexual minority women. In women who are sexual minority cancer survivors, poor access to care is more strongly related to poor quality of life among sexual minorities compared with heterosexuals.
As reported by Ehrhardt et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, high doses of anthracyclines were associated with increased breast cancer risk in female childhood cancer survivors in the St. Jude Lifetime Cohort Study, with the association being independent of mutations in cancer risk genes.
On May 24, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved alpelisib (Piqray) tablets to be used in combination with the FDA-approved endocrine therapy fulvestrant to treat postmenopausal women, and men, with hormone receptor (HR)-positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative, PIK3CA-mutated, advanced or metastatic breast cancer (as detected by an FDA-approved test) following progression on or after an endocrine-based regimen. The approval was based on results of the SOLAR-1 trial, results of which were recently reported by André et al in The New England Journal of Medicine.
On May 23, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the NovoTTF-100L System in combination with pemetrexed plus platinum-based chemotherapy for the first-line treatment of unresectable locally advanced or metastatic malignant pleural mesothelioma. NovoTTF-100L is a noninvasive, antimitotic cancer treatment that delivers tumor treating fields to the region of the tumor, a therapy that uses electric fields tuned to specific frequencies to disrupt solid tumor cancer cell division.
On May 24, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved ruxolitinib (Jakafi) for steroid-refractory acute graft-vs-host disease (GVHD) in adult and pediatric patients 12 years and older.
In a Dutch study published by de Blok et al in The BMJ, researchers found an increased risk of breast cancer in transgender women compared with cisgender men, and a lower risk of breast cancer in transgender men than in cisgender women.
In a retrospective analysis published in European Urology, Sandler et al examined the protocol for treating aggressive prostate cancer. Researchers aimed to study the impact of whole-pelvis radiation on men with Gleason grade 5 disease who had been treated with external-beam radiotherapy with or without a brachytherapy boost.
Colorectal cancer survivors’ risk for heart attack—five times that of the average person—may be linked to the amount of fat stored within the abdomen and abdominal muscles, not to body mass index, according to a new study of 2,800 colon cancer survivor health outcomes published by Brown et al in JAMA Oncology.
In the phase III IMmotion151 trial reported in The Lancet, Rini et al found that atezolizumab plus bevacizumab prolonged progression-free survival vs sunitinib in patients with previously untreated, programmed cell death ligand 1–positive, metastatic renal cell carcinoma.
In the phase III OPTIMISMM trial, reported by Richardson et al in The Lancet Oncology, researchers found that the addition of pomalidomide to bortezomib/dexamethasone improved progression-free survival in relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma previously treated with lenalidomide.
In a Japanese phase I trial reported by Ueno et al in The Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology, researchers found nivolumab showed activity and had a manageable safety profile in patients with unresectable or recurrent biliary tract cancer.
Results from a study published by Cykert et al in The Journal of the National Medical Association show that a pragmatic system-based intervention within cancer treatment centers can nearly eliminate existing disparities in treatment and outcomes for black patients with early-stage lung and breast cancer.
Scientists have identified a genetic mutation in the tumors of some men with prostate cancer that is linked to very poor survival, and which could be used to help select certain patients for more intensive treatment. These findings were published by Abida et al in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
In a Norwegian study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Hofvind et al found that digital breast tomosynthesis (including synthetic 2D mammograms) did not perform better than standard digital mammography in a population-based breast cancer screening program.
In the phase III TRINOVA-3 trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Vergote et al found that addition of the antiangiogenic agent trebananib to carboplatin/paclitaxel did not improve progression-free survival in first-line treatment of advanced ovarian cancer.
The American Cancer Society has set a challenge goal to reduce overall cancer mortality by 40% between 2015 and 2035—a goal set by applying favorable cancer mortality trends among college graduates to the population as a whole. A report on the goal was published by Ma et al in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians.
The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) and the American Urological Association (AUA) recently announced updates to their joint clinical guideline on adjuvant and salvage radiotherapy after prostatectomy in patients with and without evidence of prostate cancer recurrence to include new published research related to adjuvant radiotherapy. The updated guideline was published by Pisansky et al in Practical Radiation Oncology.
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Olivier et al found that pediatric patients with severe sensorineural hearing loss associated with the treatment of embryonal brain tumors experienced greater reading difficulties over time.
Two phase I studies reported in The Lancet Oncology indicate activity of the antibody-drug conjugate trastuzumab deruxtecan in advanced HER2-positive gastric cancer and advanced HER2-positive breast cancer previously treated with trastuzumab emtansine.
In long-term follow-up of a phase II study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Gomez et al confirmed superior outcomes with local consolidative therapy vs maintenance therapy or observation in patients with oligometastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
According to a study published by Kacew et al in the European Journal of Cancer, copy number alterations in the chromosome 3q arm may be linked to immunotherapy response in patients with cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma. This finding and other genetic markers may prove to be useful candidates for drug targeting in combination or sequence with immunotherapy agents.
This week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted designations in relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma, adenoid cystic carcinoma, and Kaposi sarcoma; and the FDA’s Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC) held votes on treatments for tenosynovial giant cell tumor and acute myeloid leukemia.
A large study of postmenopausal women indicated that quitting cigarette smoking was associated with significantly reduced risk of bladder cancer. The most significant reduction in risk occurred in the first 10 years after quitting, with a modest but continued decline in later years. These results were published by Li et al in Cancer Prevention Research.
In a multi-institutional international analysis reported in JAMA Surgery, Merath et al found that a textbook outcome was achieved in a minority of patients undergoing curative-intent resection of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma.
In a study reported in JAMA Oncology, Hilal et al found that 17% of recent cancer drug approvals based on randomized controlled trials featured a suboptimal control arm.
In a study reported in the Journal of Oncology Practice, Hong et al found that the establishment of a cancer urgent care clinic slowed the increasing rate of visits to regional emergency departments among adults newly diagnosed with cancer.
On May 16, 2019, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved dalteparin sodium (Fragmin) to reduce the recurrence of symptomatic venous thromboembolism (VTE) in pediatric patients 1 month of age and older. This is the first FDA-approved therapy to treat VTE in pediatric patients.
Recently, the American Urological Association (AUA) released a new clinical guideline on the diagnosis and treatment of early-stage testicular cancer.
Foundational research recently published by Schrock et al in Annals of Oncology may help patients with microsatellite instability (MSI)-high metastatic colorectal cancer decide whether to choose immunotherapy or chemotherapy as their first treatment option.
As reported by Downer et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, findings from the Health Professionals Follow-up Study indicate that moderate alcohol consumption is safe for patients with prostate cancer.
In the Chinese phase III ACE trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Jiang et al found that the addition of the oral histone deacetylase inhibitor tucidinostat to exemestane improved progression-free survival in postmenopausal women with advanced hormone receptor–positive breast cancer whose disease had progressed after prior endocrine therapy.
A phase I/IB study evaluating the activity of entrectinib in children and adolescents with recurrent or refractory solid or central nervous system tumors has found that the agent produced responses in children with tumors harboring target aberrations in NTRK1/2/3, ROS1, or ALK gene fusions, as well as ALK-mutated neuroblastoma. The study will be presented by Robinson et al.
Data from the Women’s Health Initiative Dietary Modification Trial, a randomized clinical trial assessing how a low-fat diet may influence breast cancer incidence and outcome, show that the adoption of a low-fat diet containing increased portions of vegetables, fruits, and grains significantly reduces the risk of death from breast cancer in postmenopausal women. The study will be presented by Chlebowski et al.
A phase III randomized study found that lenalidomide significantly reduces the risk of smoldering multiple myeloma progressing to active disease among patients with asymptomatic high-risk smoldering multiple myeloma. The study by Lonial et al will be presented during the 2019 ASCO Annual Meeting.
A study investigating the frequency of targetable molecular alterations in pediatric cancer among patients enrolled in the National Cancer Institute/Children’s Oncology Group Pediatric Molecular Analysis for Therapy Choice (MATCH) trial has found that about one-quarter of patients with tumors submitted for screening have a targetable molecular alteration. The study by Parsons et al will be presented during the 2019 ASCO Annual Meeting.
A phase III randomized clinical study evaluating the optimum dose of a combination chemotherapy regimen of oxaliplatin and capecitabine in the treatment of advanced gastroesophageal cancer in frail and elderly patients has found that the patients prescribed the lowest dose tested experienced less toxicity and had noninferior progression-free survival compared with those patients prescribed the higher doses of the combination therapy. The study by Hall et al will be presented during the 2019 ASCO Annual Meeting.
On May 14, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved avelumab (Bavencio) in combination with axitinib (Inlyta) for the first-line treatment of patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC). This is the first FDA approval for an anti–programmed cell death ligand 1 therapy as part of a combination regimen for patients with advanced RCC.
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved venetoclax (Venclexta) in combination with obinutuzumab (Gazyva) for the treatment of people with previously untreated chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) or small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL).
A team of researchers have identified 34 genes that are associated with an increased risk for developing the earliest stages of ovarian cancer. The findings, published by Gusev et al in Nature Genetics, may help identify women who are at highest risk of developing ovarian cancer and pave the way for identifying new therapies that can target these specific genes.
Elderly survivors of breast cancer, lung cancer, and melanoma face risk of brain metastasis later in life, and may require extra surveillance in the years following initial cancer treatment, according to results of a study published by Ascha et al in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers, & Prevention.
In a phase II trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Wilky et al found evidence of activity of axitinib plus pembrolizumab in advanced sarcomas, including alveolar soft-part sarcoma.
In a study reported in JAMA Oncology, Fakhry et al found that persistent detection of tumor-type human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA after primary treatment for oral and oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinomas was associated with poorer outcomes.
In a German/Swiss phase III trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Kuemmel et al found that preoperative lymphoscintigraphy was not associated with an increased number of histologically detected sentinel lymph nodes with sentinel lymph node biopsy in women with early breast cancer.
Compared to surgery, percutaneous liver ablation interventions in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma were associated with lower in-hospital mortality, length of hospital stay, and hospitalization costs, according to a study presented by Sodagari et al at the American Roentgen Ray Society (ARRS) 2019 Annual Meeting.
Although arterial-phase hyperenhancement is a key feature of untreated or recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma, standard response assessment should be used with caution, particularly in the early phases after stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT), so as not to misinterpret treatment response. These were the results of a study presented by Mendiratta-Lala et al at the American Roentgen Ray Society (ARRS) 2019 Annual Meeting.
When appropriate, short-interval follow-up magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can be used to identify early-stage breast cancer and avoid unnecessary biopsies, according to a study presented by Lamb et al at the American Roentgen Ray Society (ARRS) 2019 Annual Meeting.
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Christensen et al found that identification of circulating tumor DNA by ultradeep sequencing of plasma cell-free DNA was highly prognostic for outcome in bladder cancer and permitted early detection of relapse.
In a single-center phase II trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Nie et al found a higher complete response rate with the addition of low-dose decitabine to the programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) inhibitor camrelizumab in anti–PD-1 treatment–naive patients with relapsed or refractory classical Hodgkin lymphoma.
On May 10, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved ramucirumab (Cyramza) as a single agent for hepatocellular carcinoma in patients who have an alpha-fetoprotein level ≥ 400 ng/mL and have been previously treated with or who are intolerant to sorafenib.
The University of Southern California Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center has launched a study to determine how financial assistance for costs associated with clinical trial participation might increase enrollment, particularly among low-income patients and racial and ethnic minorities. The study, known as Improving Patient Access to Cancer Clinical Trials (IMPACT), assesses social and cultural barriers to clinical trial participation.
A 12-year retrospective clinical study of patients who received peptide receptor radionuclide therapy (PRRT) for malignant neuroendocrine tumors demonstrated the long-term effectiveness of this treatment, which also allows patients to maintain a high quality of life. The study was published by Gabriel et al in The Journal of Nuclear Medicine.
This week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted a Fast Track designation to a treatment for CCR5-positive metastatic triple-negative breast cancer; granted Breakthrough Device designation to a test for the postsurgical detection and quantification of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA); and approved an investigational device exemption for the diagnostic assay that will be used to determine molecular eligibility for enrollment into the phase II portion of the global TRIDENT-1 clinical study studying repotrectinib in advanced solid tumors.
In a phase I trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Raje et al found that bb2121, a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy targeting B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA), was safe in patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma. Investigators reported an objective response rate of 85% (28 patients).
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Tota et al found that there has been a reduction in the increase of oropharyngeal cancer among young white men, with a high number of cases projected among older white men in coming years.
According to findings published by Drucker et al in JAMA Dermatology, patients undergoing health-care screening practices for skin cancer have a higher likelihood of being diagnosed—particularly for squamous cell and basal cell carcinomas—than those who do not.
In a research letter published in JAMA Oncology, Quach et al found that cutaneous toxicities related to anti–programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) treatment—specifically, vitiligo and rash—were associated with improved clinical outcomes in advanced melanoma.
Barbara L. McAneny, MD, President of the American Medical Association (AMA), issued a statement today on the final rule from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) requiring pricing information in direct-to-consumer television advertising of prescription drugs.
Published by Rodon et al in Nature Medicine, results of the WINTHER study showed that RNA profiling together with DNA testing matches more patients with advanced cancer to personalized therapies than DNA profiling for tumor mutations alone.
Comprehensive postoperative mastectomy home recovery programs significantly increased same-day patient discharge with no decrease in quality of care, according to two new studies presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Breast Surgeons (ASBrS).
As reported in JAMA Oncology by Jackisch et al, the final analysis of the phase III HannaH trial indicated comparable efficacy and safety of perioperative subcutaneous vs intravenous trastuzumab in ERBB2 (HER2)-positive early breast cancer.
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Lenz et al found that consensus molecular subtype of colorectal cancers was highly prognostic for outcomes in patients receiving first-line treatment for advanced disease.
In a single-center phase II trial reported in JAMA Oncology, Nguyen et al found that single-fraction stereotactic body radiotherapy was associated with improved pain relief vs conventional multifraction radiotherapy in patients with mostly nonspinal bone metastases.
Electronic cigarettes, exposure to certain environmental factors, and human papillomavirus infection may increase the risk of developing bladder cancer, according to new data presented this week at the 2019 Annual Meeting of the American Urological Association (AUA).
A breast surgery opioid prescription management program that analyzed current physician patterns and provided education and guidelines successfully reduced the volume of narcotics given postoperatively to patients at a large institution. These results were presented by Fan et al at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Breast Surgeons (ASBrS).
Nipple-sparing mastectomy complication and implant failure rates have decreased significantly since introduction of the procedure, while the patient population undergoing nipple-sparing mastectomy increasingly includes more advanced cancers and women traditionally considered at risk for postsurgical difficulties, according to a new study presented by Young et al at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Breast Surgeons (ASBrS).
In a systematic review and meta-analysis reported in JAMA Oncology, Wang et al characterized treatment-related adverse event profiles associated with monotherapy use of programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) and programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) inhibitors in clinical trials.
In the phase III GOG-252 study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Walker et al found no progression-free survival benefit of postsurgical intraperitoneal (IP) chemotherapy vs intravenous (IV) chemotherapy, each combined with bevacizumab, in patients with newly diagnosed advanced ovarian carcinoma.
Findings from a secondary analysis of the phase III OLYMPUS trial were presented by Kleinmann et al during the Plenary Session at the 2019 American Urological Association (AUA) Annual Meeting. The results showed that instillation of UGN-101, an investigational formulation of mitomycin gel, produced a 60% complete response rate in a subset of patients with endoscopically unresectable low-grade upper tract urothelial cancer.
Prostate cancer diagnosis and treatment are ever-changing, with new research showcasing different ways to identify and manage patients with the disease. Three new abstracts—highlighting how beta-blockers may impact prostate cancer risk, the advantages and disadvantages of using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to monitor men on active surveillance protocols, and the combined role of the Prostate Health Index (PHI) with MRI in prostate cancer detection—were presented at a press briefing at the 2019 American Urological Association (AUA) Annual Meeting.
Surveillance of women at risk for breast cancer–related lymphedema using bioimpedance spectroscopy was more effective in preventing lymphedema progression than traditional arm circumference measurement when each was combined with immediate compression therapy. These findings were presented by Dietrich et al at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Breast Surgeons (ASBrS).
Tumor hormonal status, possible ductal carcinoma in situ on initial biopsy, and imaging results following neoadjuvant chemotherapy may help physicians predict whether surgery might be safely eliminated for HER2-positive breast cancer that is traditionally treated aggressively. These findings were presented by Sun et al at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Breast Surgeons (ASBrS).
As reported in JAMA, Singal et al used a clinicogenomic database in routine clinical practice to identify associations between treatment outcomes and patient characteristics or tumor genomic profiles in the setting of non–small cell lung cancer.
On May 3, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved ado-trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1; Kadcyla) for the adjuvant treatment of patients with HER2-positive early breast cancer who have residual invasive disease after neoadjuvant taxane- and trastuzumab-based treatment.
The latest results from the REQUITE project, which aimed to discover what makes patients more likely to experience adverse effects after radiotherapy, have shown that a combination of biologic markers and certain genetic changes can predict radiation sensitivity. These findings were presented by Talbot et al.
A comparison of three types of radiotherapy for pediatric brain tumors suggests that a type of proton therapy called pencil-beam scanning offers the best hope of preserving cognitive functions. The study, presented by Toussaint et al, showed that this new form of radiotherapy delivers the lowest doses of radiation to the temporal lobes and hippocampus, areas of the brain that are important to functions like memory.
A single high dose of radiation that can be delivered directly to a treatment site within a few minutes is a safe and effective technique for treating men with localized, low-risk prostate cancer, according to a study presented by Tharmalingam et al at ESTRO 38, the annual congress of the European Society for Radiotherapy & Oncology (ESTRO).
In the past 2 weeks, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accepted a new drug application and granted Priority Review for a prostate cancer treatment, granted Orphan Drug designation to a treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukemia, accepted an investigational new drug application for a product targeting HER2-positive solid tumors, lifted a partial clinical hold on a phase I trial in acute myeloid leukemia, and announced a forthcoming public meeting on higher-dose opioid analgesics.
In a study reported in the Journal of Oncology Practice, Albright et al found that treat-and-release emergency department use by patients with gynecologic cancers has increased in recent years, with an increase in total cost in this population but not in average visit cost.
On May 2, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) expanded its approval of ivosidenib (Tibsovo) to include newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with a susceptible IDH1 mutation, as detected by an FDA-approved test, in patients who are at least 75 years old or who have comorbidities that preclude the use of intensive induction chemotherapy. The drug was previously approved in adult patients with relapsed or refractory AML.
Patients with advanced Hodgkin lymphoma with bulky lesions at the time of diagnosis may benefit from radiotherapy after ABVD chemotherapy (which includes doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine), according to late-breaking results presented by Ricardi et al at ESTRO 38, the annual congress of the European Society for Radiotherapy & Oncology (ESTRO)
Women with early-stage, low-risk, hormone receptor–positive breast cancer may be less likely to experience disease recurrence if they have radiotherapy after surgery as well as antihormonal treatment, according to results from a trial that has followed 869 women for 10 years. These findings were presented by Fastner et al at ESTRO 38, the annual congress of the European Society for Radiotherapy & Oncology (ESTRO)
Patients with mesothelioma are twice as likely to survive for 2 years or longer if they are treated with a high dose of radiation to the affected side of the trunk, according to research presented by Minatel et al at ESTRO 38, the annual congress of the European Society for Radiotherapy & Oncology (ESTRO).
In a study reported in JAMA Oncology, Jairam et al found that emergency department visits for complications of systemic therapy or radiotherapy in patients with cancer increased at a 5.5-fold higher rate over 10 years compared with overall emergency department visits.
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Randall et al, the phase III Gynecologic Oncology Group-0249 trial showed similar outcomes with adjuvant pelvic radiation therapy vs vaginal brachytherapy plus paclitaxel/carboplatin in high-intermediate and high-risk early-stage endometrial cancer.
In the phase III IMblaze370 trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Eng et al found no survival benefit with third-line atezolizumab with or without cobimetinib vs regorafenib in patients with locally advanced or metastatic colorectal cancer.
Continuous chemotherapy showed greater benefit in patients with advanced breast cancer by both improving survival and maintaining quality of life compared to intermittent scheduling, according to analyses of the Stop&Go study presented by Erdkamp et al and Claessens et al at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Breast Cancer Congress 2019.
De-escalation approaches in the treatment of women with HER2-positive breast cancer need to be personalized, according to new findings from the PERNETTA trial, which examined a de-escalation strategy omitting chemotherapy in the first-line treatment of HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer. These findings were presented by Huober et al at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Breast Cancer Congress 2019.
A study examining trends in patient-reported physician-patient discussions about lung cancer screening and the association of these discussions with smokers’ attempts to quit and intent to quit has found that discussions about screening have declined since 2012. These findings were published by Huo et al in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.
In an analysis from a Children’s Oncology Group phase III trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Katzenstein et al found that minimal adjuvant chemotherapy with two cycles of cisplatin, fluorouracil, and vincristine was associated with disease control in pediatric patients with hepatoblastoma resected at diagnosis.
In an article published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Sharman et al provided long-term findings of a phase III trial that examined the addition of idelalisib to rituximab in relapsed chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), including findings from an extension phase of idelalisib monotherapy.
Breast cancer in young women is characterized by more aggressive biologic features as compared to older patients, but outcomes are good when guideline-recommended treatments are given. European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) spokesperson Matteo Lambertini, MD, PhD, of IRCCS Policlinico San Martino Hospital–University of Genoa, Italy, concluded this when commenting on the results of two studies to be presented during the ESMO Breast Cancer Congress 2019.
Although tools like the ESPEN guidelines on nutrition for patients with cancer have helped to standardize practices in this area of patient care, scientific evidence on the efficacy of nutritional intervention among patients with breast cancer is still scarce. Preliminary results from a study to be presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Breast Cancer Congress documented the follow-up of 204 patients with early-stage breast cancer who received dietary guidelines from a nutritionist shortly after their initial diagnosis.
A global survey of HER2 testing has raised questions about how resources should be spent on potentially lifesaving HER2-targeted therapies for breast cancer, especially in lower-income countries. These results will be presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Breast Cancer Congress 2019.
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Davis et al, outcomes in the osteosarcoma cohort of the phase II SARC024 trial indicated a progression-free survival benefit with regorafenib vs placebo in previously treated metastatic osteosarcoma.
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Fizazi et al, the final overall survival analysis in the phase III LATITUDE trial has shown a significant benefit with the addition of abiraterone acetate plus prednisone to androgen-deprivation therapy in newly diagnosed, high-risk, metastatic, castration-sensitive prostate cancer.
A new study analyzing the entire set of genes and all the proteins produced by colon cancer tissues from patient samples has revealed a more comprehensive view of the tumor, pointing to novel cancer biologic mechanisms and possible new therapeutic strategies. This multidisciplinary and multi-institutional study—published by Vasaikar et al in the journal Cell—strongly supports the comprehensive characterization of tumor tissues as a means to guiding further research, which could lead to early diagnostic strategies and new treatments.
Cognitive impairment associated with cancer—also known as “chemobrain”—has gained recognition as a complication of the disease and its treatment. With this in mind, a research team started to investigate levels of biomarkers in relation to chemobrain to better understand its cause. Their findings were published by Toh et al in Pharmacotherapy: The Journal of Human Pharmacology and Drug Therapy.
A systematic review with meta-analyses to summarize current knowledge on prognostic factors for invasive disease after a diagnosis of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) has found that among 26 prognostic factors, 6 were associated with a 36% to 84% increase in the relative risk of progression to invasive disease. The study by Visser et al was published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.
In an interim analysis of the phase III NEJ026 trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Saito et al found that the addition of bevacizumab to erlotinib improved progression-free survival in patients with EGFR-positive, nonsquamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Bustoros et al developed a model for predicting risk of progression from asymptomatic Waldenström’s macroglobulinemia to symptomatic disease requiring treatment.
In a Scandinavian study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Albertsen et al found that use of intermittent vs intensive pegylated (PEG)-asparaginase was associated with similar efficacy and reduced asparaginase-related toxicity in pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
In a phase II trial reported in JAMA Oncology, Shroff et al found that the addition of nab-paclitaxel to standard gemcitabine and cisplatin resulted in promising outcomes in patients with unresectable locally advanced or metastatic biliary tract cancers.
In light of the launch of his campaign for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, former Vice President Joe Biden and Dr. Jill Biden announced that they are stepping down as Co-Chairs of the Biden Cancer Initiative. They are also resigning from the Board of Directors.
On April 25, Eli Lilly and Company announced that the company has been working to facilitate the withdrawal of olaratumab from the market for the treatment of advanced soft-tissue sarcoma. Lilly's actions to withdraw olaratumab from the market follow completion of the international phase III ANNOUNCE clinical trial, in which the drug failed to improve survival for patients. Lilly is establishing a program to ensure current patients will have access to olaratumab with limited interruption after it is withdrawn from the market, as allowed by local country regulations.
Earlier this week, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed to improve the reimbursement currently given to hospitals that provide chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell (CAR-T) therapy to patients with blood cancer as part of the Fiscal Year 2020 Inpatient Prospective Payment System proposed rule. American Society of Hematology (ASH) President Roy Silverstein, MD, commented on the news.
A certain type of DNA marker may predict poor outcomes in multiple myeloma. The marker is a particular rearrangement of chromosomes that is rarely tested for but may indicate resistance to immunomodulatory drugs such as lenalidomide, which have become standard therapies in multiple myeloma. The results were published by Barwick et al in Nature Communications.
Immunosuppressed patients seem to have an increased risk of poor outcomes with multiple squamous cell carcinomas compared with those who are immunocompetent. Results of a single-center case-control study were published in a research letter by Gonzalez et al in JAMA Dermatology.
A new study suggests that Oncotype DX–guided treatment could reduce the cost for the first year of breast cancer care in the United States by about $50 million (about 2% of the overall costs in the first year). These findings were published by Mariotto et al in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
In a study reported in JAMA Oncology, Mak et al found that a crowd innovation contest produced automated artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms “that replicated the skills of a highly trained physician” in segmenting lung tumors for radiotherapy targeting.
In an Italian phase III study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, DeCensi et al found that tamoxifen at 5 mg/d vs placebo for 3 years reduced the risk of recurrence of breast intraepithelial neoplasia and was associated with limited toxicity.
Results of a small clinical trial suggest that supplementing chemotherapy with high doses of vitamin D may benefit patients with metastatic colorectal cancer by delaying progression of the disease. These findings were published by Ng et al in JAMA.
Previous research has suggested that specific factors about the doctor performing colonoscopy were associated with different rates of detection of precancerous polyps. However, findings published by Sarvepelli et al in JAMA Surgery reported that those previously described differences among endoscopists are not true. Adjusting for a myriad of both patient- and doctor-related factors not previously accounted for, researchers concluded that the previously cited differences disappeared in adenoma detection based on the endoscopist features—except when it comes to the detection of sessile serrated polyps.
In a phase III trial reported in JAMA, Sio et al found that doxepin mouthwash and diphenhydramine/idocaine/antacid mouthwash reduced oral mucositis pain for the first 4 hours after administration in patients with oral mucositis pain from head and neck radiotherapy, but the reduction failed to meet the standard for minimal clinically important difference.
Results of the phase II SABR-COMET trial reported by Palma et al in The Lancet indicate that stereotactic ablative radiotherapy was associated with improved survival vs standard palliative treatment in patients with oligometastatic cancers, although it was also associated with treatment-related deaths.
In the German phase II/III FLOT4 trial reported in The Lancet, Al-Batran et al found that perioperative therapy with the docetaxel-based triplet FLOT (fluorouracil [5-FU]/leucovorin, oxaliplatin, and docetaxel) was associated with improved overall survival vs ECF/ECX (epirubicin and cisplatin plus either 5-FU or capecitabine) in patients with resectable locally advanced gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma.
Dietary intake of fat is associated with several types of cancer, but few studies have explored the link between fat intake and the risk of skin cancer. In a study published by Park et al in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, researchers examined the relationship between fat intake and the development of several kinds of skin cancer.
On April 19, 2019, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved pembrolizumab (Keytruda) plus axitinib for the first-line treatment of patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma.
A new study reports that a type of cervical cancer that is less amenable to detection by Papanicolaou testing is increasing in several subpopulations of women. The study was published by Islami et al in Preventive Medicine.
A study by Xu et al in Clinical Cancer Research evaluating deep-learning networks that analyze time-series computed tomography images of patients with locally advanced non–small cell lung cancer has found these networks can integrate imaging scans at multiple time points to improve clinical outcome predictions.
As reported in The Lancet by Mok et al, the KEYNOTE-042 trial has shown an improvement in overall survival with pembrolizumab vs standard chemotherapy in previously untreated patients with locally advanced or metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) without a sensitizing EGFR mutation or ALK translocation who have a programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) tumor proportion score ≥ 1%.
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Bartlett et al, front-line DA-EPOCH-R (dose-adjusted etoposide, prednisone, vincristine, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, and rituximab) did not improve outcomes vs standard R-CHOP (rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone) in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.
Over the past week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted several Fast Track and Orphan Drug designations to treatments for myelodysplastic syndromes, triple-negative breast cancer, acute myeloid leukemia (AML), and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-associated cancers.
A consortium of researchers has completed an analysis of a new gene fusion they believe is responsible for the development of a wide spectrum of cancer types. According to the investigators, their studies show that errant gene fusions in neuregulin-1 (NRG1), which are present in about 0.2% of cancers, may be targeted with existing agents or novel treatments. These findings were published by Jonna et al in Clinical Cancer Research.
In a Canadian phase II trial reported in JAMA Oncology, Kennedy et al found a low rate of positive circumferential resection margins after primary surgery in patients with rectal cancer considered to have a ‘good prognosis’ based on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) criteria.
In an analysis of the phase III UK Myeloma X trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Ahmedzai et al found that patient-reported outcomes tended to be worse with salvage autologous stem cell transplantation vs nontransplantation consolidation in relapsed multiple myeloma.
A new study found wide state-to-state variations in Medicaid reimbursements to physicians who treat patients with cancer with radiation therapies. These differences could compound existing disparities in access to health care in rural communities, which tend to have higher Medicaid coverage rates than metropolitan areas. The study was published by Agarwal et al in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology • Biology • Physics.
In a recent study focusing on patients with cancer and cancer survivors, one-third of patient participants reported use of complementary and alternative medicines such as meditation, yoga, acupuncture, herbal medicine, and supplements. These findings were published by Sanford et al in JAMA Oncology.
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Chung et al, the phase II KEYNOTE-158 trial showed activity of pembrolizumab in previously treated programmed cell death ligand-1 (PD-L1)-positive advanced cervical cancer. The study supported the 2018 accelerated approval of pembrolizumab in this setting.
In a long-term follow-up of the Swedish Breast Cancer Group 91 Radiotherapy trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Kovács et al found that higher levels of stromal tumor–infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) and receipt of radiotherapy were independently associated with reduced risk of ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence, with radiotherapy appearing to be of benefit in patients with low TIL levels.
In the phase III REMoDL-B trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Davies et al found that the addition of bortezomib to standard R-CHOP (rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisolone) did not improve progression-free survival subtypes of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) identified with gene-expression profiling.
ASCO and the American Society of Hematology (ASH) have released an update to existing guidelines for the use of erythropoiesis-stimulating agents to manage anemia in patients with cancer. The update was simultaneously published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology and Blood Advances.
A study by Bauman et al in JNCCN—Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network found that patients who kept ice chips in their mouths—what the study authors called “oral cryotherapy”—during oxaliplatin infusions reported less trouble with eating and drinking cold things, less trouble eating and drinking overall, fewer negative effects on quality of life due to oral symptoms, and a shorter duration of oral symptoms.
Results of a study published by Stearns et al in JAMA Network Open demonstrated a reduction in health-care utilization and cost for patients with cancer-related pain using targeted drug delivery and conventional medical management vs conventional medical management alone.
Some patients who died within 1 month of being newly diagnosed with metastatic cancer in the United States received ineffective surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and hormonal therapy, according to a new study published by Sineshaw et al in JNCI Cancer Spectrum.
In a study reported in JAMA Surgery, Dimitrakopoulos et al found two single nucleotide polymorphisms in noncoding, functional regions of genes that regulate cancer progression. They were associated with survival after resection of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Tolaney et al, 7-year follow-up of a phase II trial showed that adjuvant paclitaxel and trastuzumab were associated with “excellent” outcomes in women with small, node-negative HER2-positive breast cancer.
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Kurian et al found that approximately one-quarter of women with breast cancer and one-third of those with ovarian cancer underwent cancer genetic testing, and that 8% to 15% of those tested had actionable pathogenic variants.
The Conquer Cancer Foundation of ASCO has announced the recipients of its 2019 ASCO Annual Meeting Merit Awards. These distinguished awards support oncology trainees who are first authors on abstracts selected for presentation at the ASCO Annual Meeting.
In a single-center phase II study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Tchekmedyian et al found that the multitargeted tyrosine kinase inhibitor lenvatinib was active in progressive recurrent or metastatic adenoid cystic carcinoma.
A new study has found that rising rates of liver cancer deaths in the United States have largely been confined to individuals who have received less education—especially among men. Published by Ma et al in Cancer, the findings emphasize the need for enhanced efforts to address the growing burden of liver cancer in lower socioeconomic groups.
Recent research suggests that remotely delivering rehabilitation services to patients with advanced cancer may improve their physical function, pain, and quality of life, while allowing them to spend less time in hospitals and nursing homes. These findings were published by Cheville et al in JAMA Oncology.
In a study reported in JAMA Network Open, Warren et al quantified incremental costs of first-line cancer treatment failure attributable to continued smoking in patients with cancer.
The newest study of America’s radiation oncologist workforce finds that gender and racial gaps have narrowed slightly, although persistent and growing geographic disparities point to a need for more equity in access to radiation therapy care. The survey found that fewer radiation oncologists are practicing in rural communities, and that these doctors are more likely to retire in the coming years. Results of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) 2017 Radiation Oncologist Workforce Study were published by Fung et al in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology • Biology • Physics.
The latest edition of the American Cancer Society’s (ACS) review on recent cancer prevention and early detection efforts has found that although many strategies have been proven to reduce cancer risk, their application has been suboptimal in the United States, especially in socioeconomically deprived populations. The review provides a comprehensive overview of major cancer risk factors and screening utilization. It was published by Goding Sauer et al in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention and accompanies the ACS’s biennial report, Cancer Prevention and Early Detection Facts & Figures.
In a study reported in JAMA Oncology, Lee et al found that an aerobic and resistance exercise intervention reduced Framingham Risk Scores for cardiovascular disease among overweight or obese women with early-stage breast cancer.
In a phase I/II study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Bezjak et al found that five-fraction stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) was associated with relatively low rates of serious treatment-related toxicity and good outcomes in patients with centrally located, medically inoperable non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
In a phase II trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Moore et al found that niraparib was active in fourth- or later-line treatment of ovarian cancer, particularly in patients with homologous recombination deficiency–positive, platinum-sensitive disease.
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to erdafitinib (Balversa) for patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma with susceptible FGFR3 or FGFR2 genetic alterations that has progressed during or following platinum-containing chemotherapy, including within 12 months of neoadjuvant or adjuvant platinum-containing chemotherapy.
Over the past week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted a Fast Track designation to a treatment for metastatic uveal melanoma and received a biologics application for an agent to control anemia.
A newly published Mayo Clinic study has found that a presurgery treatment plan for patients with borderline/locally advanced pancreatic cancer undergoing total neoadjuvant therapy may improve outcomes. The findings were published by Truty et al in Annals of Surgery.
In a Chinese phase III trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Chen et al found that paclitaxel plus fluorouracil did not significantly prolong overall survival vs standard cisplatin plus fluorouracil in definitive concurrent chemoradiotherapy for locally advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.
In a phase III trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Bayman et al found that prophylactic radiotherapy to the chest wall after diagnostic or therapeutic procedures did not reduce the risk of chest wall metastases in patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma.
In a study reported in a research letter in JAMA Oncology, Chua et al found that opioid-related hospitalizations among American patients with cancer are rare, increasing at a very low rate, and consist mostly of hospitalization for nonheroin opioid poisoning.
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved pembrolizumab (Keytruda) for the first-line treatment of patients with stage III non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who are not candidates for surgical resection or definitive chemoradiation, or those with metastatic NSCLC. Patients’ tumors must have no EGFR or ALK genomic aberrations and express programmed cell death ligand 1 (tumor proportion score ≥1%), as determined by an FDA-approved test.
Yesterday at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, ASCO announced a new task force aimed at reducing disparities and improving outcomes for patients and survivors of cancer who live in rural communities. The new Rural Cancer Care Task Force will identify opportunities to close the care gap and implement strategies to improve rural cancer care in the United States.
Maintenance immunotherapy did not improve survival in patients with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer (SCLC), according to late-breaking results from the CheckMate 451 study presented today by Owonikoko et al at the European Lung Cancer Congress 2019.
Two studies reported at the European Lung Cancer Congress (ELCC) 2019 provided new insights on the efficacy and safety of immunotherapy in elderly patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
Two nonprofit organizations serving the lung cancer community—the Bonnie J. Addario Lung Cancer Foundation and Lung Cancer Alliance—have announced they are joining forces as the GO2 Foundation for Lung Cancer.
In a study reported in the Journal of Oncology Practice, Singer et al found that a quality improvement initiative was successful in increasing a radiation oncology department’s efforts in encouraging patients with cancer to cease tobacco use prior to radiation therapy.
In a study reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Kim et al found that higher levels of stromal tumor–infiltrating lymphocytes were associated with better outcomes in patients receiving adjuvant chemotherapy or trastuzumab plus chemotherapy for early-stage HER2-positive breast cancer in the NRG Oncology/NSABP B-31 trial, but were not associated with the degree of trastuzumab benefit in the trial.
In the phase III PHOENIX trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Younes et al found that the addition of ibrutinib to R-CHOP (rituximab plus cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone) did not improve outcomes in patients with untreated non–germinal center B-cell diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). Benefits were observed in patients younger than 60 years old.
ASCO, the American Society of Hematology, and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network® are pleased to acknowledge receipt of a key clarification from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on prescribing opioids to manage pain from certain conditions. The clarification comes as a result of a collaborative effort by these organizations to clarify the CDC’s opioid prescribing guideline in order to ensure safe and appropriate access for patients with cancer, cancer survivors, and individuals with sickle cell disease.
In a Korean study by Roh et al presented at the World Congress on Advanced Treatments and Technologies in Skin Cancer (Skin Cancer 2019), researchers aimed to analyze clinical risk factors for recurrence and investigate the role of MFN-2 as a predictive biomarker for cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma recurrence after treatment with Mohs surgery.
A study presented by Kis et al at the World Congress on Advanced Treatments and Technologies in Skin Cancer (Skin Cancer 2019) aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of treatment with electrochemotherapy for locally advanced primary and recurrent eyelid-periocular basal cell carcinomas.
Researchers combined reflectance confocal microscopy and optical coherence tomography within the same instrument to achieve comprehensive three-dimensional skin imaging in vivo. Findings on this screening strategy were presented by Iftimia et al at the World Congress on Advanced Treatments and Technologies in Skin Cancer (Skin Cancer 2019).
Average-risk women between the ages of 50 and 74 years who have no symptoms for breast cancer should undergo breast cancer screening with mammography every other year, the American College of Physicians has recommended in a new evidence-based guidance statement published by Qaseem et al in Annals of Internal Medicine.
In the phase III BILCAP trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Primrose et al found evidence that adjuvant capecitabine may improve overall survival vs observation following surgery for patients with resected biliary tract cancer.
In a study reported in JAMA Oncology, Mor et al found that veterans with advanced lung cancer treated in Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Centers with high hospice use were more likely to receive concurrent cancer care but less likely to receive aggressive care. Moreover, veterans treated at facilities with high levels of hospice use also incurred lower costs of care.
This week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted designations for treatments for recurrent glioblastoma, neurofibromatosis type 1 and plexiform neurofibromas, multiple myeloma, and relapsed or refractory FLT3-ITD acute myeloid leukemia (AML).
A new study reveals that preventive medications—such as those to lower blood pressure or cholesterol, or to protect bone health, among others—are commonly prescribed during the last year of life of older adults with cancer, even though they are unlikely to provide meaningful benefits. Published by Morin et al in Cancer, the findings point to the need for efforts to reduce the burden of drugs with limited clinical benefit near the end of life.
In a study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Schadendorf et al found no difference in patient-reported outcomes with adjuvant dabrafenib plus trametinib vs placebo in patients with resected BRAF V600E– or BRAF V600K–mutant stage III melanoma.
As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Mehta et al, the final overall survival results of the phase III SWOG S0226 trial show that the addition of first-line fulvestrant to anastrozole was associated with improved overall survival in postmenopausal women with hormone receptor–positive metastatic breast cancer.
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) extended the indication of palbociclib (Ibrance) capsules in combination with specific endocrine therapies for hormone receptor (HR)-positive, HER2-negative advanced or metastatic breast cancer to include male patients.
The experimental oncolytic adenovirus telomelysin in combination with radiotherapy was safe and showed early clinical efficacy in vulnerable patients with esophageal cancer, according to results from a phase I clinical trial presented by Fujiwara et al.
Findings presented by Mongiovi et al showed that the protective benefit of oral contraceptives against ovarian cancer is most pronounced with the most aggressive and fatal subtypes of the disease.
Hyman et al reported on the safety and efficacy of an investigational tropomyosin kinase (TRK) inhibitor, called LOXO-195, in patients with solid tumors that harbored NTRK gene fusions and were resistant to other TRK-targeted therapies. Results of the phase I study were presented at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting.
In an interim analysis of a phase II study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Makker et al found that lenvatinib plus pembrolizumab was active in advanced endometrial cancer.
In the phase III AUGMENT trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Leonard et al found that the addition of lenalidomide to rituximab significantly prolonged progression-free survival in patients with relapsed or refractory indolent lymphoma.
A study by Kim et al in the Journal of Palliative Medicine found people with cancer and people without cancer used different dosages of medical cannabis formulations with varying ratios of tetrahydrocannabinol and cannabidiol.
Surgery was associated with higher survival rates for patients with HER2-positive stage IV breast cancer compared with those who did not undergo surgery, according to results presented by Mudgway et al.
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Dieckmann et al found that serum levels of microRNA-371a-3p showed very high accuracy for detecting testicular germ cell tumors.
As reported in JAMA Oncology by Sun et al, prophylactic cranial irradiation was associated with a reduced incidence of brain metastases and improved disease-free survival—but not overall survival—compared with observation in patients with locally advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
Maintenance treatment with the PARP inhibitor rucaparib was well tolerated and showed activity among patients with advanced BRCA- or PALB2-mutated pancreatic cancer sensitive to platinum-based chemotherapy, according to results from an interim analysis of an ongoing phase II clinical trial presented by Reiss Binder et al.
New research presented by Gu et al found that administering radiation treatments in the morning as opposed to later in the day may significantly reduce the severity of mucositis and its related impacts in patients with head and neck cancer.
Although the pool of registered bone marrow donors has increased in recent years, a new study suggests that most patients of southern European and non-European descent are unlikely to have a suitable match if they need a bone marrow transplant. If an immediate registry search does not identify a donor, alternative transplant strategies should be considered, according to a study published by Barker et al in Blood Advances.
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Van Cutsem et al, treatment with encorafenib, binimetinib, and cetuximab in BRAF V600E–mutant metastatic colorectal cancer was associated with a manageable safety profile and evidence of activity.
In a study reported in the Journal of Oncology Practice, Williams et al found that items in geriatric assessment were significantly predictive of hospitalization frequency and long-term care use among older cancer survivors.
A combination of the experimental histone deacetylase inhibitor entinostat with the programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) inhibitor pembrolizumab showed clinical responses in patients with melanoma that had progressed on prior anti–PD-1 treatment, according to results from the phase Ib/II ENCORE 601 trial presented by Sullivan et al.
A higher body mass index (BMI) before age 50 may be more strongly associated with pancreatic cancer mortality risk than excess weight at older age, according to the results of a study presented by Jacobs et al.
Treatment with the FLT3-targeted therapeutic gilteritinib improved survival for patients with relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML) harboring an FLT3 mutation compared with standard chemotherapy regimens, according to results from the phase III ADMIRAL trial presented by Perl et al.
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Abe et al found previously unidentified deleterious germline mutations in patients with family history as the basis for pancreatic surveillance. Moreover, the study showed the risk of pancreatic cancer was higher in individuals with germline mutations vs those meeting family history criteria for surveillance without known mutations.
An interim analysis of a small phase Ib study by O’Hara et al evaluating the CD40 agonistic monoclonal antibody APX005M in combination with gemcitabine and nab-paclitaxel with or without nivolumab in untreated patients with metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma has found that the therapy caused tumors to shrink in 20 of 24 evaluable patients in the trial.
An analysis of pooled data from the phase Ib KEYNOTE-028 trial and the phase II KEYNOTE-158 study presented by Chung et al found that pembrolizumab provided antitumor activity with durable responses in pretreated patients with advanced small cell lung cancer. In the analysis, 9 of 16 responders to the therapy achieved responses lasting at least 18 months, and there were no unexpected toxicities from pembrolizumab.
A small phase I study by Navai et al presented at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting investigated a combination of lymphodepletion chemotherapy and HER2-specific chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy for pediatric and adult patients with advanced HER2-positive sarcoma. The researchers found that the therapy is well tolerated and provided objective clinical benefit in some patients with the disease.
This week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced policy changes to modernize mammography policies and issued a Breakthrough Therapy designation, an Orphan Drug designation, and an investigational new drug application.
The FDA Oncology Center of Excellence (OCE) has issued its 2018 Annual Report, including updates on regulatory reviews and initiatives, OCE programs, guidances, and more.
In a phase Ib/II trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Wei et al found that the combination of venetoclax and low-dose cytarabine produced a high response rate in previously untreated older patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) who were ineligible for intensive chemotherapy.
In a Japanese retrospective study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Mohamad et al found that carbon ion radiotherapy was associated with a lower risk of subsequent primary cancers compared with photon radiotherapy in patients with localized prostate cancer.
The members of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) have elected Antoni Ribas, MD, PhD, as their President-Elect for 2019–2020. He will officially become President-Elect at the AACR Annual Meeting 2019 and he will assume the presidency at the AACR Annual Meeting 2020.
Keratinocyte carcinoma, previously known as nonmelanoma skin cancer, is the most common malignancy in fair-skinned populations worldwide. In a review article published in Current Opinion in Pharmacology, Alexander Zink, MD, MPH, PhD, of the Technical University of Munich, proposed that artificial intelligence, nudging, and wearables may help to reduce the economic burden of keratinocyte carcinoma by improving preventive measures.
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Shaw et al found that lorlatinib showed greater efficacy in patients with vs without anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) resistance mutations among patients with advanced ALK-positive non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in whom one or more second-generation ALK tyrosine kinase inhibitors failed.
In a study reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Dessinioti et al found that thin nodular primary melanomas are associated with aggressive characteristics that may portend poorer prognosis vs superficial spreading melanomas.
Researchers have shown that selectively destroying cancerous prostate tissue may be as effective as complete prostate removal or radiation therapy, while preserving more sexual and urinary function than these other treatments. The study was published by Wasler et al in the Journal of Vascular and Interventional Radiology.
Fewer women are assigned to a dense-breast category when evaluated with advanced mammographic screening technologies compared to standard digital mammography, according to a new study published by Gastounioti et al in Radiology.
In a study reported in the Journal of Oncology Practice, Radhakrishnan et al found that the level of involvement of medical oncologists and primary care physicians during initial cancer care in women with early-stage breast cancer affected patients’ preference for provider roles after initial treatment.
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Rosenthal et al, the phase III NRG Oncology RTOG 0521 trial showed that the addition of docetaxel to androgen suppression and radiotherapy improved overall and disease-free survival as well as the distant metastasis rate in patients with high-risk localized prostate cancer.
New research published by Dinan et al in JNCCN—Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network provides evidence that genomic recurrence score testing using the 21-gene assay is associated with decreased cancer care costs in real-world practice among certain patients with breast cancer who would otherwise receive standard chemotherapy.
A new method of determining the sequence of molecules in DNA can be used to detect small fragments of cancerous genetic material in blood samples from patients with lung cancer with a high degree of accuracy, according research published by Li et al in Annals of Oncology.
In a retrospective cohort study reported in JAMA Oncology, Cagney et al found that pachymeningeal seeding was fairly common after neurosurgical resection in patients with brain metastases treated with adjuvant stereotactic radiation.
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Meric-Bernstam et al, the combination of pertuzumab and trastuzumab showed activity in HER2-amplified metastatic colorectal cancer in the phase IIa multiple basket study MyPathway.
A treatment previously shown to treat the precancerous skin lesions called actinic keratosis now appears to also reduce the chance that these pretreated lesions will develop into squamous cell carcinoma. In a report published by Rosenberg et al in JCI Insight, researchers found that treatment with the combination of a topical chemotherapy and an immune system–activating compound reduced the risk of squamous cell carcinoma development on the face and scalp by almost 75%.
This week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) posted a safety statement on the use of investigational venetoclax in multiple myeloma, and also posted a warning letter against a company for illegally marketing unapproved products labeled as homeopathic.
In a study reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Rodriguez-Ruiz et al found that a stand-alone artificial intelligence system had accuracy comparable to an average breast radiologist in detecting breast cancer using digital mammography.
As reported by Bates et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, an analysis from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study indicated that radiation doses in conjunction with heart volume exposed to radiation and anthracycline treatment were associated with increased risk of late-onset cardiac disease in childhood cancer survivors.
In a Danish study reported in JAMA Surgery, Jørgensen et al found that the nationwide introduction of minimally invasive robotic surgery for early-stage endometrial cancer was associated with a reduction in the incidence of severe complications.
In a validation study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Terry et al found that the Breast and Ovarian Analysis of Disease Incidence and Carrier Estimation Algorithm model and the International Breast Cancer Intervention Study model were the best of 4 models tested for predicting 10-year breast cancer risk.
In an analysis of the phase III CALGB/SWOG 80405 trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Innocenti et al found that tumor mutational burden and microsatellite instability status affected overall survival in patients receiving first-line chemotherapy plus bevacizumab or cetuximab for metastatic colorectal cancer.
A study among epithelial ovarian cancer survivors from 25 cooperative Gynecologic Cancer Intergroup centers in France showed similar quality of life compared to healthy controls who were randomly selected from the electoral rolls, but persistent long-term fatigue. The researchers found depression, neuropathy, and sleep disturbance as the main conditions associated with severe long-term fatigue. These findings were published by Joly et al in Annals of Oncology.
A study of over 64,000 women of childbearing age in the United States has found that infertility is associated with a higher risk of developing cancer compared to a group of over 3 million women without fertility problems—although the absolute risk is very low, at just 2%. These findings were published by Murugappan et al in Human Reproduction.
A new study published by Zarrinpar et al in Liver International has found that elderly, diabetic, and Hispanic patients with steatohepatitis may have a higher risk of developing liver cancer.
As reported in the Journal of Oncology Practice by Anderson et al, a study of patients enrolled in Minnesota’s Medical Cannabis Program showed that the use of medical cannabis was associated with improvement in reported symptoms in patients with cancer.
In a phase II trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Freedman and colleagues found that the combination of neratinib and capecitabine was active against brain metastases in women with HER2-positive breast cancer.
In the PROPHECY study, reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Armstrong et al found that positive findings on 2 assays for circulating tumor cell androgen receptor splice variant 7 (AR-V7) were associated with poorer outcomes for abiraterone and enzalutamide therapy in men with high-risk metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.
Researchers have found the lower risk of breast cancer associated with multiple pregnancies and breastfeeding in the general population extends to those at the highest risk of breast cancer. These results were published by Terry et al in the JNCI Cancer Spectrum.
Data from post hoc exploratory analyses from the phase III ARIEL3 clinical study of rucaparib in recurrent ovarian cancer was presented during oral plenary and poster sessions at the Society of Gynecologic Oncology’s (SGO) 50th Annual Meeting on Women’s Cancer. These analyses highlighted ARIEL3 results in different patient demographics, including age and deleterious germline mutation status.
Results from a clinical trial presented by Cibula et al at the Society of Gynecologic Oncology’s (SGO) 50th Annual Meeting on Women’s Cancer showed that a new immunotherapy treatment significantly prolongs survival in women with recurrent ovarian cancer when added to standard chemotherapy.
A recent National Cancer Database study has shown the current standard of care for advanced cervical cancer—external-beam radiation and chemotherapy in combination with brachytherapy—provides significantly higher overall survival over chemoradiation alone. However, the addition of brachytherapy has declined in the United States since the 1980s, and racial disparity exists among women being treated for locally advanced cervical cancer. These findings were presented by Korenaga et al at the Society of Gynecologic Oncology’s (SGO) 50th Annual Meeting on Women’s Cancer.
Findings from a recent clinical trial presented in a Scientific Plenary session at the Society of Gynecologic Oncology’s (SGO) 50th Annual Meeting on Women’s Cancer revealed that women with recurrent ovarian cancer who received niraparib as maintenance therapy experienced more time without certain side effects than those who received placebo.
A study by Pierce et al presented at the Society of Gynecologic Oncology’s (SGO) 50th Annual Meeting on Women’s Cancer showed that human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination rates in Alabama are highest in counties with high incidence rates of HPV-related cancer.
On March 18, 2019, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved atezolizumab (Tecentriq) in combination with carboplatin and etoposide for the first-line treatment of adult patients with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer.
Researchers have shown that testosterone replacement may slow the recurrence of prostate cancer in low-risk patients. Findings from the study were presented by Towe et al at the European Association of Urology 2019 Congress.
New research has shown that experiencing menopause before the age of 45 is associated with a higher risk of bladder cancer; this higher risk was even more notable in smokers. The study, which looked at health outcomes in more than 220,000 patients, was presented by Abufaraj et al at the European Association of Urology (EAU) 2019 Congress.
A new approach to cancer follow-up care is required to meet the needs of the growing population of cancer survivors in the United States, while also addressing provider shortages and rising costs, according to a new multiagency report. The report—published by Alfano et al in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians—outlines national strategies to develop and implement care that addresses these issues by treating patients in personalized pathways based on the type and level of resources needed for their long-term care.
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Salz et al found that chronic opioid use varied by cancer type among older cancer survivors. By 6 years after diagnosis, survivors were no more likely to be chronic opioid users compared with controls with no history of cancer, partly reflecting increased chronic use among control group patients.
As reported in the Journal of Oncology Practice by Regnante et al, the National Minority Quality Forum and Sustainable Healthy Communities Diverse Cancer Communities Working Group identified strategies employed by U.S. Cancer Centers of Excellence that have resulted in increased inclusion of racial and ethnic minority groups in clinical trials.
In a Korean study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Chae et al found that 16α-[18F]fluoro-17β-oestradiol (18F-FES) positron-emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) may permit accurate reevaluation of estrogen receptor status in recurrent or metastatic breast cancer when repeat biopsy is not feasible.
In the past week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a companion diagnostic assay, granted Breakthrough Device and Breakthrough Therapy designations, and extended the review period of a proposed treatment. The agency also published four draft guidances and one final guidance regarding cancer trial eligibility criteria.
The incidence of nonmelanoma skin cancer may be more common in recipients of kidney transplants vs patients on maintenance dialysis. Researchers looked to determine if the risk of nonmelanoma skin cancer is lower during periods of graft loss with a return to dialysis vs during periods of functioning grafts in patients who have received more than one kidney transplant. These findings were published by Sexton et al in JAMA Dermatology.
Treatment with conformal radiation therapy immediately following surgery in children with ependymoma may greatly improve survival. The findings were published by Merchant et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
In a phase III trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Gulley et al found that PROSTVAC, a viral vector–based immunotherapy, did not improve overall survival or 6-month event-free survival vs placebo in patients with asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.
In a retrospective cohort study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Chanzá et al found evidence of activity of cabozantinib in advanced non–clear cell renal carcinoma.
In a phase I/II trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Ramanathan et al found that the addition of pegylated recombinant human hyaluronidase to modified FOLFIRINOX (fluorouracil, leucovorin, irinotecan, and oxaliplatin) worsened outcomes in previously untreated metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma.
In a report from the St. Jude Lifetime Cohort Study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Lehmann et al found that perceptions of risk of infertility were often discordant with laboratory-assessed fertility status in adult survivors of childhood cancer.
In a Dutch study reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Jansen et al found that 5% fluorouracil cream was the best of four field-directed treatments for actinic keratosis, the most common premalignant skin disease in the white population.
ASCO and ASCO’s Conquer Cancer Foundation proudly recognize the winners of ASCO’s Special Awards, the Society's highest honors, and Conquer Cancer's Women Who Conquer Cancer Mentorship Awards. ASCO will recognize this year’s awardees at the 2019 ASCO Annual Meeting.
ASCO President Monica M. Bertagnolli, MD, FACS, FASCO, issued the following statement earlier this week on the White House budget proposal for fiscal year (FY) 2020.
A new survey of radiation oncologists points to a sharp decline in the use of prophylactic cranial irradiation for patients with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer (SCLC), indicating a rapid change in standard practice for the disease following the 2017 publication of a major clinical trial by Takahashi et al in The Lancet Oncology. Survey results were presented in a presscast in advance of the 2019 Multidisciplinary Thoracic Cancers Symposium.
A new clinical trial found that exposing patients to tailored versions of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN®) Guidelines for non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) may help drive smoking cessation, testing for potential biomarkers and, for early-stage disease, more patient-centered use of chemotherapy following surgery. Findings demonstrate how evidence-based decision and communication aids can improve cancer care. These results were presented at a presscast in advance of the 2019 Multidisciplinary Thoracic Cancers Symposium.
A new analysis of patients treated with local consolidative therapy for oligometastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) found that the intensive treatment approach is associated with improved overall survival. These findings were presented in a presscast ahead of the 2019 Multidisciplinary Thoracic Cancers Symposium.
Today, the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Alex M. Azar II appointed Norman E. Sharpless, MD, to be the acting Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Ready et al, the phase II CheckMate 568 trial has shown that higher tumor mutational burden is associated with response, irrespective of programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression in first-line nivolumab plus low-dose ipilimumab treatment of advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Response rates were also higher in patients with PD-L1–positive vs –negative tumors.
In a French phase III trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Balleyguier et al found that the addition of breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to standard radiologic evaluation did not improve surgical reintervention rates in women with ductal carcinoma in situ undergoing breast-conserving surgery.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved trastuzumab-qyyp (Trazimera), a biosimilar to trastuzumab (Herceptin), for the treatment of human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER2)-overexpressing breast cancer and HER2-overexpressing metastatic gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma.
Researchers have found that some commercial cancer cell lines used for laboratory studies have mislabeled ancestry when it comes to minorities. These findings were published by Hooker et al in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.
Nearly half of all childhood cancers are not being diagnosed globally, according to a new modeling study published by Ward et al in The Lancet Oncology.
In the phase IIIb/IV CheckMate 511 study reported by Lebbé et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, a regimen of nivolumab at 3 mg/kg plus ipilimumab at 1 mg/kg was found to significantly reduce the incidence of treatment-related grade 3 to 5 adverse events compared with nivolumab at 1 mg/kg plus ipilimumab at 3 mg/kg in patients with advanced melanoma.
In a UK population–based cohort study (Teenage and Young Adult Cancer Survivor Study) reported in The Lancet Oncology, Bright et al found that subsequent primary neoplasms were most common in survivors of adolescent and young adult breast, cervical, and testicular cancers, as well as Hodgkin lymphoma.
In a phase II trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, McKay et al found a trend toward improved pathologic response or minimal residual disease with the addition of neoadjuvant abiraterone and prednisone to enzalutamide and leuprolide prior to radical prostatectomy in patients with locally advanced prostate cancer.
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to atezolizumab (Tecentriq) plus nanoparticle albumin-bound (nab)-paclitaxel (Abraxane) for the treatment of adults with unresectable, locally advanced or metastatic, programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1)–positive triple-negative breast cancer. This accelerated approval is based on data from the phase III IMpassion130 study and is contingent on the results of a confirmatory trial.
Shortages of essential chemotherapy drugs for children undergoing cancer treatment have been an increasingly frequent obstacle for patients and hospitals in the United States. In a new position paper by Unguru et al in JAMA Pediatrics, researchers address this issue and call for the development of an essential medicines list for this group of patients to help ensure reliable access and forecast future shortages.
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN) has published a new book of patient information that explains prevention, diagnosis, and treatment for squamous cell skin cancer.
A qualitative study yielded nine patient-driven recommendations across circumstances that include changes to insurance, supportive services, and financial assistance to reduce long-term, breast cancer–related economic burden. The study was published by Dean et al in Cancer.
A study by Nearchou et al published in Cancer Immunology Research, which evaluated a prognostic signature derived from integrating tumor budding, lymphocyte infiltration, and their spatial relationship, has found that the method could more accurately stratify patients with stage II colorectal cancer at high risk for disease-specific death compared to traditional methods of clinical staging.
In a modeling study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Simms et al detailed the preventive effects on cervical cancer that could be achieved by scaled-up human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination and cervical screening efforts, with the aim of disease elimination.
The presence of nevi is an established risk factor for melanoma. In light of this, researchers examined the association between the presence of nevi on extremities and the risk of melanoma and nonmelanoma skin cancers. Their findings were published by Wei et al in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.
A single dose of a programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) inhibitor before resection for melanoma may predict clinical outcomes for patients. Researchers also showed that immune responses brought on by this therapy can peak as early as 7 days after treatment—much earlier than previous studies have shown. These findings were published by Huang et al in Nature Medicine.
Men with early-stage testicular cancer can safely receive one course of adjuvant chemotherapy or radiotherapy without it having a long-term effect on their reproductive potential, according to a study published by Weibring et al in Annals of Oncology.
In the international phase III LION study reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Harter et al found that lymphadenectomy did not improve progression-free or overall survival vs no lymphadenectomy in women with advanced ovarian cancer.
In a report from the Children’s Oncology Group in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, McNeer et al found that hematopoietic stem cell transplantation did not improve outcomes in pediatric patients with hypodiploid B-lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL).
In a study reported in JAMA Oncology by Nicolosi et al, it was found that 17% of men with prostate cancer had likely deleterious germline genetic variants, and that many of these men would not have been considered candidates for genetic testing.
On March 5, 2019, Scott Gottlieb, MD, announced his resignation as Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Dr. Gottlieb’s resignation will be effective next month.
The ASCO Post summarizes a Fast Track designation, a Priority Review, two supplemental new drug applications, an investigational new drug application, and a marketing clearance recently issued by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The agency also released a safety communication on cancer-related surgery.
Kentucky has been one of the most successful states in reducing its uninsured rate, which happened in part through the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion. In a new study, researchers found that the number of Medicaid patients who received screening after the expansion was more than triple the number of patients who were screened before the expansion. Additionally, patients with colorectal cancer relying on Medicaid exhibited improved survival after the expansion compared to before it was implemented. These findings were published by Gan et al in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons.
While artificial intelligence systems for skin cancer detection have shown promise in research settings, there is still a lot of work to be done before the technology is appropriate for real-world use. This was the topic of a scientific session at the 2019 American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) Annual Meeting.
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Flinn et al, 5-year follow-up of the phase III BRIGHT trial has shown improved outcomes with first-line bendamustine/rituximab vs R-CHOP (rituximab plus cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone) or R-CVP (rituximab plus cyclophosphamide, vincristine, and prednisone) in patients with indolent non-Hodgkin lymphoma or mantle cell lymphoma.
In a report from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Salloum et al found that changes in medulloblastoma therapy over 3 decades that have improved survival have also increased the risk for subsequent neoplasms and debilitating health conditions.
In a phase III trial reported in The Lancet, Herrlinger et al found that the addition of adjuvant lomustine to temozolomide and radiotherapy improved overall survival in newly diagnosed glioblastoma with methylated MGMT promoter. The researchers noted that the findings should be viewed with caution due to the relatively small number of patients in the trial.
Researchers hypothesized that targeting some genetic alteration in plasma cell–free DNA—along with early monitoring—could be an effective, noninvasive method for predicting response to immune checkpoint inhibitors in advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Findings from the IMMUNO-PREDICT trial were presented by Guibert et al.
Garon et al reported similar efficacy and safety with an every-4-week regimen of nivolumab in the second-line setting compared to an every-2-week schedule in patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
As reported by Gnant et al in The Lancet Oncology, disease-free survival (DFS) was improved with adjuvant denosumab vs placebo in postmenopausal women with hormone receptor–positive, early-stage breast cancer receiving aromatase inhibitor treatment.
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Lowe et al found that 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron-emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) had a high negative predictive value in the clinically N0 neck in patients with newly diagnosed head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, with results frequently altering surgical plans.
Biologic age—a DNA-based estimate of a person’s age—may be associated with development of breast cancer, according a report published by Kresovich et al in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
A phase Ia/Ib trial was launched in order to evaluate the safety of LY3321367, an anti–T-cell immunoglobulin domain and mucin domain–containing molecule-3 (TIM-3) antibody, administered alone or in combination with LY3300054, an anti–programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) antibody, in patients with advanced relapsed or refractory solid tumors. An analysis of the trial presented by Harding et al focused on the safety, efficacy, pharmacokinetic, and pharmacodynamic results seen with these treatment regimens.
An aging population, a growing number of cancer survivors, and a projected shortage of cancer care providers will lead to challenges in delivering care for cancer survivors in the United States if systemic changes are not made, according to a commentary in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
In the phase III TROG 09.02 CHISEL trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Ball et al found that stereotactic ablative body radiotherapy improved local disease control vs standard radiotherapy in peripherally located, inoperable stage I non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
In a Dutch study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Atema et al found that an Internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy intervention improved treatment-induced menopausal symptoms in breast cancer survivors compared with a waiting list control group.
After preclinical findings showed shared activity between trastuzumab and HER2-targeted vaccines, researchers evaluated adjvuant nelipepimut-S plus granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) with trastuzumab compared to trastuzumab with GM-CSF alone in patients with HER2 low-expressing breast cancer. At the 2019 ASCO-SITC Clinical Immuno-Oncology Symposium, Hickerson et al reported the final analysis of the trial with 7 months of added follow-up.
On February 28, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved trastuzumab and hyaluronidase-oysk (Herceptin Hylecta) for subcutaneous injection for the treatment of certain patients with HER2-positive early breast cancer in combination with chemotherapy. The FDA also approved the treatment in patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer in combination with paclitaxel, or alone in patients who have received one or more prior chemotherapy regimens for metastatic disease.
Leadership from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) issued a statement yesterday on its ongoing and upcoming efforts to address sexual harassment in science.
The proportion of early-stage drug trials tackling the most common tumor types has declined sharply since the early 1990s, as less common cancers receive increasing attention in trials, according to new research presented by Sato et al.
The Lung Immune Prognostic Index calculated prior to the initiation of treatment may be used to stratify patients with diverse tumor types into groups that significantly associate with outcome following immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy, according to a retrospective study presented at the TAT 2019–International Congress on Targeted Anticancer Therapies in Paris. Findings were presented by Varga et al.
Compared to young adults, adolescents with the same types of cancer have far less access to immunotherapy and/or targeted therapies, according to findings presented at the TAT 2019–International Congress on Targeted Anticancer Therapies in Paris. In addition, young adults could be included in clinical trials of these novel drugs nearly 3 years earlier than adolescents. These findings were presented by de Rojas et al.
In a phase I/II trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Bardia et al found durable responses with the antibody-drug conjugate sacituzumab govitecan-hziy in patients with heavily pretreated, metastatic triple-negative breast cancer.
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Biccler et al found that relapse risk and loss in expectation of lifetime were low in young patients receiving contemporary therapy for classical Hodgkin lymphoma. Outcomes were particularly good among patients achieving event-free survival for 24 months.
Patients with advanced prostate cancer who had preexisting cardiovascular disease had a higher risk of mortality in the 6 months after starting abiraterone acetate treatment compared with those who had no preexisting cardiovascular disease, according to data presented by Lu-Yao et al.
Among patients with melanoma treated with anti–programmed cell death protein 1 immunotherapy, consumption of a high-fiber diet was associated with higher gut microbiome diversity and better response to treatment, according to data presented by Spencer et al.
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Stewart et al identified the risk of neoplasms and malignancies among nonproband carriers of pathogenic germline variants in DICER1.
In the phase III ERA 223 trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Smith et al found that the addition of radium-223 to abiraterone acetate and prednisone or prednisolone did not improve symptomatic skeletal event-free survival and was associated with increased risk of fracture in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer and bone metastases.
A survey of survivors of young-onset colorectal cancer conducted by Yarden et al has found that a large number of respondents—67%—saw at least two physicians before receiving a diagnosis of colorectal cancer, and 71% were diagnosed at stage III or IV.
A prospective study by Leighl et al comparing Guardant360, a cell-free DNA (cfDNA) liquid biopsy test, with standard-of-care tissue genotyping to identify guideline-recommended genomic biomarkers in patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer has found that the cfDNA test detects Guideline-7 biomarkers at a rate similar to tissue genotyping tests, and had a significantly faster turnaround time from test order to final results.
New research published by Chopra et al in JNCCN—Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network has found that coronary artery disease–related medical expenses were considerably higher for patients with this chronic condition who were also diagnosed with cancer—particularly colorectal cancer.
In a French phase III trial reported in JAMA Oncology, Oudard et al found that the addition of docetaxel to androgen-deprivation therapy did not improve prostate-specific antigen (PSA) progression-free survival in men with high-risk prostate cancer with rising PSA after primary local therapy.
A study analyzing data on the prevalence of cervical precancers positive for two strains of human papillomavirus (HPV) since the HPV vaccine was introduced has found that among vaccinated women aged 18–39 with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grades 2–3 or adenocarcinoma in situ, the proportion caused by HPV16/18 decreased by 22% between 2008 and 2014. These findings were published by McClung et al in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.
In the phase II portion of a phase Ib/II trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Loi et al found evidence of activity of pembrolizumab plus trastuzumab in programmed cell death protein ligand 1 (PD-L1)-positive, trastuzumab-resistant, HER2-positive advanced breast cancer.
On February 22, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved trifluridine/tipiracil tablets (Lonsurf)—a fixed combination of trifluridine, a nucleoside metabolic inhibitor, and tipiracil, a thymidine phosphorylase inhibitor—for adult patients with metastatic gastric or gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) adenocarcinoma previously treated with at least two prior lines of chemotherapy. The previous chemotherapies included a fluoropyrimidine, a platinum, either a taxane or irinotecan, and if appropriate HER2-targeted therapy.
The ASCO Post summarizes multiple Priority Review designations and a supplemental new drug application (sNDA) granted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) this week.
Bacteria may play an important role in whether a woman develops cervical cancer, according to global health research published by Klein et al in mBio.
A new report indicates that without a national investment and commitment to transforming health-care delivery in the United States, many people will not benefit from the substantial progress in reducing the burden of cancer already made, let alone the innovations and breakthroughs that are yet to come. These findings were published by Yabroff et al in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians.
As reported by Tombal et al in The Lancet Oncology, treatment with enzalutamide was associated with clinically meaningful delays in pain progression, symptom worsening, and deterioration in functional status vs placebo in the phase III PROSPER trial in nonmetastatic, castration-resistant prostate cancer.
As reported at the 2019 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium and in The New England Journal of Medicine, Rini et al found significant benefits in overall and progression-free survival with the combination of pembrolizumab plus axitinib vs sunitinib in the first-line treatment of advanced renal cell carcinoma.
Annual screening for women aged 35–39 who have a family history of breast cancer may be highly effective in detecting tumors earlier, according to findings published by Evans et al in The Lancet’s online journal EClinicalMedicine. The FH02 trial found that annual mammograms for women aged 35–39 at moderate or high risk of breast cancer detected tumors when they were significantly smaller in size and less likely to have spread to the lymph nodes than in an unscreened control cohort.
Researchers sought to analyze the relationship between specific genetic polymorphisms and hypertriglyceridemia related to bexarotene therapy for cutaneous T-cell lymphoma in an effort to see if the adverse event was associated with genetic and/or environmental factors. Their findings were published by Cabello et al in JAMA Dermatology.
In the phase III RAINFALL trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Fuchs et al found no apparent benefit of the addition of the VEGFR-2 inhibitor ramucirumab to first-line cisplatin and fluoropyrimidine treatment in metastatic gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma.
In a phase II trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Flinn et al found a response rate of nearly 50% with duvelisib, an oral dual inhibitor of phosphoinositide 3-kinase-γ and -δ, in indolent non-Hodgkin lymphoma refractory to rituximab and either chemotherapy or radioimmunotherapy.
In a retrospective analysis reported in the Journal of Oncology Practice, Parikh et al found that more than one-quarter of hospitalizations in Medicare patients with prostate cancer were potentially avoidable.
Scientists have identified genetic variations in a fourth gene that are associated with an increased risk of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in Hispanic children. These findings were published by Qian et al in Blood.
The TIVO-3 trial was conducted to confirm progression-free survival results from the TIVO-1 trial, which found an improvement in median progression-free survival in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma treated with tivozanib vs sorafenib. Findings from TIVO-3 were presented by Rini et al.
In a patient-level meta-analysis reported in The Lancet, the Early Breast Cancer Trialists’ Collaborative Group found that an increased dose intensity of adjuvant taxane and anthracycline chemotherapy in early breast cancer was associated with a decreased risk of recurrence and death from breast cancer.
In a phase II trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Wen et al found minimal activity of the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) inhibitor buparlisib in patients with recurrent glioblastoma with PI3K pathway activation.
A phase III Egyptian trial presented by Zaghloul et al focused on the benefit of adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with locally advanced bladder cancer treated with postoperative radiotherapy.
Some patients with metastatic prostate cancer respond to a combination of immune checkpoint inhibitors after treatment with hormonal therapy and chemotherapy has not been successful in treating their disease, according to early results from the phase II CheckMate 650 trial presented by Sharma et al the 2019 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium.
A combination of two drugs could become a new standard first-line treatment for patients with metastatic kidney cancer, according to results from the JAVELIN Renal 101 trial presented by Choueiri et al and simultaneously published in The New England Journal of Medicine.
In the phase III ARAMIS trial reported by Fizazi et al and simultaneously published in The New England Journal of Medicine, researchers found that the androgen receptor antagonist darolutamide significantly prolonged metastasis-free survival vs placebo among men with nonmetastatic, castration-resistant prostate cancer.
On February 15, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved pembrolizumab (Keytruda) for the adjuvant treatment of patients with melanoma with lymph node involvement following complete resection.
Today, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed coverage of U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)–approved chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies under its “coverage with evidence development” paradigm.
The ASCO Post summarizes multiple Priority Review designations granted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
In a phase II trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Nghiem et al found that first-line pembrolizumab produced a high response rate in patients with advanced Merkel cell carcinoma.
A study investigating whether gastric acid suppressive agents negatively impact the effectiveness of pazopanib in patients with soft-tissue sarcoma found that the long-term use of gastric acid suppressive therapy with pazopanib was associated with significantly shortened progression-free survival and overall survival. The report by Mir et al was published in Clinical Cancer Research.
In a phase II study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Connolly et al found that early changes in tumor maximum standardized uptake values corrected for lean body mass on [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose positron-emission tomography/computed tomography were predictive of pathologic complete response to neoadjuvant pertuzumab and trastuzumab in estrogen receptor–negative, HER2-positive breast cancer.
The idea of team-based cancer care most often focuses on involving primary care physicians in the care of cancer survivors, but research has shown patients are also discussing initial cancer treatment options with their primary care doctors. A new study by Wallner et al in Cancer has found that a significant number of these primary care physicians report notable gaps in their knowledge of cancer treatment options.
Results from a study published by Cykert et al in Cancer Medicine showed that a pragmatic system-based intervention within cancer treatment centers may eliminate existing disparities in treatment and outcomes for black patients with early-stage lung cancer.
The 2019 Szent-Györgyi Prize for Progress in Cancer Research will be awarded to Steven A. Rosenberg, MD, PhD, of the Center for Cancer Research at the National Cancer Institute. The prize, awarded annually by the National Foundation for Cancer Research, recognizes Dr. Rosenberg’s pioneering role in the development of adoptive immunotherapy to treat cancer.
In the phase III Lumiere trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, O’Connor et al found that the Aurora A kinase inhibitor alisertib did not improve outcomes vs investigator’s choice of single-agent treatment in relapsed or refractory peripheral T-cell lymphoma.
In a study reported in the Journal of Oncology Practice, Arrillaga-Romany et al found that implementation of a hospital pathway consisting of a dedicated admission protocol for patients with newly identified single brain masses and no history of cancer resulted in reduced length of hospital stay, time to surgery, and use of unnecessary diagnostic imaging tests.
In a study reported in JAMA Oncology, Feijen et al found that daunorubicin was associated with decreased cardiomyopathy risk vs doxorubicin among pediatric cancer survivors, with epirubicin being approximately isoequivalent to doxorubicin. Risk associated with the anthraquinone mitoxantrone was found to be substantially higher than that with doxorubicin.
The latest U.S. estimates indicate that since 1989, hundreds of thousands of women's lives have been saved by mammography and improvements in breast cancer treatment. In a study published by Hendrick et al in Cancer, findings point to progress made in the early detection and management of breast cancer.
An increase in the diagnosis of glottic carcinoma in young adults may be due in part to infection with strains of human papillomavirus (HPV), according to a report published by Bayan et al in the Annals of Otology, Rhinology & Laryngology.
In an interim analysis of a prospective cohort study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Froyman et al found that the risk of malignancy and acute complications is low when adnexal masses with benign ultrasound findings are managed conservatively.
In a study reported in JAMA Oncology, AlDubayan et al found that inherited pathogenetic variants in the checkpoint kinase 2 gene (CHEK2), among inherited pathogenetic DNA-repair gene alterations, were associated with susceptibility to testicular germ cell tumors.
In a French phase III trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Edeline et al found that adjuvant gemcitabine plus oxaliplatin did not significantly improve relapse-free survival vs surveillance following resection for localized biliary tract cancer.
The German S2k guidelines for cutaneous basal cell carcinoma were recently updated to include new developments regarding the epidemiology, diagnosis, and histology of the disease. Commissioned by the Dermatologic Cooperative Oncology Group of the German Cancer Society and the German Society of Dermatology, the update was published by Lang et al in JDDG–Journal of the German Society of Dermatology.
Results from the randomized, phase III KEYNOTE-426 clinical trial show that first-line therapy with a combination of pembrolizumab and axitinib extended both overall survival and progression-free survival for patients with clear cell metastatic renal cell carcinoma compared with the current standard of care, sunitinib. Findings from this international study will be presented by Powles et al.
A large, retrospective study analyzing 5 years of data from the Veterans Health Administration found that African American men with chemotherapy-naive, metastatic, castration-resistant prostate cancer who were treated with abiraterone acetate or enzalutamide lived 20% longer compared with white men who received the same treatment. These findings will be presented by McNamara et al.
A single-arm, phase II trial in men with prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA)-positive, metastatic, castration-resistant prostate cancer that progressed despite standard therapies found that a majority of men receiving a novel, targeted radiation therapy called lutetium-177 PSMA-617 (LuPSMA) experienced disease response to treatment. These findings will be presented by Hofman et al.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a split-dosing regimen for daratumumab (Darzalex), a CD38-directed antibody, providing health-care professionals and patients with multiple myeloma an option to split the first infusion over 2 consecutive days.
In a study reported in JAMA Oncology, Lehman et al found that multiple factors, including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings, played a role in conversion to mastectomy among women with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) who were candidates for wide local excision based on conventional imaging.
The ASCO Post summarizes recent drug reviews, applications, and designations and a statement issued by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
A study published by Cook et al in JAMA Oncology focused on whether treatment with checkpoint inhibitors is both safe and effective in patients with advanced cancer who are also human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive.
In an update from the Multiethnic Cohort Study reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Stram et al found persistent racial/ethnic differences in risk for lung cancer at similar levels of cigarette smoking intensity.
A large, prospective study evaluating sedentary behaviors—primarily time watching television—and the risk of young-onset colorectal cancer has found that more than 1 hour of daily TV viewing was associated with an increased risk of the cancer, particularly of the rectum, compared to those who watched less TV. The association was independent of body mass index and family history of colorectal cancer. The study by Nguyen et al was published in JNCI Cancer Spectrum.
Leading health-care companies and organizations representing patients, providers, academic medical centers, laboratories, and diagnostic manufacturers urged the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to revise its interpretation of the National Coverage Determination for Next-Generation Sequencing. In a letter to CMS Administrator Seema Verma, MD, 63 organizations expressed serious concerns that the overly broad interpretation will restrict patient access to medically necessary and relevant clinical tests and adversely impact cancer care and outcomes.
A research team is using a branch of artificial intelligence known as machine learning to better target immunotherapy to those who will benefit. In a recent study published by Leiserson et al in PLOS One, the team used data from a clinical trial of patients with bladder cancer to demonstrate that their approach could identify a suite of features that accurately predicted a key immune system response to treatment—while reducing overtreatment by half.
Studies have found that racial and ethnic minorities are less likely to receive end-of-life palliative care than nonminorities. A new study conducted by investigators at Brigham and Women’s Hospital has revealed that site of care may be a key contributing factor to this difference among patients with advanced cancer. Their findings were published by Cole et al in JAMA Network Open.
In an observational study reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Hu et al found that an automated 'deep learning'–based visual evaluation algorithm permitted identification of cervical precancer/cancer cases with greater accuracy than other screening methods.
In a Chinese, single-center, noninferiority phase III trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Wang et al found that postmastectomy hypofractionated radiotherapy was noninferior to and associated with similar toxicities vs conventionally fractionated radiotherapy in patients with high-risk breast cancer.
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved caplacizumab-yhdp (Cablivi) injection, the first therapy specifically indicated, in combination with plasma exchange and immunosuppressive therapy, for the treatment of adult patients with acquired thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura, a rare and life-threatening disorder that causes blood clotting.
Injectable low–molecular-weight heparin has long been considered the standard of care for the treatment of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in patients with cancer. However, low–molecular-weight heparin is costly and often disliked by patients due to injection-related discomfort and bruising. Direct-acting oral anticoagulants (DOACs) are an attractive option for the treatment and prevention of cancer-associated VTE, but their efficacy and safety in patients with cancer are only beginning to be defined.
In a retrospective, population-based study, researchers sought evidence that major changes in the management of metastatic melanoma have led to improved survival for patients whether or not they met the eligibility criteria for pivotal clinical trials that led to development of new agents in the disease. Their findings were published by Donia et al in the European Journal of Cancer.
The first report from a phase II, multicenter clinical trial has found that a newer, more aggressive form of radiation therapy—stereotactic ablative radiation—can extend long-term survival for some patients with stage IV cancers, while maintaining their quality of life. The study was published by Sutera et al in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology • Biology • Physics.
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Sanchez-Spitman et al found no associations between CYP2D6 genotypes or levels of endoxifen and clinical outcomes in patients receiving adjuvant tamoxifen for early-stage breast cancer.
In a study reported in the Journal of Oncology Practice, Ganju et al found that implementation of network-wide peer review aimed at standardizing treatment resulted in increasing use of hypofractionated radiotherapy in early-stage breast cancer at community-based affiliates of a tertiary care academic medical center.
In phase Ib results from the JAVELIN Solid Tumor Trial reported in JAMA Oncology, Disis et al found that avelumab produced durable responses in some patients with recurrent or refractory ovarian cancer.
A new study has found rates are increasing for 6 of 12 cancers related to obesity in younger adults in the United States, with steeper increases in progressively younger ages and successively younger generations. The study, published by Sung et al in The Lancet Public Health, also looked at rates for 18 cancers unrelated to obesity—and found rates increasing for only 2.
Data on the risk factors for the development of skin cancer after a solid organ transplant are limited. In a retrospective cohort study, researchers sought to determine the relationship between human leukocyte antigen (HLA) mismatch and risk of skin cancer after transplant. Their findings were published by Gao et al in JAMA Dermatology.
According to the American Lung Association’s recently released 2019 State of Tobacco Control report, states and the federal government have not taken meaningful action in establishing policies to prevent and reduce tobacco use, the nation's leading cause of preventable death and disease. In addition, youth use of e-cigarettes has reached epidemic levels—rising 78% from 2017 to 2018.
In a population-based study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Downing et al found little difference in health-related quality of life between men with advanced vs localized prostate cancer. Sexual function problems were common among all patients—and often not addressed—and use of androgen-deprivation therapy was associated with greater toxicity.
In a Singaporean study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Lai et al found that tyrosine kinase inhibitor treatment outcome did not differ according to mesenchymal epithelial transition factor (MET)-high vs MET-low status in treatment-naive, EGFR-mutant non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), although outcome was poorer in patients classified as MET-amplified.
Squamous cell carcinoma of the lung represents approximately one-quarter of all lung cancers diagnosed in Appalachian Kentucky, where death from lung cancer is higher than the national average. Researchers sought to characterize genetic alterations specifically found in lung squamous cell carcinomas that originated in Appalachian Kentucky—a cohort not focused on in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). Their findings were published by Liu et al in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.
Pancreaticoduodenectomy, or the Whipple procedure, is one of the most complex abdominal surgeries, and is commonly prescribed as a first line of therapy for cancer located within the pancreatic head. Investigators reported that following a 5-day accelerated recovery pathway after surgery helped to shorten hospital stay and reduce time to eligibility for adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with pancreatic cancer. The findings of a prospective, randomized, controlled study were published by Lavu et al in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons.
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Vaarwerk et al found that presence of indeterminate pulmonary nodules at diagnosis of pediatric rhabdomyosarcoma did not adversely affect treatment outcome in otherwise localized disease.
World Cancer Day 2019 highlights the need for urgent action to increase early-stage cancer detection, screening, and diagnosis to significantly improve patients’ chances of survival. Taking place today with the theme of “I Am and I Will,” World Cancer Day—led by the Union for International Cancer Control—aims to inspire and encourage action from individuals, the health community, and governments to improve public awareness and access to early detection, screening, and diagnosis.
In the phase III REACH-2 trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Zhu et al found that ramucirumab improved overall and progression-free survival vs placebo in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and increased α-fetoprotein levels who had previously received sorafenib.
The Lung Cancer Master Protocol (Lung-MAP) trial is undergoing a major expansion to include patients with all non–small cell lung cancers, as well as several other key changes.
Injection of a genetically modified virus that induces the body’s own immune cells to attack metastatic melanoma effectively treated almost 40% of patients with tumors that could not be surgically removed, according to findings published by Louie et al in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons.
In a phase III trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Stadtmauer et al found that second autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation (AHCT) or lenalidomide, bortezomib, and dexamethasone consolidation as post-AHCT interventions did not improve outcomes vs single transplantation and lenalidomide maintenance in transplantation-eligible multiple myeloma.
In a French phase II trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Scherpereel et al found evidence of activity with nivolumab or the combination of nivolumab plus ipilimumab in patients with relapsed malignant pleural mesothelioma.
In a retrospective study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Pui et al found that minimal residual disease (MRD)-negative status, high hypodiploidy with 44 chromosomes, and MRD-stratified treatment were associated with improved outcomes among children treated for newly diagnosed hypodiploid acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
In a study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Polman et al found that human papillomavirus (HPV) testing with a clinically validated polymerase chain reaction–based assay had similar accuracy using self-collected vs clinician-collected samples in detecting cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN)2+ or CIN3+ lesions.
In a phase Ib trial reported in JAMA Oncology, Hassan et al found that the anti–programmed cell death ligand 1 antibody avelumab produced durable responses and a high rate of disease control in some patients with advanced unresectable mesothelioma progressing after platinum and pemetrexed treatment.
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted approval for a new indication for pemetrexed (Alimta) for injection in combination with pembrolizumab (Keytruda) and platinum chemotherapy for the first-line treatment of patients with metastatic nonsquamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with no EGFR or ALK genomic tumor aberrations.
Over the past year, major research advances provided new treatment options for patients with rare, difficult-to-treat cancers. In recognition of these achievements, ASCO named “Progress in Treating Rare Cancers” as the Advance of the Year. To continue the forward momentum, ASCO also debuted its list of research priorities to accelerate progress against cancer. These and additional milestones in cancer research are featured in Clinical Cancer Advances 2019: ASCO’s Annual Report on Progress Against Cancer, released today.
The ASCO Post summarizes recent drug applications and designations as well as a software clearance issued by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Barrett’s esophagus is the only known precursor of esophageal adenocarcinoma. Although endoscopy and biopsy are standard methods for diagnosing Barrett’s esophagus, their high cost and risk limit their use as a screening modality. Researchers sought to develop a screening method based on methylation status in cytology samples captured by a tool called the EsophaCap. Their findings were published by Wang et al in Clinical Cancer Research.
In a Japanese phase II trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Hayashi et al found that standard site-specific treatment based on gene-expression profiling was not associated with better outcomes vs empirical paclitaxel and carboplatin in patients with cancer of unknown primary site.
In a prospective cohort study reported in JAMA Oncology, Ramsey et al identified the prevalence of hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus, and human immunodeficiency virus infection in patients with newly diagnosed cancer and found that a substantial proportion were unaware of infection at the time of cancer diagnosis.
In a retrospective cohort study reported in JAMA Surgery, Eaglehouse et al found that time to breast cancer surgery was delayed for non-Hispanic black vs non-Hispanic white women in the U.S. Military Health System but that this difference did not account for poorer overall survival in non-Hispanic black women receiving breast-conserving surgery.
A new report published by Wang et al in JNCCN—Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network found that using Oncotype DX—the most commonly used test for predicting the benefit of adjuvant chemotherapy to reduce the risk of disease recurrence—is not cost-effective for patients with breast cancer who are otherwise at low risk of recurrence.
As reported by Willemze et al in Blood, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) have released a 2018 update of their classification of primary cutaneous lymphomas.
New research published by Zheng et al in Cancer indicates that cancer survivors carry greater financial burdens related to medical debt payments and bills compared with individuals without a cancer history, with the greatest hardships in younger survivors.
In a letter to the editor of The New England Journal of Medicine, Goodman et al reported a long-term follow-up of the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial indicating that finasteride treatment was not associated with an increased risk of death from prostate cancer.
In a single-center retrospective analysis reported in JAMA Oncology, Smith et al found that a watch-and-wait approach was associated with high rectal preservation and pelvic tumor control in patients with rectal cancer with complete clinical response to neoadjuvant therapy, but survival was poorer compared with patients found to have pathologic complete response after total mesorectal resection.
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved ibrutinib (Imbruvica), a Bruton's tyrosine kinase inhibitor, in combination with obinutuzumab in treatment-naive patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma (CLL/SLL). This is the first approval of a nonchemotherapy combination regimen for treatment-naive patients with CLL/SLL.
Invasive squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is typically treated surgically, with guidelines in place recommending surgical margins for excision based on the SCC being classified as low or high risk. Researchers undertook a study to examine recurrence rates of SCC after surgical excision, taking into account microscopic surface diameter, invasion depth, grade of differentiation, and anatomic site. Findings were published by Pyne et al in the Journal of Cutaneous Pathology.
The recently reported results of ANNOUNCE, the phase III study of olaratumab in combination with doxorubicin in patients with advanced or metastatic soft-tissue sarcoma, did not confirm the clinical benefit of olaratumab in combination with doxorubicin as compared to doxorubicin, a standard-of-care treatment.
In a phase I trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Craddock et al found evidence that the sequential combination of azacitidine and lenalidomide may be an effective salvage therapy in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) relapsing after allogeneic stem cell transplantation.
In a prospective cohort study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Potter et al found that complications following immediate implant-based breast reconstruction—with or without mesh—were higher than considered acceptable by UK national standards.
In a study reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Gray et al found that constitutional loss of function single-nucleotide polymorphisms in the pattern recognition receptors FPR1, TLR3, and TLR4 were not associated with preferential benefit of oxaliplatin in colorectal cancer.
The Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC) 9th annual Trending Now in Cancer Care survey reveals how cancer programs across the country are being impacted by pressure from turbulence in multiple sectors: payers, government, and industry.
Only about 16% of U.S. adolescents have been fully vaccinated against human papillomavirus (HPV) by the time they turn 13, despite national recommendations that call for vaccination at 11 to 12 years of age. These findings, published by Bednarczyk et al in the Journal of Infectious Diseases, highlight the need for stronger efforts to encourage HPV vaccination and to improve immunization rates in this key age group.
In a pooled analysis reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Loi et al found that levels of stromally located tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (sTILs) are strongly prognostic in early-stage triple-negative breast cancer, with improved survival observed in patients with higher levels of sTILs after adjuvant chemotherapy.
In a news item reported in The Lancet Oncology, The Lancet journalist Manjulika Das reviewed two retrospective studies indicating that patients diagnosed with cancer are at increased risk of suicide, particularly within the first year of a cancer diagnosis.
In a noninferiority phase III trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Casasnovas et al found that positron emission tomography (PET)-guided treatment produced good outcomes in newly diagnosed advanced Hodgkin lymphoma, allowing de-escalation of induction to ABVD (doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine) in early responders with no loss of disease control and reduced toxicity.
In a study reported in a research letter in JAMA Internal Medicine, Goodwin et al evaluated Medicare data on enrollees from a 20% national sample to identify those who received low-dose CT lung screening and had a shared decision-making session.
Forty-six medical advocacy organization and professional societies have called on President Donald Trump, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConell, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to end the government shutdown and, in particular, addressed its impact on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Arasu et al found that increased breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) background parenchymal enhancement was associated with an increased risk of breast cancer, with risk being independent of breast density.
In a systematic review and meta-analysis reported in JAMA Oncology, Wallis et al found no difference in overall survival benefit in women vs men receiving immune checkpoint inhibitor treatment for advanced solid tumors.
On January 22, 23andMe received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance for a genetic health risk report on MUTYH-associated polyposis, a hereditary colorectal cancer syndrome.
Personalized treatment plans may extend life expectancy for patients with early-stage kidney cancer who also have risk factors for worsening kidney disease, according to a new study published by Kang et al in Radiology.
Investigators have identified multiple new subtypes of the most common childhood cancer, B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL)—research that has the potential to improve the diagnosis and treatment of high-risk patients. Researchers used integrated genomic analysis, including RNA sequencing, to define the genomic landscape of B-cell ALL in almost 2,000 children and adults. These findings were published by Gu et al in Nature Genetics.
In an observational cohort study reported in JAMA Oncology, Jhawar et al found that combined modality therapy with chemotherapy followed by radiotherapy was associated with a survival advantage vs chemotherapy alone in early-stage pediatric Hodgkin lymphoma.
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Cella et al, patient-reported outcomes were better with nivolumab plus ipilimumab vs sunitinib in the phase III CheckMate 214 trial among patients with intermediate- or poor-risk advanced renal cell carcinoma.
In a national survey of oncologists reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Schabath et al found that whereas oncologists tended to have limited knowledge regarding lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning (LGBTQ) patient health and cancer needs, they indicated high interest in education regarding this community.
The delivery of all radiotherapy and chemotherapy neoadjuvantly—also known as total neoadjuvant therapy—has improved complete response and downstaging rates compared to treatment after surgery in patients with rectal cancer. In a study presented by Chapman et al, researchers looked at responses in patients treated with total neoadjuvant therapy and short-course radiation vs concurrent chemoradiation.
In a phase III trial, researchers sought to study the effectiveness of hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) in the adjuvant setting to reduce the risk of developing peritoneal metastases. Study results were presented by Klaver et al.
Findings from the phase I KEYNOTE-028 trial, which studied pembrolizumab in a number of solid tumors, showed activity of the immunotherapy in some patients with heavily pretreated neuroendocrine tumors. Now, a phase II basket trial—KEYNOTE-158—is studying the efficacy and safety of pembrolizumab in 10 different tumor types, including neuroendocrine tumors. Strosberg et al presented an analysis of 107 patients from the neuroendocrine cohort of KEYNOTE-158.
In a retrospective study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Gerson et al found evidence that autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation (AHCT) consolidation after induction chemotherapy was associated with a progression-free survival benefit in patients with mantle cell lymphoma aged ≤ 65 years treated in the rituximab era.
On January 18, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved trastuzumab-dttb (Ontruzant), a biosimilar referencing trastuzumab, across all eligible indications—namely, adjuvant treatment of HER2-overexpressing breast cancer, metastatic breast cancer, and metastatic gastric cancer or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma in patients who have not received prior treatment for metastatic disease.
The phase II CCTG CO.26 trial evaluated whether the combination of durvalumab, a programmed cell death ligand 1 inhibitor, and tremelimumab, an anti–cytotoxic T-lymphocyte–associated protein 4 antibody, plus best supportive care improved survival vs best supportive care alone in patients with advanced, refractory colorectal carcinoma. Findings from the study were presented by Chen et al.
Pembrolizumab significantly improved overall survival in the second-line setting of advanced esophageal cancer in patients whose tumors tested positive for programmed cell death ligand 1 with a combined positive score of 10 or greater. This was compared to investigator’s choice of chemotherapy with docetaxel, paclitaxel, or irinotecan.
A phase II/III trial presented by Unno et al sought to compare neoadjuvant chemotherapy (using gemcitabine and the oral fluoropyrimidine combination of tegafur/gimeracil/oteracil [S-1]) to upfront surgery in patients with histologic confirmation of resectable pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.
Anti–programmed cell death protein 1 and anti–cytotoxic T-lymphocyte–associated protein 4 antibodies have shown activity in hepatocellular carcinoma. Based on these earlier findings, researchers sought to examine the safety, efficacy, and tolerability of perioperative treatment with nivolumab or nivolumab plus ipilimumab in resectable hepatocellular carcinoma. Findings from a small phase II trial were presented by Kaseb et al.
In a study reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Sprague et al found that only small changes in the proportions of women found to have dense breasts on digital mammography have occurred with revisions in Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System density classification guidelines and an increased use of digital breast tomosynthesis.
In a study reported in JAMA Oncology, Islami et al assessed the population attributable fraction—the proportion of a given outcome attributable to a given risk factor—of incident cancer cases associated with excess body weight among individual U.S. states during 2011 to 2015. The estimates ranged from 3.9% to 6.0% among men and 7.1% to 11.4% among women.
A study investigating the association between tumor mutational burden and response to immune checkpoint inhibitors has found that while higher somatic tumor mutational burden was linked to better overall survival across a wide variety of cancer types, improved survival was not seen in glioma. In addition, the tumor mutational burden cutpoints associated with improved survival varied markedly among cancer types. The study was published by Samstein et al in Nature Genetics.
A preplanned subgroup analysis of the double-blind phase III TAGS study looking at the safety and efficacy of the oral agent trifluridine/tipiracil in heavily pretreated patients with metastatic gastric cancer with or without prior gastrectomy was presented by Ilson et al.
The phase III GAMMA-1 trial was initiated to investigate the efficacy and safety of modified fluorouracil, leucovorin, and oxaliplatin (mFOLFOX6) with or without andecaliximab in patients with treatment-naive, HER2-negative gastric or gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) adenocarcinoma. Results were presented by Shah et al.
A study by Graber et al in the International Journal of Cancer has found a significant increase in head and neck cancers among workers and volunteers who responded to the September 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, pointing to newly emerging risks that require ongoing monitoring and treatment of those who were exposed during the initial response.
In a single-institution study reported in the Journal of Oncology Practice, Sborov et al found that inaccurate prediction of life expectancy can be associated with greater likelihood of aggressive end-of-life care among patients with metastatic cancer receiving palliative radiation therapy.
Researchers have discovered molecular hallmarks of hypoxia in the first-ever pan-cancer analysis of low oxygen in human tumors, with a special focus on prostate cancer. Their findings were published by Bhandari et al in Nature Genetics.
Aggressive prostate cancer is associated with BRCA2 mutations, and carriers of these mutations experience worse outcomes and poor responses to standard treatment, according to findings published by Castro et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
In a single-center retrospective analysis reported in the Journal of Oncology Practice, Thom et al found that advanced practice providers were effective in providing survivorship care to adult patients with cancer in accordance with Institute of Medicine standards.
In a phase III trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Bromberg et al found no significant benefit of the addition of rituximab to high-dose methotrexate-based chemotherapy in patients with newly diagnosed primary central nervous system (CNS) lymphoma.
Patients diagnosed with cancer who also have comorbidities are less likely to talk with their health-care provider about a cancer clinical trial, are less likely to be offered to join a clinical trial, and are ultimately less likely to enroll in a trial, according to the results of a study published by Unger et al in JAMA Oncology. Researchers also found new recommendations to expand clinical trial eligibility criteria to allow patients with comorbidities would provide opportunities for up to 6,317 patients each year to be allowed to join a trial.
Researchers have identified a new potential immunotherapy target in pancreatic cancer, which so far has been notoriously resistant to treatment with immune checkpoint blockade drugs effective against a variety of other cancers. A research team from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center found overexpression of the immune checkpoint VISTA on immune cells, especially macrophages, that infiltrated pancreatic tumors. Their findings were published by Blando et al in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
On January 14, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved cabozantinib (Cabometyx) tablets for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma who have been previously treated with sorafenib.
In a phase II trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Ansell et al found that nivolumab was associated with low response rates among patients with relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) who were ineligible for or experienced failure of autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation.
In a French phase III trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Mariette et al found that a hybrid minimally invasive surgical procedure was associated with reduced postoperative complications vs transthoracic open esophagectomy in patients with resectable cancer of the middle or lower third of the esophagus.
Scientists have developed a test that scans the shapes of tumor cells to select women with especially aggressive ovarian cancer. The new artificial intelligence (AI) tool looks for clusters of cells within tumors with misshapen nuclei. Findings from the study were published by Heindl et al in Nature Communications.
Among African American adults undergoing liver transplant to treat hepatocellular carcinoma, patients whose organ donor was also African American lived significantly longer than those with a racially unmatched donor, report authors of a new study using national data. Their findings were published by Silva et al in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons.
In a single-center experience reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Amit et al found that among patients with sinonasal undifferentiated carcinoma with a favorable response to induction chemotherapy, disease-specific survival was better in those receiving definitive concurrent chemoradiotherapy vs those receiving definitive surgery. In those without a favorable response to induction therapy, outcomes were better with surgery.
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Reck et al, an updated analysis of the phase III KEYNOTE-024 trial indicates continued overall survival benefit of first-line pembrolizumab vs platinum-based chemotherapy in patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with a programmed cell death ligand 1 tumor proportion score ≥ 50% and no EGFR/ALK aberrations.
A study investigating the clinicopathologic features of BRAF V600E– and V600K–mutant melanomas and whether genotype affects response to immunotherapy found that the mutations not only have different clinical phenotypes, but also different molecular features and different responses to systemic therapies. The findings were published by da Silva et al in Clinical Cancer Research.
The ASCO Post summarizes recent drug designations and clearances issued by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
A global resource that includes data on thousands of inherited variants in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes is available to the public. The BRCA Exchange allows clinicians to review expert classifications of variants in these major cancer predisposition genes as part of their individual assessment of complex questions related to cancer prevention, screening, and intervention for high-risk patients. Findings detailing the development of the BRCA Exchange were published by Cline et al in PLOS Genetics.
A study published by Gleber-Netto et al published in JCI Insight demonstrated variations in human papillomavirus (HPV)-related molecules among patients with HPV-positive oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma. Using their findings, the investigators developed a prognostic biomarker signature for identification of this subgroup of patients.
Findings from a new study published by Morton et al in JAMA Oncology showed that patients treated with chemotherapy for most solid tumors from 2000 to 2014 experienced an increased risk of therapy-related myelodysplastic syndrome/acute myeloid leukemia (MDS/AML).
Global Cancer Institute recently announced the results of its Patient Navigation Program in Mexico City. The average time to referral before the program’s inception was 5 months, but the implementation of patient navigators reduced that average to 7 days. These findings were published by Chávarri-Guerra et al in The Oncologist.
In a Canadian population–based cohort study reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Kitchlu et al found that acute kidney injury is common in patients receiving systemic therapy for newly diagnosed cancer and has increased in incidence in recent years.
As reported in JAMA Oncology by Shah et al, the phase II KEYNOTE-180 trial has shown that pembrolizumab produces durable responses in some patients with pretreated locally advanced or metastatic esophageal adenocarcinoma or squamous cell carcinoma.
In a trial with a modified primary endpoint due to slow accrual reported in JAMA Oncology, Bex et al found that deferred cytoreductive nephrectomy after sunitinib did not improve 28-week progression-free rate vs immediate nephrectomy followed by sunitinib in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma.
A steady 25-year decline has resulted in a 27% drop in the overall cancer death rate in the United States between 1991 and 2016. The data come from “Cancer Statistics, 2019,” the American Cancer Society’s annual report on cancer rates and trends. The report was published in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians.
A recent study published by Ostrom et al in the Journal of Neuro-Oncology showed that compared to the rest of the United States, the Appalachian region has a 5% higher incidence of malignant primary brain tumors and other central nervous system (CNS) tumors, a higher mortality rate due to these tumors, and poorer survival rates.
In a California population–based cohort study reported in the Journal of Oncology Practice, Whitney et al found that 67% of hospitalizations in the year after cancer diagnosis were unplanned, with 67% of such hospitalizations originating in the emergency department.
In an analysis reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Halabi et al found that overall survival was improved for black men vs white men receiving regimens containing docetaxel and prednisone for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.
In a study reported in JAMA Oncology, Abida et al found that approximately 3% of patients with prostate cancer had microsatellite instability–high (MSI-H)/mismatch repair–deficient (dMMR) tumors and that some of these patients exhibited durable responses to treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors.
Exposure to the sun, whether cumulative or intermittent, is a known risk factor for the development of nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSC). Past studies have found that greater body mass index (BMI) actually lessens the risk of women developing NMSCs. With this in mind, researchers sought to determine if the risk of NMSC with sun exposure was consistent across different BMIs and waist-to-hip ratios. Their findings were published by Chan et al in Cancer.
Black men diagnosed with prostate cancer classified as low risk may actually have a more aggressive form of the disease that is more likely to be fatal than in nonblack men placed in the same prognostic category, according to results from a new study published as a research letter by Mahal et al in JAMA.
In a retrospective cohort study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Wolf et al found that patients undergoing Gamma Knife stereotactic radiosurgery for nonmalignant neurosurgical conditions did not appear to be at long-term increased risk of radiation-associated secondary intracranial malignancy or malignant transformation.
In a phase II trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Dellapasqua et al found that neoadjuvant treatment with the gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) antagonist degarelix was more effective than the GnRH agonist triptorelin in achieving ovarian function suppression in premenopausal women receiving letrozole for locally advanced, endocrine-responsive breast cancer.
In a report published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Fonseca et al found that relapse in children and adolescents with nongerminomatous malignant germ cell tumors was most frequently identified by tumor markers rather than imaging.
Nearly three-quarters of patients with young-onset colorectal cancer are diagnosed with an advanced stage of the disease, a significantly higher percentage than has been reported for their more mature peers, according to a report from the Colorectal Cancer Alliance. The findings of the 2018 Young-Onset Colorectal Cancer Survey Report—which highlights the experiences of patients, survivors, and caregivers—show an acute need to increase understanding about young-onset colorectal cancer among the general population and physicians, especially primary care physicians.
New research has found that quality of life for people with cancer is reduced by an accumulation of low-level toxicities just as much as it is from high-level adverse events. Additionally, patient-reported outcomes were more likely to reflect the impact on a patient’s physical well-being than those reported by their doctor. These findings were reported by Schuurhuizen et al in JNCCN–Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network.
In a pooled analysis of French and U.S. follicular lymphoma cohorts reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Sarkozy et al found that lymphoma was the most common cause of death during the first decade of the rituximab era in treatment of the disease.
In a study reported in the Journal of Oncology Practice, Villano et al found that regionalization of retroperitoneal sarcoma surgery—recognized as a complex cancer surgery—to high-volume hospitals has been slower than that observed for similarly complex pancreatic cancer surgery over the past decade.
As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Moore et al, the phase III SOLO-1 trial has shown that maintenance with olaparib, following complete or partial response to platinum-based chemotherapy, significantly prolonged progression-free survival vs placebo in newly diagnosed, advanced, high-grade serous or endometrioid ovarian cancer, primary peritoneal cancer, or fallopian tube cancer with a BRCA1, BRCA2, or BRCA1/2 mutation.
Ten years after a negative colonoscopy, patients who were rescreened for colorectal cancer had a lower risk of being diagnosed with and were less likely to die from colorectal cancer compared with those who did not undergo colorectal cancer screening, according to a study published by Lee et al in JAMA Internal Medicine.
A new report commissioned by the National Organization for Rare Disorders and published by the IQVIA Institute demonstrates that the 7-year market exclusivity granted to drugs designated under the Orphan Drug Act of 1983 for rare diseases is working as intended. In nearly every case, orphan drug exclusivity did not inappropriately prevent generics and biosimilars from entering the market.
In an analysis from the phase Ib KEYNOTE-028 trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Ott et al found that response to pembrolizumab across different cancers was more likely in patients with higher tumor mutational burden, T-cell–inflamed gene-expression profile, and programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression.
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Marcoux et al provided further evidence that EGFR-mutant non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) can undergo transformation to small cell lung cancer (SCLC) and identified factors associated with such transformation.
On January 2, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) expanded the indication for dasatinib (Sprycel) tablets to include the treatment of pediatric patients 1 year of age and older with newly diagnosed Philadelphia chromosome–positive (Ph+) acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in combination with chemotherapy.
New research published by Song et al in Arthritis Research & Therapy evaluated the link between lupus and cancer risk, supporting the data from earlier studies. The newer study indicates an association between systemic lupus erythematosus and increased risk for several cancers, decreased risk for prostate cancer and cutaneous melanoma, and no effect on some others.
The shift from film to digital mammography increased the detection of breast cancer overall in the United Kingdom—without increasing the recall rate—according to a study published by Blanks et al in Radiology.
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Dignam et al, analysis of outcomes in the phase III NRG/RTOG 9202 trial indicates that the time interval to biochemical failure could serve as a surrogate endpoint for clinical outcomes in patients receiving radiotherapy plus long-term androgen deprivation for locally advanced prostate cancer.
In a phase III trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Gounder et al found that sorafenib improved progression-free survival vs placebo in patients with progressive, symptomatic, or recurrent desmoid tumors.
In a UK phase III trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Jackson et al found that lenalidomide maintenance was associated with improved progression-free survival but not overall survival among patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma with at least minimal response to induction therapy. Potential overall survival benefits of lenalidomide were observed in some subgroups.
In an effort to overcome the immunosuppressive mechanisms of Merkel cell carcinoma, researchers investigated the intratumoral administration of G100, a synthetic Toll-like receptor 4 agonist. Findings from the small pilot study were published by Bhatia et al in Clinical Cancer Research.
A new study published by Holmqvist et al in the journal Cancer may bolster existing evidence that survivors of childhood Hodgkin lymphoma face an elevated risk of developing various types of solid tumors many years later.
In an Italian phase II trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Lombardi et al found that regorafenib was associated with improved overall survival vs lomustine in patients with relapsed glioblastoma.
As reported by Denham et al in The Lancet Oncology, 10-year results of the phase III TROG 03.04 RADAR trial have shown that 18 months of androgen suppression plus radiotherapy is more effective than 6 months of androgen suppression plus radiotherapy in locally advanced prostate cancer, but no further benefit was observed with the addition of zoledronic acid to either regimen.
In a phase III trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Conroy et al found that adjuvant modified FOLFIRINOX (fluorouracil, leucovorin, irinotecan, oxaliplatin) produced better disease-free and overall survival than gemcitabine in patients with resected pancreatic cancer.
On December 21, 2018, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved ravulizumab-cwvz (Ultomiris) for adult patients with paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH). PNH is a rare bone marrow failure disorder that manifests with hemolytic anemia, thrombosis, and peripheral blood cytopenias.
On December 21, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved tagraxofusp-erzs (Elzonris) infusion for the treatment of blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm (BPDCN) in adults and in pediatric patients aged 2 years and older.
Updated data of the OpACIN study, which studied combined ipilimumab plus nivolumab administered as neoadjuvant or adjuvant therapy in patients with high-risk stage III melanoma, demonstrated high response rates upon neoadjuvant therapy and promising long-term clinical outcome, according to findings presented by Rozeman et al.
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved calaspargase pegol-mknl (Asparlas), an asparagine-specific enzyme, as a component of a multiagent chemotherapeutic regimen for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in pediatric and young adult patients aged 1 month to 21 years.
Overall survival was improved across all subgroups of patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who received atezolizumab compared with chemotherapy, including poor prognostic factors that were evaluated in an analysis of data from the OAK trial. Additionally, this study observed no evidence of quicker disease progression with the atezolizumab compared to chemotherapy. These findings were presented by Gandara et al.
Treatment with nivolumab did not improve response rates or survival over standard chemotherapy in patients with metastatic small cell lung cancer (SCLC) who relapsed following first-line treatment, according to findings presented by Reck et al.
This week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a guidance titled Clinical Trial Endpoints for the Approval of Cancer Drugs and Biologics. The guidance provides recommendations to applicants on endpoints for cancer clinical trials submitted to the FDA to support effectiveness claims in applications.
As reported by Mamounas et al in The Lancet Oncology, the phase III NRG Oncology/NSABP B-42 trial has shown no disease-free survival benefit with 5 years of letrozole vs placebo after 5 years of aromatase inhibitor–based therapy in women with hormone receptor–positive, postmenopausal breast cancer.
As reported at the recent San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium and in The New England Journal of Medicine by von Minckwitz et al, an interim analysis of the phase III KATHERINE trial has shown that adjuvant trastuzumab emtansine improved invasive disease–free survival vs trastuzumab in patients with HER2-positive breast cancer with residual disease after neoadjuvant therapy.
On December 19, 2018, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved olaparib (Lynparza) for the maintenance treatment of adult patients with deleterious or suspected deleterious germline or somatic BRCA-mutated advanced epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer who are in complete or partial response to first-line platinum-based chemotherapy. Patients with germline BRCA-mutated advanced epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer should be selected for therapy based on an FDA-approved companion diagnostic, which was also approved today.
Researchers recently discovered that by testing the level of nucleotide excision repair gene expression, pediatric oncologists may be able to determine the likelihood of early relapse in patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). These findings were published by Ibrahim et al in BMC Medical Genomics.
In a phase III trial reported at the recent American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting & Exposition and in The New England Journal of Medicine by Woyach et al, ibrutinib and ibrutinib/rituximab were associated with superior progression-free survival vs chemoimmunotherapy with rituximab/bendamustine among patients aged ≥ 65 years with untreated chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). No difference was observed between ibrutinib alone and ibrutinib/rituximab.
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to pembrolizumab (Keytruda) for adult and pediatric patients with recurrent locally advanced or metastatic Merkel cell carcinoma.
A new analysis of data from 15 prospective cohort studies has assessed breast cancer risk in relation to recent childbirth. The researchers found that compared to women of the same age who had never given birth, women who had given birth had an increased risk of developing breast cancer, which peaked about 5 years after childbirth and lasted about 20 years. The study by Nichols et al was published in Annals of Internal Medicine.
Patients with melanoma receiving proton pump inhibitors for comorbidities derived approximately half the clinical benefit from immunotherapy consisting of nivolumab plus ipilimumab as patients receiving the same combination but not treated with proton pump inhibitors, according to findings presented by Homicsko et al at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Immuno-Oncology Congress 2018.
First-line immunotherapy with durvalumab or the combination of durvalumab and tremelimumab does not improve overall survival in unselected patients with lung cancer, according to late-breaking results from the MYSTIC trial presented by Rizvi et al at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Immuno-Oncology Congress 2018.
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Kater et al, high undetectable minimal residual disease (MRD) rates persisted after the end of venetoclax/rituximab treatment in the phase III MURANO trial in relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), and were associated with improved progression-free survival.
Patients with previously treated, advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who received pembrolizumab showed significantly longer overall survival (OS) compared to those treated with docetaxel, Herbst et al reported at the ESMO Immuno-Oncology Congress 2018.
In a noninferiority phase III trial reported in The Lancet, Gillison et al found that radiotherapy plus cetuximab was associated with poorer overall and progression-free survival vs radiotherapy plus cisplatin in patients with human papillomavirus (HPV)-positive oropharyngeal carcinoma.
ASCO and the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) today issued a joint analysis comparing the results of ASCO’s Value Framework Net Health Benefit Score version 2 (ASCO-NHB v2) and ESMO’s Magnitude of Clinical Benefit Scale version 1.1 (ESMO-MCBS v1.1) and evaluating the concordance between the frameworks when used to assess clinical benefit attributable to new therapies. The joint analysis was published by Cherny et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
In the phase III KEYNOTE-040 trial reported in The Lancet, Cohen et al found that pembrolizumab was associated with a “clinically meaningful prolongation of overall survival” vs investigator’s choice of standard therapies in patients with previously treated recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.
In the phase II PALLET trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Johnston et al found that the addition of neoadjuvant palbociclib to letrozole increased rates of complete cell-cycle arrest, reduced apoptosis, and did not significantly improve clinical response rate in patients with estrogen receptor–positive early breast cancer.
On December 14, 2018, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved romiplostim (Nplate) for pediatric patients at least 1 year old with immune thrombocytopenia for at least 6 months who have had an insufficient response to corticosteroids, immunoglobulins, or splenectomy.
On December 14, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved trastuzumab-pkrb (Herzuma), a HER2/neu receptor antagonist biosimilar to trastuzumab (Herceptin), for certain indications in HER2-overexpressing breast cancer.
A seven-gene assay could improve care for patients with gastroesophageal cancer by predicting their likelihood of relapse after chemotherapy and surgery. These findings were published by Smyth et al in Annals of Oncology.
A program that provided individually tailored lifestyle recommendations for patients undergoing screening for colorectal cancer helped encourage healthy behavior, according to results published by Knudsen et al in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.
In a phase II trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Duffaud et al found evidence of activity of regorafenib in a cohort of adult patients with previously treated metastatic osteosarcoma.
In the Canadian phase III AVERT trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Carrier et al found that the oral factor Xa inhibitor apixaban reduced the risk of venous thromboembolism vs placebo among intermediate- to high-risk ambulatory patients with cancer starting chemotherapy but was associated with a higher rate of major bleeding.
Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is the most frequently diagnosed cancer in recipients of a solid organ transplant. Researchers sought to identify factors associated with the development of aggressive SCC in organ transplant recipients. Their findings were published by Lanz et al in JAMA Dermatology.
An international team of researchers has developed, calibrated, and validated a novel tool for identifying the genetic changes in Lynch syndrome genes that are likely to be responsible for causing symptoms of the disease. The results were published by Drost et al in Genetics in Medicine.
In a phase II trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Owonikoko et al found that the addition of veliparib to cisplatin/etoposide was associated with a modest but statistically significant improvement in progression-free survival in previously untreated patients with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer.
An overall survival analysis of the PALOMA-3 trial reported by Turner et al in The New England Journal of Medicine found that the addition of palbociclib to fulvestrant improved survival among patients with hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative advanced breast cancer who had sensitivity to previous endocrine therapy, with the improvement not being significant in the entire study population.
As reported by Horwitz et al in The Lancet, the phase III ECHELON-2 trial showed that brentuximab vedotin plus cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, and prednisone improved progression-free and overall survival vs cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone in previously untreated CD30-positive peripheral T-cell lymphomas.
Women aged 75 years and older may benefit from continued screening mammograms because of the comparatively high incidence of breast cancer found in this age group, according to a study presented at the Annual Meeting of the Radiological Society of North America.
A new, large-scale study of more than 5 million mammograms found that annual mammography screening beginning at age 30 may benefit women with at least one of three specific risk factors: dense breasts, a personal history of breast cancer, or a family history of breast cancer. The study was presented at the Annual Meeting of the Radiological Society of North America.
Cryoablation has shown early indications of effectiveness in treating women with low-risk breast cancers, according to research presented at the Annual Meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).
In a trial reported in The Lancet by Hull et al, no differences in adenoma prevention were found after treatment with omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid eicosapentaenoic acid, aspirin, both, or placebo in patients with high-risk findings on colonoscopy.
In a report in the Journal of Oncology Practice, Morris et al described an initiative that has been successful in reducing the incidence of invasive fungal infections in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) receiving induction and reinduction chemotherapy.
In a phase II trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Pennell et al found that adjuvant erlotinib improved disease-free survival over historical controls in patients with resected EGFR-mutant non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
ASCO and Friends of Cancer Research applaud the National Cancer Institute's (NCI) recent revision of its clinical trial protocol template to broaden eligibility criteria for cancer clinical trials. The protocol template was expanded to help increase the opportunity for participation in NCI-funded clinical trials for patients with certain health-care conditions, as well as to provide an opportunity for patients younger than age 18 to participate in adult clinical trials in certain circumstances.
The ASCO Post summarizes recent drug designations, clearances, and statements issued by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
In a study reported in JAMA Oncology, Cohen et al found evidence that primary resistance to immune checkpoint inhibitor treatment in metastatic colorectal cancer can be explained in some cases by misdiagnosis of microsatellite instability or defective mismatch repair status.
In the long-term follow-up of the POEMS/SWOG Intergroup S0230 trial reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Moore et al found that the addition of goserelin to cyclophosphamide-containing chemotherapy was associated with a higher incidence of pregnancy and nonsignificant improvements in disease-free and overall survival in premenopausal women with stage I to IIIA hormone receptor–negative breast cancer.
In a trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Manson et al, vitamin D supplementation was found to have no benefit in reducing risk of invasive cancer vs placebo over 5 years of follow-up.
Treatment with oxybutynin helped reduce the frequency and intensity of hot flashes for women who could not take hormone replacement therapy, including breast cancer survivors, according to the results of a trial presented by Leon-Ferre et al.
An analysis of the association between clinical outcomes and race in participants enrolled in the TAILORx trial by Albain et al found that even with equivalent treatments among women with hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative breast cancer, black women had worse clinical outcomes than white women, despite similar 21-gene assay recurrence score results and comparable systemic therapy.
Liquid biopsy–based assessment of PIK3CA mutational status served as a better indicator of progression-free survival compared with analysis of tissue biopsy in patients with breast cancer enrolled in the phase III SOLAR-1 clinical trial, according to data presented by Juric et al.
A study by Dominici et al investigating the long-term quality of life outcomes in young women with breast cancer across three surgical strategies—breast-conserving surgery, unilateral mastectomy, and bilateral mastectomy—has found that patients who underwent mastectomy had lower breast satisfaction and poorer psychosocial and sexual well-being compared to women who had breast-conserving surgery.
On December 6, 2018, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved atezolizumab (Tecentriq) in combination with bevacizumab, paclitaxel, and carboplatin for the first-line treatment of patients with metastatic, nonsquamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with no EGFR or ALK genomic tumor aberrations.
A phase III study by Bidard et al investigated whether circulating tumor cells could help physicians choose hormone therapy or chemotherapy as front-line treatment for patients with estrogen receptor–positive, HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer. The researchers concluded that the circulating tumor cell count could be an objective decision-making tool when considering first-line therapy for these patients.
Patients with early-stage breast cancer who had cancer detected in a sentinel lymph node biopsy had comparable 10-year recurrence and survival rates following either axillary radiotherapy or axillary lymph node dissection, according to data from the randomized, phase III AMAROS clinical trial presented by Rutgers et al.
Treatment with a low dose of tamoxifen, compared with placebo, decreased the risk of disease recurrence and new disease for women who had been treated with surgery following a diagnosis of breast intraepithelial neoplasia. Moreover, it did not cause more serious adverse events, according to data from the randomized, phase III TAM-01 clinical trial presented by De Censi et al.
Data from the NSABP B-39/RTOG 0413 trial indicated that ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence rates 10 years after treatment could not reject the hypothesis that accelerated partial-breast irradiation after lumpectomy was inferior to whole-breast irradiation, according to a presentation by Vicini et al.
Pathologic complete response after neoadjuvant chemotherapy was associated with a significantly lower recurrence risk and higher overall survival in patients with breast cancer, and pathologic complete response after neoadjuvant chemotherapy had a similar association with improved outcomes among those who received adjuvant chemotherapy vs those who did not, according to meta-analyses of data from 52 clinical trials presented by Spring et al.
A retrospective study presented by Morante et al evaluated whether a delayed initiation of adjuvant chemotherapy in patients diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer affects outcomes. The investigators found that patients who delayed adjuvant chemotherapy more than 30 days after surgery had a significantly higher risk for disease recurrence and death compared with patients who underwent treatment within the first 30 days following surgery.
Investigators from Australia have identified a genetic mutation that causes resistance to the targeted drug venetoclax in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), according to research presented by Blombery et al and simultaneously published in Cancer Discovery.
Results from a head-to-head phase III trial comparing fludarabine and cyclophosphamide plus rituximab against a more targeted ibrutinib-based therapy showed that patients receiving the ibrutinib plus rituximab therapy had a two-thirds reduction in the risk of disease progression relative to those getting standard care. Overall survival was also significantly improved for patients receiving ibrutinib therapy. These results were presented by Shanafelt et al.
Treating patients with early-stage triple-negative breast cancer with the chemotherapy agent capecitabine after they completed surgery and standard chemotherapy did not significantly improve disease-free or overall survival compared with observation, according to data from the randomized, phase III GEICAM/CIBOMA clinical trial presented by Martín et al at the 2018 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.
The phase III KATHERINE clinical trial compared the use of ado-trastuzumab emtansine vs trastuzumab as adjuvant therapy in patients with HER2-positive early-stage breast cancer with residual invasive disease after receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy and trastuzumab. The study showed that ado-trastuzumab emtansine reduced the risk of developing an invasive recurrence of the cancer or death by 50%. These findings were presented by Geyer et al.
Grover et al presented preliminary results from a clinical study of an investigational cellular immunotherapy for Hodgkin lymphoma and non-Hodgkin lymphoma expressing the CD30 protein marker. Data from the phase Ib/II trial showed that the treatment was safe, and it generated responses when used after a regimen containing fludarabine and bendamustine.
Interim results from a large international phase III clinical trial show that adding the immunotherapy daratumumab to standard therapy significantly extended progression-free survival in newly diagnosed patients with multiple myeloma who were ineligible for a stem cell transplant. These findings were presented by Facon et al.
A new study suggests taking a direct oral anticoagulant can reduce the risk of harmful blood clots in patients undergoing cancer treatments, without substantially increasing the risk of bleeding problems. Findings from the CASSINI trial were presented by Khorana et al.
In a cohort study reported in JAMA Oncology, Tilki et al found that patients with Gleason score 9–10 prostate cancer treated with radical prostatectomy plus adjuvant external-beam radiotherapy (EBRT) with or without androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) had similar survival outcomes vs those treated with EBRT, brachytherapy, and ADT.
According to findings from the ADAM VTE trial, an oral drug, apixaban, is safe and effective in treating blood clots in patients undergoing cancer therapy. The drug was associated with fewer major bleeding events and fewer recurrent blood clots compared to low–molecular-weight heparin. These findings were presented by McBane et al.
In a study reported in the Journal of Oncology Practice, Yu et al identified location of clinics and travel burden as factors affecting use of outpatient specialty palliative care among patients with advanced cancer.
In a trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Manson et al, marine n-3 (omega-3) fatty acid supplementation was found to have no benefit in reducing the risk for invasive cancer vs placebo over 5 years of follow-up.
A follow-up analysis of patients enrolled in the multicenter ZUMA-1 trial for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) showed axicabtagene ciloleucel can induce durable responses, yield a median overall survival of more than 2 years, and has a manageable long-term safety profile. These findings were presented by Neelapu et al and simultaneously published by Locke et al in The Lancet Oncology.
Researchers used machine learning to develop a new system to analyze genomic and clinical data to provide a personalized overall outcome that is patient-specific in myelodysplastic syndromes. In tests, the system outperformed the current standard prognostic tool, suggesting the new model may offer patients and doctors a better and more personalized tool to understand a patient’s risk and inform treatment. These findings were presented by Nazha et al.
Early results from the Beat AML study demonstrated that it is feasible for health-care providers to determine which molecular subtype of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) a patient has before beginning treatment and to use this information to pick an approach that best matches the individual. These findings were presented by Burd et al at the 2018 American Society for Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition.
A single infusion of tisagenlecleucel in pediatric and young adult patients with relapsed or treatment-resistant acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) continues to be highly effective in fighting cancer in most people, without the need for additional therapies. This latest analysis of the ELIANA trial results includes four additional patients and another year of follow-up. Results were presented by Grupp et al.
For patients with difficult-to-treat chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), continuing to take the targeted oral agent ibrutinib before, during, and after receiving chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy may be associated with less severe adverse effects and better responses compared with outcomes for a similar group of patients who received the same CAR T-cell therapy without ibrutinib. These findings were presented by Gauthier et al.
In the phase III MEDALIST clinical trial, luspatercept significantly reduced the need for frequent blood transfusions in just over half (53%) of patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) who were anemic, required regular red blood cell transfusions, and showed abnormal iron overload in red blood cell precursors before the study, which was presented by Fenaux et al.
Li et al investigated whether adding another immunotherapy agent to a CAR T-cell therapy regimen could extend treatment response and improve outcomes for children with relapsed B-cell acute lymphocytic leukemia.
In a new study presented by Summers et al, patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) who received a first stem cell transplant after CD19 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy were less likely to experience a relapse of their cancer when compared to similar patients who didn’t undergo transplantation.
A new study presented by Woyach et al at the 2018 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition showed that older patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) have a significantly lower rate of disease progression if treated with ibrutinib rather than bendamustine plus rituximab—the combination regimen previously considered to be one of the most effective therapies for this group of patients. The study also suggested that adding rituximab to ibrutinib does not offer any benefit beyond that seen with ibrutinib alone.
A new study suggests that it may be safe to reduce the standard course of treatment for younger patients with low-risk diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) by two cycles of chemotherapy. The trial, which tracked patients for a median of more than 5 years and up to 11 years, showed 4 cycles of chemotherapy to be as effective as 6 cycles in terms of eradicating cancer and preventing relapse. These findings were presented by Poeschel et al the 2018 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition.
A triplet therapy combining two immune checkpoint inhibitors with the standard of care azacitidine has shown promising results for treatment of relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML), according to the findings of a phase II study presented by Daver et al at the 2018 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition.
In an update to the global JULIET clinical trial, the chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy tisagenlecleucel led to long-lasting remissions in patients with relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). The most recent results from the trial were presented by Schuster et al at the 2018 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition.
The largest prospective trial of hydroxyurea for sickle cell anemia (SCA) has shown that this treatment—long the standard of care for treating SCA in developed countries—is feasible, well tolerated, and safe for children living in sub-Saharan Africa. At the 2018 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition, Tshilolo et al reported that there are distinct clinical benefits for children receiving hydroxyurea.
A population-based study examining patient receipt of a surveillance colonoscopy 3 years after the removal of high-risk adeonomatous polyps has found that the procedure was underutilized and varied by health-care system, patient age, and number of adenomas found. The study by Chubak et al was published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers, & Prevention.
In a study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Voss et al found that adding the mutation status of prognostic genes to the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) risk model improved the prognostic performance of the model in patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma.
In the phase III De-ESCALaTE trial reported in The Lancet, Mehanna et al found no difference in severe toxicity with cisplatin vs cetuximab plus radiotherapy in low-risk human papillomavirus (HPV)-positive oropharyngeal cancer. Cetuximab was associated with poorer recurrence and survival outcomes.
In a phase II trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Coen et al found that bladder-sparing treatment with twice-daily radiation plus fluorouracil/cisplatin or once-daily radiation plus gemcitabine (GD) produced similar distant metastasis–free survival in patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer. The GD regimen was associated with less toxicity.
Changes to the National Cancer Registration and Analysis Service in England have allowed more accurate data analysis of primary and metastatic cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma since 2013. Data on these malignancies were published by Venables et al in JAMA Dermatology.
YouTube videos on prostate cancer often offer misleading or biased medical information that poses potential health risks to patients, an analysis of the social media platform published by Loeb et al in European Urology showed.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently released new findings from the National Youth Tobacco Survey showing that more than 3.6 million middle and high school students were current (past 30 day) e-cigarette users in 2018—an increase of more than 1.5 million students since this past year.
In a study using linked Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results-Medicare data reported in the Journal of Oncology Practice, Quyyumi et al found that 21% of women with early-stage breast cancer discontinued follow-up care within 5 years after diagnosis.
In a pharmacovigilance study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Salem et al found that immune checkpoint inhibitors can cause “severe and disabling inflammatory cardiovascular immune-related adverse events” that need to be considered in patient care and clinical trial design.
In a German phase II trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Platzbecker et al found that minimal residual disease–guided treatment with azacitidine was successful in preventing hematologic relapse in patients with myelodysplastic syndrome and acute myeloid leukemia.
The FDA today also approved gilteritinib (Xospata) for the treatment of adult patients who have relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with a FLT3 mutation as detected by an FDA-approved test.
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved rituximab-abbs (Truxima) as the first biosimilar to rituximab for the treatment of adult patients with CD20-positive, B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma to be used as a single agent or in combination with chemotherapy. Rituximab-abbs is the first biosimiliar to be approved in the United States for the treatment of non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
An antibody that binds simultaneously to two distinct regions of the HER2 receptor to block the growth of cancer cells has shown antitumor activity in a number of cancers, including those of the esophagus, stomach, and bowel, according to results presented by Beeram et al at the 30th EORTC-NCI-AACR Symposium on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics.
New results from the long-running I-SPY 2 trial, which aimed to identify which new drugs or combinations of drugs are most effective in which types of breast cancer, demonstrated the usefulness of two genomic tests. These findings were presented at the 30th EORTC-NCI-AACR Symposium on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics.
A combination of two treatments that block the MEK and BRAF pathways showed activity in some patients with BRAF V600E–mutated cancers of the biliary tract and small intenstine, according to data presented by Wainberg et al at the 30th EORTC-NCI-AACR Symposium on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics.
In a study reported in JAMA Oncology, Steward et al found that the use of a multigene genomic classifier test could reduce the need for diagnostic surgery in a substantial proportion of patients with thyroid nodules with indeterminate cytology.
As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Dimopoulos et al, the phase II ELOQUENT-3 trial has shown that the addition of elotuzumab to pomalidomide and dexamethasone significantly prolonged progression-free survival in patients with relapsed and/or refractory multiple myeloma who previously received treatment with lenalidomide and a proteasome inhibitor.
In a report from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study cohort published in The Lancet Oncology, Gibson et al found that more recently treated survivors of childhood cancer had a reduced risk of chronic health conditions compared to those diagnosed early in the study period.
In a study reported in JAMA Internal Medicine, Smith-Bindman et al found that the appearance of ovarian masses on ultrasonography was highly associated with risk of ovarian cancer in a large unselected population of women undergoing pelvic ultrasonography.
On November 21, 2018, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to venetoclax (Venclexta) in combination with azacitidine or decitabine or low-dose cytarabine for the treatment of newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in adults who are age 75 years or older or who have comorbidities that preclude use of intensive induction chemotherapy.
In an international phase III trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Ladenstein et al found that the addition of interleukin-2 to dinutuximab beta did not improve event-free survival in young patients with high-risk neuroblastoma.
On November 26, 2018, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to larotrectinib (Vitrakvi) for adult and pediatric patients with solid tumors that have a neurotrophic receptor tyrosine kinase (NTRK) gene fusion without a known acquired resistance mutation, whose disease is either metastatic or in those where surgical resection is likely to result in severe morbidity, and who have no satisfactory alternative treatments or whose cancer has progressed following treatment.
In a phase III trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Ramirez et al found that minimally invasive radical hysterectomy was associated with poorer disease-free and overall survival vs open abdominal radical hysterectomy in women with early-stage cervical cancer.
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved glasdegib (Daurismo) tablets to be used in combination with low-dose cytarabine for the treatment of newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in adults who are 75 years of age or older or with comorbidities that may preclude the use of intensive chemotherapy.
New research by Lichtensztajn et al in JNCCN—Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network found that in a population in California, Latino men were less likely to receive definitive treatment for high-risk localized prostate cancer than non-Latino white men.
A combination of the chemotherapy drug azacitidine with the immune checkpoint inhibitor nivolumab demonstrated an encouraging response rate and overall survival in patients with relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML), according to findings from a phase II study published by Daver et al in Cancer Discovery.
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Vergote et al, a pooled analysis of individual patient data in long-term follow-ups of the phase III EORTC 55971 and CHORUS trials indicated that overall survival is similar with neoadjuvant therapy vs upfront debulking surgery in advanced tubo-ovarian cancer. Neoadjuvant therapy was associated with better outcomes in stage IV disease.
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Ogura et al found that lateral lymph node dissection reduced the risk of lateral local recurrence in patients with lateral nodes ≥ 7 mm undergoing neoadjuvant chemoradiation or radiation in addition to total mesorectal excision in clinical stage T3 or T4 low rectal cancer.
Androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) use was associated with a higher risk of heart failure in a study of patients with prostate cancer, according to findings published by Kao et al in The Journal of Clinical Pharmacology.
A new report from the American Cancer Society (ACS) creates a set of critical priorities for care delivery, research, education, and policy to equitably improve survivor outcomes and support caregivers. The report, published by Alfano et al in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, marks the latest installment in the ACS’s blueprint for cancer control.
In a global phase II study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Solomon et al found that lorlatinib showed high overall and intracranial activity in patients with advanced ALK-positive non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who were treatment-naive or who had received crizotinib or multiple ALK tyrosine kinase inhibitors. Findings in this study supported the recent U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of lorlatinib as second- or third-line treatment for ALK-positive metastatic disease.
In a German phase III noninferiority trial reported by Modest et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, noninferiority of first-line sequential vs combination fluoropyrimidine, irinotecan, and bevacizumab was not demonstrated in metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC). Benefit of upfront combination treatment was observed in RAS/BRAF wild-type disease.
In a systematic review of the literature reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Carreira et al found that most evidence strongly supports increased risk of anxiety, depression, neurocognitive dysfunction, and other forms of psychological issues in survivors of breast cancer.
Patients with thyroid cancer whose disease is at low risk of returning can be treated safely with a smaller amount of radiation following surgery, according to results from the HiLo trial presented by Wadsley et al at the 2018 National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) Cancer Conference.
Men who have been newly diagnosed with prostate cancer say they would trade some improvement in their odds of survival for improvements in side effects and quality of life, according to research presented by Ahmed et al at the 2018 National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) Cancer Conference.
The rate of men dying from malignant melanoma has risen in populations around the world, whereas in some countries, mortality rates for the disease are steady or falling for women, according to research presented by Yang et al at the 2018 National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) Cancer Conference.
In a study reported in the Journal of Oncology Practice, Knight et al found that 26% of patients with cancer acknowledged “financial toxicity”—treatment-related financial harm—with respect to cancer care, and that this toxicity was associated with consequences such as medication noncompliance and missing visits for care.
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Frick et al found that allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation from donors with clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential appears safe and not associated with poorer survival when donors are older and related.
In the Dutch Breast Cancer Research Group’s phase III TRAIN-2 trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, van Ramshorst et al found no difference in pathologic complete response rate with neoadjuvant chemotherapy with vs without an anthracycline plus dual HER2 blockade in women with HER2-positive breast cancer.
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) expanded the approved use of brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris) injection in combination with chemotherapy for adult patients with certain types of peripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTCL).
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Kluger et al, pembrolizumab showed activity in brain metastases in patients with melanoma enrolled in a phase II study.
In a Chinese retrospective study reported in JAMA Surgery, Xu et al found that risk of late recurrence (> 2 years) of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after curative liver resection was associated with male sex, presence of cirrhosis, and aggressive characteristics of the initial HCC.
In order to better assess the risk associated with voriconazole use after lung transplant or hematopoietic stem cell transplant and development of cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma, researchers performed a meta-analysis of published literature. Their findings on the relationship were published by Tang et al in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.
Elderly patients with limited-stage small cell lung cancer (SCLC) showed similar survival and toxicity compared to younger patients when treated with concurrent chemoradiotherapy. These study findings were published by Christodoulou et al in the Journal of Thoracic Oncology.
New research by Family et al in JNCCN—Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network identifies risk factors for chemotherapy-induced febrile neutropenia, a dangerously low white blood cell count that increases the risk of serious infection and fever.
The costs to treat blood cancer are higher than costs for other cancers, and the costs incurred by a patient diagnosed with a blood cancer do not return to precancer levels, according to a Milliman study commissioned by The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and presented at the 2018 Association for Value-Based Cancer Care Summit. The study offers new information on the cost of blood cancer care that can inform payers, providers, patients, patient advocates, and policymakers.
In a study reported in the Journal of Oncology Practice, Gordan et al found that costs of care for patients with breast, colorectal, and lung cancers were significantly higher at hospital-based vs community-based clinics, largely reflecting higher costs of chemotherapy and provider visits.
In a randomized phase II trial reported in JAMA Oncology, Siu et al found that the combination of durvalumab plus tremelimumab and durvalumab alone showed evidence of activity in patients with recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) with low/no programmed cell death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression.
In a study reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Christopher et al found that acute myeloid leukemia (AML) relapse after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) was accompanied by dysregulation of immune pathways, including downregulation of major histocompatibility complex class II genes, rather than relapse-specific mutations in immune-related genes.
Here, The ASCO Post summarizes recent drug designations and approvals issued by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Previous studies have demonstrated that two master transcription factors, TP63 and SOX2, effect genomic activation in squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs). Now, researchers have identified a SCC-specific protein complex activated by TP63 and SOX2, which triggers a gene cascade that promotes SCC growth. These findings were published by Jiang et al in Nature Communications.
As reported by Hwang et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, subsequent molecular profiling of histologically diagnosed central nervous system supratentorial primitive neuroectodermal tumors (CNS-PNET) showed molecular and clinical heterogeneity that strongly affected prognosis.
In the phase II PERSIST-5 study reported in JAMA Oncology, Raut et al found that 5 years of adjuvant imatinib therapy was associated with little risk of recurrence in patients with resected intermediate- or high-risk primary gastrointestinal stromal tumor.
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Shaitelman et al, 3-year outcomes of a phase III noninferiority trial indicate that hypofractionated whole-breast irradiation (HF-WBI) followed by a tumor bed boost is not inferior to conventionally fractionated whole-breast irradiation (CF-WBI) followed by a tumor bed boost in patient-reported adverse cosmetic outcomes.
A study of 112 patients with metastatic solid tumors found that the use of an artificial intelligence (AI)-based smartphone app reduced both the severity of patients’ reported pain and hospital admissions. These findings will be presented by Kamdar et al.
An analysis of nearly 2,800 patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors found that adverse events may be more common than reported in the initial trials that led to the approval of these therapies. These findings will be presented by Cathcart-Rake et al at the upcoming 2018 Palliative and Supportive Care in Oncology Symposium.
In an analysis from a Children’s Oncology Group trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Getz et al found that early treatment-related cardiotoxicity may be associated with poorer event-free and overall survival in pediatric acute myeloid leukemia (AML).
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Latham et al found that microsatellite instability and/or mismatch repair deficiency is predictive of Lynch syndrome across a greater than heretofore recognized breadth of the solid tumor spectrum.
In a cohort study reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Melamed et al found that minimally invasive radical hysterectomy was associated with poorer overall survival compared with open radical hysterectomy in women with early-stage cervical cancer.
On November 9, 2018, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to pembrolizumab (Keytruda) for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma who have been previously treated with the kinase inhibitor sorafenib.
Topical skin treatments, unless applied very heavily, may not increase the radiation dose to the skin and can be used in moderation before daily radiation treatments, according to findings from a new study. The paper, published by Baumann et al in JAMA Oncology, found that while 91% of clinicians surveyed said they advised patients to avoid these skin treatments and 83% of patients surveyed said they’d received this guidance from their doctors, testing showed there was no difference in the radiation skin dose with or without these creams.
Findings in a study reported by Mullen et al for the Children’s Oncology Group in the Journal of Clinical Oncology suggest that routine computed tomography surveillance may not be necessary for recurrence detection in favorable-histology Wilms tumor.
In the phase III TAGS trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Shitara et al found that trifluridine/tipiracil significantly improved overall survival vs placebo in patients with heavily pretreated metastatic gastric cancer.
Final results of SWOG Cancer Research Network’s international Prevention of Early Menopause Study (POEMS) showed continued evidence that women who get injections of the hormone drug goserelin along with standard breast cancer chemotherapy are more likely to become pregnant, without developing negative side effects or shortening their lives. These findings were published by Moore et al in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
A review and analysis of randomized clinical trials published by Kovic et al in JAMA Internal Medicine questioned whether interventions that prolong progression-free survival in patients with cancer improve their health-related quality of life.
Patients with metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) receiving treatment at academic centers have an increased 2-year survival compared to patients treated at community-based centers, according to findings published by Ramalingam et al in the Journal of Thoracic Oncology. An overall histology-dependent survival difference was also noted in patients with adenocarcinoma vs squamous cell carcinoma and varied by treatment facility.
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Slavin et al determined the prevalence of a set of germline cancer predisposition gene mutations incidentally identified by cell-free circulating tumor DNA testing in patients with advanced solid tumors.
In a study reported in JAMA Oncology, Clarke et al found that triage with p16/Ki-67 dual-stain testing was associated with better risk stratification for cervical precancer than Papanicolaou cytology testing over 5 years among human papilloma virus (HPV)–positive women.
In a multicohort study in patients with BRAF V600–mutant nonmelanoma cancers published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Kaley et al found evidence of activity of vemurafenib in gliomas that appeared to vary by glioma subtype.
On November 6, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved elotuzumab (Empliciti) injection for intravenous use in combination with pomalidomide and dexamethasone for the treatment of adult patients with multiple myeloma who have received at least two prior therapies, including lenalidomide and a proteasome inhibitor.
By combining data on individuals’ lifetime sun exposure and their genetics, researchers may be able to generate improved predictions of their risk of skin cancer, according to findings presented by Fontanillas et al at the 2018 American Society of Human Genetics Annual Meeting.
In an Italian phase II trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Necchi et al found that neoadjuvant pembrolizumab before radical cystectomy in muscle-invasive bladder carcinoma produced complete pathologic response (pT0) in 42% of patients, with pT0 being more common in patients with higher programmed cell death ligand 1 expression.
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Guinter et al found that better prediagnosis and postdiagnosis dietary patterns were associated with improved overall and colorectal cancer–specific survival among patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer.
In a phase Ib study reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Advani et al found that the combination of rituximab and the CD47-blocking monoclonal antibody Hu5F9-G4, a macrophage immune checkpoint inhibitor, was active in patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
ASCO recently submitted two comment letters from ASCO President Monica M. Bertagnolli, MD, FACS, FASCO, to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, MD, related to the modernization of clinical trials.
Nearly 4 in 10 Americans believe cancer can be cured solely through alternative therapies, according to ASCO's second annual National Cancer Opinion Survey. This is despite research showing that patients who use alternative therapies instead of standard cancer treatments have much higher mortality rates. The survey also found that amid the ongoing opioid crisis, nearly three in four Americans are opposed to limiting access to opioids for people with cancer, and many patients with cancer report difficulty obtaining these medications. In addition, just as many Americans say they are worried about the financial impact of a cancer diagnosis as about dying of cancer, with caregivers and rural Americans bearing the weight of cancer's financial and access challenges.
A study published by Wang et al in Clinical Cancer Research assessing the genetic contributions to subsequent breast cancer risk among female childhood cancer survivors has found that those with a high polygenic risk score and/or carrying pathogenic or likely pathogenic mutations had 2.7 times the risk of developing breast cancer compared to survivors with a low polygenic risk score.
As reported by Hauschild et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, longer-term follow-up of the phase III COMBI-AD trial has confirmed improved relapse-free survival with adjuvant dabrafenib plus trametinib vs placebo in resected BRAF V600–mutant stage III melanoma.
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Walterhouse et al found that age ≥ 10 years at diagnosis and tumor size > 5 cm are adverse prognostic features in localized paratesticular rhabdomyosarcoma.
An interactive online LGBT cultural competency training program for oncologists may be acceptable and feasible—and may improve LGBT-related knowledge and clinical practices, according to preliminary results of a pilot study of oncologists in Florida presented by Schlumbrecht et al.
A prognostic model developed using a machine learning approach may be able to identify African American patients with breast cancer who have an increased risk of death, according to results of a study presented by Bhattarai et al.
A pilot study by Ma et al examining the intervention effect on the outcome of a provider-based, culturally tailored, multilevel intervention to promote human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination among Asian American adolescents has found that the strategy significantly increased the uptake of at least one dose of the HPV vaccine in this population.
A large observational study by Setiawan et al investigating the influence of acculturation and environmental factors on cancer risks in Latinos in the United States has found that Latinos have experienced an overall increased risk of dying from cancer with each generation born in the United States.
On November 2, 2018, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted accelerated approval to lorlatinib (Lorbrena) for patients with anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)–positive metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose disease has progressed on crizotinib and at least one other ALK inhibitor for metastatic disease, or whose disease has progressed on alectinib or ceritinib as the first ALK inhibitor therapy for metastatic disease.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently granted Breakthrough Therapy designation to LOXO-292, a selective RET inhibitor, for the treatment of patients with advanced RET fusion–positive thyroid cancer who require systemic therapy, have had disease progression following prior treatment, and have no acceptable alternative treatment options.
Neoadjuvant erlotinib benefits selected patients with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-mutated non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who undergo complete resection of stage IIIA-N2 disease, according to a randomized study presented by Zhong et al comparing erlotinib with gemcitabine plus cisplatin as neoadjuvant treatment.
The combination of nivolumab and low-dose ipilimumab could become a new first-line treatment in patients with microsatellite instability–high (MSI-H), mismatch repair–deficient (dMMR) metastatic colorectal cancer following results from the CheckMate-142 trial reported by Lenz et al at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2018 Congress.
In a study reported in Cancer, Osazuwa-Peters et al found that the mortality rate from suicide among head and neck cancer survivors was twice as high as the pooled rate in survivors of 19 other cancers considered in the study. Only the rate of suicide in pancreatic cancer survivors was higher than that in head and neck cancer survivors.
The phase I NRG Oncology clinical trial BR001 tested the hypothesis that stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) could be used safely in patients with oligometastatic disease characterized by multiple metastases. Findings were presented by Chmura et al at the 2018 American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) Annual Meeting and published in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology • Biology • Physics.
In a study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Henricks et al found that DPYD genotype–guided dosing reduced the frequency of severe fluoropyrimidine toxicity in patients with cancer.
In a 2-year follow-up of the phase III SUPREMO trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Velikova et al found worse chest wall symptoms in women with intermediate-risk breast cancer who did vs did not receive postmastectomy radiotherapy. No other differences in qualit-of-life outcomes were found between the two groups.
Developed by a panel of experts from the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO), ASCO, and the American Urological Association (AUA), a new guideline for the treatment of early-stage prostate cancer recommends offering patients hypofractionated radiation therapy as an alternative to longer, conventional courses of radiation. ASTRO, ASCO, and AUA published the guideline in their respective journals, Practical Radiation Oncology, the Journal of Clinical Oncology, and The Journal of Urology.
As reported in The Lancet Oncology and at the European Society for Medical Oncology 2018 Congress by Hodi et al, the 4-year follow-up of the phase III CheckMate 067 trial has shown a continued overall survival benefit with first-line nivolumab plus ipilimumab or nivolumab alone vs ipilimumab alone in patients with advanced melanoma.
Adjuvant treatment with zoledronic acid, plus hormonal therapy with the aromatase inhibitor letrozole, significantly increases disease-free survival compared to tamoxifen in premenopausal women with hormone receptor–positive early breast cancer, according to results reported by Perrone et al.
Neoadjuvant treatment with a combination of the immune checkpoint inhibitors nivolumab and ipilimumab achieved major pathologic responses in mismatch repair–deficient (dMMR) early-stage colon cancers, according to results reported by Chalabi et al.
In a study reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Buffart et al found that patients with cancer benefited more or less from exercise interventions depending on their baseline condition and timing of the intervention.
In an analysis reported in The Lancet Oncology by Robak et al, bortezomib, rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, and prednisone (VR-CAP) significantly prolonged overall survival vs rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (R-CHOP) in a phase III trial in transplantation-ineligible patients with newly diagnosed mantle cell lymphoma.
On October 30, 2018, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved pembrolizumab (Keytruda) in combination with carboplatin and either paclitaxel or nab-paclitaxel as first-line treatment of metastatic squamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
A population-based study by Mariotto et al published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention evaluating a statistical model to estimate the risk of recurrence of hormone receptor (HR)-positive and HR-negative breast cancers has found that although women with HR-positive cancer have a lower risk of recurrence soon after diagnosis, their risk persists for several years. Conversely, for women diagnosed with HR-negative disease, the risk of progression to metastatic disease is high soon after the diagnosis but diminishes over time.
The first report of a large international clinical trial shows that, for men who show signs of prostate cancer after surgical removal of their prostates, extending radiation therapy to the pelvic lymph nodes combined with adding short-term androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) to standard treatment can extend the amount of time before their cancer spreads. These findings were presented by Pollack et al.
In the first randomized, phase II clinical trial of its kind, researchers have shown that an aggressive form of high-precision radiation therapy can increase survival in patients with oligometastatic tumors. These findings were presented by Palma et al in the plenary session at the 60th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) and published in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology • Biology • Physics.
Treatment of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) with stereotactic radiation therapy is as safe and effective for patients with one kidney as it is for those with two, according to an analysis of an international data set presented by Correa et al.
In a single-institution study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Alderuccio et al found that not achieving complete remission after initial treatment, elevated lactate dehydrogenase, and more than four nodal sites at marginal zone lymphoma diagnosis are predictive of transformation to higher-grade lymphoma.
The International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) recently issued a statement on lung cancer screening with low-dose computed tomography based on the results of the Dutch-Belgian NELSON lung cancer screening trial presented at the IASLC 19th World Conference on Lung Cancer.
Adding radiation therapy or surgery to systemic therapy for patients with stage IV lung cancer whose cancer has spread to a limited number of sites can significantly extend overall survival, according to new results from a multicenter, randomized, controlled phase II study. The findings were presented by Gomez et al.
A highly sensitive blood test that detects minute traces of cancer-specific DNA has been shown to accurately determine whether patients with human papillomavirus (HPV)-related oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) are free from cancer following radiation therapy. Findings were presented by Chera et al.
A subset of patients with low-risk breast cancer is highly unlikely to see cancer return following breast conservation surgery, but can lower that risk even further with radiation therapy, finds a new long-term clinical trial report. These 12-year follow-up data from the only prospective, randomized trial to compare recurrence outcomes after treatment for low-risk ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) were presented by McCormick et al at the 60th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO).
In a cost-effectiveness analysis reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Huntington et al found that the cost of brentuximab vedotin would need to be reduced in order for the combination of the agent with chemotherapy in first-line treatment of stage III or IV Hodgkin lymphoma to meet currently acceptable cost-effectiveness thresholds.
In long-term follow-up of the phase III NRG/RTOG 9413 study reported in The Lancet Oncology by Roach et al, neoadjuvant hormonal therapy plus whole-pelvic radiotherapy and prostate-only radiotherapy plus adjuvant hormonal therapy were associated with the highest rates of 10-year progression-free survival in patients with intermediate- or high-risk localized prostate cancer.
In a 10-year study of women who received radiation therapy to treat early-stage breast cancer, those receiving fewer, larger individual radiation doses experienced similarly low rates of late-onset side effects as those undergoing conventional radiation therapy. Findings from the multi-institutional FAST clinical trial were presented by Brunt et al at the 60th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO).
A phase III trial revealed that elevated MGMT gene expression is independently associated with worse overall survival for patients with anaplastic grade III gliomas. These findings were presented by Fleming et al at the 60th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) and published in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology • Biology • Physics.
A phase III trial has determined that cisplatin chemotherapy combined with radiation therapy showed high amounts of activity in human papillomavirus (HPV)-related head and neck cancer. Findings from NRG-RTOG 1016 were presented by Trotti et al the 60th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO).
A new analysis of genetic data from a large prospective registry and clinical data from several randomized trials indicates that African American patients may have comparatively higher cure rates when treated with radiation therapy than Caucasian patients. The study, which is the first report demonstrating improved prostate cancer outcomes for African American men, was presented by Spratt et al at the 60th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) and published in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology • Biology • Physics.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved levoleucovorin (Khapzory) injection, a folate analog, for three indications: rescue after high-dose methotrexate therapy in patients with osteosarcoma; diminishing the toxicity associated with overdosage of folic acid antagonists or impaired methotrexate elimination; and the treatment of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer in combination with fluorouracil.
In an analysis of data from two Nurses’ Health Study cohorts reported in JAMA Oncology by Barnard et al, the use of low-dose but not standard-dose aspirin was associated with a reduced risk of epithelial ovarian cancer, whereas the use of nonaspirin nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs appeared to be associated with increased risk.
In an analysis of the phase III GALLIUM trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Trotman et al found that end-of-induction fluorodeoxyglucose positron-emission tomography (PET) after first-line immunochemotherapy appeared to better predict treatment outcomes than contrast-enhanced computed tomography.
Pembrolizumab improved survival in patients with head and neck cancer that has recurred or metastasized in the KEYNOTE-048 trial, according to late-breaking results from the study reported by Burtness et al.
Patients with human papillomavirus (HPV)-positive throat cancer responded better to chemoradiotherapy than to cetuximab with radiotherapy, according to late-breaking research reported by Mehanna et al.
Two-year maintenance therapy with olaparib, a poly ADP-ribose polymerase inhibitor, led to a substantial improvement in progression-free survival in newly diagnosed patients with advanced ovarian cancer and a BRCA1/2 mutation, according to results from the phase III SOLO-1 trial presented by Moore et al.
In a phase I study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Strickler et al found evidence of activity of the antibody-drug conjugate telisotuzumab vedotin in non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) overexpressing c-Met.
A combination of the immune checkpoint blocker avelumab plus the tyrosine kinase inhibitor axitinib improved progression-free survival in previously untreated patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma in the phase III JAVELIN Renal 101 study.
Radiotherapy to the prostate improved overall survival in men newly diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer who have a low metastatic disease burden, but not in those with higher burden of disease, according to results from a preplanned analysis of a large comparison study reported by Parker et al.
A combination of immunotherapy and chemotherapy improves survival in some patients with metastatic triple-negative breast cancer, according to late-breaking results from the IMpassion130 trial reported by Schmid et al at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2018 Congress.
A phase III trial presented by Jiang et al at showed activity of histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor therapy in advanced HR-positive breast cancer.
Treatment with the cyclin-dependent kinase 4/6 inhibitor palbociclib achieved a clinically meaningful improvement in overall survival in patients with HR-positive, HER2-negative advanced breast cancer that has relapsed or progressed on hormonal therapy, according to the final analysis of overall survival results from the PALOMA-3 study reported by Cristofanilli et al.
Targeting a common mutation in patients with hormone receptor (HR)–positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative advanced breast cancer with the alpha-specific phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K) inhibitor alpelisib improved progression-free survival, according to late-breaking results reported by André et al.
Nearly 1 in 6 premenopausal women being treated for early-stage breast cancer do not adhere adequately to tamoxifen therapy after 1 year of treatment, reported a French prospective study presented by Pistilli et al.
Women with HER2-positive early breast cancer with small tumors have similar disease-free survival and lower risk of cardiac toxicity with a 9-week course of adjuvant trastuzumab compared to those treated for 1 year, according to a subgroup analysis of the Short-HER trial.
In an analysis presented by Davidson et al, data were pooled from four UK randomized controlled clinical trials of first-line chemotherapy in esophagogastric cancer, finding significant differences in a number of important side effects experienced by male and female patients.
Some European countries take more than twice as long as others to reach health technology assessment decisions to reimburse new cancer treatments following their approval by the European Medicines Agency (EMA). The average decision time is longer than 1 year in some countries, according to a study reported by Hwang et al.
An emerging treatment known as adoptive T-cell therapy has proven effective in a phase II clinical trial for treating progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML), a rare and often fatal brain infection sometimes observed in patients with cancer and other diseases in which the immune system is compromised. These findings were reported in a brief report by Muftuoglu et al in The New England Journal of Medicine.
A pooled analysis of two large U.S. prospective cohort studies reported in JAMA Oncology by Simon et al indicated that regular use of aspirin is associated with a significant reduction in risk for hepatocellular carcinoma, with an apparent dose- and duration-dependent effect.
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Hensley et al, a phase III NRG Oncology/Gynecologic Oncology Group study assessing adjuvant chemotherapy vs observation in disease-free patients with uterus-confined high-grade leiomyosarcoma was stopped due to accrual futility; available data suggested no benefit of adjuvant chemotherapy.
In a study reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Grinfeld et al identified distinct genomic subgroups among patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms that, when combined with clinical variables, offered the potential for individualized predictions of clinical outcomes.
According to a new American Cancer Society report published by Gapstur et al in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, the highest priority in a national cancer control plan is the expansion of tobacco control—the intervention with the largest potential health benefits. The report also touches on other modifiable risk factors, such as weight, alcohol consumption, diet, and exercise.
In an analysis of two Nordic Lymphoma Group trials with long-term follow up reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Lockmer et al found evidence that many patients receiving rituximab as initial treatment for advanced indolent lymphoma may not require the addition of chemotherapy.
In an analysis of International Global Germ Cell Cancer Group Registry data reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Cathomas et al, fluorodeoxyglucose positron-emission tomography (FDG-PET) was found to have a low positive predictive value for vital tumor in residual lesions after chemotherapy in patients with metastatic seminoma.
In a study reported in the Journal of Oncology Practice, Mrad et al found an increase in the proportion of patients with stage IV lung cancer admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) during terminal hospitalization between 1998 and 2014. A large increase in palliative care contacts also occurred, although related cost reductions did not make up for increased ICU costs.
On October 16, 2018, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved talazoparib (Talzenna) for patients with deleterious or suspected deleterious germline BRCA-mutated, HER2‑negative locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer. Patients must be selected for therapy based on an FDA-approved companion diagnostic for talazoparib.
A retrospective study investigating deep learning methods to distinguish recalled but benign mammography images from negative exams and those with malignancy has found that deep learning convolutional neural network methods can identify nuanced mammographic imaging features from malignant and negative cases. The study by Aboutalib et al is published in Clinical Cancer Research.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted a new drug application seeking accelerated approval for selinexor, a first-in-class, oral selective inhibitor of nuclear export compound, as a new treatment for patients with pentarefractory multiple myeloma.
Neoadjuvant combination checkpoint blockade showed activity among patients with high-risk stage III melanoma in a small study. However, a high incidence of side effects caused the trial to be closed early. These results were published by Amaria et al in Nature Medicine.
In a study reported in a research letter in JAMA Oncology, Tuminello et al found that video-assisted thorascopic surgery was less likely than open resection to be associated with long-term opioid use in patients undergoing surgery for early-stage lung cancer.
As reported in the journal Blood by Flinn et al, the phase III DUO trial has shown significantly prolonged progression-free survival with duvelisib vs ofatumumab in patients with relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) or small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL).
Twitter is a place where many patients with cancer go to share and discuss their experiences of the disease, according to a recent exploratory study to be presented by Sánchez-Bayona et al at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2018 Congress. The investigators analyzed the contents of over 6,000 tweets and retweets about breast cancer.
Nearly 1 in 4 patients with advanced cancer treated at a community practice cancer network in the United States received innovative drugs matched to DNA mutations in their tumors. These results, to be reported by Alvarez et al at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2018 Congress, show that precision medicine is spreading from highly specialized cancer care centers to other health-care facilities.
In a study reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Wheeler et al found that black women reported nonadherence to endocrine therapy for breast cancer more often than white women, although no significant difference in discontinuation of treatment was observed.
As reported at the recent International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer 19th World Conference on Lung Cancer and in The New England Journal of Medicine by Paz-Ares et al, the phase III KEYNOTE-407 trial has shown that the addition of pembrolizumab to platinum-based chemotherapy significantly improved overall and progression-free survival in patients with previously untreated metastatic squamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
As reported by Mitchell et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, the combination of the oral indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase 1 enzyme inhibitor epacadostat and the anti–programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) therapy pembrolizumab showed activity in advanced solid tumors in the phase I portion of the phase I/II ECHO-202/KEYNOTE-037 study.
Researchers have identified estradiol as a potential new treatment for women with triple-negative breast cancer that expresses estrogen receptor β. Their findings were published by Reese et al in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.
In a study reported in JAMA Surgery, van Roessel et al found that the recently released 8th edition of the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) staging system for pancreatic cancer provided better distribution among cases and some increase in prognostic accuracy vs the 7th edition among an international cohort of patients with resected pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.
In a study reported in the Journal of Oncology Practice, Ahmed et al found that conflict of interest disclosure slides shown during presentations at a recent American Society for Radiation Oncology national meeting were shown too briefly to be fully read and often contained underreporting of industry funding.
In a Korean nationwide cohort study reported in JAMA Oncology, Choi et al found that hepatocellular carcinoma appeared to be more common with first-line entecavir vs tenofovir treatment for chronic hepatitis B.
Doximity has released a new study detailing a concerning trend that could potentially impact cancer care in the United States. Researchers examined retirement trends, percentage of state-trained specialists, and prevalence of breast cancer on a city-by-city basis. The report is the first of its kind to uncover the potential shortages of oncologists across the 50 largest U.S. metropolitan statistical areas.
The cancer burden in Puerto Rico is substantially different from that of Hispanics in the continental United States, according to Cancer Statistics for Hispanics/Latinos, 2018. The report, published every 3 years, found that men in Puerto Rico have higher prostate and colorectal cancer rates than non-Hispanic white men in the continental United States, in contrast to United States Hispanics as a whole, who have lower rates for these cancers. The report by Miller et al was published in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians.
A study aimed to examine the adherence to annual low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) screening after baselines LDCT within the Veteran Health Administration Lung Cancer Screening Demonstration Project. The study was presented at the CHEST Annual Meeting 2018.
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Janelsins et al found cognitive impairment in women receiving chemotherapy for breast cancer that persisted for at least 6 months after treatment.
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Mandelblatt et al found that poorer cognitive function in older survivors of breast cancer was associated with chemotherapy, hormone therapy, and ApoE genotype.
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Pigneux et al, a French phase III trial has shown an overall survival benefit with the addition of lomustine to conventional chemotherapy in older patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) without unfavorable cytogenetics.
In a Dutch study reported in JAMA Surgery, de Neree tot Babberich et al found that postoperative outcomes were better in patients with colon cancer, but not rectal cancer, detected vs not detected through the national fecal immunochemical test–based screening program.
The Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) recently released the results of its first national public awareness report about risks, actions, and attitudes toward prostate cancer in the PCF 3P Report 2018: Public Perception of Prostate Cancer. The report found a significant lack of understanding about prostate cancer and its symptoms among Americans, illustrating the need for more education and awareness about the disease.
The phase III ECHELON-2 clinical trial has met its primary endpoint, demonstrating a statistically significant improvement in progression-free survival with brentuximab vedotin in combination with CHP (cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, prednisone) vs CHOP (cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, prednisone) in previously untreated CD30-expressing peripheral T-cell lymphoma.
In a phase II study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Cruz et al found that the trabectedin analog lurbinectedin was active in patients with metastatic breast cancer with germline BRCA mutations, with much lower activity in those without BRCA mutation or unknown mutation status.
In a single-center phase II study reported in JAMA Oncology, Massarelli et al found combining tumor-specific vaccine and nivolumab showed evidence of activity in incurable human papillomavirus (HPV) 16–related cancer.
In a study published by Preston et al in European Urology, researchers demonstrated that a baseline prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level obtained from black men between 40 and 60 years old may predict the future development of prostate cancer for years after testing.
Researchers have shown that autologous fecal microbiota transplantation may be a safe and effective way to help replenish beneficial gut bacteria in patients with cancer who require intense antibiotics during allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Their findings were published by Taur et al in Science Translational Medicine.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a supplemental application for recombinant human papillomavirus (HPV) 9-valent vaccine (Gardasil 9), expanding the approved use of the vaccine to include women and men aged 27 through 45 years. Gardasil 9 prevents certain cancers and diseases caused by the nine HPV types covered by the vaccine.
As reported in JAMA Dermatology, Wu and Wood found that the widely available nonprescription topical antimicrobial agent gentian violet has potent activity against cutaneous T-cell lymphoma.
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Bardia et al evaluated the effects of adding an antagonist of inhibitor of apoptosis proteins—LCL161—to paclitaxel as neoadjuvant therapy in patients with localized triple-negative breast cancer who did or did not have a tumor necrosis factor α–based gene expression signature predictive of sensitivity to LCL161.
As reported at the recent International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer 19th World Conference on Lung Cancer and in The New England Journal of Medicine by Horn et al, the phase III IMpower133 study has shown significant improvement in overall and progression-free survival with the addition of atezolizumab to platinum-based chemotherapy in the first-line treatment of extensive-stage small cell lung cancer.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently granted Breakthrough Therapy designation to rucaparib monotherapy for the treatment of adult patients with BRCA1/2-mutated metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer who have received at least one prior androgen receptor–directed therapy and taxane-based chemotherapy.
With a focus on the pathology aspects of diagnosing lymphoma, the American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP), the College of American Pathologists (CAP), and the American Society of Hematology (ASH) are collaborating to develop an evidence-based clinical practice guideline for the workup of lymphoma. An interdisciplinary panel of experts representing these organizations is developing the guideline. The draft recommendations summary for the ASCP/CAP/ASH Requirements for Laboratory Workup of Lymphoma Guideline is now available for public comment through October 24, 2018.
A study by Wolfson et al in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention investigating the disparity in survival outcomes of adolescents and young adults (AYAs) diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) compared with children diagnosed with ALL has found that lower clinical trial enrollment and shorter duration of treatment are associated with relapse after completing therapy.
In a study reported in the Journal of Oncology Practice, Hong et al found that the U.S. health-care system increased spending on antineoplastic agents from $26.8 billion in 2011 to $42.1 billion in 2016.
Analysis of male- and female-derived tumor samples revealed differences in prognostic biomarkers, genes that drive cancer, and in regulation of key pathways that may predict responses to treatment, according to results published in two studies in Cancer Research, one by Li et al and the other by Lopes-Ramos et al.
A therapeutic vaccine may boost antibodies and T cells, helping them infiltrate human papillomavirus (HPV)-related head and neck cancer tumors. These findings were published by Aggarwal et al in Clinical Cancer Research.
In a long-term follow-up of a phase I trial reported in JAMA Oncology, Emens et al found that single-agent atezolizumab produced enduring benefit in patients with metastatic triple-negative breast cancer after stable or responding disease and in first-line treatment.
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Diorio et al, an international panel has released a clinical practice guideline on prevention and treatment of Clostridium difficile infection. The guideline provides recommendations for children and adolescents with cancer and pediatric patients who are undergoing hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (HSCT).
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Barlesi et al, the phase III JAVELIN Lung 200 trial has shown no overall survival benefit with avelumab vs docetaxel in patients with platinum pretreated, programmed cell death ligand 1–positive, advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently permitted marketing of the ClonoSEQ assay, a next-generation sequencing–based test for minimal residual disease in patients with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) or multiple myeloma.
Patients treated with more invasive surgical techniques for early-stage non–small cell lung cancer are more likely to become chronic opioid users than patients treated with minimally invasive surgery, highlighting the need for additional research into how pain management after surgery might be a contributing factor to the opioid addiction crisis, according to a study published by Tuminello et al in JAMA Oncology.
An analysis of the NRG Oncology clinical trial NRG-GY003 suggests that adding ipilimumab to a regimen with nivolumab could improve response and progression-free survival for women with recurrent epithelial ovarian cancer. These results were presented at the 17th Biennial Meeting of the International Gynecologic Cancer Society in Kyoto, Japan.
In a report from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Madenci et al found that survivors of childhood cancer are at increased risk of late venous thromboembolism, with several factors increasing such risk.
In an analysis of Veterans Affairs data reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Bauml et al found that weekly lower-dose cisplatin vs higher-dose cisplatin given every 3 weeks as part of concurrent definitive chemoradiotherapy may not adversely affect survival, while reducing toxicity.
In a secondary analysis of the UK phase III RATHL trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Anderson et al found that ovarian function recovery was affected by age and type of response-adapted therapy in women receiving treatment for advanced Hodgkin lymphoma.
A phase I clinical trial investigating the use of bacterial Clostridium novyi-NT spores as an injectable monotherapy had manageable toxicities and showed early clinical efficacy in patients with treatment-refractory solid tumor malignancies, according to data presented at the CRI-CIMT-EATI-AACR International Cancer Immunotherapy Conference: Translating Science into Survival.
Having high levels of anti-Müllerian hormone—a hormone that indicates the size of a woman’s ovarian reserve—before menopause may be associated with an increased risk of breast cancer, a study by Ge et al in the International Journal of Cancer found.
Thermal ablation is a safe, effective treatment for early-stage non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), with comparable results to traditional stereotactic radiotherapy, according to a study published by Uhlig et al in the journal Radiology.
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Seidman et al, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Breast Cancer Steering Committee Working Group has issued a report on meaningful and appropriate endpoints for clinical trials in metastatic breast cancer.
In a systematic review and meta-analysis reported in Annals of Internal Medicine, Drucker et al found differences in recurrence rates and patient-reported cosmetic outcomes among various treatments for mostly low-risk primary basal cell carcinoma of the skin.
As reported by Lin et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, cost-effectiveness modeling of treatment with tisagenlecleucel in relapsed or refractory pediatric B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) showed that price reduction would result in meeting acceptable thresholds under numerous assumptions of clinical outcomes.
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a supplemental new drug application to expand the prescribing information for carfilzomib (Kyprolis) to include a once-weekly dosing option in combination with dexamethasone for patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma.
A recent review of patient-caregiver communities focused on non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with genomic alterations showed that these groups are improving outcomes by supporting patients and caregivers, increasing awareness and education, and accelerating research.
A study has demonstrated that using involved field radiotherapy (IFRT) and irradiating postchemotherapy residual primary tumor volume for limited-stage small cell lung cancer (SCLC) did not result in increased recurrence of the cancer.
The Angiosarcoma Project, a patient-partnered genomics study, has identified immune checkpoint inhibitors as a potential treatment option for patients with angiosarcomas of the head, face, neck, or scalp. The researchers’ findings suggest a common genomic basis for these rare angiosarcomas and could provide a rationale for clinical interventions using checkpoint inhibitors. The study was presented at the Fourth CRI-CIMT-EATI-AACR International Cancer Immunotherapy Conference: Translating Science into Survival.
A small phase I study investigating a therapeutic cancer vaccine targeting HER2-expressing cancers has found that the vaccine provided clinical benefit in several patients with metastatic HER2-positive cancers that had progressed on at least one line of standard therapy. The study was presented at the Fourth CRI-CIMT-EATI-AACR International Cancer Immunotherapy Conference: Translating Science into Survival.
On September 28, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved cemiplimab-rwlc (Libtayo) injection for intravenous use for the treatment of patients with metastatic cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) or locally advanced cutaneous SCC who are not candidates for curative surgery or curative radiation. This is the first FDA approval of a drug specifically for advanced cutaneous SCC.
James Allison, PhD, Chair of Immunology and Executive Director of the Immunotherapy Platform at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, and Tasuku Honjo, MD, PhD, Distinguished Professor at the Kyoto University Institute for Advanced Study and Professor of Immunology and Genomic Medicine at Kyoto University, today were awarded the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for launching an effective new way to attack cancer by treating the immune system rather than the tumor.
Results from a SWOG study presented by Kathy Albain, MD, showed that female never-smokers and female ever-smokers had significantly better overall survival than male never-smokers and male ever-smokers. The investigators noted that additional research is needed.
Study findings demonstrated that comprehensive genetic profiling is a useful tool in directing patient care, identifying targeted therapies, and enrolling patients in clinical trials.
Findings presented at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) 19th World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC) showed poziotinib has clinical activity among patients with stage IV NSCLC with genetic mutations that have previously not responded to treatment.
On September 27, 2018, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved dacomitinib tablets (Vizimpro) for the first-line treatment of patients with metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) exon 19 deletion or exon 21 L858R substitution mutations as detected by an FDA-approved test.
In a single-center study reported in the Journal of Oncology Practice, Chooback and colleagues found that central nervous system (CNS) metastases are frequent in patients with EGFR-mutant advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and are associated with increased health resource utilization. Researchers noted that newer systemic therapies may reduce the incidence of metastases and reduce resource utilization.
In a single-center phase II trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Jonasch et al found evidence of activity of pazopanib in the treatment of patients with von Hippel-Lindau disease.
A recent study found that smoking cessation services offered at the time of lung cancer screening had a high acceptance rate by current smokers.
Findings from a recent study demonstrate that female patients with lung cancer who have never smoked have significantly greater exposure rates to outdoor air pollution than female patients with lung cancer who have a history of smoking.
Findings from the IMpower132 trial demonstrate that the use of the programmed cell death ligand 1 inhibitor atezolizumab in combination with carboplatin plus pemetrexed as first-line therapy and pemetrexed as maintenance therapy improved progression-free survival in patients with stage IV nonsquamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Whelan et al, combined trials (EURO-EWING99 and Ewing-2008) have shown evidence of improved outcomes with high-dose therapy with busulfan and melphalan and autologous stem cell transplant (SCT) vs standard chemotherapy with vincristine, dactinomycin, and ifosfamide as consolidation in patients with localized high-risk Ewing sarcoma.
In the Chinese phase III TAILOR trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Qin et al found that adding the EGFR inhibitor cetuximab to FOLFOX4 (fluorouracil, leucovorin, oxaliplatin) improved progression-free survival in patients with RAS wild-type metastatic colorectal cancer.
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Dummer et al, the phase III COLUMBUS trial has shown a significant improvement in overall survival with the combination of the BRAF inhibitor encorafenib and the MEK inhibitor binimetinib vs vemurafenib in patients with advanced BRAF V600–mutant melanoma.
At 10-years follow-up, findings from the NELSON study show CT screenings are effective in assessing lung nodules in people at high risk for lung cancer and reduced lung cancer mortality in this study population.
Findings from a recent study demonstrate that the triple angiokinase inhibitor nintedanib combined with standard-of-care pemetrexed/cisplatin does not impact progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) for patients with unresectable malignant pleural mesothelioma with epithelioid histology.
Findings from the IMpower 133 trial demonstrate that adding first-line atezolizumab to standard carboplatin and etoposide prolonged overall survival and progression-free survival in patients with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer (SCLC) as compared to carboplatin and etoposide treatment alone.
As reported at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer 19th World Conference on Lung Cancer and in The New England Journal of Medicine by Camidge et al, an interim analysis of the phase III ALTA-1L trial has shown improved progression-free survival with brigatinib vs crizotinib in advanced ALK-positive non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) not previously treated with an ALK inhibitor.
On September 24, 2018, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted regular approval to duvelisib (Copiktra) for adult patients with relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) or small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL) after at least two prior therapies. In addition, duvelisib received accelerated approval for adult patients with relapsed or refractory follicular lymphoma after at least two prior systemic therapies.
As reported at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer 19th World Conference on Lung Cancer and in the The New England Journal of Medicine by Antonia et al, the phase III PACIFIC trial has shown significantly improved overall survival with durvalumab vs placebo after chemoradiotherapy in unresectable stage III non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
Patients with cancer were 10 times less likely to die from opioid use than those in the general population, according to a 10-year retrospective study by Chino et al. Of the deaths that did occur in patients with cancer from opioid use, those with lung, gastrointestinal, head and neck, hematologic, and genitourinary cancers had the highest percentage.
Older patients with advanced cancer experiencing financial toxicity due to the cost of their treatment have higher rates of severe anxiety and depression and poorer quality of life than patients who do not experience financial hardship. In addition, for those patients having financial difficulty, cost issues were raised only about half the time by their oncologists. The study will be presented by Arastu et al.
A new nationwide analysis of more than 1,000 people living with metastatic breast cancer from 41 states reveals significant cancer-related financial burden known as financial toxicity, particularly for uninsured patients. The study will be presented by Wheeler et al.
Findings from a new study reveal that while many women with breast cancer experience significant financial burden and most prefer to discuss the cost of their cancer care before beginning treatment, few are having conversations about treatment costs with their cancer care teams. These findings will be presented by Greenup et al.
In a study conducted by Stanford Health Care, researchers achieved a 46% reduction in opioid use among 443 patients with cancer who underwent a range of urologic surgeries without increasing their pain or anxiety. They achieved this reduction through a two-pillared approach: (1) maximizing the use of over-the counter nonopioid therapies and (2) changing the nature of postsurgery discussions with patients. These findings will be reported by Stevenson et al.
New research by Wind et al in JNCCN—Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network explores a new approach for benchmarking cancer centers based on how successfully their organizational structures allow them to implement integrated practice units.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Rare Pediatric Disease designation to CLR 131 for the treatment of osteosarcoma.
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Fakhry et al, ASCO has endorsed the 2018 College of American Pathologists (CAP) guideline on human papillomavirus (HPV) testing in head and neck carcinoma.
In a National Cancer Database analysis reported in JAMA Surgery, Barron et al found low pathologic nodal positivity rates among patients with clinically node-negative, HER2-positive disease or triple-negative breast cancer with breast pathologic complete response after neoadjuvant chemotherapy.
Although national guidelines recommend against prostate cancer screening in men age 70 and older, researchers estimate that screening for and treating prostate cancer in men in this age group costs Medicare more than $1.2 billion over a 3-year period for each group of men diagnosed in the United States each year. These findings were published by Trogdon et al in JAMA Oncology.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Priority Review to a new supplemental biologics license application (sBLA) seeking approval for pembrolizumab as monotherapy for first-line treatment of locally advanced or metastatic nonsquamous or squamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in patients whose tumors express programmed cell death ligand 1 without EGFR or ALK genomic tumor aberrations.
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Bekelman et al, ASCO has endorsed the 2017 American Urological Association (AUA), American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO), and Society of Urologic Oncology (SUO) joint guideline on care for clinically localized prostate cancer.
In a French study reported in JAMA Oncology, Ferrara et al found that hyperprogressive disease appeared to be more common with programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1)/programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) inhibitor treatment than single-agent chemotherapy among previously treated patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
As reported in JAMA Oncology by Buzdar et al, the phase III ACOSOG Z1041 trial showed no difference in disease-free or overall survival with sequential vs concurrent neoadjuvant anthracycline and trastuzumab in patients with operable HER2-positive breast cancer.
Investigators have unraveled the origins and identified mutations associated with mixed-phenotype acute leukemia. The study—published by Alexander et al in Nature—potentially lays the foundation for more effective treatment of patients with this high-risk cancer.
The results of the pivotal phase III JAVELIN Renal 101 study—which evaluated avelumab in combination with axitinib compared with sunitinib as initial therapy for patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma—were recently announced.
In a single-institution study reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Duncavage et al found that mutation clearance after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) was associated with better outcomes in patients with myelodysplastic syndrome.
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Basch et al established the feasibility of using the National Cancer Institute patient-reported outcomes version of the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) in the setting of a multicenter clinical trial in locally advanced rectal cancer.
Researchers have shown how BRCA-associated protein 1 (BAP1) serves as a tumor suppressor gene in kidney, eye and bile duct cancers; mesothelioma; and other malignancies by regulating a form of cell death called ferroptosis. Findings from the study were published by Zhang et al in Nature Cell Biology.
A retrospective study found that survivors of human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated cancers have a high incidence of developing second HPV-related cancers. The findings, reported by Suk et al in JAMA Network Open, suggest the need for increased screening for HPV-associated precancerous and early cancerous lesions among people who are survivors of the disease.
Prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) positron emission tomography (PET) imaging has become a popular method for determining the stage of a patient’s prostate cancer. However, researchers have identified a pitfall in this imaging technique, and are cautioning medical professionals to be aware of the potential for misdiagnosis when relying solely on PSMA PET. These findings were published by Rischpler et al in The Journal of Nuclear Medicine.
In a population-based cohort study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Hargreave et al found that recent maternal use of hormonal contraception was associated with increased risk of childhood nonlymphoid leukemia.
In a systematic review and meta-analysis reported in JAMA Oncology, Wang et al identified frequency and types of fatal toxic effects in patients receiving immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy.
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Tabernero et al, the phase III JACOB trial showed no significant overall survival benefit of adding pertuzumab to trastuzumab plus chemotherapy in first-line treatment of HER2-positive metastatic gastric or gastroesophageal junction cancer.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced a series of critical and historic enforcement actions related to the sale and marketing of e-cigarettes to children. In the largest coordinated enforcement effort in its history, the agency issued more than 1,300 warning letters and fines to retailers who illegally sold e-cigarette products to minors during a nationwide, undercover blitz of brick-and-mortar and online stores this summer.
Recently, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) updated its Clinical Practice Guidelines to include new recommendations for cabozantinib tablets. With the updates, cabozantinib is recommended by the NCCN for the treatment of advanced renal cell carcinoma, regardless of patient risk status.
In a single-center analysis reported in JAMA Oncology, Peyton et al found that neoadjuvant dose-dense methotrexate, vinblastine, doxorubicin, and cisplatin produced better outcomes than other standard neoadjuvant regimens in patients undergoing radical cystectomy for muscle-invasive bladder cancer.
In a phase II trial reported in JAMA Oncology, Sahai et al found that the first-line combination of nab-paclitaxel and gemcitabine may constitute a treatment option in advanced cholangiocarcinoma.
A population-based case-control study investigating the association between neonatal concentrations of inflammatory markers and the risk of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) has found neonatal concentrations of eight detectable markers that were significantly different in children later diagnosed with ALL compared with controls. The study by Søegaard et al was published in Cancer Research.
Survey results released by the Lung Cancer Alliance show that general awareness about lung cancer has improved significantly over the past decade, with 94% of the public reporting familiarity with lung cancer. Despite this change in overall perspective, findings also indicate that lung cancer stigma remains a significant problem, with an increased belief that patients with lung cancer are viewed or treated differently than patients with other cancers.
A group of men with especially aggressive prostate cancer may respond unusually well to immunotherapy, according to a study published by Rodrigues et al in the Journal of Clinical Investigation. The research offers the possibility of effective treatment, with clinical trials already underway.
In a long-term follow-up of a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Godfrey et al found that the addition of cytoreductive therapy with hydroxycarbamide to aspirin did not improve outcomes in patients with essential thrombocythemia aged 40 to 59 years without high-risk features or extreme thrombocytosis.
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, ten Broeke et al found that patients with Lynch syndrome associated with PMS2 mutation are at increased risk of colorectal and endometrial cancers but not other cancers associated with the syndrome.
As reported in JAMA Oncology by Gridelli et al, the phase IIIB AvaALL trial did not show improved overall survival with continued bevacizumab treatment beyond disease progression in patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), although some improvements in subsequent progression-free survival and time to disease progression were observed.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today approved moxetumomab pasudotox-tdfk (Lumoxiti) injection for intravenous use for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory hairy cell leukemia (HCL) who have received at least two prior systemic therapies, including treatment with a purine nucleoside analog. Moxetumomab pasudotox-tdfk is a CD22-directed cytotoxin and is the first of this type of treatment for patients with HCL.
The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) has released its annual Cancer Progress Report highlighting how federally funded research discoveries are fueling the development of new and even more effective ways to prevent, detect, diagnose, and treat cancer.
A research team has discovered a way to use computed tomography (CT) imaging to assess kidney tumors that test positive for the biomarker CD117 and accurately determine—before surgery—whether the tumor is benign or malignant. Their findings are published by Amin et al in Clinical Cancer Research.
In the phase III RELEVANCE trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Morschhauser et al, no difference in complete response rate or interim progression-free survival was found between rituximab plus lenalidomide vs rituximab plus chemotherapy in newly diagnosed advanced follicular lymphoma. Adverse event profiles differed between the two regimens.
In a Danish study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Beau et al used different models to assess the effects of screening on breast cancer mortality, finding a 20% reduction among patients diagnosed during the recommended screening age range.
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Calaway et al found that the addition of bleomycin to etoposide/cisplatin did not appear to increase the risk of pulmonary or postoperative morbidity after postchemotherapy retroperitoneal lymph node dissection in men with good-risk germ cell tumors.
Nearly 350 organizations—including medical societies and oncology treatments centers—are advocating for robust, sustained, and predictable annual funding increases for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) during the 6th annual Rally for Medical Research Hill Day, taking place today and September 13.
Bleeding in patients treated with anticoagulants may indicate an increased probability of cancer, according to late-breaking results from the COMPASS trial presented at the European Society of Cardiology Congress 2018.
A prospective study reported by Taylor et al in Clinical Cancer Research evaluated the demographic and clinical factors associated with the incidence of methotrexate-related neurotoxicity in pediatric patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). The researchers found that Hispanic ethnicity was linked with an increased risk of developing methotrexate neurotoxicity, which was associated with treatment modifications and disease relapse.
In the 10-year follow-up of the phase III International Breast Cancer Study Group 23-01 trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Galimberti et al found no significant difference in disease-free survival with axillary dissection vs no axillary dissection in patients with breast cancer and sentinel node micrometastases, confirming findings from the 5-year follow-up.
In a phase II study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Evens et al found that a regimen of brentuximab vedotin given sequentially before and after standard doxorubicin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine (AVD) was associated with good outcomes in untreated older patients with classical Hodgkin lymphoma.
The Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation today announced the winners of its 2018 Lasker Awards. Widely regarded as America’s top biomedical research prize, the Lasker Awards carry an honorarium of $250,000 for each category. The awards will be presented Friday, September 21, in New York City.
Researchers conducted a large analysis involving more than 2,500 estrogen receptor (ER)-positive breast cancer cases to establish associations between rare somatic mutations and prognosis. The study was published by Griffith et al in Nature Communications.
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Taplitz et al, ASCO and the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) have updated their joint guideline on antimicrobial prophylaxis for adult patients with immunosuppression associated with cancer and its treatment.
A new study suggests chemotherapy may cause acute amenorrhea, leading to early menopause in women with lung cancer. The study is the first to comment on amenorrhea rates in women younger than 50, concluding that women with lung cancer who desire future fertility should be educated about risks and options before starting treatment. Study results were published by Cathcart-Rake et al in Menopause.
In a Chinese single-institution study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Wang et al found that station 4L lymph node dissection was associated with improved outcome in patients with primary cancer of the left lung.
In a study published by Zagorac et al in Nature Communications, researchers described a successful classification of patients with triple-negative breast cancer, which for the first time separates those who can be cured from those whose disease may recur. The study also identifies new pharmacological targets, and indicates that in patients with these targets, combined treatments with existing drugs could be effective.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently granted Breakthrough Therapy designation to LOXO-292, a selective RET inhibitor, for the treatment of RET fusion–positive non–small cell lung cancer and RET-mutant medullary thyroid cancer.
More than 130 iconic buildings and landmarks across the United States and Canada will be illuminated in a show of support for the 6th biennial Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) “roadblock” telecast, airing in both countries tonight. All sites will light up in combinations of SU2C's signature colors: orange, red, yellow, gray, and white.
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Vatner et al identified factors associated with an increased risk of endocrine deficiency in pediatric and young adult patients receiving radiation therapy for brain tumors, including hypothalamus and pituitary radiation dose.
A small study by Galanina et al in Cancer Immunology Research investigating the effectiveness of immune checkpoint inhibitors in patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-related Kaposi sarcoma found that the therapy demonstrated significant antitumor activity and low toxicity, even in the presence of low tumor mutational burden.
A new method may predict the course of human papillomavirus (HPV)-negative head and neck cancer after radiochemotherapy. According to findings published by Hess et al in Clinical Cancer Research, five microRNAs may be able to provide the decisive data.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted and granted priority review for a new supplemental biologics license application (sBLA) seeking accelerated approval for pembrolizumab for the treatment of adult and pediatric patients with recurrent locally advanced or metastatic Merkel cell carcinoma.
Blood tests could predict how long it takes until colorectal cancer becomes resistant to treatment based on the same principle used in forecasting the weather, a new study by Khan et al in Cancer Discovery has found. The liquid biopsies could also predict patients that are unlikely to initially respond to treatment.
In a study reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Fahrmann et al developed and validated a plasma-derived metabolite panel that distinguished early-stage pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma with high accuracy. Accuracy was further improved with the addition of a previously validated protein panel.
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Zheng et al found a high frequency of inherited breast cancer among Nigerian women, with presence of deleterious mutations posing very high risk of disease.
As reported by Winter et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, findings from a Children’s Oncology Group (COG) trial indicate improved outcomes with a COG methotrexate intensification regimen vs a high-dose methotrexate intensification regimen in children and young adults with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently accepted a supplemental biologics license application (sBLA) for dasatinib in combination with chemotherapy for the treatment of pediatric patients with newly diagnosed Philadelphia chromosome (Ph)-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).
Many patients with the rare skin disease recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa—commonly called butterfly syndrome—also develop squamous cell carcinoma early in life. Now an international team of scientists has found that immune system–related enzymes are major contributors to the development of this cancer. These findings were published by Cho et al in Science Translational Medicine.
In a study reported in the Journal of Oncology Practice, Chino et al found that high proportions of insured patients with cancer—most with stage IV disease—reported being willing to make considerable personal and financial sacrifices to receive cancer care.
In a Children’s Oncology Group phase I/II trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Cole et al found that the combination of brentuximab vedotin and gemcitabine was active in pediatric and young adult patients with relapsed or refractory Hodgkin lymphoma.
In a subgroup analysis of the phase III FLAURA trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Reungwetwattana et al found evidence of greater central nervous system (CNS) activity of osimertinib vs standard EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors in patients with previously untreated advanced EGFR-mutant non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
Scott Gottlieb, MD, Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, recently issued the following statement on California Proposition 65 and the labeling of coffee with a cancer warning because of the presence of acrylamide.
Sex-based approaches to studying and treating disease have remained largely unexplored in medical oncology, despite the field’s growing interest in precision medicine and accumulating evidence that gender is a major factor in disease risk and response to treatment. At an upcoming European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Workshop to be held in Lausanne, Switzerland, later this year, a multidisciplinary faculty of experts will discuss the concepts and methods of medicine and sex and their implications for clinical practice and research in oncology.
A prospective phase II study investigating the value of profiling subclonal mutations in the RAS pathway in the plasma cell–free DNA of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer to predict their response to anti-EGFR therapies has found that serial liquid biopsies, coupled with a mathematical framework of tumor evolution, could predict which patients are at risk for disease progression. The study by Khan et al was published in Cancer Discovery.
In a phase III study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Frumovitz et al found that near-infrared fluorescence imaging with indocyanine green dye identified more sentinel nodes vs isosulfan blue dye in women with clinical stage I endometrial or cervical cancer undergoing curative surgery.
In a study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Sun et al developed a radiomic signature of infiltrating CD8 cells that could identify tumor immune phenotype and help predict outcome of programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1)/programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) inhibitor treatment.
Cancer may be linked to an increased risk of death and prehospitalization in patients with broken heart syndrome, according to research presented by Santoro et al at the 2018 European Society of Cardiology Congress.
To establish a better understanding of the link between hepatocellular carcinoma risk and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, researchers conducted a large, retrospective study of patients with and without nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. The results were published by Kanwal et al in Gastroenterology.
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Devarakonda et al found that high nonsynonymous tumor mutation burden was associated with improved outcomes in patients undergoing resection for non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
In a phase II trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Rimawi et al found that adding pertuzumab to trastuzumab plus an aromatase inhibitor improved progression-free survival in patients with advanced HER2-positive, hormone receptor–positive breast cancer.
The American Medical Association and about 150 medical groups sent the following letter to Seema Verma, Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, regarding the administration’s proposals included in the 2019 Medicare physician payment rule.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved the cobas EGFR Mutation Test v2 as a companion diagnostic test with gefitinib for the first-line treatment of patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Clinical studies have demonstrated that patients diagnosed with NSCLC who test positive for defined mutations of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene benefit from tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapies.
In a long-term follow-up of a phase III trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Hoffman et al found that dose-escalated, moderately hypofractionated intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) improved disease control and reduced treatment duration vs conventionally fractionated IMRT in localized prostate cancer.
In a study reported in the Journal of Oncology Practice, Karim et al found that a quality improvement initiative at a single cancer center improved documentation of goals of care discussions and referral to palliative care for patients with advanced cancer.
In a phase II study reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Tawbi et al found that combined nivolumab and ipilimumab produced a high rate of intracranial clinical benefit in patients with melanoma brain metastases.
As reported in JAMA, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force has updated its 2012 recommendations on screening for cervical cancer.
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Janjigian et al, the phase I/II CheckMate-032 study has shown activity of nivolumab and nivolumab plus ipilimumab in advanced esophagogastric cancer.
The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) has released a report assessing the comparative clinical effectiveness and value of antiandrogen therapies for the treatment of nonmetastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. The report focuses on three antiandrogen therapies: abiraterone acetate, enzalutamide, and apalutamide.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently accepted a supplemental biologics license application (sBLA) for elotuzumab in combination with pomalidomide and low-dose dexamethasone for the treatment of patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma who have received at least two prior therapies, including lenalidomide and a proteasome inhibitor.
The number of adolescents who are up to date on human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination—meaning they started and completed the HPV vaccine series—increased 5 percentage points from 2016 to 2017, according to results from a national survey published by Walker et al in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
U.S. Senator from Arizona John McCain passed away on August 25 after a long battle with glioblastoma multiforme. Numerous medical societies issued statements in light of his death.
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Arbour et al found that baseline treatment with corticosteroids was associated with poorer efficacy of programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) or programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) inhibitors in patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Kurtz et al found that baseline circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) and molecular response to treatment were independent predictors of treatment outcome in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved ibrutinib (Imbruvica) plus rituximab (Rituxan) for the treatment of adult patients with Waldenström's macroglobulinemia. The approval has resulted in the first and only chemotherapy-free combination treatment specifically indicated for the disease.
The European Commission recently approved the chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy tisagenlecleucel in the European Union for the treatment of pediatric and young adult patients up to 25 years of age with relapsed or refractory B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia and for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma after two or more lines of systemic therapy. However, just days later, The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence of the United Kingdom announced a draft decision not to recommend CAR T-cell therapy for UK patients.
In a research letter published in JAMA Surgery, Tang et al found that higher levels of intratumoral CD3-positive T cells and postoperative circulating monocyte counts were associated with improved survival in patients with upfront resectable pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.
As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Litton et al, the phase III EMBRACA trial has shown significantly improved progression-free survival with the poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitor talazoparib vs physician choice of standard single-agent therapy in patients with advanced breast cancer and a germline BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation.
New computer software may be used to predict how cancers may respond to a new drug—before it has ever been given to patients. It’s researchers’ hope that this new tool could transform the discovery of cancer drugs by predicting how tumors become resistant to treatment before it first becomes apparent in clinical trials. More information on this software and its use was reported by Kaserer et al in Cell Chemical Biology.
Compared with nondrinkers, men who consumed at least 7 drinks per week during adolescence (ages 15–19) had 3 times the odds of being diagnosed with clinically significant prostate cancer, according to results published by Michael et al in Cancer Prevention Research.
Children with certain types of brain tumors who undergo radiation treatment are less likely to recall the specifics of events they experienced after radiation than to remember pretreatment happenings, according to a study comparing them to children with healthy brains. These findings were published by Sekeres et al in The Journal of Neuroscience.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Fast Track designation to AVB-S6-500—a high-affinity, soluble Fc-fusion protein designed to block the activation of the GAS6-AXL signaling pathway—as a potential treatment for platinum-resistant recurrent ovarian cancer.
Advanced practice providers have increasingly become integral members of the oncology care delivery team, according to the first large-scale study of nurse practitioners and physician assistants in oncology published by Bruinooge et al in the Journal of Oncology Practice. The study was conducted collaboratively by ASCO, the American Academy of Physician Assistants, the Association of Physician Assistants in Oncology, the Advanced Practitioner Society for Hematology and Oncology, and the Oncology Nursing Society.
As reported by Kim et al in The Lancet Oncology, the phase III MAVORIC trial showed that the anti-C-C chemokine receptor 4 monoclonal antibody mogamulizumab significantly improved progression-free survival vs vorinostat among patients with previously treated cutaneous T-cell lymphomas.
In a Dutch study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Negenborn et al found no differences in quality of life between women receiving one-stage implant-based breast reconstruction with an acellular dermal matrix vs standard two-stage implant-based breast reconstruction.
The Pershing Square Sohn Cancer Research Alliance will open for applications for its 2019 Pershing Square Sohn Prize for Young Investigators in Cancer Research on October 1, 2018. At least 6 New York City area–based scientists will each be awarded $200,000 per year for up to 3 years to empower them to pursue groundbreaking research at a stage when traditional funding is lacking.
A new scale for tumor DNA mutations called ESCAT (European Society for Medical Oncology [ESMO] Scale for Clinical Actionability of Molecular Targets) is aiming to simplify and standardize choices for targeted cancer treatment. Information about the development and use of the scale in practice was published by Mateo et al in Annals of Oncology.
The disparity in survival rates between rural and urban patients is reduced when patients in both settings are enrolled in clinical trials, according to findings from a study published by Unger et al in JAMA Network Open.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted ASLAN003 Orphan Drug designation as a treatment for acute myeloid leukemia (AML). ASLAN003 is an orally active, potent inhibitor of human dihydroorotate dehydrogenase that has the potential to be a first-in-class drug in AML.
In a study reported in JAMA Oncology, Li et al found that MUC16 mutation was associated with increased tumor mutation load and improved prognosis in gastric cancer.
In a Chinese phase III trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Yang et al found that adding neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy to surgery improved survival in locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus.
Subsolid nodules can be considered a biomarker of lung cancer risk, and should be managed with long-term active surveillance. Conservative management of these nodules may reduce unnecessary surgery and overtreatment in patients with multiple comorbidities and aggressive lung cancer arising from lung sites other than the subsolid nodule. These are the conclusions of a report published by Silva et al in the Journal of Thoracic Oncology.
In a new study, researchers developed a gene-expression predictor that can indicate whether melanoma in a specific patient is likely to respond to treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors. The findings were published by Auslander et al in Nature Medicine.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Orphan Drug designation to CPI-613—a novel lipoic acid analog with an anticancer activity that inhibits multiple enzyme targets within the tricarboxylic acid cycle—for the treatment of peripheral T-cell lymphoma.
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Geoffrois et al, the European phase III GORTEC 2007-02 trial has shown no improvement in progression-free survival with induction chemotherapy followed by cetuximab and radiotherapy vs concurrent chemoradiotherapy in patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck with bulky nodal spread.
In a German phase II trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Chekerov et al found that the addition of sorafenib to topotecan improved progression-free survival in women with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer.
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved pembrolizumab (Keytruda) in combination with pemetrexed and platinum as first-line treatment of patients with metastatic, nonsquamous non–small cell lung cancer with no EGFR or ALK genomic tumor aberrations.
On August 16, 2018, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) updated the prescribing information for pembrolizumab (Keytruda) and atezolizumab (Tecentriq) to require the use of an FDA-approved companion diagnostic test to determine programmed cell death ligand 1 levels in tumor tissue from patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer who are ineligible for cisplatin therapy.
A new study from the American Cancer Society has found that patients with cancer who reported greater satisfaction in the way their provider communicated with them received more efficient care, with fewer office visits and better health outcomes. These findings were published by Rai et al in JNCCN—Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network.
An interim analysis of data from a randomized clinical trial of patients with human papillomavirus (HPV)-positive oropharyngeal cancer found that treatment with radiation therapy and cetuximab is associated with worse overall and progression-free survival compared to the current standard treatment with radiation and cisplatin. Full study details will be presented later this fall during the Plenary Session at the American Society for Radiation Oncology Annual Meeting.
In a phase III Children’s Oncology Group study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Hawkins et al found that substituting vincristine and irinotecan for half of vincristine, dactinomycin, and cyclophosphamide courses did not improve event-free survival in pediatric intermediate-risk rhabdomyosarcoma but was associated with less hematologic toxicity.
In a phase II trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, van den Bent et al found no evidence of a survival benefit with the addition of bevacizumab to temozolomide in patients with a first recurrence of WHO grade II or III glioma without the 1p/19q codeletion.
Today, nivolumab (Opdivo) received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for patients with metastatic small cell lung cancer whose cancer has progressed after platinum-based chemotherapy and at least one other line of therapy.
Only 8% of disabled or older women in the Southern Community Cohort Study who qualified for Medicare and met the criteria for BRCA1 and BRCA2 testing received it between 2000 and 2014. The findings were published by Gross et al in JAMA.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted for filing a biologics license application (BLA) for tagraxofusp for the treatment of patients with blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm, a rare hematologic malignancy.
In a report from the St. Jude Lifetime Cohort Study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Brinkman et al found that 60% of adult survivors of pediatric central nervous system (CNS) tumors do not achieve full functional or social independence in adult life.
In a German phase II trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Cramer et al found promising response rates with bendamustine followed by obinutuzumab plus venetoclax in both treatment-naive and relapsed/refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved lenvatinib capsules (Lenvima) for first-line treatment of patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma.
National guidelines advise doctors to discuss the benefits and harms of lung cancer screening with high-risk patients. A small study reported by Brenner et al in JAMA Internal Medicine found there is a gap between these guideline recommendations and the physician-patient discussions that take place in practice.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Fast Track designation to VB4-845 for the treatment of bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG)–unresponsive, high-grade, non–muscle invasive bladder cancer.
Patients who develop frequent cases of basal cell carcinoma appear to be at significantly increased risk for the development of other cancers, according to a study published by Cho et al in JCI Insight.
In a study reported in JAMA, Presley et al found that use of broad-based genomic sequencing vs routine testing for EGFR mutations or ALK rearrangements alone directed treatment in a minority of patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in the community oncology setting and was not independently associated with improved survival.
A multidisciplinary team of researchers has developed an artificial intelligence (AI) technology platform that could potentially change the way drug combinations are being designed, hence enabling doctors to determine the most effective drug combination for a patient quickly. Their findings were published by Rashid et al in Science Translational Medicine.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted clearance of a new artificial intelligence software program, PowerLook Density Assessment Version 3.4, which provides an automated method of determining breast density.
In a study using National Cancer Database data reported in JAMA Oncology, Wang et al found that definitive pelvic radiation therapy plus chemotherapy was associated with improved survival vs chemotherapy alone in newly diagnosed metastatic cervical cancer.
In a single-center study reported in the Journal of Oncology Practice, Walker et al found that institution of a peer-review process resulted in shorter fractionation schedules for palliation of bone metastases, consistent with current guidelines.
The PapGene multianalyte test has received Breakthrough Device designation from the Center for Devices and Radiological Health of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Although heart failure is an uncommon complication of breast cancer treatment, the risk may be higher in patients treated with certain types of chemotherapy and lower in younger patients, according to a study published by Henry et al in the JACC: Cardiovascular Imaging.
In a Chinese single-center phase II study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Lan et al found a high response rate with oral apatinib plus oral etoposide in patients with platinum-resistant or refractory ovarian cancer.
In a study reported in JAMA Oncology, Hauschild et al identified baseline lactate dehydrogenase, performance status, disease burden, and gene signature as potential determinants of treatment outcomes in BRAF V600–mutant metastatic melanoma treated with BRAF and/or MEK inhibitors.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Breakthrough Therapy designation for encorafenib in combination with binimetinib and cetuximab for the treatment of patients with BRAF V600E–mutant metastatic colorectal cancer, as detected by an FDA-approved test, after failure of one to two prior lines of therapy for metastatic disease.
Cory Wiegert has been named Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of CancerLinQ LLC, a wholly owned nonprofit subsidiary of ASCO. Mr. Wiegert, a proven expert in building and successfully launching innovative technology solutions, began his new role today, overseeing the continued expansion and implementation of the CancerLinQ® platform.
Estrogen receptor–positive breast cancer is the most common type of breast cancer, but resistance to therapy is common, and eventual development of metastatic disease is a leading cause of death. In research published by Lei et al in Cell Reports, researchers identified estrogen receptor alpha gene (ESR1) translocation events that drive not only therapeutic resistance, but also trigger estrogen receptor–positive breast cancer cells to metastasize.
Researchers have developed a new way to use bioinformatics as a gathering tool to determine how a patient’s immune system responds to immunotherapy and recognizes its own tumor. Their findings were published by Danilova et al in Cancer Immunology Research.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted 510(k) clearance to the new SRT-100+, a superficial radiation therapy solution for the noninvasive treatment of nonmelanoma skin cancers and keloids.
In a planned subgroup analysis of the phase III AURA3 trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Wu et al found that the third-generation EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor osimertinib produced higher central nervous system (CNS) response rates vs platinum plus pemetrexed in patients with advanced EGFR T790M-positive non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
In a study reported in JAMA Oncology, Sparano et al found that a single circulating tumor cell assessment was predictive of late recurrence in patients with hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative breast cancer.
Monica M. Bertagnolli, MD, FACS, FASCO, ASCO President, released the following statement today on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services decision to allow Medicare Advantage plans to employ step therapy across physician-administered and self-administered drugs under Medicare Part B and Part D.
In a study reported in JAMA Oncology, Oxnard et al found early resistance and a number of competing resistance mechanisms in acquired osimertinib resistance associated with loss of the T790M mutation conferring resistance to prior EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor treatment in patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
Data from a lung cancer screening program provides evidence that national lung cancer screening guidelines, which were developed based on the National Lung Screening Trial in 2011 and recommend screening based on age and smoking history, may be insufficient for individuals in underrepresented communities. These findings were published by Pasquinelli et al in JAMA Oncology.
Researchers have identified methods to increase use of the radiation therapy hypofractionation in patients with breast cancer. These findings, published by Gilbo et al in Advances in Radiation Oncology, demonstrate that most patients with breast cancer can be treated with this type of radiation therapy that is as effective as current treatments but has lower toxicity levels.
Almost 1 year after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy for children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and the Pediatric Acute Lung Injury and Sepsis Investigators Network have published treatment guidelines for managing the treatment. These guidelines, published by Mahadeo et al in Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology, outline lessons learned by leading experts in various fields to identify early signs and symptoms of treatment-related toxicity and detail ways in which to manage it.
ASCO and Friends of Cancer Research (Friends) have submitted recommended language to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for five guidance documents on ways to broaden eligibility criteria for cancer clinical trials. The recommendations are part of an ASCO and Friends collaboration to broaden eligibility for participating in clinical trials by addressing five specific areas: minimum age requirements for trial enrollment, HIV/AIDS status, brain metastases, organ dysfunction, and prior and concurrent malignancies.
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved mogamulizumab-kpkc (Poteligeo) injection for intravenous use for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory mycosis fungoides or Sézary syndrome after at least one prior systemic therapy.
Research outlined at the recent British Association of Dermatologists Annual Meeting reviewed the medical literature on skin cancer apps to explore the number of apps on the market, ascertain how accurate they are, and what the benefits and limitations of these technologic solutions are.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is warning that the antibiotic azithromycin should not be given on a long-term basis to prevent the inflammatory lung condition bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome in patients with cancers of the blood or lymph nodes who undergo a donor stem cell transplant. Results of the ALLOZITHRO clinical trial found an increased rate of relapse in cancers affecting the blood and lymph nodes, including death, in these patients.
In a study reported in the Journal of Oncology Practice, Yang et al found that most patients who had undergone surgery for cancer reported that hospital reputation would have been important to them in choosing a hospital for surgery and that they would have used a listing of best hospitals for surgery in making their choice.
A study by Shimelis et al in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute investigating the cancer panel genes associated with an increased risk of triple-negative breast cancer has found that alterations in the BARD1, BRCA1, BRCA2, PALB2, and RAD51D genes were linked to a high risk for triple-negative breast cancer.
In a large-scale retrospective analysis reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Wang et al found that male sex is a predictor of poorer disease-specific survival in BRAF V600E papillary thyroid cancer.
In an analysis reported in JAMA Oncology, Grossberg et al found that a single nucleotide polymorphism (C−509T) in the transforming growth factor β1 (TGFβ1) gene was associated with higher risk of radiation-induced fibrosis in women with early breast cancer.
In an interim analysis of the phase III Carmena trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Méjean et al found that sunitinib alone was not inferior in overall survival vs nephrectomy followed by sunitinib in patients with intermediate- or poor-risk metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma.
The careHPV Test, a molecular diagnostic for high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) designed to screen women in low-resource settings, has been added to the World Health Organization (WHO) list of prequalified in vitro diagnostics. The careHPV Test was launched globally in 2010 and, through numerous pilot studies, has demonstrated to be a more sensitive alternative to cytology and visual inspection based methods for the detection of precancerous cell abnormalities.
Adult survivors of childhood cancer should be screened for financial problems that might cause them to delay or skip medical care or to suffer psychological distress. The recommendation from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital researchers followed an analysis that found 65% of survivors reported financial challenges related to their childhood cancer diagnoses. The research was published by Huang et al in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Breakthrough Therapy designation to quizartinib, an investigational FLT3 inhibitor, for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed/refractory FLT3-ITD acute myeloid leukemia (AML).
Research published by Jung et al in OncoImmunology showed organ transplant recipients may reduce their risk of developing secondary skin cancer by changing their immunosuppressant medication.
Results were recently announced from the ASTRAL-1 study evaluating the efficacy and safety of guadecitabine in adults with previously untreated acute myeloid leukemia (AML) who are not eligible for intensive induction chemotherapy.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Breakthrough Therapy designation for lenvatinib in combination with pembrolizumab for the potential treatment of patients with advanced and/or metastatic non–microsatellite instability high (MSI-H)/proficient mismatch repair (pMMR) endometrial carcinoma that has progressed following at least one prior systemic therapy.
In an analysis of Asian trials reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Yeoh et al found that treatment intensification improved outcomes in childhood B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia with IKZF1 deletion.
In an article in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Miller et al reported final results of the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group phase III E5103 trial, initiated in 2007, which showed no benefit of adding bevacizumab to adjuvant therapy in patients with HER2-negative, node-positive or high-risk node-negative breast cancer.
The rate of lung cancer in women is projected to increase by 43% and the mortality of breast cancer is projected to decrease by 9% by 2030. In addition, the mortality for lung and breast cancers is projected to be higher in high-income countries than in middle-income countries. The study by Martín-Sánchez et al was published in Cancer Research.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Orphan Drug designation to SRF231 for the treatment of patients with multiple myeloma. SRF231 is a fully human antibody that inhibits the activity of CD47, a protein overexpressed on many types of cancer cells.
Two phase III studies—KX-AK-003 and KX-AK-004—achieved their primary endpoint of 100% clearance of actinic keratosis lesions at day 57 within the face or scalp treatment areas, with each study achieving statistical significance. Statistical significance was achieved for both face and scalp subgroups as well.
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Treon et al found that ibrutinib monotherapy was highly active in patients with previously untreated Waldenström’s macroglobulinemia, with better response in patients without CXCR4 mutation.
In a study reported in JAMA Oncology, Scragg et al found that monthly high-dose vitamin D supplementation, without calcium, was not associated with a reduced risk of developing cancer.
Physicists combined standard 2D magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) images to create 'super-resolution' videos, showing the lungs expanding and contracting. Their findings, published by Freedman et al in Radiotherapy and Oncology, show this technique could help to deliver more precise radiotherapy for diseases like lung cancer by helping to predict the location of a tumor more effectively.
The Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency has adopted a positive opinion recommending approval of dabrafenib in combination with trametinib for the adjuvant treatment of adult patients with stage III melanoma with a BRAF V600 mutation, following complete resection. The CHMP recommendation is based on findings from the COMBI-AD study, which were published by Long et al in The New England Journal of Medicine.
The phase III KEYNOTE-048 trial, which is investigating pembrolizumab for first-line treatment of recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, met a primary endpoint of overall survival as monotherapy in patients whose tumors expressed programmed cell death ligand 1.
In a prospective cohort study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Merritt et al found evidence that recent use of aspirin or nonaspirin nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs after diagnosis appears to improve ovarian cancer–specific survival.
The PLATO trial failed to show benefit of adding abiraterone/prednisone to ongoing enzalutamide vs abiraterone/prednisone in men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer exhibiting rising prostate-specific antigen (PSA) during enzalutamide treatment. Results of the trial have been reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Attard et al.
On World Lung Cancer Day (August 1), the members of the Forum of International Respiratory Societies (FIRS) commemorate, celebrate, and support those impacted by lung cancer. FIRS continues to support the grassroots efforts of the lung cancer community to raise awareness about lung cancer and its global impact, creating an educational movement of understanding about lung cancer risks as well as early treatment around the world.
The European Commission has approved Trazimera, a biosimilar to trastuzumab, for the treatment of human epidermal growth factor (HER2)–overexpressing breast cancer and HER2-overexpressing metastatic gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma.
A new frailty index may aid in predicting overall survival for patients newly diagnosed with multiple myeloma, according to a study published by Mian et al in JCO Clinical Cancer Informatics. This tool is important because frailty is a critical factor in treatment decision-making for many patients with multiple myeloma, as the cancer most commonly arises among older adults.
The global, randomized, phase III ALTA-1L trial met its primary endpoint at the first prespecified interim analysis, with brigatinib demonstrating a statistically significant improvement in progression-free survival compared to crizotinib in adults with anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)–positive locally advanced or metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who had not received a prior ALK inhibitor.
In a Swedish study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Weibull et al found that childbearing potential in young women treated for Hodgkin Lymphoma in more recent years is similar to that in the general population.
In a pivotal phase III trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Lancet et al found that cytarabine and daunorubicin liposome (CPX-351) significantly improved overall survival vs standard cytarabine plus daunorubicin in older patients with newly diagnosed secondary acute myeloid leukemia.
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved lusutrombopag (Mulpleta) for thrombocytopenia in adults with chronic liver disease who are scheduled to undergo a medical or dental procedure.
On July 30, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved iobenguane I-131 (Azedra) injection for adult and pediatric patients (12 years and older) with iobenguane scan–positive, unresectable, locally advanced or metastatic pheochromocytoma or paraganglioma who require systemic anticancer therapy.
Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels are often higher in men with prostate cancer and, typically, the higher the PSA, the worse their prognosis. However, researchers found that prostate cancer patients with a high PSA score and tumors with a mutation in the SPOP gene may have a better prognosis, according to a study published by Liu et al in JCO Precision Oncology.
Patients with colorectal cancer tumors on the right side may have poorer 5-year survival rates than those whose tumors are located on the left side. However, a new large-scale retrospective study is the first to demonstrate a potential improvement of these outcomes. Study results show that nearly doubling the benchmark number of lymph nodes removed during operations for right-sided colon cancers improves the survival rate for these patients, according to researchers who presented these findings at the 2018 American College of Surgeons Quality and Safety Conference.
A joint analysis of parallel phase III trials reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Gridelli et al found no overall survival benefit of adding cisplatin to first-line treatment of elderly patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) without an EGFR mutation.
In a prospective study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Parker et al found that among women with nonhereditary breast cancer electing contralateral prophylactic mastectomy (CPM), fear and worry over breast cancer may be dominant at the time of surgical decisions without sufficient recognition of the potential effects of CPM on quality of life.
In a study by Knanckstedt et al in the Journal of Surgical Research, a team researched the use of indocyanine green fluorescence-based technology in sentinel lymph node biopsy detection in Merkel cell carcinoma.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Fast Track designation to galinpepimut-S for the treatment of multiple myeloma. GPS targets the Wilms tumor 1 protein, which is present in an array of tumor types.
A large prospective study evaluating adherence to nutritional scores used by four organizations and their association with decreased cancer risk has found that a diet emphasizing healthy eating, physical activity, and alcohol avoidance was linked with a decrease in overall cancer risk, as well as a reduced risk in breast, prostate, and colorectal cancers. The study by Lavalette et al is published in Cancer Research.
As reported by Li et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, the HER2-targeted antibody-drug conjugate ado-trastuzumab emtansine showed activity in advanced HER2-mutant lung adenocarcinoma.
In a study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Oza et al found that quality of life based on patient-reported outcomes was not worsened with niraparib maintenance vs placebo in the phase III ENGOT-OV16/NOVA trial in women with recurrent ovarian cancer who were in response to their last platinum-based chemotherapy.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved a magnetic device system for guiding lymph node biopsies in patients with breast cancer undergoing mastectomy. The Magtrace and Sentimag Magnetic Localization System uses magnetic detection during sentinel lymph node biopsy procedures to identify sentinel lymph nodes for surgical removal.
In a study by Kim et al in Nature Medicine, researchers demonstrated the feasibility of determining a measure analogous to tumor mutation burden, a promising biomarker that may predict patient response to certain immunotherapies, utilizing the Guardant360 assay, a comprehensive liquid biopsy.
In a study reported in JAMA Oncology, Morrow et al found that surgeon acceptance of more limited surgery in early breast cancer was more likely among high-volume surgeons and those preferring a surgical margin of “no ink on tumor.”
As reported in JAMA Oncology by the Integrative Analysis of Lung Cancer Etiology and Risk (INTEGRAL) Consortium for Early Detection of Lung Cancer, incorporating biomarkers into a lung cancer risk prediction model may improve performance compared with risk based on age and smoking exposure alone.
A new study from the Stanford Cancer Institute found that young women who are treated with chemotherapy for breast cancer but have residual tumor in either the breast or lymph nodes have higher chances of recurrence compared to those with no evidence of any residual invasive tumor. The findings were published by Kozak et al in JNCCN – Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network.
In an Australian phase III trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Coughlin et al found similar functional outcomes at 2 years with robot-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy and open radical retropubic prostatectomy in men with newly diagnosed clinically localized prostate cancer.
People who received complementary therapy for curable cancers were more likely to refuse at least one component of their conventional cancer treatment, and were more likely to die as a result, according to a report by Johnson et al in JAMA Oncology.
The phase III IMpower132 study met its co-primary endpoint of progression-free survival and demonstrated that the combination of atezolizumab plus chemotherapy (cisplatin or carboplatin plus pemetrexed) reduced the risk of disease worsening or death compared to chemotherapy alone in the first-line treatment of advanced nonsquamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
In a study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Friedlander et al found that olaparib maintenance therapy did not worsen health-related quality of life vs placebo in patients with platinum-sensitive relapsed ovarian cancer and a BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation.
A new study by Kalidindi et al in The American Journal of Managed Care found that although drug administration costs in hospitals are higher, chemotherapy drug spending among Medicare patients is lower, driven by less frequent use of therapy.
A new study by Meulepas et al in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute suggests that computed tomography (CT) scans may increase the risk of brain tumors.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently granted Breakthrough Therapy designation for atezolizumab in combination with bevacizumab as a first-line treatment for people with advanced or metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
In the phase III NRG Oncology-RTOG 1203 study, patient-reported gastrointestinal and urinary toxicities were reduced with intensity-modulated radiation therapy vs standard radiotherapy in women with cervical or endometrial cancer. The findings were reported by Klopp et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
In a retrospective registry study reported in JAMA Oncology, Kharfan-Dabaja et al found no overall survival difference with second allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) vs donor lymphocyte infusion in patients with acute myeloid leukemia relapse.
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Hu et al found that higher postradiotherapy levels of the inflammatory marker high-sensitivity C-reactive protein were associated with increased risk of early grade 4+ skin toxicity in patients with breast cancer.
In a Dutch study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Groot et al found that the risk of subsequent malignant neoplasms was increased in the long-term follow-up of patients receiving cisplatin or radiotherapy for testicular germ cell cancer.
Patients with cancer receiving anti–programmed cell death protein 1 (anti–PD-1) therapies who develop lesions, eczema, psoriasis, or other forms of autoimmune diseases affecting the skin may experience those adverse reactions on a delay—sometimes even after treatment has concluded. These findings were published by Wang et al in JAMA Dermatology.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently accepted a biologics license application (BLA) for filing and granted Priority Review for sacituzumab govitecan for the second-line treatment of patients with metastatic triple-negative breast cancer.
On July 20, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved filgrastim-aafi (Nivestym), a biosimilar to filgrastim (Neupogen), for all eligible indications of the reference product.
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved ivosidenib (Tibsovo) tablets for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML) who have a specific genetic mutation. This is the first drug in its class (IDH1 inhibitors) and is approved for use with an FDA-approved companion diagnostic used to detect specific mutations in the IDH1 gene in patients with AML.
In a targeted outreach to more than 2,100 people insured by Medicaid who were not up-to-date with colorectal cancer screening, researchers found mailing colorectal cancer screening kits to patients insured under Medicaid resulted in an approximate 9% increase in screening rates for patients who received a kit compared with patients who just received a reminder. The findings were published by Brenner et al in the journal Cancer.
The gains in insurance coverage with the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) have translated into improved health for young women with gynecologic cancers, who are getting diagnosed at earlier stages of their disease because of ACA benefits. That’s the conclusion of a new study by researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine, who looked at nationwide trends in gynecologic cancer diagnosis in a large population of women before and after the ACA’s implementation in 2010. The results were published by Smith et al in Obstetrics & Gynecology.
In a phase II trial reported in JAMA Oncology, Autio et al found that prostate-specific membrane antigen–targeted docetaxel nanoparticle (BIND-014) treatment was active in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Rodin et al found that a manualized psychotherapeutic intervention (Managing Cancer and Living Meaningfully, CALM) was successful in reducing depressive symptoms in patients with advanced cancer.
A comprehensive study by the Keck School of Medicine of USC has found that robotic partial nephrectomy offers significantly better patient outcomes compared to other surgical methods. Findings were published by Cacciamani et al in The Journal of Urology.
A study published by Patil et al in the Journal of Thoracic Oncology explores the occurrence and treatment of brain metastases in stage IV ROS1-positive non–small cell lung cancer.
An analysis by Pinheiro et al published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention has found high rates of cancer mortality among U.S.-born blacks and Puerto Ricans and relatively low cancer mortality rates among Hispanic South Americans and Asians in New York State.
The randomized, phase III TOURMALINE-MM3 study met its primary endpoint, demonstrating single-agent oral ixazomib as a maintenance therapy resulted in a statistically significant improvement in progression-free survival vs placebo. The trial evaluated the effect of ixazomib as a maintenance therapy in adult patients diagnosed with multiple myeloma who responded to high-dose therapy and autologous stem cell transplant.
In a French phase II trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Kim et al found that treatment with docetaxel, cisplatin, and fluorouracil was active in patients with metastatic or unresectable locally recurrent anal squamous cell carcinoma.
When it comes to how much end-of-life care a patient with cancer receives, geography may, indeed, be destiny, according to new research led by Harvard Medical School that found differences in this type of cancer care across different parts of the country. The findings, published by Keating et al in Health Affairs, show that in some areas, patients with end-stage lung and colorectal cancers received more intensive care, and that care cost up to twice as much in the last month of life.
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) expanded the indication for ribociclib (Kisqali) in combination with an aromatase inhibitor for premenopausal or perimenopausal women with hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative advanced or metastatic breast cancer as initial endocrine-based therapy. The FDA also approved ribociclib in combination with fulvestrant for postmenopausal women with hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative advanced or metastatic breast cancer as initial endocrine-based therapy or following disease progression on endocrine therapy.
In a study reported in the Journal of Oncology Practice, Kadish et al found that individually tailored training improved provider confidence in electronic medical record (EMR) use and offers promise of improving efficiency in use.
In an individual patient-level analysis reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Shi et al found that progression-free survival could serve as a surrogate endpoint for overall survival in the first-line treatment of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL).
As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Abou-Alfa et al, the second interim analysis of the phase III CELESTIAL trial has shown a significant improvement in overall and progression-free survival with cabozantinib vs placebo in patients with sorafenib-treated advanced hepatocellular carcinoma.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently accepted and granted priority review for a new supplemental biologics license application (sBLA) seeking approval for pembrolizumab as a second-line treatment for patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma.
Pancreatic cancer often metastasizes to the liver or lungs. The prognosis is better for patients with metastases in the lungs. However, the organ that is more likely to be affected depends on the cancer cells’ ability to alter their characteristics and shape. These findings were published by Reichert et al in Developmental Cell.
Results of the phase III Trans-Tasman Radiation Oncology Group 99.03 trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by MacManus et al indicate that use of systemic therapy following involved-field radiotherapy increased progression-free survival in patients with stage I or II low-grade follicular lymphoma.
In a Dutch study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Compen et al found that both face-to-face and internet-based mindfulness-based cognitive therapy reduced psychological distress compared with usual care in patients with cancer.
In a study reported in JAMA Oncology, Carlo et al found a high prevalence of germline mutations in cancer susceptibility genes in patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma.
The American Cancer Society is outlining its vision for cancer control in the decades ahead in a series of articles that began publishing in early July in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians. The series of articles forms the basis of a national cancer control plan, with a blueprint toward the control of cancer and a mortality reduction goal for the year 2035.
An analysis of newly diagnosed patients with cutaneous melanoma brain metastases treated with checkpoint blockade immunotherapy has found that the treatment was associated with an increase in median overall survival. The benefit was even more pronounced in patients with melanoma brain metastases without extracranial metastases. The study by Iorgulescu et al was published in Cancer Immunology Research.
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Adkins et al, the addition of the angiogenesis inhibitor pazopanib to cetuximab in a phase Ib and expansion cohort study showed activity in patients with recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.
In an analysis from the BIG 1-98 trial reported in JAMA Oncology, Luen et al found that 11q13 and 8p11 amplifications were associated with an increased risk of distant recurrence among patients with postmenopausal hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative breast cancer receiving adjuvant endocrine therapy.
On July 13, 2018, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved enzalutamide (Xtandi) for patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). This approval broadens the indicated patient population to include patients with either nonmetastatic CRPC or metastatic CRPC. Enzalutamide was previously approved for the treatment of patients with metastatic CRPC.
“By increasing enrollment in cancer clinical trials, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and veterans will be contributing to important oncology research,” said VA Chief Research and Development Officer Rachel Ramoni, DMD, ScD. “This will not only help our veterans, but also advance cancer care for all Americans and people around the world.”
Men with advanced cancer are 30% less likely than women to consider palliative care, according to a study published by Saeed et al in the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management. Researchers believe the findings reflect social norms about gender roles, as well as widespread messages in the media and society about “fighting” cancer.
A case study published by Nichols et al in JAMA Dermatology found that the human papillomavirus vaccine may have therapeutic utility for patients with squamous cell carcinomas who are poor surgical candidates, have multiple lesions, or defer surgery.
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Giordano et al, ASCO has released a clinical practice guideline update on systemic therapy for patients with advanced HER2-positive breast cancer.
In a study reported in JAMA Oncology, Scher et al found that the presence of nuclear-localized androgen receptor splice variant 7 (AR-V7) protein in circulating tumor cells may predict better survival with taxane therapy vs androgen receptor signaling inhibitor treatment in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.
Important steps in the development of an artificial ovary have been successfully completed. Researchers reported at the 34th Annual Meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) that they have isolated and grown human follicles to a point of biofunctionality on a bioengineered ovarian scaffold made of decellularized ovarian tissue. The early-stage follicles were isolated from patients having ovarian tissue frozen for fertility preservation ahead of other medical treatments likely to compromise ovarian function.
Following concerns over many years that hormonal stimulation of the ovaries necessary for in vitro fertilization may increase the risk of ovarian cancer, a nationwide cohort study from Denmark has now concluded that any perceived increase in risk is actually a statistical bias resulting from vigilant diagnosis at the time of treatment. These findings were presented by Pinborg et al at ESHRE 2018.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, MD, recently issued the following statement on striking the right balance between reducing the rate of new addiction by decreasing exposure to opioids and rationalizing prescribing, while still enabling appropriate access to those patients who have legitimate medical need for these medicines.
As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Hussain et al, the phase III PROSPER trial has shown a 71% reduction in risk of metastasis or death with enzalutamide vs placebo in men with nonmetastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.
In a phase II trial reported in JAMA Oncology, Ferris et al found that the addition of the toll-like receptor 8 agonist motolimod to platinum-fluorouracil plus cetuximab did not improve progression-free survival among all patients with recurrent or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck, although potential benefit was observed in some subgroups.
In a study reported in JAMA Oncology, Goodman et al found amplification of PDL1 genes in 0.7% of solid tumors, including more than 100 tumor types. Response to checkpoint inhibition was high in a small group of patients with PDL1 amplification.
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved nivolumab (Opdivo) plus low-dose ipilimumab (Yervoy) for the treatment of adult and pediatric patients aged 12 years and older with microsatellite instability–high (MSI-H) or mismatch repair–deficient (dMMR) metastatic colorectal cancer that has progressed following treatment with a fluoropyrimidine, oxaliplatin, and irinotecan.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted for review a supplemental biologics license application (sBLA) for pembrolizumab in combination with carboplatin/paclitaxel or nab-paclitaxel as a first-line treatment for metastatic squamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), regardless of programmed cell death ligand 1 expression. This sBLA is based on data from the phase III KEYNOTE-407 trial, which was recently presented at the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting.
A large study of patients with pancreatic cancer found that almost 10% harbored inherited genetic variations or mutations that may have increased their susceptibility to the disease. At the same time, some of these mutations were associated with more favorable responses to certain chemotherapy agents. These findings were published by Yurgelun et al in Genetics in Medicine.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Orphan Drug designation to CPI-613—a novel lipoic acid analog with anticancer activity that inhibits multiple enzyme targets within the tricarboxylic acid cycle—for the treatment of Burkitt lymphoma.
In a Korean single-center phase II study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Cho et al found that pembrolizumab was active in advanced thymic epithelial tumors progressing after platinum-based chemotherapy.
In a study reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Desjardins et al found that convection-enhanced intratumoral delivery of a recombinant nonpathogenic polio–rhinovirus chimera was not associated with neurovirulence in patients with recurrent grade IV glioma and appeared to produce survival outcomes that compare favorably with historical controls.
In a multicohort study reported by researchers from the Premenopausal Breast Cancer Collaborative Group in JAMA Oncology, Schoemaker et al found that increasing adiposity was associated with a significantly reduced risk of premenopausal breast cancer across the entire spectrum of body mass index.
Flight attendants showed an elevated incidence of several types of cancer compared with the general population, according to findings published by McNeely et al in Environmental Health.
A research team has conducted the largest analysis to date of how adult survivors of childhood cancer view their health risk. The scientists found that a surprisingly high number of survivors showed a lack of concern for their future well-being—31% said they were not concerned about their future health, and 40% were unconcerned about developing new cancers. These findings were published by Gibson et al in Cancer.
In a Japanese phase III noninferiority trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Kayama et al found that salvage stereotactic radiosurgery was noninferior to whole-brain radiation therapy for survival in patients with one to four resected brain metastases.
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Ramakrishna and colleagues, ASCO has released a clinical practice guideline update on disease management for patients with advanced HER2-positive breast cancer and brain metastases.
In a study of Ovarian Cancer Cohort Consortium data reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Trabert et al found that daily aspirin use was associated with a modest reduction in the risk of ovarian cancer.
Researchers have published a new guide to help clinicians navigate a recent revolution in care for advanced Merkel cell carcinoma. The guide was published in the Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (JNCCN), and it accompanies NCCN’s new clinical practice guidelines for Merkel cell carcinoma.
A new genetic test in bladder cancer could be key to reducing the cost of care while avoiding overtreatment in some patients, according to research published by Waldman et al in Clinical Cancer Research.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently accepted a new drug application and granted Priority Review designation for glasdegib, an investigational oral smoothened inhibitor being evaluated for the treatment of adult patients with previously untreated acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in combination with low-dose cytarabine.
As reported by Bisogno et al in The Lancet Oncology, a phase III trial has shown no benefit of adding doxorubicin to standard IVA (ifosfamide, vincristine, dactinomycin) in 3-year event-free survival among patients with high-risk rhabdomyosarcoma.
The Endocrine Society has published a clinical practice guideline advising health-care providers on the long-term screening of survivors of childhood cancers at risk for treatment-related problems, including growth disorders, pituitary hormone deficiencies, and early puberty, and how to diagnose and manage these conditions. The guideline by Sklar et al is published in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
The phase III IMpassion130 study has met its co-primary endpoint of progression-free survival. Results demonstrated that the combination of atezolizumab plus nab-paclitaxel as first-line treatment significantly reduced the risk of disease worsening or death in patients with metastatic or unresectable locally advanced triple-negative breast cancer.
Many cases of early-stage kidney cancer can be treated with a relatively new, nonsurgical procedure used to destroy tumors, a new study by Talenfeld et al in Annals of Internal Medicine suggests.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted for standard review a new supplemental biologics license application (sBLA) for pembrolizumab as adjuvant therapy in the treatment of patients with resected, high-risk stage III melanoma.
In a study reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, McCullough et al found reduced risk for colorectal cancer with increasing levels of circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D).
In a phase II trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Pietanza et al found no benefit of adding the PARP inhibitor veliparib to temozolomide in recurrent platinum-sensitive or platinum-refractory small cell lung cancer. Benefit was observed with the combination in the subgroup of patients with tumors positive for SLFN11.
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Tao et al, the phase III GORTEC 2007-01 trial has shown improved progression-free survival with the addition of concurrent chemotherapy to cetuximab and radiotherapy in locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted for Priority Review a supplemental new drug application (sNDA) for ibrutinib in combination with rituximab as a new treatment option for Waldenström's macroglobulinemia based on findings from the phase III iNNOVATE trial.
The phase III IMpower133 study recently met its coprimary endpoints of overall survival and progression-free survival at its first interim analysis. The study demonstrated that first-line treatment with the combination of atezolizumab plus chemotherapy (carboplatin and etoposide) helped people with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer live significantly longer compared to chemotherapy alone.
In a phase III trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Brock et al found that sodium thiosulfate reduced cisplatin-induced hearing loss in pediatric patients with standard-risk hepatoblastoma.
As reported in the Journal of Oncology Practice by Kirkwood et al, the recent ASCO Oncology Practice Census survey has identified a number of factors considered to be challenging by oncology practices in the United States.
In a single-center phase II study reported in JAMA Oncology, Matsuda et al found that adding the EGFR inhibitor panitumumab to neoadjuvant chemotherapy produced high pathologic complete response rates in patients with primary triple-negative inflammatory breast cancer.
The implementation of educational interventions among heavy equipment operators in Michigan significantly increased the use of sunscreen and decreased the number of sunburns, reported Duffy et al in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently accepted a supplemental biologics license application (sBLA) for nivolumab plus low-dose ipilimumab for the first-line treatment of advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in patients with a tumor mutational burden ≥ 10 mutations per megabase (mut/mb).
The likelihood of severe complications after emergency colon cancer surgery is significantly higher over the weekend, according to a study published by Huijts et al in JNCCN – Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network.
In a phase III trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Dreno et al found that an adjuvant MAGE-A3 immunotherapeutic provided no benefit vs placebo in patients with resected MAGE-A3–positive stage IIIB or IIIC melanoma.
In a phase III equivalence trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, von Minckwitz et al found similar efficacy and safety with the trastuzumab biosimilar ABP 980 vs reference trastuzumab in HER2-positive early breast cancer. On local review, the risk difference and risk ratio for pathologic complete response between the groups exceeded the upper statistical margins for equivalence.
In an analysis of the LUX-Lung 8 trial in squamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) reported in JAMA Oncology, Goss et al found that outcomes among patients treated with afatinib were better for those with vs without ERBB mutations.
In an analysis of the Children’s Oncology Group (COG) AALL0622 trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Slayton et al found that adding dasatinib to intensive chemotherapy produced good long-term outcomes in pediatric/young adult patients with newly diagnosed Philadelphia chromosome (Ph)-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).
On June 21, the FDA announced that they would withdraw the draft guidance intended to provide advice for sponsors developing biosimilar products regarding the evaluation of analytical similarity between a proposed biosimilar product and a reference product. "As the cost to develop a single biosimilar product can reach hundreds of millions of dollars, it’s important that we advance policies that help make the development of biosimilar products more efficient, and patient and provider acceptance more certain,” said FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, MD."
The lungs can be a difficult organ to biopsy with a needle, so the promise of identifying lung cancer through a blood-based biopsy has lung cancer experts and patients optimistic. Knowing how and when to use a liquid biopsy is critically important and led global experts at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) to issue “The IASLC Statement Paper: Liquid Biopsy for Advanced Non–Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC),” published by Rolfo et al in the Journal of Thoracic Oncology.
As reported in The Lancet by Shitara et al, the phase III KEYNOTE-061 trial showed no significant overall survival benefit with pembrolizumab vs paclitaxel in patients with advanced gastric or gastroesophageal junction cancer progressing on platinum-fluoropyrimidine treatment with programmed cell death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) combined positive score (CPS) of ≥ 1.
In a study published by Morales-Oyarvide et al in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, researchers found that patients with stage III colon cancer who had the highest “dietary insulin load”—the level of insulin produced by the body in response to diet—were twice as likely to have a recurrence or die of the disease as patients with the lowest load.
As of June 20, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has restricted the use of pembrolizumab and atezolizumab for patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer who are not eligible for cisplatin-containing therapy. The restriction results from a finding of decreased survival associated with the use of these drugs as monotherapy compared to platinum-based chemotherapy in treatment-naive patients with a low expression of programmed cell death ligand 1.
As reported in The Lancet Oncology, Psallidas et al have developed a model that is predictive of 3-month survival in patients with malignant pleural effusion.
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Wang et al found that germline pathogenic or likely pathogenic mutations significantly contributed to the risk of subsequent neoplasms in long-term survivors of childhood cancers.
As reported by Slamon and colleagues in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, the phase III MONALEESA-3 trial has shown significant improvement in progression-free survival with the addition of the CDK4/6 inhibitor ribociclib to fulvestrant in hormone receptor (HR)-positive, HER2-negative advanced breast cancer.
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved encorafenib (Braftovi) and binimetinib (Mektovi) in combination for patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma with a BRAF V600E or V600K mutation, as detected by an FDA-approved test.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently accepted a supplementary premarket approval (PMA) application for BRACAnalysis CDx to be used as a companion diagnostic with talazoparib in metastatic breast cancer.
Austrian researchers have discovered that a small number of patients taking targeted Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors to treat myelofibrosis may develop aggressive lymphomas. They speculated that screening for a preexisting B-cell clone before starting therapy may help prevent this side effect and potentially save lives, according to a study by Porpaczy et al in Blood.
In a first-in-human study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Brudno et al found that chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) autologous T cells targeting B-cell maturation antigen produced responses in patients with poor-prognosis relapsed multiple myeloma.
In an analysis of the GALLIUM trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Hiddemann et al found that obinutuzumab appeared to provide a consistent progression-free survival benefit vs rituximab in previously untreated follicular lymphoma, irrespective of which chemotherapy backbone was used in the trial.
As reported at the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting and in The New England Journal of Medicine by Socinski et al, the phase III IMpower150 trial has shown that the addition of atezolizumab to bevacizumab plus chemotherapy significantly improved progression-free and overall survival in the first-line treatment of metastatic nonsquamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
A study by Armenian et al in Clinical Cancer Research comparing the accuracy of a novel handheld device with echocardiography and cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging to detect anthracycline-related cardiac dysfunction in survivors of childhood cancer has found that the device was more accurate than two-dimensional echocardiography and comparable to CMR.
With growing concern among the medical community and the public regarding physician and medical student depression, burnout, and suicide, the American Medical Association (AMA) adopted policy during its Annual Meeting continuing its efforts aimed at improving physician access to mental health care. The new policy will help reduce stigma associated with mental illness to ensure physicians are able to seek the care they need for burnout, anxiety, depression, and substance-related disorders, without fear of punitive treatment or licensure and career restrictions.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently granted accelerated approval to the immune checkpoint inhibitor pembrolizumab (Keytruda) for use in combination with chemotherapy as a first-line treatment for patients with metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
In a phase II trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Cortes et al found that the next-generation FLT3 inhibitor quizartinib had good activity in patients with relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML), with greater activity in patients with FLT3-ITD mutations.
In an analysis of long-term outcomes in the SOFT and TEXT trials reported at the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting and in The New England Journal of Medicine, Francis et al found that the addition of ovarian suppression to adjuvant tamoxifen significantly improved 8-year rates of disease-free and overall survival vs tamoxifen alone among premenopausal women with breast cancer; risk of recurrence was further reduced with exemestane plus ovarian suppression.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently accepted for review a new supplemental biologics license application (sBLA) for recombinant human papillomavirus (HPV) 9-valent vaccine (Gardasil 9). The sBLA seeks to expand the age range for which the vaccine is indicated.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, MD, recently issued a statement on a set of guidances describing how patient experience data and other relevant information from patients and caregivers can be collected and used for medical product development and regulatory decision-making.
Building on the efficacy of colorectal cancer screening, the American Medical Association (AMA) endorsed a plan at its Annual Meeting to work with physicians and payers to make the screening more available and affordable.
In a phase II study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Gopal et al found that ibrutinib produced a response in a minority of patients with relapsed or refractory follicular lymphoma.
In a study of National Cancer Database data reported in Blood Advances, Bhatt et al found that 25% of patients with newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia (AML) did not receive initial chemotherapy, despite evidence that chemotherapy is associated with a survival benefit and improvement in symptoms in this setting.
A major new study of more than 140,000 men has identified 63 new genetic variations in the DNA code that increase the risk of prostate cancer. These findings were published by Schumacher et al in Nature Genetics.
Parents of adolescents believed that the potential to prevent certain types of cancer is the best reason for their children to receive the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, whereas other reasons health-care providers often give were far less persuasive. Findings from this study were published by Gilkey et al in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.
The Journal of Oncology Practice (JOP) has launched a new care delivery blog, JOP DAiS (Discussion & Analysis in Short), to serve as a forum for commentary and analysis on issues affecting the mechanisms of oncology care delivery.
As reported at the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting and in The New England Journal of Medicine by DiNardo et al, early-phase testing has shown activity of ivosidenib, an oral small-molecule inhibitor of mutant IDH1, in patients with IDH1-mutated relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia.
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Wolff et al, ASCO and the College of American Pathologists (CAP) have issued a clinical practice guideline focused update on HER2 testing in breast cancer.
A large prospective study by Setiawan et al published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute investigating the relationship between recent-onset diabetes and the incidence of pancreatic cancer in African Americans and Latinos has found that while diabetes was associated with a more than 2-fold higher risk of the cancer, recent-onset diabetes was associated with a 2.3-fold greater increase in risk of pancreatic cancer in these minority populations. The study’s findings suggest that recent-onset diabetes is a manifestation of pancreatic cancer and that long-standing diabetes is a risk factor for this cancer.
Positive interim data from an ongoing phase II study of tazemetostat—a potent, selective, orally available EZH2 inhibitor—as a monotherapy for patients with relapsed or refractory follicular lymphoma were presented by Salles et al.
A study presented by Alvarez-Larran et al showed that among polycythemia vera patients who were resistant or intolerant to hydroxyurea, those treated with ruxolitinib had a significantly reduced risk of thrombosis and death compared to those who received best available therapy.
Results from the phase III QuANTUM-R study of single-agent quizartinib in relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML) were presented by Cortes et al.
Investigational data from a new analysis of undetectable minimal residual disease (MRD) rates from the phase III MURANO trial of venetoclax in combination with rituximab in patients with relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) was presented by Hillmen et al.
An interim analysis of a phase III trial reported in The Lancet Oncology by Moreau et al indicated that a higher-dose once-weekly schedule of carfilzomib was associated with prolonged progression-free survival vs a twice-weekly schedule in patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma.
As reported at the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting and in The New England Journal of Medicine by Migden et al, results of early-phase testing show activity of the programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) inhibitor cemiplimab in advanced cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma.
The ELOQUENT-3 trial, an international phase II study evaluating the addition of elotuzumab to pomalidomide and low-dose dexamethasone in patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma, achieved its primary endpoint, showing a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in progression-free survival for patients treated with elotuzumab plus pomalidomide and dexamethasone compared with pomalidomide and dexamethasone alone. These findings were presented by Dimopoulos et al.
Data from the final analysis of the CLL11 study evaluating obinutuzumab-based treatment in previously untreated chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) was presented by Goede et al during the Presidential Symposium.
Zeidner et al presented preliminary data from Zella 201, an ongoing phase II study evaluating the efficacy and safety of alvocidib, a potent cyclin-dependent kinase 9 (CDK9) inhibitor, in combination with cytarabine and mitoxantrone in patients with relapsed or refractory MCL-1–dependent acute myeloid leukemia (AML).
As reported by Solomon et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, the final overall survival results of the phase III PROFILE 1014 trial showed evidence of survival benefit of first-line crizotinib vs chemotherapy in advanced ALK-positive non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
Fourteen-month results from the JULIET clinical trial showed ongoing durable responses are achievable with tisagenlecleucel when administered to adult patients with relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). This updated analysis was presented by Borchmann et al.
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Zhu et al, the phase II KEYNOTE-224 study has shown activity of pembrolizumab in advanced hepatocellular carcinoma pretreated with sorafenib.
Paxman’s advanced scalp-cooling system has been cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use during treatment of patients with solid tumors.
On June 11, the American Medical Association (AMA) House of Delegates voted 56% to 44% to reject a report by its Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs (CEJA) that recommended the AMA maintain its Code of Medical Ethics’ opposition to medical aid in dying. Instead, the House of Delegates referred the report back to CEJA for further work.
Male thyroid cancer survivors have a nearly 50% higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease than women within 5 years of cancer diagnosis, according to a new study published by Park et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism</em>.
In a Dutch phase III trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, De Ruysscher et al found that prophylactic cranial irradiation prevented symptomatic brain metastases vs observation in patients with stage III non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) receiving treatment with curative intent.
In an analysis from the Women’s Health Initiative trial reported in <em>JAMA Oncology</em>, Chlebowski et al found that overall survival after the diagnosis of incident breast cancer was improved in women in the reduced-fat dietary intervention group vs control group, reflecting reduced mortality from a number of different causes.
As reported by Hlubocky et al in the <em>Journal of Oncology Practice</em>, oncologists may not provide patients with advanced cancer participating in phase I clinical trials with sufficient information about prognosis and purposes of phase I testing during enrollment discussions.
Cancer survivors who consumed a balanced, nutrient-dense diet had a 65% lower risk of dying from cancer than survivors who ate a poor-quality diet, according to findings published by Deshmukh et al in <em>JNCI Cancer Spectrum</em>. The study suggests that more than focusing on any particular food group, cancer survivors should strive for a diet rich in a variety of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, proteins, and dairy at recommended serving sizes for age, height, and weight.
A study by Kugel et al in <em>Clinical Cancer Research</em> investigated the relationships among age, response to anti–PD-1 therapy, and prior treatment in patients with melanoma. The researchers found that the chance of disease progression after anti–PD-1 treatment decreased by 13% with each decade of life. In animal models, pretreating with anti-CD25 antibody decreased the number of regulatory T cells in the tumors in young mice and increased their response to anti–PD-1 treatment.
In a single-institution phase II trial reported in <em>JAMA Oncology</em>, Murphy et al found that total neoadjuvant therapy with FOLFIRINOX (fluorouracil, irinotecan, and oxaliplatin) and individualized chemoradiotherapy was associated with a high R0 resection rate and good outcomes in patients with borderline resectable pancreatic adenocarcinoma.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Mohile et al, ASCO has produced a guideline on the practical assessment and management of vulnerabilities in geriatric patients receiving chemotherapy.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently accepted for filing and granted Priority Review designation a new drug application for talazoparib. The submission is based on results from the EMBRACA trial, which evaluated talazoparib vs chemotherapy in patients with germline <em>BRCA</em>-mutated, HER2-negative locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has also accepted the marketing authorization application for talazoparib in this patient population.
To help physicians understand the day-to-day challenges and risk of burnout faced by informal caregivers, the American Medical Association (AMA) has published Caring for the Caregiver: A Guide for Physicians.
Breast cancer survivors are not getting the recommended level of screening postsurgery, according to a study by Ruddy et al in JNCCN–Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network.
In a research letter published in JAMA Oncology, Cagney et al found that brain metastases were more advanced and more likely to be symptomatic in breast cancer patients compared with patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
In a study reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Jemal et al found that the incidence of lung cancer in young white and Hispanic women is now higher than that in men in the US.
In an article in The New England Journal of Medicine, Lyman et al reviewed opportunities, issues, and challenges posed by the advent of biosimilar medications, focusing on biosimilars in cancer treatment.
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to pembrolizumab (Keytruda) for the treatment of adult and pediatric patients with refractory primary mediastinal large B-cell lymphoma or those who have relapsed after two or more prior lines of therapy.
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved bevacizumab (Avastin) in combination with chemotherapy (carboplatin and paclitaxel) followed by bevcizumab as a single agent for the treatment of women with advanced (stage III or IV) ovarian cancer following initial surgical resection.
Barbara L. McAneny, MD, an oncologist from Albuquerque, has been sworn in as the 173rd President of the American Medical Association (AMA). She will focus her tenure on the AMA’s three strategic arcs: attacking the dysfunction in health care by removing obstacles and barriers that interfere with patient care; reimagining medical education, training, and lifelong learning to help physicians adapt and grow in the digital age; and improving the health of the nation by confronting the increasing chronic disease burden.
At the 71st World Health Assembly, the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) delivered 2 statements positioning cancer as a priority on the World Health Organization’s global agenda. Presenting its recommendations for action to the international community, ESMO advocated the strengthening of health systems to achieve universal health coverage and to provide essential secondary health-care services to the millions of patients with cancer who die prematurely due to lack of access to appropriate treatment.
The phase III iLLUMINATE trial recently met its primary endpoint of improvement in progression-free survival. The study evaluated ibrutinib in combination with obinutuzumab in patients with previously untreated chronic lymphocytic leukemia or small lymphocytic lymphoma (CLL/SLL).
As reported by Denduluri et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, ASCO has issued a focused update on the clinical practice guideline on optimal chemotherapy and targeted therapy in early breast cancer.
On June 12, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved pembrolizumab (Keytruda) for the treatment of patients with recurrent or metastatic cervical cancer and disease progression on or after chemotherapy whose tumors express programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1), as determined by an FDA-approved test.
In an analysis reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Camidge et al found that brigatinib produced high intracranial response rates and good intracranial progression-free survival in patients with ALK-positive non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and brain metastases who had received prior crizotinib.
In a secondary analysis of a phase III trial comparing tasquinimod vs placebo in chemotherapy-naive metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, the automated Bone Scan Index was shown to be predictive of overall survival. These findings were reported in JAMA Oncology by Armstrong et al.
An internationally released comprehensive analysis of research on lifestyle factors and cancer prevention confirms the critical links between cancer diagnoses and diet, physical activity, and weight. Independent experts from across the globe reviewed decades of scientific evidence to develop the most reliable cancer prevention advice currently available, summarized in 10 cancer prevention recommendations.
Twenty-five years after it opened for enrollment, the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial has delivered a final verdict: finasteride, a common hormone-blocking drug, reduces men's risk of getting prostate cancer without increasing their risk of dying from the disease.
A national retrospective study led by researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center found no association between intensity of posttreatment surveillance and detection of recurrence or overall survival in patients with stage I, II, or III colorectal cancer. Published by Snyder et al in JAMA, the study is the largest of surveillance intensity in colorectal cancer ever conducted.
In a letter to the editor in The New England Journal of Medicine, Ratner et al describe rapid progression of adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma in 3 consecutive patients receiving programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) inhibitor therapy with nivolumab.
In a phase II trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Robinson et al found that risk-adapted treatment did not improve event-free survival in young children with medulloblastoma. Analysis by methylation status showed superior outcome in the sonic hedgehog subgroup.
In a pilot trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Young et al found that the oral factor Xa inhibitor rivaroxaban was associated with a lower rate of recurrent venous thromboembolism (VTE) but a higher rate of clinically relevant nonmajor bleeding compared with the low–molecular weight heparin dalteparin in cancer patients with VTE.
On June 8, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted regular approval to venetoclax (Venclexta) for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) or small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL), with or without 17p deletion, who have received at least one prior therapy.
Results from RELEVANCE, a phase III trial evaluating lenalidomide plus rituximab (R2) followed by R2 maintenance compared to the standard of care treatment of rituximab plus chemotherapy followed by rituximab maintenance in patients with previously untreated follicular lymphoma, were presented by Fowler et al.
Data presented by Clarke et al showed clinical improvement in median radiologic progression-free survival with olaparib in combination with abiraterone compared to abiraterone monotherapy, a current standard of care, in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.
Results from KEYNOTE-407, a phase III study evaluating pembrolizumab in combination with carboplatin/paclitaxel or carboplatin/nab-paclitaxel as first-line treatment for metastatic squamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), were presented by Paz-Ares et al.
The Colorectal Cancer Alliance has opened its third annual international survey of young-onset colorectal cancer patients, survivors, and caregivers, with the intent of learning about and tracking the medical and psychosocial experiences of this often overlooked group, which comprises 11% of patients with colorectal cancer today.
ASCO has endorsed a statement by the 70 National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated cancer centers calling for increased human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination and screening to eliminate HPV-related cancers.
A microsimulation model study found that the benefits of low-dose computed tomography (CT) screening for lung cancer varied substantially across the eligible population, with 3 factors being particularly influential: lung cancer risk, competing risks or life expectancy, and patient preferences. The study by Caverly et al was published in Annals of Internal Medicine.
A small retrospective cohort study comparing cancer incidence in families affected by a mutation in the tau gene (genetic tauopathies) to control families has found that individuals from tau-mutated families were 3.72 times more likely to develop cancer than individuals in the control families. The study by Rossi et al is published in Cancer Research.
As reported in The Lancet by Pagès et al, an international collaboration has validated the consensus Immunoscore for colon cancer as a predictive tool for recurrence of disease.
For patients with multiple myeloma who have been treated with lenalidome but have relapsed and not responded to other therapy, a three-drug combination can significantly extend the time in which the disease is held in check. The findings of the phase III OPTIMISMM trial were presented by Richardson et al.
Overall survival (OS) data from the ARCHER 1050 trial evaluating dacomitinib as a first-line treatment for patients with locally advanced or metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with <em>EGFR</em>-activating mutations compared to gefitinib showed a median OS of 34.1 months for patients receiving dacomitinib, representing a more than 7-month improvement compared to 26.8 months with gefitinib. The OS data from ARCHER 1050 were presented by Mok et al.
Interim results from cohort A of KEYNOTE-427, a phase II trial evaluating pembrolizumab as first-line treatment for advanced clear cell renal cell carcinoma, were presented by McDermott et al.
In a retrospective cohort study reported in <em>JAMA Oncology</em>, O’Connor et al found that anti–programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) agents rapidly reached eligible patients after U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval. The study also showed that real-world patients were significantly older than patients enrolled in pivotal clinical trials.
In a single-center phase II study reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>, Hofman et al found that treatment with a radiolabeled small molecule that binds to prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA), lutetium-177–PSMA-617, produced a high response rate and improved pain symptoms in men with previously treated metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.
Updated efficacy and safety data from the JAVELIN Merkel 200 trial of avelumab in patients with metastatic Merkel cell carcinoma were presented by Nghiem et al.
In an international phase II trial, treatment with the oral FGFR inhibitor erdafitinib was well tolerated and achieved a robust response for patients with metastatic urothelial cancers harboring mutations in the <em>FGFR3</em> gene. These findings were presented by Siefker-Radtke et al.
The phase III ENLIVEN study showed a statistically significant 39% overall response rate at week 25 in patients with tenosynovial giant cell tumor for whom surgery would be associated with potentially worse function or severe morbidity. These findings were presented by Tap et al.
Updated results of the global phase III ALEX trial comparing alectinib with crizotinib as first-line treatment against <em>ALK</em>-positive non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) show a median progression-free survival of 34.8 months in 152 patients treated with alectinib vs 10.9 months in 151 patients treated with crizotinib. These findings were presented by Camidge et al.
On June 4, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved pegfilgrastim-jmdb (Fulphila) as the first biosimilar to pegfilgrastim to decrease the chance of infection as suggested by febrile neutropenia in patients with nonmyeloid cancer who are receiving myelosuppressive chemotherapy that has a clinically significant incidence of febrile neutropenia.
Results from a preplanned interim analysis of the phase III iNNOVATE study evaluating the investigational use of ibrutinib in combination with rituximab in relapsed/refractory and treatment-naive patients with Waldenström’s macroglobulinemia were presented at the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting and were simultaneously published in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em>.
Premenopausal women with hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative breast cancer and a high risk of recurrence who are treated with an aromatase inhibitor plus ovarian function suppression may gain a 10% to 15% improvement in freedom from distant recurrence at 8 years, according to a new clinical trial analysis reported at the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting. The overall results of the TEXT and SOFT trials were concurrently published by Francis et al in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em>.
In a small phase II study of early-stage breast cancer patients with <em>BRCA1/2</em> mutations, Litton et al found that more than half of the women who took the PARP inhibitor talazoparib once daily prior to surgery had no evidence of disease at the time of surgery.
An updated analysis of a randomized phase III trial presented by Jankowski et al showed that taking a high dose of the acid-reducing medicine esomeprazole with low-dose aspirin for at least 7 years can moderately reduce the risk of developing high-grade dysplasia or esophageal cancer and delay death from any cause in people with Barrett’s esophagus.
A randomized, phase III trial presented by Van Tienhoven et al found that patients who received chemoradiotherapy before pancreatic cancer surgery had better disease-free survival than those who started their treatment with surgery, which is the current standard of care. In addition, the 2-year survival rate was higher for those who received chemoradiotherapy before surgery.
In a randomized phase III trial presented by Conroy et al, patients with surgically removed pancreatic cancer who received mFOLFIRINOX (a modified regimen containing oxaliplatin, leucovorin, irinotecan, and fluorouracil) lived a median of 20 months longer and were cancer-free 9 months longer than those who received the current standard of care, gemcitabine.
A randomized phase III clinical trial presented by Quenet et al showed that people with advanced colorectal cancer may not need a frequently considered component of treatment—heated chemotherapy delivered to the abdomen during surgery. There was no difference in survival between patients with metastases in the abdomen who received heated chemotherapy during surgery and those who received surgery alone.
The randomized phase III Carmena trial, presented by Mejean et al, showed that many people with advanced kidney cancer can avoid nephrectomy without compromising survival. The median overall survival for people who received the targeted therapy sunitinib alone was 18.4 months, compared with 13.9 months for those who received surgery followed by sunitinib.
The federally funded, phase III TAILORx clinical trial showed that most women with hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative, axillary node–negative early-stage breast cancer and a mid-range score on a 21-tumor gene expression assay (Oncotype DX Breast Recurrence Score) do not need chemotherapy after surgery. These findings were presented by Sparano et al.
A new chemotherapy strategy seems to improve cure rates for children with rhabdomyosarcoma who are at high risk for cancer recurrence. In a randomized phase III clinical trial presented by Bisogno et al in ASCO’s Plenary Session, adding 6 months of low-dose maintenance chemotherapy after initial treatment increased the 5-year overall survival rate from 73.7% to 86.5%.
Findings presented by Lopes et al during ASCO’s Plenary Session showed that patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with a programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression of 1% or more who were first treated with pembrolizumab lived a median of 4 to 8 months longer than those who received chemotherapy.
In a phase III clinical trial presented by Baselga et al, the investigational PI3K inhibitor taselisib combined with the standard hormone therapy fulvestrant halted the growth of advanced breast cancer growth by 2 months longer than hormone therapy alone and decreased the chance of cancer worsening by 30%.
An initial report from the large, ongoing Circulating Cell-Free Genome Atlas study provides preliminary evidence that a blood test may be able to detect early-stage lung cancer. This is one of the first studies to explore blood tests analyzing free-floating or cell-free DNA as a tool for the early detection of cancer. The findings will be presented by Oxnard et al.
Initial findings from a randomized phase III clinical trial presented by Jotte et al showed that patients with advanced squamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) benefit more from initial treatment with the programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1)-targeted immunotherapy atezolizumab and chemotherapy than from chemotherapy alone. This benefit was observed across all PD-L1–expressing subgroups.
A genomic study of more than 15,000 tumor samples showed that people who have tumors with high microsatellite instability (MSI-H) are more likely to have Lynch syndrome, a hereditary condition that increases a person’s risk of developing many different types of cancer. These findings will be presented by Stadler et al.
A retrospective analysis to be presented by Tsimberidou et al of prospectively molecularly profiled patients with advanced cancer who participated in a large, personalized medicine trial found that using molecular tests of tumors to select targeted therapy resulted in slower cancer growth and prolonged survival across a diverse set of cancer types.
An analysis of cancer registry data from a California hospital system presented by Katzel et al showed that women with head and neck cancer were less likely to receive intensive chemotherapy and radiation compared to men. Controlling for factors such as age and serious medical conditions, a mathematical model also shows that the ratio of cancer to noncancer mortality was two times higher for women than the ratio for men.
A federally funded randomized study demonstrated that the use of geriatric assessment in the routine care of older adults with advanced cancer significantly improved doctor-patient communication about age-related concerns as well as patient satisfaction with the communication. The study was featured in a press briefing today and was presented by Mohile et al.
An analysis of health claims data from two demographically similar regions on either side of the U.S./Canada border shows that a common treatment for advanced colorectal cancer costs twice as much in Western Washington State than in British Columbia. Despite the higher cost, the patients on the U.S. side of the border are not living longer than those on the Canadian side. The study was featured in a press briefing today and presented by Yezefski et al.
In a prospective clinical trial of 100 men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer presented by George et al, the response to the hormone treatment abiraterone was greater and longer-lasting in black men than in white men.
An analysis of pooled data from 9 randomized phase III trials of more than 8,000 men with advanced prostate cancer who received chemotherapy shows chances of survival are as good for black men as white men. The median survival was the same in black men and white men overall, but black men had a 19% lower risk for death than white men when researchers adjusted for various important risk factors that affect survival. The findings were presented by Halabi et al.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner <strong>Scott Gottlieb, MD</strong>, released a statement today on the signing of the Trickett Wendler, Frank Mongiello, Jordan McLinn, and Matthew Bellina Right to Try Act of 2017.
An updated American Cancer Society guideline now says colorectal cancer screening should begin at age 45 for people at average risk, based in part on data showing rates of colorectal cancer are increasing in young and middle-aged populations. The updated recommendations were published by Wolf et al in <em>CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians</em>.
On May 29, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accepted for filing the supplemental new drug application for cabozantinib tablets as a treatment for patients with previously treated advanced hepatocellular carcinoma.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Leonardi et al found that programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1)/programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) inhibitor monotherapy in patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and autoimmune disorders worsened such disorders in a minority of patients and was not associated with an increased frequency of new immune-related adverse events.
In a retrospective cohort study reported in <em>JAMA Oncology</em>, Kurian et al found that use of germline multiple-gene sequencing has become more common than <em>BRCA1/2</em>-only sequencing after breast cancer diagnosis in clinical practice, with an associated increased detection of pathologic variants not affecting frequency of use of prophylactic mastectomy.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted a new drug application and granted Priority Review for larotrectinib in the treatment of adult and pediatric patients with locally advanced or metastatic solid tumors harboring a neurotrophic receptor tyrosine kinase (<em>NTRK</em>) gene fusion.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted, with Priority Review, a new drug application for gilteritinib for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and a mutation in the <em>FLT3</em> gene, as detected by an FDA-approved test.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently granted orphan drug designation to galinpepimut-S for the treatment of multiple myeloma. The drug is licensed from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and targets the Wilms tumor 1 protein, which is present in an array of tumor types.
A post-hoc analysis from the phase III SPARTAN study that showed treatment with apalutamide significantly reduced the risk of prostate-specific antigen progression in patients with nonmetastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer who had a rapidly rising PSA while receiving continuous androgen-deprivation therapy.
New diagnostic tests for prostate cancer, as well as new information about the impact of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommendations on prostate cancer screening, were presented.
Four studies highlighting the effectiveness of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the diagnosis and management of prostate cancer were presented during a special press conference.
Researchers presented new findings on a Korean Food and Drug Administration (KFDA)-approved robotic system, safety of testosterone therapy after prostate cancer, and active surveillance protocol for low-risk prostate cancer patients.
A multicenter study that validated the clinical performance of IsoPSA—a new blood test that has proven to be more accurate in predicting overall risk of prostate cancer than standard prostate-specific antigen—was presented by Klein et al.
In a letter to the editor in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em>, Gounder et al described the successful treatment of a patient with histiocytic sarcoma and an activating <em>MAP2K1</em> (MEK1) mutation with the MAPK kinase 1 and 2 inhibitor trametinib.
In a study reported in <em>JAMA Surgery</em>, Margonis et al found that the presence of a <em>BRAF</em> V600E mutation was associated with higher risk of recurrence and poorer overall survival among patients undergoing surgical resection of liver metastases from colorectal cancer.
In a report from the diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) registries of the International and European Societies for Pediatric Oncology, published in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Hoffman et al identified characteristics of long-term survivors among pediatric and young adult patients with diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma.
A new study by Rojewski et al in <em>CHEST</em> investigated the relationships between the degree of nicotine dependence and both the likelihood of successfully quitting smoking and clinical outcomes in a cohort of screened patients.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has alerted health-care professionals, oncology clinical investigators, and the public about decreased survival associated with the use of pembrolizumab or atezolizumab as monotherapy in clinical trials to treat patients with metastatic urothelial cancer who have not received prior therapy and who have low expression of the protein programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1).
A targeted therapy that has been effective in fighting ovarian cancer in women, including those with <em>BRCA1</em> and <em>BRCA2</em> mutations, may also help patients with aggressive pancreatic cancer who harbor these mutations and have few or no other treatment options. Shroff et al reported their findings in <em>JCO Precision Oncology</em>.
In a study reported in <em>JAMA Oncology</em>, Goodman et al found that adjuvant radiotherapy was associated with better outcome in patients with early breast cancer who had detectable circulating tumor cells.
In a German phase III trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Dührsen et al found that interim <sup>18</sup>F-FDG positron emission tomography (PET) findings were associated with survival in patients with aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphomas receiving R-CHOP (rituximab plus cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone), and that PET-based treatment intensification did not improve outcome.
In a systematic review and meta-analysis reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>, Conforti et al found a significant difference in overall survival benefit favoring male vs female patients receiving immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy for advanced cancers.
On May 22, the Childhood Cancer Survivorship Treatment Access and Research (STAR) Act was passed by the Senate and House and is now being sent to President Donald Trump to be signed into law. As the most comprehensive childhood cancer bill ever introduced to Congress, the Childhood Cancer STAR Act will advance pediatric cancer research and address the ongoing needs of survivors.
Children with nonbrainstem high-grade glioma could benefit from potentially life-extending treatment if genetic testing was used to personalize therapy as it is in many adults, new research published by Mackay et al in <em>Cancer Cell</em> reported.
As reported by Pommier et al in <em>Science</em>, researchers at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory may have discovered how pancreatic cancer metastasizes to the liver following surgery.
A meta-analysis of patient-level data reported by Lambertini et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> indicated that temporary ovarian suppression with gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists (GnRHa) during chemotherapy was effective in preserving ovarian function and fertility in premenopausal women with early breast cancer.
In a letter to the editor of <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em>, Smith et al describe successful use of oxybutynin to treat hot flashes in a patient receiving androgen-deprivation therapy for prostate cancer.
ASCO and the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) have announced they are working to co-create a pathway to provide doctors with a flexible way to maintain board certification.
New results from the SELECT-D trial published by Young et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> suggest that a daily tablet of rivaroxaban could be a beneficial alternative for treating venous thromboembolism in selected patients with cancer.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Lee et al determined risk levels for interval invasive second breast cancers after negative surveillance mammography and identified factors associated with higher risk.
In an interim analysis of a European trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>, Saussele et al found that discontinuation of tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia with deep molecular response was associated with good molecular relapse-free survival, particularly among patients with longer major molecular response.
In the phase III NGR015 trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>, Gregorc et al found no benefit of adding NGR-hTNF to best investigator choice of treatment in patients with previously treated malignant pleural mesothelioma.
Surgical oncologists may have developed an improved scoring system for predicting survival in people with colorectal cancers that have metastasized to the liver. The system, called the Genetic and Morphological Evaluation (GAME) score, was described by Margonis et al in the <em>British Journal of Surgery</em>.
In a study reported in <em>JAMA Oncology</em>, McCarthy et al identified the risk of interval breast cancer after negative screening mammography, including risk of poor-prognosis breast cancer.
A study by Katki et al published in <em>Annals of Internal Medicine</em> comparing nine risk models to refer ever-smokers for lung cancer screening has identified four models that most accurately predicted lung cancer risk and performed best in selecting ever-smokers for screening: Bach, PLCO<sub>M2012</sub>, LCRAT, and LCDRAT.
In a retrospective cohort study reported in <em>JAMA Surgery</em>, Sandini et al found that neoadjuvant therapy in patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma was associated with loss of adipose tissue but not muscle wasting. In addition, the study showed that an increase in skeletal muscle tissue was associated with resectability.
As reported in <em>JAMA</em>, the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) has issued updated recommendations on prostate-specific antigen (PSA)-based screening for prostate cancer.
Findings in a phase I trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by Pernas et al indicate activity of the combination of the CXCR4 chemokine receptor antagonist balixafortide plus eribulin in previously treated HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer.
In a letter to the editor of <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em>, Huo et al described long-term outcomes of women with vaginal and cervical clear cell adenocarcinoma associated with prenatal exposure to the synthetic nonsteroidal estrogen diethylstilbestrol (DES).
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®) has named <strong>Wui-Jin Koh, MD,</strong> as Senior Vice President, Chief Medical Officer, a newly-created position for the nonprofit alliance of top U.S. cancer centers.
On May 15, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved epoetin alfa-epbx (Retacrit) as a biosimilar to epoetin alfa (Epogen/Procrit) for the treatment of anemia caused by chronic kidney disease, chemotherapy, or use of zidovudine in patients with HIV infection.
A randomized clinical trial evaluating the use of mobile and sensor technology to remotely monitor symptoms in patients receiving radiation therapy for head and neck cancer found that use of this technology reduced severe symptoms related to cancer and its treatment compared with usual care. According to the investigators, using sensor and mobile technology can facilitate rapid clinical decision-making about care and may result in greater quality of life and health outcomes.
A large randomized phase III clinical trial investigating the safety and efficacy of adding nelarabine to chemotherapy to treat newly diagnosed patients with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia or T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma found the combination therapy improved disease-free survival. Overall, 90.2% of the patients lived at least 4 years, and 84.3% had no sign of cancer at 4 years.
A randomized clinical trial of cancer survivors showed that 8 weeks of either acupuncture or cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia decreased the severity of insomnia among cancer survivors, though improvements were greatest among patients receiving cognitive behavioral therapy.
An economic model comparing different types of genetic testing in metastatic non–small cell lung cancer found that using next-generation sequencing to test for all known lung cancer–related gene changes at the time of diagnosis was more cost-effective and faster than testing one or a limited number of genes at a time.
A large phase III randomized noninferiority study comparing 6 months to 12 months of trastuzumab therapy in patients with HER2-positive early breast cancer found the 6-month regimen to be noninferior to the 12-month regimen. In addition, cardiac events were reduced in patients on the 6-month regimen compared to those receiving the 12-month treatment: 4% vs 8%, respectively.
An analysis of 1,800 lung cancer screening sites nationwide found that only 1.9% of more than 7 million current and former heavy smokers were screened for lung cancer in 2016, despite U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) and ASCO screening recommendations.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Office of Orphan Products Development recently granted orphan drug designation to CLR 131 for the treatment of rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare pediatric cancer.
Significant disparities in the quality of end-of-life lung cancer care were found among racial/ethnic minorities, with higher odds of experiencing potentially preventable medical encounters during end-of-life as compared with non-Hispanic whites. These findings were published by Karanth et al in the <em>Journal of Thoracic Oncology</em>.
In a study reported in <em>JAMA Oncology</em>, Caan et al found that computed tomography-derived sarcopenia and adiposity were associated with overall survival in women with nonmetastatic breast cancer.
In a phase II trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Iyer et al found that dose-dense neoadjuvant gemcitabine plus cisplatin produced a high response rate and was generally well tolerated in patients with planned radical cystectomy for muscle-invasive bladder cancer.
In a study reported in <em>JAMA Dermatology</em>, Wang et al found that risk of nodal metastasis was higher for cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma of the lip with vermillion vs cutaneous location. Disease-specific and overall survival were similar for the two locations.
Researchers have identified six genes that predispose carriers to develop medulloblastoma and have used the discovery to craft genetic counseling and screening guidelines. The study was published by Waszak et al in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>.
Flushing the bladder with a common chemotherapy drug immediately after surgery significantly reduces the chances of bladder cancer returning, according to a study by Messing et al published in <em>JAMA</em>.
A study by Soisson et al in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute</em> has found that survivors of endometrial cancer were at higher risk for a number of cardiovascular risks, including hypertension; diseases of the arteries, arterioles, and capillaries; diseases of the veins and lymphatics; and diseases of the heart at 1 to 5 years following their diagnosis, with some risk persisting up to 10 years later.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute</em>, Loree et al found that <em>ERBB2/ERBB3</em> mutations in colorectal cancer are associated with microsatellite instability and <em>PIK3CA</em> mutation.
In a study reported in <em>JAMA Oncology</em>, Kotsopoulos and colleagues found that use of hormone replacement therapy overall did not increase risk of breast cancer among <em>BRCA1</em>-mutation carriers after prophylactic bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy; however, use of estrogen-progesterone hormone replacement therapy appeared to be associated with increased risk vs estrogen alone.
Data from a new survey show that as many as 80% of oncologists have discussed medical marijuana use with their patients. According to the authors, this is the first nationally representative survey to examine oncologists’ practices and beliefs on the subject since the implementation of state medical marijuana laws. The research was published by Braun et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
Debiopharm International SA recently announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Fast Track designation to Debio 1347, an inhibitor of fibroblast growth factor receptors 1, 2, and 3 (FGFR1–3), for the treatment of patients with unresectable or metastatic tumors with a specific <em>FGFR</em> gene alteration.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Morita et al found that clearance of somatic mutations at complete remission—particularly those in nonpreleukemic genes—was associated with improved outcomes in previously untreated patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML).
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Oncology Practice</em>, Alton et al found that current cigarette smokers were less likely to believe that continued smoking after cancer diagnosis was harmful compared with ex-smokers or never-smokers.
In a study reported in <em>Annals of Oncology</em>, Andersen et al found that tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes isolated from metastatic melanoma lesions in patients with disease progression after checkpoint inhibitor therapy remain functional. Moreover, they concluded these tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes from such patients can exhibit antitumor activity as part of immune therapy.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Degnim et al have developed a model for predicting breast cancer risk among women with atypical hyperplasia on breast biopsy.
In a phase Ib trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Omuro et al found evidence of activity of carboxyamidotriazole orotate plus temozolomide in patients with recurrent anaplastic gliomas or glioblastoma and previously untreated glioblastoma.
Parenting concerns contributed significantly to the psychological distress of mothers with late-stage cancer, according to a study by University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers published by Park et al in the journal <em>Cancer</em>.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently accepted a supplemental biologics license application (sBLA) and granted Priority Review for atezolizumab in combination with bevacizumab, paclitaxel, and carboplatin for the first-line treatment of metastatic nonsquamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
On May 7, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved daratumumab (Darzalex) in combination with bortezomib, melphalan, and prednisone (VMP) for the treatment of patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma who are ineligible for autologous stem cell transplant.
Modern, multimodality lumpectomy treatment significantly reduces the incidence of breast cancer recurrence at the original tumor site compared to historical protocols, according to a new study.
Early, ongoing screening of lymphatic function and immediate patient-administered therapies as needed are highly effective in improving outcomes for women at high risk for breast cancer–related lymphedema.
Current restrictive genetic testing guidelines exclude many patients who harbor high-risk breast cancer mutations, according to two new studies presented at the American Society of Breast Surgeons (ASBrS) 19th Annual Meeting.
A population-based study investigating the projected cancer incidence rates among adults living with HIV over the next decade has found that while the number of most cancer types will remain stable or decrease, by 2030, prostate and lung cancers are projected to be the most common cancers in this population. The study by Shiels et al is published in <em>Annals of Internal Medicine.</em>
Women with breast cancer who underwent regular mammographic screening were diagnosed with earlier-stage disease and treated with significantly less aggressive therapies than those who delayed or never underwent screening.
In an article published in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Stilgenbauer et al reported findings from the full population of the phase II trial that supported the 2016 approval of venetoclax in the treatment of previously treated chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) with 17p deletion.
Researchers have found that women with advanced triple-negative breast cancer with a <em>BRCA</em> mutation were twice as likely to benefit from carboplatin as docetaxel—the current standard of care for these patients. These findings were published by Tutt et al in <em>Nature Medicine</em>.
On April 30, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accepted for priority review the biologics license application for cemiplimab for the treatment of patients with metastatic cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma or patients with locally advanced cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma who are not candidates for surgery.
In a meta-analysis reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>, Yamada et al found that patients with cystic fibrosis are at increased risk of gastrointestinal cancers vs the general population.
In an Australian trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Sherman et al found that use of a structured online writing exercise was associated with reduced body image distress and improved body appreciation among breast cancer survivors.
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved dabrafenib (Tafinlar) and trametinib (Mekinist), administered together, for the treatment of unresectable, metastatic, <em>BRAF</em> V600E mutation–positive anaplastic thyroid cancer. Anaplastic thyroid cancer accounts for about 1% to 2% of all thyroid cancers.
Despite steady declines in death rates in recent years, lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer deaths in wealthy countries. In a study published by Andreano et al in the <em>Journal of Thoracic Oncology</em>, Yale researchers collaborated with investigators in Europe to examine lung cancer care and survival rates for patients with one of the most common forms of the disease.
A study by Mofidi et al in the <em>Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene</em> has estimated the total and per-case costs of newly diagnosed nonmelanoma skin cancers in Canada in 2011 caused by workplace sun exposure.
In an Israeli case-cohort study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Hamood et al found that hormone therapy in breast cancer survivors was associated with an increased risk of developing diabetes.
As reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by Schäfer et al, little difference in quality of life was observed over long-term follow-up between women receiving accelerated partial-breast irradiation with interstitial brachytherapy vs whole-breast irradiation after breast-conserving surgery in the European phase III GEC-ESTRO trial.
On May 2, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted orphan drug designation to the cancer vaccine BN-Brachyury for the treatment of chordoma.
On April 30, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accepted for review a supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) for pembrolizumab based on results of the phase III KEYNOTE-189 trial. The application seeks approval for in combination with pemetrexed and platinum chemotherapy as a first-line treatment for patients with metastatic nonsquamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
Researchers found that men with a history of nonmelanoma skin cancer were less likely to die of melanoma than those without a history. The research was published by Song et al in the <em>Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology</em>.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Dowsett et al have developed a clinicopathologic tool for predicting risk of late distant recurrence in estrogen receptor (ER)-positive breast cancer treated with 5 years of endocrine therapy.
In a phase Ib trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>, Wrangle et al found evidence of activity of the combination of nivolumab and the interleukin (IL)-15 superagonist ALT-803 in patients with previously treated advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
On May 1, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved tisagenlecleucel (Kymriah) suspension for intravenous infusion for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory large B-cell lymphoma—including diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), high-grade B-cell lymphoma, and DLBCL arising from follicular lymphoma—after two or more lines of systemic therapy.
A new method for early, more accurate breast cancer screening has been developed by researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and Soroka University Medical Center using commercially available technology. Their findings were published by Herman-Saffar et al in <em>Computers in Biology and Medicine</em>.
A study by Landgren et al in <em>JAMA Oncology</em> has found that New York City firefighters exposed to the 9/11 World Trade Center disaster site face an increased risk for developing monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS), a myeloma precursor disease.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Maurer et al found that a shorter interval between diagnosis and treatment was associated with adverse prognostic features and that a longer interval was associated with greater event-free survival in the first-line treatment of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) in recent clinical trials, raising the issue of selection bias in this setting.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Wheeler et al found that black women experience significantly worse financial impact from breast cancer compared with white women, which may contribute to barriers to treatment compliance and worse outcomes.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute</em>, Nielsen et al found significant associations between higher proportions of cancer cell nuclei with high chromatin entropy and poorer outcomes in gynecologic cancers.
High-level results from the phase III ARCTIC trial in patients with locally advanced or metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who have received at least two prior treatments were recently announced.
On April 30, 2018, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted regular approval to dabrafenib (Tafinlar) and trametinib (Mekinist) in combination for the adjuvant treatment of patients with melanoma with <em>BRAF</em> V600E or V600K mutations (as detected by an FDA-approved test) and involvement of lymph nodes following complete resection.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Hwang et al found little difference in the efficacy and safety of U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-designated breakthrough vs nonbreakthrough cancer drugs and found that breakthrough drugs were not more likely to represent a novel mechanism of action.
In a report from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study published in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Weil et al found that splenectomy and splenic radiation significantly increased the risk of late infection-related mortality among 5-year survivors of childhood cancer.
In a phase II trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Kornblum et al, the addition of everolimus to fulvestrant improved progression-free survival in postmenopausal women with hormone receptor (HR)-positive, HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer resistant to aromatase inhibitor therapy.
Tesaro recently announced results from the QUADRA study, which was designed to assess the clinical benefit of niraparib treatment in heavily pretreated patients with ovarian cancer.
On April 23, Epizyme, Inc, announced that U.S.-based enrollment of new patients into tazemetostat clinical trials is temporarily on hold. Following a safety report of a pediatric patient who developed a secondary lymphoma, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a partial clinical hold affecting new enrollment of patients with genetically defined solid tumors and hematologic malignancies, while the company updates the informed consent, investigator’s brochure, and study protocols.
Additional results were recently announced from the phase III RANGE trial evaluating ramucirumab in combination with docetaxel in patients with locally advanced or unresectable or metastatic urothelial carcinoma whose disease progressed on or after platinum-based chemotherapy.
Research from the Yale School of Public Health has found that the majority of published papers analyzing the cost-effectiveness of a widely used test for breast cancer used a study design that can increase bias. These findings were published by Wang et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
In a report from the Children’s Oncology Group AREN0533 study published in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Dix et al found improved survival outcomes with a modified approach to treatment of favorable-histology Wilms tumor with lung metastases.
In a Swedish study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Jansson et al identified an increased risk of non–low-risk prostate cancer among men with prostate cancer who had brothers diagnosed with non–low-risk disease.
In a propensity-score matching analysis reported in <em>JAMA Oncology</em>, Polanco et al found that adjuvant chemotherapy was associated with a survival benefit vs observation among patients with locally advanced rectal cancer who underwent resection after pathologic complete response following neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy.
This week, the American Society of Hematology (ASH) announced the names of the 35 hematologists participating in the 2018 ASH Clinical Research Training Institute in Latin America (CRTI-LA) and Advanced CRTI-LA. This education and mentorship program was held April 23–26, prior to the Highlights of ASH in Latin America Meeting, taking place today and tomorrow in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Very small differences in the way a patient lies during radiotherapy treatment for lung or esophageal cancer can impact survival, according to research presented at the European Society for Radiotherapy & Oncology (ESTRO) 37 Conference.
Radiotherapy given in high doses over a shorter period of time is safe and effective for patients with prostate cancer patients, according to research from a phase III trial presented at the European Society for Radiotherapy & Oncology (ESTRO) 37 Conference.
A simple test of handgrip strength may be a good indicator of short- and long-term survival in patients with stage I non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to new findings presented at the European Society for Radiotherapy & Oncology (ESTRO) 37 Conference.
An analysis of elderly patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated in a phase II trial of radiotherapy combined with chemotherapy in has shown that they were less likely to benefit than younger patients if the two treatments were given at the same time.
New research presented at the European Society for Radiotherapy & Oncology (ESTRO) 37 Conference from two large international trials showed that intracavitary and interstitial brachytherapy for the treatment of cervical cancer is safe and does not increase the risk of ureteral stricture.
A recent study by Ibler et al in the <em>Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology</em> aimed to determine whether an association exists between melanoma or nonmelanoma skin cancers and Alzheimer’s disease.
Adolescents and young adults with acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) have a survival advantage if they receive treatment at a pediatric cancer center vs an adult center, according to a study published by Muffly et al in <em>Blood Advances</em>. The findings also suggest that treatment at a center affiliated with the National Cancer Institute improves overall survival.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently accepted for Priority Review its supplemental biologics license application (sBLA) for nivolumab to treat patients with small cell lung cancer (SCLC) whose disease has progressed after two or more prior lines of therapy.
As reported by Hussain et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, long-term follow-up of the phase III SWOG S9921 trial showed that the addition of adjuvant mitoxantrone and prednisone to androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) did not improve survival and increased death from other malignancies in high-risk prostate cancer. Outcomes with 2 years of ADT were encouraging.
In an update from the WECARE (Women’s Environmental Cancer and Radiation Epidemiology) study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Reiner et al found that women with invasive breast cancer are at increased risk of contralateral breast cancer even in the absence of deleterious mutations if they have a first-degree relative with breast cancer.
A new study published by Banegas et al in <em>JNCCN–Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network</em> has found that cancer care costs in the United States are higher for people under age 65—and that costs increase with disease stage.
A large randomized controlled study in Norway examining the effectiveness of flexible sigmoidoscopy screening after 17 years of follow-up in women and men has found that the screening reduced colorectal cancer incidence by 34% and mortality by 37% in men, but had little or no effect in women. The study’s results may have implications for future screening recommendations and clinical trial design in which sex-stratified evaluations and sample size calculations should be considered. The study by Holme et al is published in the <em>Annals of Internal Medicine</em>.
On April 18, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Fast Track designation to CB-839 in combination with cabozantinib for the treatment of patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC) who have received one or two prior lines of therapy, including at least one vascular endothelial growth factor tyrosine kinase inhibitor or the combination of nivolumab and ipilimumab.
In a phase II study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Jonasch et al found evidence that a 2-weeks-on/1-week-off schedule of sunitinib might be an option in frontline treatment of metastatic renal cell carcinoma.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Kerns et al found that approximately 20% of testicular cancer survivors treated with cisplatin-based regimens had high cumulative burden of morbidity scores. Researchers also identified factors associated with risk for increased morbidity.
In a study reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em>, Schmitz et al identified four subtypes of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCLs) with distinct genetic, epigenetic, and clinical characteristics that may be amenable to different therapeutic approaches.
On April 19, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Fast Track designation for its novel immuno-oncology candidate balixafortide (POL6326) in combination with eribulin for the treatment of patients with HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer who previously received at least two chemotherapeutic regimens in the metastatic setting.
A recent study by Fernández-Figueras et al published in the <em>Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology</em> examined the relationship between follicular extension of atypical keratinocytes in an actinic keratosis and the development of invasive squamous cell carcinoma of the skin from the follicular wall.
The Community Oncology Alliance (COA) has released its 2018 Community Oncology Practice Impact Report, which tracks data on the changing landscape of cancer care in the United States. It details a decade-long trend of closure and consolidation in the U.S. cancer system that has resulted in a dramatic shift of cancer care into the more expensive hospital setting. The report was released at the 2018 Community Oncology Conference.
A new type of cancer vaccine made from a patient’s own immune cells—which are exposed in the laboratory to the contents of the patient’s tumor cells, and then injected into the patient to initiate a wider immune response—has yielded promising results, according to results published by Tanyi et al in <em>Science Translational Medicine</em>.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Shepshelovich et al found that cancer drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for treatment of solid tumors without supporting randomized controlled trials were more likely to have postapproval safety-associated label modifications.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Sobrero et al, an Italian phase III trial did not demonstrate noninferiority of 3 vs 6 months of adjuvant CAPOX (capecitabine plus oxaliplatin) or FOLFOX (fluorouracil, leucovorin, and oxaliplatin) in relapse-free survival in stage II or stage III colon cancer.
In a Scandinavian phase III trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>, Cats et al found no benefit of postoperative chemoradiotherapy vs chemotherapy among patients with gastric cancer who had received neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Compliance with postoperative regimens was poor in both groups.
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital recently launched the St. Jude Cloud, an online data-sharing and collaboration platform that provides researchers access to the world's largest public repository of pediatric cancer genomics data. Developed as a partnership among St. Jude, DNAnexus, and Microsoft, the St. Jude Cloud provides accelerated data mining, analysis, and visualization capabilities in a secure cloud-based environment.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently finalized two guidances to drive the efficient development of next-generation sequencing techniques.
Pfizer recently announced that the independent data monitoring committee for the phase III ATLAS trial, which is evaluating axitinib as adjuvant therapy for patients at high risk of recurrent renal cell carcinoma after nephrectomy, recommended stopping the trial at a planned interim analysis due to futility.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Oktay et al, ASCO has issued a clinical practice guideline update on fertility preservation in adults and children with cancer.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute</em>, Herr et al found that patients with specific types of primary lymphoid neoplasms were at increased risk of second primary cutaneous melanoma, with the reciprocal association also being observed. Occurrence of a second primary malignancy was associated with increased mortality risk.
On April 18, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved osimertinib (Tagrisso) for the first-line treatment of patients with metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose tumors have epidermal growth factor receptor (<em>EGFR</em>) exon 19 deletions or exon 21 <em>L858R</em> mutations, as detected by an FDA-approved test.
A diet high in whole grains, fruits, and vegetables—along with exercise and maintaining a healthy body weight—can improve the 5-year survival rate for patients with stage III colorectal cancer, according to a new report published by Van Blarigan et al in <em>JAMA Oncology</em>.
On April 9, the phase III KEYNOTE-042 trial evaluating pembrolizumab as monotherapy for the first-line treatment of locally advanced or metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC, including nonsquamous or squamous histologies) met its primary endpoint of overall survival.
In a phase II study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Wu et al found that crizotinib was highly active in East Asian patients with <em>ROS1</em>-positive advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
In a study reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em>, Bhatnagar et al found that outpatient talc vs placebo administration via indwelling pleural catheter was associated with a higher rate of pleurodesis in patients with malignant pleural effusion.
In a pilot study reported at the AACR Annual Meeting and in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em> by Forde et al, neoadjuvant nivolumab therapy was found to be feasible and active in patients with resectable non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
A subtype of T cells known as memory T cells may explain why some immunotherapies are more effective than others and could potentially lead to researchers designing more effective studies using combination checkpoint blockade treatments, according to research presented by Mok et al.
Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) accounts for 14% of all lung cancers and is often rapidly resistant to chemotherapy, resulting in poor clinical outcomes. Treatment has changed little for decades, but a study presented by Peng et al offers a potential explanation for why the disease becomes chemoresistant and a possible avenue for exploring new diagnostic approaches.
As reported at the 2018 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting and in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em> by Eggermont et al, the phase III EORTC 1325/KEYNOTE 054 trial has shown that adjuvant pembrolizumab significantly prolonged recurrence-free survival vs placebo in patients with resected high-risk stage III melanoma.
On April 17, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved fostamatinib disodium hexahydrate (Tavalisse) for the treatment of thrombocytopenia in adult patients with chronic immune thrombocytopenia who have had an insufficient response to a previous treatment.
As reported at the 2018 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Meeting and in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em> by Hellmann et al, an analysis from the phase III CheckMate 227 trial has shown that the combination of nivolumab plus ipilimumab significantly prolonged progression-free survival vs chemotherapy among patients with stage IV or recurrent non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with high tumor mutational burden.
As reported at the AACR Annual Meeting and in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em> by Gandhi et al, the first interim analysis of the phase III KEYNOTE-189 trial has shown significant improvement in overall and progression-free survival with the addition of pembrolizumab to chemotherapy in patients with metastatic nonsquamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
As reported by Vaughn et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, a health-related quality-of-life analysis from the phase III KEYNOTE-045 trial in previously treated advanced urothelial cancer showed that patients treated with pembrolizumab had improved time to deterioration and global health status/quality of life vs patients treated with chemotherapy.
On April 16, 2018, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a draft guidance to describe for sponsors of certain oncology trials an optional streamlined submission process to determine whether use of an investigational in vitro diagnostic in a trial of investigational cancer drug or biologic products is considered significant risk, nonsignificant risk, or exempt from further premarket review.
Calcium channel blockers (CCBs)—specifically the short-acting form of CCBs, which are prescribed to treat high blood pressure—were associated with an increased risk of pancreatic cancer in postmenopausal women, according to a study presented at the American Assocation for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2018.
Treatment combining the IDO1 inhibitor epacadostat and the programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) inhibitor durvalumab was found to be safe in patients with advanced solid tumors, with safety data similar to treatment with durvalumab alone, according to data presented from the ongoing ECHO-203 clinical trial at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2018.
A combination of CMP-001, an intratumoral Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) agonist, and pembrolizumab was well tolerated and had clinical activity in patients with metastatic melanoma resistant to programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) checkpoint inhibition, according to preliminary data presented from the ongoing phase Ib clinical trial at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2018.
Initial findings from the Circulating Cell-Free Genome Atlas study showed that prototype sequencing assays tested in this analysis may facilitate the development of a highly specific blood test for early cancer detection, according to data presented at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2018.
On April 16, 2018, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted approvals to nivolumab (Opdivo) and ipilimumab (Yervoy) in combination for the treatment of intermediate- or poor-risk previously untreated advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC).
FT819—an off-the-shelf, T-cell receptor–less CD19 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell product that could potentially be made more accessible to patients with cancer than conventional CAR T-cell therapies—showed positive results in preclinical specificity, functionality, and efficacy studies, according to data presented at the 2018 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting.
BLU-667, a next-generation inhibitor that selectively targets the oncogenic receptor tyrosine kinase RET, was well tolerated and had broad clinical benefit in patients with advanced cancer that had progressed on previous therapies, including multikinase inhibitor therapy. Proof-of-concept data from an ongoing phase I clinical trial were presented at the 2018 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting.
Among patients with inoperable, advanced, or metastatic <em>ALK</em>-positive inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor, 50% were confirmed to have partial or complete tumor shrinkage after treatment with the ALK-targeted anticancer therapeutic agent crizotinib, according to data from the phase II EORTC 90101 clinical trial, presented at the 2018 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting and simultaneously published by Schöffski et al in <em>The Lancet Respiratory Medicine</em>.
Children with nonchromosomal birth defects—such as congenital heart disease—had a significantly higher risk of developing childhood cancer than children who did not have birth defects, according to a study presented at the 2018 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting.
In a phase III trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>, Rimassa et al found no improvement in overall survival with the MET inhibitor tivantinib vs placebo in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma with high MET expression previously treated with sorafenib.
In a phase II trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Szmulewitz et al found that low-dose abiraterone given with a low-fat meal was noninferior to standard-dose abiraterone in the fasting state with regard to reduction in prostate-specific antigen levels among patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer.
The longer patients with a positive screening result wait for diagnostic testing, the worse their cancer outcomes may become, according to a literature review of breast, cervical, colorectal, and lung studies published by Doubeni et al in <em>CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicans</em>.
In an analysis reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Freeman et al found that detection of minimal residual disease after first induction in acute myeloid leukemia may be prognostically equivalent to partial response and may help identify <em>NPM1</em> wild-type standard-risk patients who could benefit from allogeneic stem cell transplant in first complete remission.
In a study among California residents reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute</em>, Pham et al found that Asian/Pacific Islanders were at elevated risk of hepatocellular carcinoma vs other racial/ethnic groups, with highest risk observed among Southeast Asians.
An external data monitoring committee has commented on results from the phase III ECHO-301/KEYNOTE-252 trial of the investigational IDO1 inhibitor epacadostat plus pembrolizumab in patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma. The committee determined that the study did not meet its primary endpoint of improving progression-free survival with the combination compared to pembrolizumab monotherapy.
On April 9, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accepted for filing with Priority Review a new drug application (NDA) for the oral agent duvelisib, a first-in-class, dual inhibitor of phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)-delta and PI3K-gamma. The NDA is seeking full approval for duvelisib in the treatment of relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma (CLL/SLL) and accelerated approval for the treatment of relapsed or refractory follicular lymphoma.
Investing in the continuity of care for lung cancer patients can bring tremendous benefits in terms of patient satisfaction and quality of life. In Quebec, this investment has taken the form of a dedicated role on the medical team: The Pivot Nurse in Oncology. A study presented by Kassouf et al at the European Lung Cancer Congress (ELCC) has produced new evidence of the different ways in which this service improves patients’ lives during treatment.
As reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by Laetsch et al, phase I results from an ongoing phase I/II trial have shown activity of the TRK kinase inhibitor larotrectinib in pediatric patients with solid tumors harboring <em>TRK</em> fusions.
On April 11, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration lifted the clinical hold on studies of the adjunct T-cell therapy BPX-501 in the United States. Studies of BPX-501 had previously been on clinical hold following three cases of encephalopathy deemed possibly related to the treatment.
Further evidence that immunotherapy provides long-term survival benefit for patients with lung cancer was presented by Mazières et al at the European Lung Cancer Congress (ELCC).
Erlotinib or high-dose erlotinib provides benefit in patients with epidermal growth factor receptor (<em>EGFR</em>) mutated non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who develop leptomeningeal metastasis during or after treatment with a tyrosine kinase inhibitor. Findings supporting second-line tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy in these patients were presented by Flippot et al at the European Lung Cancer Congress.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Morris et al, ASCO has released a clinical practice guideline on optimizing anticancer therapy in men with metastatic noncastrate prostate cancer.
Alectinib provides longer symptom improvement than crizotinib in <em>ALK</em>-positive non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to results from the ALEX trial presented by Pérol et al at the European Lung Cancer Congress.
The European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) welcomes the latest reports from The Cancer Genome Atlas on the Pan-Cancer Atlas as a major resource for researchers across the world and calls for increased across-the-board commitment to translate these efforts into medical advances for the benefit of patients with cancer.
Researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have completed a detailed genomic analysis, known as the Pan-Cancer Atlas, on a data set of molecular and clinical information from over 10,000 tumors representing 33 types of cancer.
The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) has issued an update to its clinical guideline for the use of palliative-intent radiation therapy for patients with incurable non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Reflecting new evidence from randomized clinical trials, the guideline now recommends the addition of concurrent chemotherapy to radiation therapy for certain patients with incurable stage III NSCLC, including those who are able to tolerate chemotherapy and have a life expectancy longer than 3 months.
On April 10, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Fast Track designation to the oral selective inhibitor of nuclear export compound selinexor for the treatment of patients with multiple myeloma who have received at least three prior lines of therapy.
In an Australian phase II trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>, Long et al found that the combination of nivolumab and ipilimumab and nivolumab alone showed intracranial activity in patients with melanoma brain metastases.
In a study reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em>, Jongen-Lavrencic et al found that molecular minimal residual disease identified by next-generation sequencing during complete remission was associated with increased risk of relapse and mortality over 4 years of follow-up in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The presence of persistent mutations associated with age-related clonal hematopoiesis was not associated with prognosis.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Cheson et al, an updated analysis of the phase III GADOLIN trial showed an overall survival advantage with obinutuzumab plus bendamustine induction followed by obinutuzumab maintenance vs bendamustine alone in patients with rituximab-refractory indolent non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
In a preplanned pooled analysis reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em>, Grothey et al did not establish noninferiority of 3 vs 6 months of adjuvant FOLFOX (fluorouracil, leucovorin, and oxaliplatin) or CAPOX (capecitabine and oxaliplatin) in disease-free survival in stage III colon cancer but found noninferiority of 3 vs 6 months of CAPOX in separate analysis.
In the phase II BOLERO-4 trial reported in <em>JAMA Oncology</em>, Royce et al found that the combination of the mTOR inhibitor everolimus and endocrine therapy was active in the first-line treatment of postmenopausal women with advanced estrogen receptor (ER)–positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)–negative breast cancer.
On April 4, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accepted a new drug application and granted Priority Review for dacomitinib for the first-line treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with <em>EGFR</em>-activating mutations. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has also accepted a marketing authorization application for dacomitinib for the same indication.
A study by Eberl et al in <em>Cancer Cell</em> has pinpointed a mechanism that controls how basal cell cancers respond to treatment and offers new ideas for controlling this disease.
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved rucaparib tablets for the maintenance treatment of adult patients with recurrent epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer who have a complete or partial response to platinum-based chemotherapy.
Topline results from the phase III REACH-2 study of ramucirumab as a single agent in the second-line treatment of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma were recently announced. The trial met its primary endpoint of overall survival as well as the secondary endpoint of progression-free survival.
On April 3, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Fast Track designation for TAR-200, a gemcitabine-releasing intravesical system, for the treatment of patients with organ-confined or locally advanced muscle-invasive bladder cancer who are unfit for curative-intent therapy.
In a retrospective cohort study reported in <em>JAMA Oncology</em>, Cercek et al found evidence supporting the use of total neoadjuvant therapy as an effective option in locally advanced rectal cancer.
As reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em> by Motzer et al, the phase III CheckMate 214 trial has shown an overall survival advantage with nivolumab plus ipilimumab vs sunitinib in patients with previously untreated advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC).
On April 3, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) accepted for review the Marketing Authorization Application for cemiplimab for the treatment of patients with metastatic cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC) or patients with locally advanced CSCC who are not candidates for surgery.
On April 3, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accepted a Biologics License Application (BLA) for moxetumomab pasudotox, an investigational anti-CD22 recombinant immunotoxin and a potential new medicine for the treatment of adult patients with hairy cell leukemia who have received at least two prior lines of therapy.
As reported in <em>JAMA Oncology</em> by Fuchs et al, the anti–programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) agent pembrolizumab showed activity in patients with previously treated advanced gastric and gastroesophageal junction cancer in the phase II KEYNOTE-059 trial.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Hershman et al found that each additional baseline cardiovascular disease risk factor was associated with increased risk for cardiac events and death among Medicare patients who had been enrolled in SWOG trials in breast cancer.
In a preplanned interim analysis of a phase II reported in <em>JAMA Oncology</em>, D’Angelo et al found that avelumab was active in the first-line treatment of metastatic Merkel cell carcinoma.
On March 30, Foundation Medicine announced that FoundationOne CDx, the first U.S. Food and Drug Administration–approved comprehensive genomic-profiling assay for all solid tumors incorporating multiple companion diagnostics, is now available in the United States.
Extensive surgery involving mastectomy and removal of several lymph nodes may be safely avoided for more women with some types of breast cancer if they receive targeted drugs before surgery, according to research presented at the 11th European Breast Cancer Conference (EBCC-11).
In an international phase II trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Ma et al found that nivolumab was active in previously treated recurrent or metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
As reported by Armand et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, extended follow-up of the phase II CheckMate 205 trial continues to show benefits and good tolerability of nivolumab treatment in relapsed or refractory classical Hodgkin lymphoma after failure of autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT).
In the international PRECISION trial reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em,>, Kasivisvanathan et al found that magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-targeted biopsy resulted in a significantly higher rate of diagnosis of clinically significant prostate cancer compared with standard transrectal ultrasonography–guided biopsy in men with clinically suspected prostate cancer.
Participation in clinical trials may overcome health disparities in the treatment of advanced or recurrent ovarian cancer, according to a study presented at the Society of Gynecologic Oncology’s (SGO) 2018 Annual Meeting on Women’s Cancer.
The phase III IMpower150 study met its co-primary endpoint of overall survival at interim analysis, and showed that first-line treatment with the combination of atezolizumab and bevacizumab plus carboplatin and paclitaxel helped patients with advanced nonsquamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) live significantly longer compared with bevacizumab plus carboplatin and paclitaxel. A survival benefit was observed across key subgroups, including those with varying levels of programmed cell death ligand 1 expression.
The average number of moderate or marked side effects reported by patients with breast cancer is lower if they are treated with radiotherapy to part of the breast or a reduced dose to the whole breast, rather than with standard whole-breast radiotherapy (WBRT), according to new findings from the IMPORT LOW study presented at the 11th European Breast Cancer Conference (EBCC-11).
In a phase II trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Fader et al found that the addition of trastuzumab to carboplatin-paclitaxel improved progression-free survival among women with HER2-overexpressing uterine serous carcinoma.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Gettinger et al, 5-year follow-up of patients receiving nivolumab in a phase I study in previously treated advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has shown prolonged survival and durable responses in a subgroup of patients.
In a Korean study reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em>, Choi et al found that antibiotic treatment for <em>Helicobacter pylori</em> was associated with a significant reduction in metachronous gastric cancer in patients who had undergone endoscopic resection of early gastric cancer or high-grade adenoma.
ARMO BioSciences, Inc, recently announced the completion of the first interim analysis in its phase III SEQUOIA trial, a clinical trial studying pegilodecakin (AM0010) plus FOLFOX (leucovorin, fluorouracil, oxaliplatin) vs FOLFOX alone in patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.
Women with small, low-grade, well-defined breast tumors and a genetic profile that shows they are at low risk of the cancer metastasizing have only a 1.4% risk of locoregional recurrence within 5 years, according to new results from a large randomized trial of nearly 7,000 patients presented at the 11th European Breast Cancer Conference (EBCC-11).
The American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) has released guidelines of care for the management of basal cell carcinoma and cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma, both published in the <em>Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology</em>.
As reported in <em>JAMA Oncology</em> by Michalski et al, long-term follow-up in the NRG Oncology/RTOG 0126 trial showed no significant difference in overall survival with dose-escalated vs standard-dose radiotherapy in patients with intermediate-risk prostate cancer. High-dose radiotherapy was associated with more late toxic effects but less use of salvage therapy.
In an Asian phase III noninferiority trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>, Xu et al found that modified XELIRI (capecitabine plus irinotecan) was noninferior in overall survival vs standard FOLFIRI (leucovorin, fluorouracil, and irinotecan), both given with or without bevacizumab, as second-line treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer.
A combination of the immunotherapeutic agent pembrolizumab and the DNA repair–blocking agent niraparib can be significantly more effective than either drug alone in women with hard-to-treat ovarian cancer, according to findings from a phase I/II clinical trial presented at the Society of Gynecologic Oncology (SGO) Annual Meeting on Women's Cancer.
Two new studies presented at the 11th European Breast Cancer Conference (EBCC-11) show that women with either triple-negative or HER2-positive types of breast cancer, whose cancers respond well to chemotherapy given before surgery, are at very low risk of having cancer cells in the sentinel lymph nodes.
In the phase III MURANO trial reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em> by Seymour et al, the combination of the BCL2 inhibitor venetoclax with rituximab markedly improved progression-free survival vs bendamustine plus rituximab in patients with relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
On March 27, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accepted a supplemental biologics license application (sBLA) for nivolumab in combination with ipilimumab for the treatment of adults with microsatellite instability–high (MSI-H) or mismatch repair–deficient (dMMR) metastatic colorectal cancer that has progressed following treatment with a fluoropyrimidine, oxaliplatin, and irinotecan.
A study by Ross et al published in <em<Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers, & Prevention</em> examining county-level changes in lung cancer–related death rates among women has found that while lung cancer mortality among women in most of the United States has declined substantially, progress among women living in the Midwest and Appalachia has lagged.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted accelerated approval to blinatumomab (Blincyto) to treat adults and children with B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) who are in remission but still have minimal residual disease (MRD). This is the first FDA-approved treatment for patients with MRD-positive ALL.
<strong>Linda D. Bosserman, MD, FACP, FASCO</strong>, has been named Editor-in-Chief of the <em>Journal of Oncology Practice</em>, a publication of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. Dr. Bosserman is a recognized leader in cancer care delivery with a deep understanding of the issues impacting all types of oncology practices. Dr. Bosserman's term will officially begin on January 1, 2019, following the 10-year term of <strong>John V. Cox, DO, FASCO</strong>.
Researchers examined the false-negative rate of frozen sections after chemotherapy and the association between size of sentinel lymph node metastasis and residual axillary disease at axillary dissection. Their findings were presented at the 2018 Society for Surgical Oncology (SSO) Annual Cancer Symposium.
One in five women diagnosed with cervical cancer in the United States will be diagnosed after the age of 65, suggesting that the recommended age to stop cervical cancer screening should be reconsidered, according to research presented at the Society of Gynecologic Oncology’s (SGO) 2018 Annual Meeting on Women’s Cancer.
Healthy women who carry a breast cancer–causing mutation in the <em>BRCA1</em> gene not only reduce their risk of developing the disease but also their chances of dying from it if they have both breasts removed, according to new research presented at the 11th European Breast Cancer Conference (EBCC-11). However, the study also found that for women with a mutation in the <em>BRCA2</em> gene, there was no difference in their chances of dying from the disease whether they opted to have bilateral risk-reducing mastectomy or chose to have closer surveillance instead.
On March 26, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Breakthrough Therapy designation to enfortumab vedotin, an antibody-drug conjugate, for patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer who were previously treated with checkpoint inhibitors.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Stanulla et al found that a gene profile including somatic deletions in <em>IKZF1</em> and deletions in other genes was associated with minimal residual disease–dependent very-poor prognosis category in pediatric B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Morgans et al found that chemohormonal therapy with docetaxel and androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) was associated with poorer quality of life at 3 months but better quality of life at 12 months vs ADT alone in metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer.
Parents are less likely to vaccinate adolescent boys than girls with the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, and they are twice as likely to report their main reason as a lack of provider recommendation, according to a study presented at the 2018 Society of Gynecologic Oncology (SGO) Annual Meeting on Women’s Cancer.
Researchers analyzed outcomes in 316 patients with gastric cancer to determine whether those with clinically positive nodal disease before preoperative therapy have similar survival to those with node-negative disease before neoadjuvant treatment. Their findings were presented at the 2018 Society for Surgical Oncology (SSO) Annual Cancer Symposium.
On March 23, the multiple-receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor lenvatinib mesylate (Lenvima) was approved in Japan for unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). This is the first approval worldwide of lenvatinib mesylate for the indication of unresectable HCC and the first new systemic therapy to be approved in Japan for the front-line treatment of HCC in approximately 10 years.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Fallon et al found that adding a clinician-delivered bedside pain assessment and management tool to usual care improved some pain outcomes in cancer center inpatients.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Oncology Practice</em,>, Hoverman et al found that a Texas Oncology–Aetna Medicare Advantage collaboration resulted in cost savings, good adherence to treatment pathways, and high patient satisfaction over 3 years.
Patients with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) are less likely to have recurrent disease if they are postmenopausal or if their tumor is estrogen receptor (ER)-positive, according to research presented at the 11th European Breast Cancer Conference (EBCC-11).
Many patients with metastatic melanoma treated with immunotherapy still require surgical intervention after treatment. A study to examine the outcomes of surgical intervention for these patients was presented at the 2018 Society of Surgical Oncology (SSO) Annual Cancer Symposium.
Patients with ovarian cancer with genetic amplification in the PARP-7 protein survived longer than those without the mutation, according to a presentation at the Society of Gynecologic Oncology’s (SGO) 2018 Annual Meeting on Women’s Cancer.
The phase III IMpower131 study met its coprimary endpoint and demonstrated that the combination of atezolizumab plus chemotherapy reduced the risk of progression-free survival compared with chemotherapy alone in the first-line treatment of patients with advanced squamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
The risk of a second breast cancer in patients with high-risk <em>BRCA</em> gene mutations can be more precisely predicted by testing for several other genetic variants, each of which are known to have a small impact on breast cancer risk, according to new research presented at the 11th European Breast Cancer Conference (EBBC-11).
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute</em>, Depuydt et al identified two genomic copy number aberrations associated with risk of extremely poor survival in patients with high-risk neuroblastoma.
As reported in <em>JAMA Oncology</em> by Rathkopf et al, sensitivity analyses of radiographic progression-free survival in the PREVAIL trial comparing enzalutamide vs placebo in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer support use of the measure as a clinically meaningful endpoint in trials in this setting.
The population of bacteria in the pancreas increases more than a thousandfold in patients with pancreatic cancer and becomes dominated by species that prevent the immune system from attacking tumor cells, according to a new study published by Pushalkar et al in <em>Cancer Discovery</em>.
On March 21, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued updated information about its understanding of breast implant–associated anaplastic large cell lymphoma.
In the phase III COLUMBUS trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>, Dummer et al found that the combination of the BRAF inhibitor encorafenib and the MEK inhibitor binimetinib improved progression-free survival vs vemurafenib in patients with advanced <em>BRAF</em> V600–mutant melanoma.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute</em>, Unger et al linked data from the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial with Medicare claims and found that finasteride treatment was associated with a maintained reduction in prostate cancer risk after discontinuation of the study treatment.
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) expanded the indication for nilotinib (Tasigna) to include treatment of first- and second-line pediatric patients 1 year of age or older with Philadelphia chromosome–positive chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) in the chronic phase.
A large international study has shown that magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can reduce the number of invasive prostate biopsies by up to 28%. The PRECISION trial showed that using MRI to target prostate biopsies leads to more harmful and fewer harmless prostate cancers being diagnosed. The results were presented at the European Association of Urology (EAU) Congress in Copenhagen with simultaneous publication by Kasivisvanathan et al in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em>.
A major international survey has found that around a quarter of patients with penile cancer are not receiving the recommended treatment, and that these patients had half the survival rate of those who were treated according to guidelines. The study, presented at the European Association of Urology (EAU) Conference in Copenhagen, finds that nonadherence can be due to patients refusing treatment or doctors being reluctant to treat appropriately or being unfamiliar with the best procedures.
A major UK survey has shown that patients with urologic cancer—such as prostate, bladder, or kidney cancer—are five times more likely to commit suicide than people without cancer. The analysis also shows that patients with cancer generally are around three times more likely to commit suicide than the general population, and that the proportion of attempted suicides which result in a completed or successful suicide was higher in patients with cancer, with a higher proportion still in patients with urologic cancers.
In a Chinese phase II trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Lu et al found that the VEGFR-1,-2, and-3 kinase inhibitor fruquintinib was active in patients with advanced nonsquamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who progressed after two prior chemotherapy regimens.
In a phase III trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Porceddu et al found no benefit of adding carboplatin to postoperative radiation therapy in patients with high-risk cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.
In a UK-based trial reported in <em>JAMA</em>, Martin et al found that a single prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening was not associated with better 10-year prostate cancer-specific survival vs the standard practice of no screening. Screening was associated with greater detection of prostate cancer, particularly low-risk cancers.
On March 19, a supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) for enzalutamide was accepted for filing and granted Priority Review designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). If approved, the sNDA would expand the indication of enzalutamide to include men with nonmetastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, based on data from the phase III PROSPER trial.
In a phase III trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Carvajal et al found that the addition of the oral MEK1/2 inhibitor selumetinib to dacarbazine did not significantly improve progression-free survival in patients with metastatic uveal melanoma.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Katz et al found that less than half of patients with clinical indications received formal genetic counseling after breast cancer diagnosis.
On March 20, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris) to treat adult patients with previously untreated stage III or IV classical Hodgkin lymphoma in combination with chemotherapy.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Teo et al found that alterations in DNA damage response and repair genes, particularly known or likely deleterious alterations, were associated with response to programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1)/programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) inhibition in patients with advanced urothelial cancer.
In a dose-finding, dose-expansion phase Ib trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>, Choueiri et al identified the maximum tolerated dose of the combination of avelumab and axitinib and found high levels of activity for the combination in first-line treatment of resected advanced clear cell renal cell carcinoma (RCC).
As reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by Garassino et al, the phase II ATLANTIC trial has shown durvalumab to be active in third- or later-line treatment of advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
On March 15, Genomic Health, Inc, was informed by the ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group that the TAILORx trial has achieved sufficient information to render a conclusion regarding the efficacy of chemotherapy in patients with early-stage breast cancer who have Oncotype DX recurrence score results of 11 to 25.
A study by Fedewa et al in <em>Annals of Family Medicine</em> found many men receiving prostate-specific antigen testing do so without a comprehensive shared decision-making process, contrary to current guidelines.
A newly published study shows many survivors of testicular cancer remain at risk for later complications from chemotherapy or other treatments. The study, published by Zaid et al in <em>JNCCN –Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network</em>, confirms that testicular cancer survivors are more likely to develop hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, and obesity.
The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) has issued a new clinical guideline for the use of whole-breast radiation therapy for breast cancer that expands the population of patients recommended to receive hypofractionated treatment. The guideline was published by Smith et al in <em>Practical Radiation Oncology</em>.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Wharam et al found that women who were switched from low-deductible to high-deductible insurance policies had delays in diagnostic workup, early breast cancer diagnosis, and initiation of chemotherapy compared with those maintained on low-deductible insurance.
In a study of data from the National Cancer Database reported in <em>JAMA Oncology</em>, Joshi et al found that two-thirds of patients with node-positive nonmetastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the penis received lymph node dissection and approximately half received chemotherapy in recent years.
Patients with lower income seem to have a significantly reduced chance of surviving anal cancer, according to a new study led by investigators at NYU Langone Health’s Perlmutter Cancer Center published by Lin et al in the journal <em>Cancer</em>.
On March 15, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Breakthrough Therapy designation to erdafitinib for the treatment of urothelial cancer.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> and <em>Archives of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine</em> by Merker et al, ASCO and the College of American Pathologists (CAP) have issued a joint review on the status of circulating tumor DNA testing in patients with solid tumors.
In a study reported in <em>JAMA Oncology</em>, Mehralivand et al found that inclusion of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings in a predictive model may reduce unnecessary biopsies in men with suspected prostate cancer.
People in Louisiana communities with cancer health disparities would be interested in participating in clinical trials or submitting samples to biobanks if provided information about these opportunities by a trusted physician—but physicians reported lacking appropriate information to give to their constituents, according to data presented during a media preview for the 2018 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting.
An antibody that is present in the blood of women previously infected with the sexually transmitted infection chlamydia is associated with a doubling in ovarian cancer risk, according to data presented during a media preview for the 2018 AACR Annual Meeting.
Pediatric patients with solid tumors may have poor quality T cells compared to patients with leukemia, and certain chemotherapies were detrimental to the T cells and their potential to become chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells, according to data presented during a media preview for the 2018 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting.
Mutations in <em>HER2</em> were found to confer resistance to hormone therapy in some estrogen receptor (ER)-positive metastatic breast cancer cases, and resistance could be reversed by dual treatment with the hormone therapy fulvestrant and the HER2 kinase inhibitor neratinib, according to data presented during a media preview for the 2018 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting.
In an analysis of two pooled studies reported in <em>JAMA Oncology</em>, O’Brien et al found that complete response to ibrutinib in the treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia was more likely in patients receiving the agent as first-line therapy and in those without bulky disease.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Hoerger et al found that patients with a higher proportion of early palliative care visits addressing behavioral coping strategies had improvement in depression symptoms and quality of life. In addition, those with a high proportion of visits focusing on advance care planning were more likely to use hospice.
Survivors of adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer often have stronger social networks than their peers with no cancer history, according to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital researchers, who hope to translate that support into better health outcomes for the nation’s growing population of cancer survivors. The findings were published by Huang et al in the journal <em>Cancer</em>.
In the investigator-initiated phase III SIRveNIB trial in Asia-Pacific patients reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Chow et al found no difference in overall survival with selective internal radiation therapy vs sorafenib in patients with unresectable locally advanced hepatocellular carcinoma.
On March 13, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accepted a new supplemental biologics license application (sBLA) and granted Priority Review for pembrolizumab as a treatment for patients with advanced cervical cancer with disease progression on or after chemotherapy.
A randomized clinical study examining the effect of an iPad application that informs patients of the need for colorectal cancer screenings, helps them make a decision, and lets them self-order tests, finds that patients using the app were twice as likely to undergo screening compared to patients in the usual care group. Future research should identify methods for implementing similar digital health interventions in clinical care. The study by Miller et al is published in <em>Annals of Internal Medicine</em>.
In a Canadian retrospective population-based study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Bubis et al found that patients with cancer reported higher symptom scores at 1 month after diagnosis and identified several factors associated with higher symptom scores.
In a study of National Cancer Database data reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Ennis et al found no significant survival differences between patients receiving brachytherapy-based radiotherapy vs radical prostatectomy in men with high-risk localized prostate cancer.
As reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by Tang et al, a Chinese phase III noninferiority trial has shown similar progression-free survival with nedaplatin- vs cisplatin-based chemoradiotherapy in patients with stage II to IVB nasopharyngeal carcinoma, with nedaplatin being associated with fewer severe adverse events.
Research has shown that patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) who received their care at a National Cancer Institute (NCI) cancer center in California had a dramatically reduced risk of early mortality. Using data from the California Cancer Registry and the Patient Discharge Dataset, it was determined that the risk was reduced by 53%. These findings were published by Ho et al in the journal <em>Cancer</em>.
The current guidelines for mammographic breast cancer screening, which are based on data from primarily white populations, may lead to delayed diagnosis in nonwhite women, according to a report published by Stapleton et al in <em>JAMA Surgery</em>. Investigators report that their analysis of racial differences in patients’ age and tumor stage at the time of diagnosis support the development of guidelines calling for earlier initial screening of some nonwhite women.
An Italian study featured in <em>The Journal of Nuclear Medicine</em> demonstrates that a novel nuclear medicine imaging agent targeting copper accumulation in tumors can detect prostate cancer recurrence early in patients with biochemical relapse.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Gore et al, a phase II trial has shown high response rates with dasatinib treatment in pediatric patients with Philadelphia chromosome–positive chronic myeloid leukemia in chronic phase.
In an analysis of data from the Breast International Group 02-98 trial reported in the <em>International Journal of Radiation Oncology*Biology*Physics</em>, Zeidan et al found that postmastectomy radiation therapy (PMRT) vs no PMRT was associated with a significantly reduced risk of locoregional recurrence in women with T1–T2 breast cancer and one to three positive nodes. PMRT was not associated with differences in 10-year cancer-specific or overall survival.
New compounds targeting epigenetics have shown early activity in patients with lymphoma, according to data presented at the TAT (Targeted Anticancer Therapies) International Congress 2018 in Paris. The meeting, which focused on phase I research, featured early clinical studies with BET inhibitors and EZH2 inhibitors.
The level of genomic alterations in genes associated with the oncogenesis of specific solid tumor types is being investigated in patients that have demonstrated an exceptional response to currently approved targeted therapies, researchers announced at the International Congress on Targeted Anticancer Therapies (TAT) in Paris.
In the phase III BrighTNess trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>, Loibl et al found that the addition of the PARP inhibitor veliparib to carboplatin and paclitaxel in neoadjuvant therapy did not increase pathologic complete response rate in women with triple-negative breast cancer.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Zardavas et al found that the prognostic effect of <em>PIK3CA</em> mutation in early breast cancer was reduced after adjustment for other prognostic factors.
As reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>, Huet et al have developed a 23-gene expression profile that predicts risk of follicular lymphoma progression.
In a systematic review and meta-analysis reported in <em>Leukemia & Lymphoma</em>, Shah et al identified the risk of cardiotoxicity among patients, most with multiple myeloma, receiving carfilzomib in clinical trials.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Oncology Practice</em>, Gannavarapu et al found that substantial unintentional weight loss prior to treatment is common among patients with cancer across stages of disease and is associated with poorer outcome.
In the international phase III BRIM8 trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Maio et al found inconclusive evidence of benefit of adjuvant vemurafenib treatment in patients with <em>BRAF</em> V600–mutant melanoma.
University of California, Los Angeles, researchers have discovered that a combination of high doses of radiotherapy and hormonal therapy provides the best chance of decreasing the mortality rate in men with aggressive prostate cancer. The findings, published by Kishan et al in <em>JAMA</em>, also suggest that such a multimodal treatment approach has the best chance of preventing metastatic disease and improving overall long-term survival.
On March 6, Bristol-Myers Squibb announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) updating the nivolumab dosing schedule to include 480 mg infused every 4 weeks for a majority of approved indications.
In a study reported in <em>JAMA Oncology</em>, Lee et al found that measurement of circulating tumor DNA can help distinguish between pseudoprogression and true progression in patients with metastatic melanoma receiving anti–programmed cell death protein 1 antibody treatment.
An Italian phase III trial has shown no difference in disease-free survival with 5 years of upfront adjuvant aromatase inhibitor therapy vs 2 years of tamoxifen followed by 3 years of aromatase inhibitor therapy in women with hormone receptor–positive early breast cancer. The findings were reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by De Placido et al.
In a phase I trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>, Burris et al determined the phase II dose of the next-generation PI3Kδ inhibitor umbralisib and found evidence of the agent’s activity in relapsed or refractory hematologic malignancies.
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized the Personal Genome Service Genetic Health Risk Report for <em>BRCA1/BRCA2</em> (Selected Variants). It is the first direct-to-consumer test to report on three specific breast cancer gene mutations that are most common in people of Ashkenazi Jewish descent. These three mutations, however, are not the most common <em>BRCA1/BRCA2</em> mutations in the general population.
Ponatinib was found in drug screens and preclinical studies to significantly delay tumor growth and reduce tumor volume in small cell carcinoma of the ovary hypercalcemic type, according to the study published by Lang et al in <em>Clinical Cancer Research</em>.
In a Japanese phase III noninferiority trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Ito et al found that dexamethasone could be spared on days 2 and 3 in an antiemetic regimen including aprepitant and palonosetron in patients receiving highly emetogenic chemotherapy.
In a Danish study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute</em>, Zachariae et al found that an Internet-delivered cognitive-behavioral therapy intervention improved insomnia among breast cancer survivors.
A sizable percentage of elderly patients with blood-related cancers such as leukemia and multiple myeloma are apt to show signs of diminished cognitive functioning—a decline that may impact their survival—a new study published by Hshieh et al in <em>JAMA Oncology</em> indicated.
A study by Berkowitz et al published in <em>Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention</em> examining prevalence estimates of colorectal cancer screening at the county level in the United States has found wide variations in screening rates, with a difference in estimated percentages of 40% between the highest and lowest ranking counties for any colorectal cancer test type or for colonoscopy. According to the study results, most states and counties are far from reaching the goal of screening 80% of adults aged 50 and older for colorectal cancer by 2018.
Researchers have determined that children and adults with cancer usually have different mutated genes driving their disease, which suggests they would likely benefit from different therapies. The finding, from a collaborative study led by St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and published by Ma et al in <em>Nature</em>, underscores the need to develop precision medicines for pediatric cancer.
On March 1, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Fast Track designation for the anti–connective tissue growth factor antibody pamrevlumab for the treatment of patients with locally advanced unresectable pancreatic cancer.
In an Indian single-center phase III trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Gupta et al found that cisplatin-based chemoradiotherapy improved disease-free survival vs neoadjuvant chemotherapy and radical surgery in women with locally advanced squamous cervical cancer.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Oncology Practice</em>, Olszewski et al found that about a third of patients receiving novel oral anticancer agents in a Rhode Island academic research center received charity assistance to pay for treatment, including almost half of patients aged ≥ 65 years.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Wapnir et al, the final analysis of the phase III CALOR trial showed benefit of adjuvant chemotherapy in estrogen receptor (ER)-negative but not ER-positive isolated locoregional recurrence of breast cancer.
In a phase III trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>, Raje et al found that denosumab was noninferior to zoledronic acid in preventing skeletal-related events in newly diagnosed multiple myeloma patients with bone disease.
On February 28, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Breakthrough Therapy designation to GC4419, a highly selective and potent small molecule dismutase mimetic, for the reduction of the duration, incidence, and severity of severe oral mucositis induced by radiation therapy with or without systemic therapy.
In a study reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>, McQuade et al found that obesity was associated with improved outcomes in treatment of metastatic melanoma with targeted therapy or immunotherapy—but not chemotherapy—with a survival benefit appearing to be restricted to obese male patients.
People with stage III colon cancer who regularly eat nuts are at significantly lower risk of cancer recurrence and mortality than those who don’t, according to findings published by Fadelu et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
On February 28, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accepted a biologics license application (BLA) for calaspargase pegol. The investigational-stage compound is being reviewed as a component of a multiagent chemotherapeutic regimen for the treatment of patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Oncology Practice</em>, Manzano et al found that unplanned rehospitalization within 30 days after gastrointestinal cancer hospitalization was more likely after medical vs surgical index hospitalizations among older patients. Some risk factors for rehospitalization differed between medical and surgical patients.
As reported in <em>JAMA Oncology</em> by Issels et al, long-term follow-up of the phase III EORTC 62961-ESHO 95 trial has shown improved outcomes with the addition of regional hyperthermia to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in patients with high-risk soft-tissue sarcoma.
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN) has released new NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines®) intended to help make sure people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) who are diagnosed with cancer receive safe, necessary treatment.
As reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by de Boer et al, the phase III PORTEC-3 trial has shown no significant improvement in 5-year overall survival with adjuvant chemoradiotherapy vs radiotherapy alone in women with high-risk endometrial cancer. Adjuvant chemoradiotherapy, however, was associated with significantly improved failure-free survival.
A new study reveals that many patients with breast cancer have misconceptions and fears about radiation therapy, but their actual experiences with this treatment modality are better than they expected. In the study published by Shaverdian et al in <em>Cancer</em>, most patients agreed that their initial negative impressions were unfounded.
A study assessing the impact of exposure to tobacco smoke in adolescents from an economically disadvantaged, largely minority population in San Francisco, has found that 94% of the adolescents had measurable levels of a biomarker specific for exposure to tobacco smoke. The study by Benowitz et al was published in <em>Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention</em>.
On February 26, Yisheng Biopharma Co, Ltd, announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Orphan Drug designation for its lead immuno-oncology candidate, YS-ON-001, for the treatment of pancreatic cancer.
On February 26, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved abemaciclib (Verzenio) in combination with an aromatase inhibitor as initial endocrine-based therapy for postmenopausal women with hormone receptor–positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative advanced or metastatic breast cancer.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Brahmer et al, ASCO has released a clinical practice guideline on management of immune-related adverse events in patients receiving immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy.
In a phase I study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Luke et al found that a strategy of multisite stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) followed by pembrolizumab was feasible in patients with metastatic solid tumors. It was hypothesized that stimulation of immune responses by SBRT might augment the activity of anti–programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) treatment.
In a phase III trial reported by Raskob et al in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em>, the oral factor Xa inhibitor edoxaban proved noninferior to dalteparin in the composite outcome of recurrent venous thromboembolism or major bleeding among patients with acute symptomatic or incidental venous thromboembolism.
In a study published by Williamson et al in <em>JAMA Ophthalmology</em>, University of California, Los Angeles researchers found that nearly all patients diagnosed with uveal melanoma had a number of unmet psychological and health information needs, particularly during the first 3 months after their diagnoses.
As reported by Smith et al in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em>, the phase III SPARTAN trial has shown that the androgen receptor inhibitor apalutamide produces significant improvement in metastasis-free survival and time to symptomatic progression vs placebo among men with nonmetastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. The trial supported the recent U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of apalutamide in this setting.
In a study reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em>, Drilon et al found that the oral tropomyosin receptor kinase (TRK) inhibitor larotrectinib produced a high response rate and enduring responses in patients with <em>TRK</em> fusion–positive cancers.
In what is believed to be the largest pancreatic cancer genome-wide association study to date, collaborators from over 80 institutions worldwide discovered changes to 5 new regions in the human genome that may increase the risk of pancreatic cancer. These findings were published by Klein et al in <em>Nature Communications</em>.
The number of U.S. cases of Merkel cell carcinoma is rising about six times faster than most other cancers, and at nearly twice the rate of melanoma. Paulson et al reported these findings in <em>The Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology</em>, and they were also presented at the Academy’s Annual Meeting this week.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute</em>, Brown et al found that the serum bone biomarkers P1NP, CTX, and 1-CTP showed good prognostic ability for bone metastasis in patients in the phase III AZURE (BIG01/04) trial of adjuvant zoledronic acid in early breast cancer.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Oncology Practice</em> by Fahrenbruch et al, the Hematology/Oncology Pharmacy Association has issued a position statement on dose rounding of biologic and cytotoxic anticancer agents.
In a phase II trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>, Wildiers et al found that the addition of metronomic oral cyclophosphamide to pertuzumab and trastuzumab improved progression-free survival in elderly or frail women with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer.
On February 15, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accepted a new drug application (NDA) for ivosidenib for the treatment of patients with relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with an isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 (<em>IDH1</em>) mutation.
As reported by Petrylak et al in <em>JAMA Oncology</em>, long-term follow-up of patients in a phase I study expansion cohort indicated enduring clinical benefit and maintained tolerability of atezolizumab in patients with metastatic urothelial carcinoma.
In a study reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>, Kleppe et al found that a novel marker for chromatin organization in tumor cell nuclei was associated with outcome in a variety of cancer types.
In a European phase II trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Dimopoulos et al found that pomalidomide plus low-dose dexamethasone produced responses in patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma and renal impairment.
Combining ultrasound imaging with a blood test for high alpha fetoprotein levels may improve detection of early-stage liver cancer by as much as 40%, researchers at UT Southwestern’s Simmons Cancer Center found. Their findings were presented by Tzartzeva et al in <em>Gastroenterology</em>.
Family history of breast cancer continues to significantly increase chances of developing invasive breast tumors in women aged 65 years and older, according to research published by Braithwaite et al in <em>JAMA Internal Medicine</em>. The findings could impact mammography screening decisions later in life.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Roemer et al found that programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression and major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II positivity on Hodgkin Reed-Sternberg cells may predict favorable outcome with nivolumab treatment in classical Hodgkin lymphoma.
On February 14, Amgen announced that the Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will review data supporting the supplemental Biologics License Application for blinatumomab (Blincyto) for the treatment of patients with minimal residual disease–positive B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
On February 16, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved durvalumab (Imfinzi) for the treatment of patients with stage III unresectable non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose cancer has not progressed after treatment with chemoradiation.
In a phase II study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Grill et al found that the addition of bevacizumab to radiotherapy plus temozolomide did not improve event-free survival in pediatric patients with newly diagnosed high-grade glioma.
On February 15, updated results from the phase III JAVELIN Lung 200 trial comparing avelumab to docetaxel in patients with unresectable, recurrent, or metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose disease progressed after treatment with a platinum-containing doublet therapy were made available.
As innovations in immunotherapies multiply, cancer programs and practices must overcome care coordination and communication challenges across the nation’s health-care system to integrate these advances into effective patient care. A new report from the Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC) explores ACCC’s actions to reduce these barriers with education, peer-to-peer learning, and real-time solutions.
An international group of clinicians and scientists representing the Clinical Pharmacogenetics Implementation Consortium published the first-ever clinical practice guidelines for using CYP2D6 genotype to guide tamoxifen therapy. Their research was published by Goetz et al in <em>Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics</em>.
In a phase III noninferiority trial reported in <em>The Lancet</em>, Kudo et al found that first-line lenvatinib was noninferior to sorafenib in overall survival of patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Kalemkerian et al, ASCO has endorsed the College of American Pathologists (CAP), International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC), and Association for Molecular Pathology (AMP) updated guideline on molecular testing for selection of lung cancer patients for targeted tyrosine kinase inhibitor treatment.
Preliminary results from the phase II portion of the TiNivo study, a phase Ib/II multicenter trial of oral tivozanib in combination with intravenous nivolumab for the treatment of metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC) were presented by Escudier et al at the 2018 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium.
ASCO has released its review of leading oncology pathway vendors in the United States. “Oncology Clinical Pathways: Charting the Landscape of Pathway Providers,” published in the <em>Journal of Oncology Practice</em>, examines the clinical pathways offered by six commercial vendors using the society's criteria for high-quality clinical pathways.
New guidelines developed collaboratively and released recently by ASCO and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN) offer clinicians much-needed recommendations for assessment and management of side effects related to immune checkpoint inhibitors.
Analysis of long-term survival outcomes in the phase III CHAARTED trial showed a survival advantage with the addition of docetaxel to androgen-deprivation therapy in patients with hormone-sensitive metastatic prostate cancer, although no advantage was observed among patients with low-volume disease. These findings were presented by Kyriakopoulos et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Overman et al, findings in the nivolumab plus ipilimumab cohort of the CheckMate-142 study indicate a high response rate and durable responses with the combination in previously treated patients with DNA mismatch repair–deficient/microsatellite instability–high metastatic colorectal cancer.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today approved apalutamide (Erleada) for the treatment of patients with nonmetastatic, castration-resistant prostate cancer. This is the first FDA-approved treatment in this setting.
In a phase III trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Pivot et al found equivalence of the trastuzumab biosimilar SB3 and reference trastuzumab in producing breast pathologic complete response in the neoadjuvant treatment of patients with HER2-positive early breast cancer.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Lin et al found that specific ALK variants may be associated with the development of resistance mutations to ALK tyrosine kinase inhibitors in <em>ALK</em>-positive non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Cella et al found little difference in quality-of-life outcomes between patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC) treated with either cabozantinib or everolimus.
On February 12, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accepted and granted Priority Review to lorlatinib for the treatment of <em>ALK</em>-positive metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The Prescription Drug User Fee Act goal date for a decision by the FDA is in August 2018.
On February 14, Becton, Dickinson and Company (BD) announced it had received premarket approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the BD Onclarity human papillomavirus (HPV) assay. The test detects 14 types of high-risk HPV from specimens collected for cervical cancer screening.
A study investigating the proportion of adolescents and young adult cancer survivors who forgo follow-up care after active treatment ends and the barriers to pursuing follow-up care has found that the longer survivors are from the end of their treatment, the less likely they are to receive follow-up care at a cancer center. Health insurance status and disease type were not predictive factors in follow-up adherence. These findings will be presented by Beaupin et al.
Cancer care guidelines recommend that cancer survivors who experience sexual dysfunction after cancer treatment use therapeutic aids to help improve their sexual health. However, a new study by Bober et al of 25 leading cancer centers found that 87% of the centers reported having no sexual aids available on site for men, and 72% reported having no aids for women.
New findings from a clinical trial of women with breast cancer suggest that guided exercise with a physical therapist after lymph node dissection helps women regain their range of arm motion more quickly. These findings will be presented by Paskett et al.
A follow-up study to a randomized clinical trial to be presented by May et al reveals that exercising during adjuvant chemotherapy helps people engage in more physical activity years later. Four years later, people with breast or colon cancer who had participated in an 18-week exercise program while receiving chemotherapy engaged in physical activity 142 minutes per week or 20 minutes per day more, on average, than those who did not participate in the exercise program.
A randomized study by Howell et al evaluating the efficacy of a web-delivered, interactive, rewards-based physical activity intervention aimed at increasing physical activity among young cancer survivors has found that the intervention increased physical activity by nearly 5 minutes per week. Improving the motivation to exercise may have positive effects on fitness, cognition, and health-related quality of life, according to the study findings.
In a study of National Cancer Database data reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Neuman et al found that synchronous distant recurrence was identified in 27% of women with stage II or III breast cancer experiencing locoregional recurrence.
In a phase II trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Vogl et al found that the investigational oral selective exportin 1 (XPO1) inhibitor selinexor combined with dexamethasone produced responses in patients with heavily pretreated relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma.
Results from the phase III PROSPER trial in patients with nonmetastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer were presented by Hussain et al.
Data on CB-839, a first-in-class glutaminase inhibitor being studied in combination with cabozantinib or everolimus in patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma, will be presented by Tannir et al.
Combining the antiangiogenic agent axitinib with the immunotherapy pembrolizumab was found to have promising antitumor activity and no unexpected side effects in an early-phase clinical trial in patients with advanced kidney cancer who had not been previously treated, according to findings to be presented by Atkins et al.
On February 7, 2018, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved abiraterone acetate (Zytiga) tablets in combination with prednisone for metastatic high-risk castration-sensitive prostate cancer.
Using nuclear medicine, German researchers may have found a way to accurately differentiate cancerous tissue from healthy tissue in prostate cancer patients. The research is highlighted in findings published by Rahbar et al in <em>The Journal of Nuclear Medicine</em>.
An observational study examining the effect of hot tea and its interactions with excessive alcohol and tobacco use on the risk of esophageal cancer has found that the combination is associated with a 5-fold increased risk for the disease. Abstaining from hot tea may be beneficial for preventing esophageal cancer in people who drink alcohol excessively or smoke, according to to findings published by Yu et al in <em>Annals of Internal Medicine</em>.
In a single-center phase II study reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>, Giaccone et al found that pembrolizumab produced durable responses in patients with recurrent thymic carcinoma.
In a Danish study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Lænkholm and colleagues found that the PAM50-based Prosigna risk of recurrence score could identify lower risk of 10-year distant recurrence in subgroups of postmenopausal women who received 5 years of endocrine therapy alone for hormone receptor–positive early breast cancer.
A phase II study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Traina et al showed activity of the androgen receptor inhibitor enzalutamide in triple-negative breast cancer expressing the androgen receptor.
In a phase II study reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by Lee et al, the cell-cycle checkpoint kinase 1 and 2 inhibitor prexasertib produced responses in women with recurrent <em>BRCA</em> wild-type high-grade serous ovarian cancer.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Shadman et al, long-term follow-up in the phase III SWOG-S0016 trial has shown continued good outcomes with both R-CHOP (rituximab plus cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone) and CHOP-RIT (CHOP followed by consolidation with tositumomab/iodine-131 tositumomab radioimmunotherapy) in advanced follicular lymphoma.
In an article in <em>The Lancet</em>, Allemani et al reported findings from the CONCORD program for global surveillance of cancer survival trends updated through 2014.
A detailed quality-of-life analysis of the phase III EF-14 trial of tumor-treating fields in combination with temozolomide for the treatment of newly diagnosed glioblastoma was published by Taphoorn et al in <em>JAMA Oncology</em>.
The ongoing phase III CheckMate-227 study met its co-primary endpoint of progression-free survival with a combination of nivolumab plus ipilimumab vs chemotherapy in patients with first-line advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose tumors have a high tumor mutation burden, regardless of programmed cell death ligand 1 expression.
Patients with esophageal cancer who refuse surgery when it is recommended are less likely to survive long term than similar groups of patients who undergo an operation, according to research presented by Ghaly et al at the 54th Annual Meeting of The Society of Thoracic Surgeons.
Patients with breast cancer may be at an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases, including heart failure, and may benefit from a treatment approach that weighs the benefits of specific therapies against potential damage to the heart, according to a new scientific statement from the American Heart Association published in its journal <em>Circulation</em>.
As reported by Gallamini et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, the Italian GITIL/FIL HD 0607 trial has shown good long-term outcomes with the switch from ABVD (doxorubicin, vinblastine, vincristine, and dacarbazine) to escalated BEACOPP (bleomycin, etoposide, doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide, vincristine, procarbazine, and prednisone) after positive interim positron emission tomography (PET) findings in patients with advanced Hodgkin lymphoma.
In the European phase III ETNA trial reported in <em>JAMA Oncology</em>, Gianni et al found no significant difference in pathologic complete response rate with nab-paclitaxel vs paclitaxel followed by an anthracycline regimen in neoadjuvant treatment for HER2-negative breast cancer.
As reported by Kindler et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, ASCO has released a clinical practice guideline on treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma.
Findings from the phase III placebo-controlled SPARTAN trial to be presented by Small et al suggest that apalutamide is an effective treatment for men with nonmetastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer who are at high risk for developing metastatic disease and for whom no approved treatments exist.
Researchers have developed a model to predict overall survival for people with advanced urothelial cancers treated with the immune checkpoint inhibitor atezolizumab. The model, which is based on six clinical factors and will be presented by Pond et al, may help inform treatment decisions for use of atezolizumab in these patients.
In the phase III IMmotion 151 clinical trial of patients with previously untreated metastatic renal cell cancer, combining atezolizumab with bevacizumab delayed cancer growth by about 3 months longer than sunitinib.
A new analysis of the ongoing STAMPEDE clinical trial found that adding docetaxel to hormone therapy for advanced prostate cancer improves quality of life and lowers the need for subsequent therapy. Docetaxel was also found to be cost-effective. These findings will be presented by James et al.
In a phase II trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, D’Angelo et al found evidence of activity of nivolumab plus ipilimumab in advanced sarcoma.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Dieli-Conwright et al found that an aerobic and resistance intervention reduced metabolic syndrome factors and sarcopenic obesity among sedentary, overweight, or obese women with breast cancer.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Stokes et al found lower posttreatment mortality rates with stereotactic body radiotherapy vs surgery in early-stage non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), with the difference in rates increasing as a function of age.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Clarke et al found that increasing body mass index was associated with lower rates of cervical precancer diagnosis and higher rates of cervical cancer diagnosis.
In an analysis of more than 120,000 women diagnosed with and treated for early-stage breast cancer, researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center determined the rate of additional breast biopsies needed for these patients during their follow-up care. The findings were reported by van la Parra et al in <em>JAMA Surgery</em>.
The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) has announced the launch of the AACR–Johnson & Johnson Lung Cancer Innovation Science Grants to stimulate research aimed at eradicating this malignancy. Applications must be submitted by 1:00 PM Eastern Standard Time on March 2, 2018.
Updated results from the ELIANA clinical trial of tisagenlecleucel in relapsed or refractory pediatric and young adult patients with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) have been published by Maude et al in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em>. New data include longer-term follow-up and efficacy in 75 infused patients, analysis of expansion and persistence of tisagenlecleucel, and longer-term safety.
A type of cancer that occurs in the lower stomach has been increasing among some Americans under the age of 50, even though in the general population, the incidence of all stomach cancers has been declining for decades. These findings were published by Anderson et al in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute</em>.
To ensure that clinicians stay apace and provide optimal patient care, three leading medical societies—the College of American Pathologists, the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer, and the Association for Molecular Pathology—have updated their 2013 evidence-based guideline on molecular testing and targeted therapies in lung cancer.
As reported by Aparicio et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, a French phase III trial showed no benefit of maintenance bevacizumab during postinduction chemotherapy-free intervals in metastatic colorectal cancer.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Esplen et al found that a group psychosocial intervention was effective in improving body image concerns and breast cancer–related quality of life among breast cancer survivors.
In a single-center phase II study reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>, Kantarjian et al found that the addition of inotuzumab ozogamicin to low-intensity chemotherapy produced promising outcomes in older patients with newly diagnosed Philadelphia chromosome-negative acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).
Among men with prostate cancer who underwent radical prostatectomy, those who were obese had a higher risk of biochemical recurrence, according to data presented at the American Association for Cancer Research Special Conference on Obesity and Cancer: Mechanisms Underlying Etiology and Outcomes.
Among postmenopausal women with normal body mass index (BMI), those with higher body fat levels had an increased risk for invasive breast cancer, according to data presented at an American Association for Cancer Research Special Conference titled Obesity and Cancer: Mechanisms Underlying Etiology and Outcomes.
On January 30, Bellicum Pharmaceuticals announced it has received notice from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that U.S. studies of BPX-501—an agent being studied to improve outcomes for patients undergoing stem cell transplant who lack a matched donor—have been placed on a clinical hold following three cases of encephalopathy deemed possibly related to BPX-501.
The final overall survival results of the phase III ASPIRE trial indicate significant improvement with the addition of carfilzomib to lenalidomide plus dexamethasone in patients who had received one to three prior lines of therapy for multiple myeloma. The findings were reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Siegel et al.
A pooled analysis has shown a benefit of treatment beyond progression, as defined by RECIST criteria, in many patients receiving anti–programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) antibodies for unresectable or metastatic melanoma. The analysis was reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by Beaver et al.
As reported by de Haan et al in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>, data from the International Network on Cancer, Infertility and Pregnancy registry indicate that use of chemotherapy during pregnancy has increased over a 20-year period, and that infants exposed to antenatal chemotherapy may be more likely to develop complications, such as being small for gestational age and requiring admission to the neonatal intensive care unit.
A new and unique new way to treat cancer—chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy—is poised to transform the outlook for children and adults with certain otherwise incurable cancers. ASCO named this type of adoptive cell immunotherapy the Advance of the Year in its annual report. Released today in advance of World Cancer Day, <em>Clinical Cancer Advances 2018</em> highlights the most impactful clinical cancer research and policy developments over the past year.
On January 26, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved lutetium Lu-177 dotatate (Lutathera) for the treatment of gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (GEP-NETs). This is the first time a radiopharmaceutical has been approved for the treatment of GEP-NETs.
As reported by Chi et al in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>, the addition of abiraterone and prednisone to androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) in the phase III LATITUDE trial was associated with improved patient-reported outcomes in patients with newly diagnosed metastatic castration-naive prostate cancer.
In a phase IIa multiple basket study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Hainsworth et al found that agents targeting specific molecular alterations produced responses in tumors outside of current labeling for the agents, with high response rates being observed in some tumor types.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Holowatyj et al found that among women with hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative, node-negative invasive breast cancer, non-Hispanic black women had higher 21-gene recurrence scores at diagnosis vs non-Hispanic white women.
Researchers have identified two new genetic mutations associated with breast cancer: <em>MSH6</em> and <em>PMS2</em>. The findings—published by Roberts et al in <em>Genetics in Medicine</em>—suggest that each gene approximately doubles a woman’s risk of developing breast cancer by age 60.
Researchers developed a single blood test that screens for eight common cancer types, and also helps identify the location of the cancer. The test, called CancerSEEK, is a unique noninvasive, multianalyte test that simultaneously evaluates levels of eight cancer proteins and the presence of cancer gene mutations from circulating DNA in the blood. The test is aimed at screening for eight common cancer types that account for more than 60% of cancer deaths in the United States, five of which currently have no screening test. Findings from the use of CancerSEEK were published by Cohen et al in <em>Science</em>.
In a study in the UK population reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Copson et al found women with young-onset breast cancer who carry a germline <em>BRCA</em> mutation have survival similar to noncarriers, and <em>BRCA</em>-mutation carriers vs noncarriers with triple-negative breast cancer may have an early survival advantage.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>by Anderson et al, ASCO has issued a clinical practice guideline update on the role of bone-modifying agents in multiple myeloma.
In a Dutch/Belgian phase III trial reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em> by van Driel et al, the addition of hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy to cytoreductive surgery following neoadjuvant chemotherapy was associated with significantly improved recurrence-free and overall survival in patients with newly diagnosed advanced epithelial ovarian cancer.
A study by Manchanda et al published in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute</em> found that population-based testing for ovarian and breast cancer–related genes is cost-effective and prevented more cancers and deaths than only screening women with a personal or family history of these cancers. In addition to preventing cancers and cancer deaths, screening the general population for mutations in specific genes could achieve long-term cost efficiencies in the health-care system.
On January 19, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Priority Review to the supplemental Biologics License Application for the use of daratumumab (Darzalex) in combination with bortezomib, melphalan, and prednisone for the treatment of patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma who are ineligible for autologous stem cell transplant.
In a systematic review and meta-analysis reported in <em>JAMA Oncology</em>, Waxman et al found that any-grade and grade ≥ 3 cardiovascular adverse events occurred in 18.1% and 8.2% of patients receiving carfilzomib for multiple myeloma in clinical trials.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Motwani et al have developed a predictive model for acute kidney injury following a first course of cisplatin that includes patient age, cisplatin dose, hypertension, and serum albumin level.
Nivolumab plus ipilimumab led to a 1-year overall survival rate of 85% in previously treated metastatic colorectal cancer patients with DNA mismatch repair-deficient or microsatellite instability-high tumors. These data were reported in the first report of the full cohort of CheckMate-142 at the Symposium.
The results of an analysis of the phase III REFLECT trial of lenvatinib mesylate vs sorafenib as first-line treatment for unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma based on independent imaging review were presented at the Symposium.
Primary endpoint findings and updated results of secondary endpoints from the phase II LAPACT trial of nanoparticle albumin–bound (nab)-paclitaxel plus gemcitabine in patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer were presented by Hammel et al.
Updated results were recently reported from the 30-patient safety lead-in of the phase III BEACON CRC trial evaluating the triplet combination of encorafenib, binimetinib, and cetuximab in patients with <em>BRAF</em>-mutant metastatic colorectal cancer whose disease has progressed after one or two prior regimens. The data were presented by Van Cutsem et al.
The monoclonal antibody ramucirumab was evaluated as first-line therapy for the treatment of metastatic gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma in the international phase III RAINFALL trial, presented by Fuchs et al.
Detailed results of the phase III CELESTIAL trial in patients with previously treated advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) were presented in a late-breaking oral session by Abou-Alfa et al.
Findings investigating the use of pembrolizumab in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma who were previously treated with sorafenib were presented by Zhu et al.
Researchers have discovered that the risk of death from breast cancer is twice as high for patients with high heterogeneity of the estrogen receptor within the same tumor, compared to patients with low heterogeneity. The study, published by Lindström et al in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute</em>, showed that the higher risk of death over a span of 25 years is independent of other known tumor markers and also holds true for luminal A breast cancer.
Researchers have provided the first description of the structure of the herpes virus associated with Kaposi’s sarcoma. The findings, published by Dai et al in <em>Nature</em>, answer important questions about how the virus spreads and provide a potential roadmap for the development of antiviral drugs to combat both that virus and the more common Epstein-Barr virus.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Qian et al found that loss-of-function germline <em>TP53</em> variants increase the risk of childhood B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), as well as the risk of poorer response to therapy and second malignancies.
In a study reported in <em>JAMA Oncology</em>, Pezzi et al found that lack of health insurance, including Medicare and Medicaid, was associated with not receiving combined-modality therapy in limited-stage small cell lung cancer. They also found that lack of insurance was associated with poorer survival in these patients.
The Oncology Center of Excellence of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is informing health-care providers about new safety information for rolapitant injectable emulsion, a substance P/neurokinin (NK-1) receptor antagonist indicated for the prevention of delayed nausea and vomiting associated with cancer chemotherapy in adults.
A pair of targeted therapies given before and after surgery for melanoma produced at least a six-fold increase in time to progression compared to standard-of-care surgery for patients with stage III disease, Amaria et al reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>.
In a study reported in <em>JAMA Oncology</em>, Simpson et al found that each year of survival in patients with primary head and neck cancer was associated with a 26% increased risk of death from competing causes, and that competing causes predominated after 5 years post-diagnosis.
In an Italian phase II study reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>, Gianni et al found that neoadjuvant therapy with palbociclib, fulvestrant, trastuzumab, and pertuzumab reduced Ki67 expression in patients with HER2-positive, estrogen receptor (ER)-positive breast cancer.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Bollard et al found that T cells with forced expression of dominant-negative transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) receptor type 2 (DNRII) that targeted the Epstein Barr virus (EBV)-derived tumor antigens latent membrane proteins (LMP)-1 and -2 (DNRII-LSTs) produced durable responses in patients with relapsed EBV-positive Hodgkin lymphoma.
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accepted for Priority Review a supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) for tisagenlecleucel (Kymriah) suspension for intravenous infusion for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) who are ineligible for or relapse after autologous stem cell transplant.
In a subgroup analysis of the phase III METEOR trial of advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC) patients with with bone metastases, cabozantinib was associated with improved outcomes vs everolimus. The analysis was reported by Escudier et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Heller et al identified two circulating tumor cell markers that had high discriminatory ability for improved survival in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.
The Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC) 8th annual Trending Now in Cancer Care survey has identified current and emerging trends across U.S. cancer programs. When asked to identify the top threats to future cancer program growth, 68% of survey respondents selected cost of drugs and/or new treatment modalities as the number 1 threat.
The phase III KEYNOTE-189 trial—investigating pembrolizumab in combination with pemetrexed and cisplatin or carboplatin for the first-line treatment of patients with metastatic nonsquamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)—met its dual primary endpoints of overall survival and progression-free survival.
A new study has found that a test that identifies circulating tumor cells (CTCs) present in the bloodstream can detect colorectal cancer at an early stage, with accuracy ranging from 84 to 88%. These findings will be presented by Tsai et al at the upcoming 2018 ASCO Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium.
On January 15, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the use of arsenic trioxide (Trisenox) injection in combination with tretinoin for the treatment of adults with newly-diagnosed low-risk acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) whose APL is characterized by the presence of the t(15;17) translocation or <em>PML/RAR</em>-alpha gene expression.
In a Dutch study reported in <em>JAMA Oncology</em>, de Boer et al found that breast implants were associated with increased risk of anaplastic large cell lymphoma in the breast, although the absolute risk was small.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Stover et al found that cell-free DNA tumor fraction ≥ 10% was associated with worse survival in metastatic triple-negative breast cancer, and that several somatic copy number alterations are enriched and prognostic in metastatic disease.
On January 12, 2018, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted approval to afatinib (Gilotrif) for a broadened indication in first-line treatment of patients with metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose tumors have nonresistant <em>EGFR</em> mutations as detected by an FDA-approved test.
Nonsmoking adolescents who use e-cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, or tobacco water pipes are more likely to start smoking conventional cigarettes within a year, according to new research published by Watkins et al in <em>JAMA Pediatrics</em>.
A recent study has discovered that two estrogen-mimicking compounds found in many foods appear to potently reverse the effects of palbociclib/letrozole, a popular drug combination for treating breast cancer. The study, published by Warth et al in <em>Cell Chemical Biology</em>, suggests that exposure to these xenoestrogens may significantly reduce the effectiveness of antiestrogen treatments for cancer.
Certain head and neck cancers that are positive for high-risk types of human papillomavirus (HPV) have a better prognosis and may need less aggressive treatment. To help ensure that patients with these cancers are accurately diagnosed and effectively treated, the College of American Pathologists (CAP) recently released its newest evidence-based practice guideline, “Human Papillomavirus Testing in Head and Neck Carcinomas,” published by Lewis et al in <em>Archives of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine</em>.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Liao et al found that passive scattering proton radiotherapy improved heart—but not lung—radiation dose-volume indices vs intensity-modulated photon radiotherapy in patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) receiving concurrent chemotherapy.
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted regular approval to olaparib (Lynparza) for the treatment of patients with deleterious or suspected deleterious germline <em>BRCA</em>-mutated, HER2–negative metastatic breast cancer who have been treated with chemotherapy in either the neoadjuvant, adjuvant, or metastatic setting. Approval was based on results from the OlympiAD trial.
Findings reported by Eroglu et al in <em>Nature</em> showed that patients with desmoplastic melanoma are more responsive to immune-activating anti–programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1)/programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) therapies than previously assumed.
In a retrospective claims-based study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Doshi et al found that higher out-of-pocket costs were associated with increased rates of prescription abandonment for novel oral anticancer agents.
A phase I/II trial has shown that the addition of brentuximab vedotin to bendamustine is active in relapsed or refractory Hodgkin lymphoma. Study findings were reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by O’Connor et al.
Elderly patients with stage III non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) showed improved overall survival when treated with chemoradiation compared to definitive radiation alone, according to findings published by Miller et al in the <em>Journal of Thoracic Oncology</em>.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Harshman et al found that a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level ≤ 0.2 at 7 months after the start of androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) was significantly associated with longer overall survival in metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer, irrespective of receipt of docetaxel.
The most commonly used gene expression profile test used to help predict breast cancer recurrence may not be as cost-effective as once thought, according to results published by Chandler et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>. This study is the first to look at the cost-effectiveness of the Oncotype DX test in “real-world” circumstances.
In a phase II trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Hussain et al found no benefit of adding PARP1 inhibition with veliparib to abiraterone plus prednisone in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. <em>ETS</em> fusion status was not predictive of response.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Robert et al, a high proportion of patients with metastatic melanoma achieving complete response on pembrolizumab in the phase Ib KEYNOTE-001 trial maintained complete response for prolonged durations after treatment discontinuation.
In an Indian phase III trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Noronha et al found that curative-intent adjuvant chemoradiotherapy with cisplatin at 100 mg/m<sup>2</sup> every 3 weeks produced better locoregional control than cisplatin at 30 mg/m<sup>2</sup> every week in patients with locally advanced head and neck squamous cell cancer.
Increasing use of a potentially life-saving treatment for metastatic cancer is leaving too many vulnerable patients behind, according to a new study from Yale Cancer Center/Smilow Cancer Hospital published by Kann et al in <em>JNCCN – Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network</em>. Researchers found that the use of stereotactic radiosurgery has increased dramatically, but unevenly, in recent years.
On January 9, Eisai and Merck announced that they received Breakthrough Therapy designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for lenvatinib (Lenvima) in combination with pembrolizumab (Keytruda) for the potential treatment of patients with advanced and/or metastatic renal cell carcinoma.
The phase III EORTC1325/KEYNOTE-054 trial investigating pembrolizumab as monotherapy for surgically resected high-risk melanoma met its primary endpoint of recurrence-free survival. Based on an interim analysis and following review by the Independent Data Monitoring Committee, post-resection adjuvant therapy with pembrolizumab resulted in significantly longer recurrence-free survival than placebo.
A meta-analysis published by Yuan et al in <em>Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers, & Prevention</em> showed long-term shift work increased the risks of common cancers in women, especially breast, skin, and gastrointestinal cancers.
In a single-center phase II study reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>, Teply et al found that bipolar androgen therapy can induce prostate-specific antigen response and resensitization to enzalutamide in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer who progressed on enzalutamide.
In an Italian phase II study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Zucali et al found that everolimus was active in cisplatin-pretreated thymoma and thymic carcinoma; however, a high rate of fatal pneumonitis was observed.
A new genetic-based model may explain how ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) progresses to a more invasive form of cancer. The study provides new insight into how DCIS leads to invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) and provides a clearer understanding of why some of these cancers go undetected. Findings were published by Casasent et al in <em>Cell</em>.
Final results of a phase III trial reported by Stupp and et al in <em>JAMA</em> indicate that adding antimitotic treatment with tumor-treating fields to maintenance temozolomide is associated with improved progression-free and overall survival in patients with previously treated glioblastoma.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Sharafeldin et al found that cognitive function after hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) for hematologic malignancy was impaired among those receiving myeloablative allogeneic HCT, with a delayed effect being observed among those receiving reduced-intensity allogeneic HCT.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Shen et al found evidence that <em>BRAF</em> V600E mutation status explains the long-recognized increased mortality risk associated with age at diagnosis in patients with papillary thyroid cancer.
The cancer death rate dropped 1.7% from 2014 to 2015, continuing a drop that began in 1991 and has reached 26%, resulting in nearly 2.4 million fewer cancer deaths during that time. The data are reported in “Cancer Statistics, 2018,” the American Cancer Society’s comprehensive annual report on cancer incidence, mortality, and survival. It was published by Siegel et al in <em>CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians</em> and is accompanied by a consumer version, <em>Cancer Facts & Figures 2018</em>.
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the supplemental Biologics License Application for denosumab (Xgeva) to expand the currently approved indication for the prevention of skeletal-related events in patients with bone metastases from solid tumors to include patients with multiple myeloma.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Molenaar et al found that radioiodine treatment for well-differentiated thyroid cancer was associated with an increased risk of acute myeloid leukemia and chronic myeloid leukemia compared with thyroidectomy alone.
The phase III IMvigor211 trial showed no survival benefit for atezolizumab vs physician's choice of chemotherapy in platinum-treated locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma with programmed cell death ligand 1 expression ≥ 5%. Findings were reported in <em>The Lancet</em> by Powles et al.
Despite decades of clinical research establishing chemotherapy with thoracic radiation as the standard of care for the initial management of nonmetastatic small cell lung cancer (SCLC), a large percentage of U.S. patients do not receive these treatments, and in turn have lower overall survival, according to research reported by Pezzi et al in <em>JAMA Oncology</em>.
The proteasome inhibitor carfilzomib has taken on an increasing role in the treatment of multiple myeloma, but new research published by Waxman et al in <em>JAMA Oncology</em> shows the therapy may come with the risk of cardiovascular problems in a higher than expected percentage of patients.
In a study of National Cancer Database data reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Francis et al found that receipt of adjuvant chemotherapy before vs concurrently with radiotherapy was associated with improved survival in patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) found to have pN2 disease after R0 resection.
On January 3, ribociclib received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Breakthrough Therapy designation for initial endocrine-based treatment of pre- or perimenopausal women with hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative advanced or metastatic breast cancer in combination with tamoxifen or an aromatase inhibitor.
In a Belgian phase II study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Ost et al found that androgen deprivation therapy–free survival was prolonged with metastasis-directed therapy vs surveillance in recurrent oligometastatic prostate cancer.
In a study reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by Denkert and et al, increased levels of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes in women receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy were associated with improved prognosis in HER2-positive breast cancer and triple-negative breast cancer, but poorer outcome in luminal HER2–negative breast cancer.
On January 2, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accepted for filing a supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) for brentuximab vedotin in combination with chemotherapy for the front-line treatment of patients with advanced classical Hodgkin lymphoma. The FDA also granted Priority Review for the application.
In a phase II trial reported in <em>JAMA Oncology</em>, Richardson et al found that the addition of pazopanib to paclitaxel did not improve progression-free survival among women with persistent or recurrent ovarian cancer.
The phase III ALTERNATIVE trial demonstrated a progression-free survival benefit with the addition of lapatinib to trastuzumab and an aromatase inhibitor among postmenopausal women with HER2-positive, hormone receptor–positive metastatic breast cancer. The findings were reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Johnston et al.
On December 21, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Breakthrough Therapy designation to avelumab in combination with axitinib for treatment-naive patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma.
In a phase I trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Courtney et al found that a first-in-class hypoxia-inducible factor-2α antagonist (PT2385) was active in patients with previously treated advanced clear cell renal cell carcinoma.
On December 22, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accepted a supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) and granted Priority Review designation to dabrafenib in combination with trametinib for the adjuvant treatment of patients with stage III melanoma with <em>BRAF</em> V600E or V600K mutations, as detected by an FDA-approved test, following complete resection.
A meta-analysis reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by the Early Breast Cancer Trialists’ Collaborative Group indicates that neoadjuvant chemotherapy is associated with a higher local recurrence risk vs the same chemotherapy given postoperatively after breast-conserving therapy.
In a phase II study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Hingorani et al found that the addition of pegvorhyaluronidase alfa (PEGPH20) to nab-paclitaxel/gemcitabine improved progression-free survival in patients with previously untreated metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.
An interim analysis of a phase II trial reported by Jones et al in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> indicates that venetoclax produces a response in a high proportion of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia progressing on or after ibrutinib treatment.
On December 22, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) updated the product label for nilotinib to include information for providers about how to discontinue the drug in certain patients. Nilotinib is indicated for the treatment of patients with Philadelphia chromosome–positive chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). With the updated dosing recommendations, patients with early-phase CML who have been taking nilotinib for 3 years or more—and whose leukemia has responded to treatment according to specific criteria as detected by a test that has received FDA marketing authorization—may be eligible to stop taking nilotinib.
On December 22, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cleared a new noninvasive stereotactic radiotherapy system intended for use in treating cancer in breast tissue.
On December 19, the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) released a Draft Evidence Report assessing the comparative clinical effectiveness and value of tisagenlecleucel and axicabtagene ciloleucel, chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapies. The draft report, along with draft voting questions, will be open to public comment for 4 weeks.
On December 20, 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted regular approval to nivolumab (Opdivo) for the adjuvant treatment of patients with melanoma with involvement of lymph nodes, or in patients with metastatic disease who have undergone complete resection.
On December 20, 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted regular approval to pertuzumab (Perjeta) for use in combination with trastuzumab and chemotherapy as adjuvant treatment of patients with HER2-positive early breast cancer at high risk of recurrence.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Carter et al, ASCO has issued a clinical practice guideline adaptation of the Cancer Care Ontario (CCO) guideline on interventions to address sexual problems in people with cancer.
A phase II study reported in <em>The Lancet</em> by Wang et al showed durable responses with the Bruton tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor acalabrutinib in patients with relapsed or refractory mantle cell lymphoma. The study supported the recent approval of acalabrutinib in this setting.
On December 19, 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted regular approval to cabozantinib (Cabometyx) for treatment of patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma.
On December 19, 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to bosutinib (Bosulif) for treatment of patients with newly diagnosed chronic-phase Philadelphia chromosome–positive chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML).
In an Asian phase III trial, trifluridine/tipiracil produced a significant improvement in overall survival vs placebo among patients with metastatic colorectal cancer refractory to or intolerant of standard chemotherapies with or without exposure to biologic therapies. These findings were reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Xu et al.
A study using California Cancer Registry data showed that survival improvements in patients with cancer between 1997 and 2014 have largely been limited to those with private or Medicare insurance. These findings were reported in <em>JAMA Oncology</em> by Ellis et al.
On December 18, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accepted a supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) for the use of osimertinib (Tagrisso) in the first-line treatment of patients with metastatic non#&x2013;small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose tumors have <em>EGFR/em> mutations.
The Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Connect2Health Task Force has announced that the FCC and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) have joined forces, signing a memorandum of understanding that will focus on how increasing broadband access and adoption in rural areas can improve the lives of patients with cancer.
<strong>Howard A. “Skip” Burris III, MD, FACP, FASCO</strong>, a long-time member and volunteer, has been elected to serve as the President of ASCO for the term beginning in June 2019. He will take office as President-Elect during the ASCO Annual Meeting in Chicago in June 2018. Additionally, five members were elected to open seats on the ASCO Board of Directors, as well as two members to the ASCO Nominating Committee.
The phase III KEYNOTE-061 trial investigating pembrolizumab (Keytruda) as a second-line treatment for patients with advanced gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma did not meet its primary endpoint of overall survival in patients whose tumors expressed programmed cell death ligand 1.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Oncology Practice,</em> Bickell et al found underuse of treatment for clinically significant prostate cancer was infrequent among white and black patients at two New York City hospitals, but black men accounted for nearly all such underuse of treatment.
As reported at the recent American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting & Exposition and in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> Schuster et al found that chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy produced responses in a high proportion of patients with B-cell lymphomas refractory to or who had relapsed after previous treatments.
The American Medical Association (AMA) is reminding physicians that the Medicare reimbursement system has changed, and, if they have not done so already, they have until December 31, 2017, to take a few simple steps to avoid a Medicare payment penalty in 2019.
On December 6, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) delivered a letter from the current AACR President and Past Presidents—as well as Fellows of the AACR Academy that include 18 Nobel Laureates—to urge leaders in the House and Senate to “move quickly to finalize a multiyear, bipartisan budget agreement that raises the caps on nondefense discretionary spending in FY 2018 imposed by the Budget Control Act.”
On December 5, Clovis Oncology announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted a supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) for rucaparib (Rubraca) as maintenance treatment in patients with recurrent epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer who are platinum-sensitive and in a complete or partial response to platinum-based chemotherapy.
At the Special Conference on Pediatric Cancer Research, convened by the American Association for Cancer Research, investigators announced updated clinical data from the larotrectinib (LOXO-101) pediatric phase I SCOUT trial.
A phase I study by Sullivan et al has found the ERK1/2 kinase inhibitor ulixertinib (BVD-523) to be safe in the treatment of patients with advanced solid tumors, with early evidence of clinical activity in <em>NRAS</em>- and <em>BRAF</em> V600– and non–V600-mutant solid malignancies. The study was published in <em>Cancer Discovery.</em>
A Norwegian population–based cohort study indicated that the use of warfarin was associated with a reduced risk of cancer overall and site-specific cancers among patients older than age 50. The findings were reported in <em>JAMA Internal Medicine</em> by Haaland et al.
On December 13, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accepted a supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) for priority review of nivolumab (Opdivo) plus ipilimumab (Yervoy) to treat intermediate- and poor-risk patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma.
At the 59th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition, Wang et al presented results from the open-label, single-arm phase II ACE-LY-004 clinical trial, which served as the basis for the recent U.S. Food and Drug Administration accelerated approval of acalabrutinib in previously treated mantle cell lymphoma.
At the 59th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition, Hunger et al presented data from the phase II CA180-372 study in pediatric patients with newly diagnosed Philadelphia chromosome–positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) treated with dasatinib added to a chemotherapy regimen modeled on a Berlin-Frankfurt-Munster high-risk backbone.
Updated results from the phase III ALCANZA clinical trial evaluating brentuximab vedotin in CD30-expressing cutaneous T-cell lymphoma were presented by Horwitz et al at the 59th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition.
As reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by Patel et al, the anti–programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) antibody avelumab produced durable responses in patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma after failure of platinum-based therapy in two expansion cohorts of the phase I dose-expansion JAVELIN Solid Tumor study. These findings support the recent approval of avelumab in this setting.
In a study in the PETACC-8 trial population reported in <em>JAMA Oncology,</em> Taieb et al found that the risk of recurrence in patients with stage III colon cancer differed for the primary tumor location according to <em>RAS-</em> and <em>BRAF</em>-mutation status.
Results suggest the direct oral anticoagulant edoxaban—taken as a daily pill—may work as well as low–molecular-weight heparin and could, therefore, offer an alternative and potentially more palatable treatment strategy for patients with cancer at risk for venous thromboembolism (VTE), according to findings presented by Raskob et al at the 59th American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting & Exposition.
In a phase III trial, patients with acquired thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP), a rare blood clotting disorder, who received the investigational drug caplacizumab showed significant improvements in the time it took to normalization of their platelet count compared to those receiving a placebo. These findings—presented by Scully et al at the 59th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition—confirm the promising results of previous trials of the drug, which was fast-tracked for U.S. Food and Drug Administration review earlier this year.
Results from a phase II clinical trial presented by Kean et al at the 59th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting show that the drug abatacept nearly eliminated life-threatening severe acute graft-vs-host disease (GVHD) in patients receiving hematopoietic stem cell transplants.
As reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em> by Mørch et al, a Danish study has shown that the risk of breast cancer is increased in hormonal contraception users vs nonusers, with the absolute increase in risk being small.
An analysis from the Children’s Oncology Group Study AREN0532 reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Fernandez et al showed that positive lymph nodes and loss of heterozygosity at chromosome 1p or 16q are associated with poorer event-free survival in patients with stage III favorable-histology Wilms tumor.
A study using National Cancer Database data has shown that the number of metastatic nodes is a primary independent factor associated with an increased mortality risk in patients with hypopharyngeal and laryngeal cancers. The study was reported in <em>JAMA Oncology</em> by Ho et al.
In the phase III MURANO trial, treatment with the targeted cancer drug venetoclax in combination with rituximab more than doubled the likelihood that patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) would survive for 2 years without cancer progression, compared to treatment with the standard chemoimmunotherapy drug bendamustine with rituximab, according to findings presented by Seymour et al.
The first randomized trial to evaluate the use of a monoclonal antibody for treating newly diagnosed multiple myeloma showed that adding the drug daratumumab to one of the standard treatment regimens reduced the likelihood of disease progression or death by 50%, according to findings presented by Mateos et al at the 59th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition.
In the first comprehensive analysis of clinical trial enrollment among older adults with blood cancers, researchers from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration found significant gaps in participation among those aged 75 and older when considered against the incidence of these malignancies in this age group. This research was presented by Kanapuru et al during the 59th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition.
The phase III BELLE-3 trial has shown prolonged progression-free survival but a worse safety profile with the addition of buparlisib to fulvestrant in women with hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative advanced breast cancer progressing on or after mTOR inhibition. These findings were reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by Di Leo et al.
In a study using Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results data reported in <em>JAMA Oncology,</em> Murphy et al found that among persons newly diagnosed with cancer, 25% of those 65 years and older and 11% of those younger than age 65 had a history of a prior primary cancer.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Spratt et al have developed an integrated clinical-genomic risk classifier for predicting distant metastasis in patients with localized prostate cancer.
A one-time infusion of an investigational chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy that targets a protein found on most multiple myeloma cells elicited an 86% overall response rate in 21 patients whose disease had come back or had not responded after a median of seven prior treatments, according to results from a phase I study presented by Berdeja et al.
Six months after receiving a single dose of tisagenlecleucel, a chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy that targets CD-19, high response rates persist among adult patients with relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), according to findings reported by Schuster et al.
Among 108 patients with fast-growing and refractory aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma, more than half were still alive at least a year after receiving a single infusion of a CAR T-cell therapy called axicabtagene ciloleucel that targets the CD-19 protein frequently found on cancerous lymphoma cells, reported Neelapu et al.
A study by Mitchell et al published in <em>Clinical Cancer Research</em> has found that race-enriched gene and miRNA expression signatures suggest a more aggressive lung tumor biology in African Americans than in European Americans. The findings provide a rationale for integrating coding and noncoding transcriptome profiles, along with clinical, demographic, and genomic data, when determining treatment options.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Jabbar et al found that mass spectroscopy proteomic analysis of the pancreatic cyst fluid biomarkers mucin-5AC, mucin-2, and prostate stem cell antigen identified cystic pancreatic cancers and precursor lesions with high accuracy.
In a phase I trial, patients with an advanced or aggressive form of systemic mastocytosis, a rare blood disorder, had rapid and durable responses with few adverse effects following treatment with an investigational drug that targets the genetic mutation found in more than 90% of cases. Results were presented by DeAngelo et al.
One-third of patients with previously treated chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) had no detectable disease after 6 months of combination therapy with the targeted agents ibrutinib and venetoclax, with no increase in the occurrence of tumor-lysis syndrome, Hillmen et al reported.
Patients with advanced Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) who were treated with a multidrug regimen that included the targeted agent brentuximab vedotin had a 23% reduction in the risk of disease progression, death, or the need for additional therapy, compared with patients who received the standard four-drug first-line regimen for treating advanced HL, Connors et al reported.
In a phase III trial presented by Kim et al, patients with previously treated cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) who received the investigational targeted drug mogamulizumab had significantly better progression-free survival, response rate, and quality of life than patients who received vorinostat.
The results of a pooled analysis of patients with relapsed or refractory mantle cell lymphoma treated with ibrutinib were presented at ASH 2017. The extended follow-up data demonstrated that patients treated with ibrutinib earlier (after first relapse) experienced the best clinical outcomes in terms of both efficacy and tolerability.
The 3-year follow-up data from the RESONATE-2 study found that patients with previously untreated chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma reported sustained improvements in the measures of well-being with ibrutinib vs chemotherapy with chlorambucil.
Watch for more from ASH 2017, including reports on chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy in leukemia and lymphoma as well as carfilzomib in multiple myeloma.
New results from a large pilot trial suggest that direct oral anticoagulants—newer blood thinners administered as a daily pill—could be a safe and beneficial alternative for treating venous thromboembolism (VTE) in selected patients with cancer. These findings were presented by Young et al.
Older women with hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer who were treated with cyclin-dependent kinase 4/6 inhibitors achieved progression-free survival at a rate similar to that of younger women, according to data presented by Singh et al.
Among patients with hormone receptor–positive HER2-negative stage II–III breast cancer without clinical evidence of recurrence, those who had circulating tumor cells detected in blood 5 years after diagnosis had an increased risk for late recurrence of breast cancer, according to data presented by Sparano et al.
Postmenopausal women who lose weight may have a significantly reduced chance of developing breast cancer, according to new data presented by Chlebowski et al. Unlike earlier investigations of the association, this prospective study utilized a short-term, 3-year period of measured body weight and height followed by a long period of follow-up.
Patients with advanced HER2-negative breast cancer with germline <em>BRCA</em> mutations had significantly prolonged progression-free survival when treated with the poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitor talazoparib, compared with those who received chemotherapy of physician’s choice, according to data from the phase III EMBRACA trial presented by Litton et al.
The combined residual risk score in women at risk for hereditary breast cancer may offer significant potential for the management of greater than 90% of high-risk women who test negative for monogenic mutations in breast cancer susceptibility genes, according to a study by Hughes et al presented as a poster at the 2017 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Forastiere et al, ASCO has issued a clinical practice guideline update on the use of larynx-preservation strategies in the treatment of laryngeal cancer.
Postmenopausal women with hormone receptor–positive breast cancer who took the aromatase inhibitor anastrozole for 2 years after an initial 5 years of adjuvant endocrine therapy received an equal benefit to those who took the drug for 5 additional years. The trial results suggest that a shorter duration of treatment may provide sufficient benefits while protecting women from harmful side effects, according to data from the ABCSG-16 trial presented by Gnant et al.
Disease-free survival after 9 weeks of adjuvant trastuzumab and standard chemotherapy was not comparable to disease-free survival after 12 months of adjuvant trastuzumab and standard chemotherapy for women with early-stage HER2-positive breast cancer, supporting the current practice of extended trastuzumab treatment, according to data from the phase III Synergism or Long Duration (SOLD) clinical trial, presented by Joensuu et al.
Acupuncture significantly reduced joint pain for postmenopausal women with early-stage breast cancer receiving treatment with an aromatase inhibitor compared with both sham acupuncture and no treatment, according to data from the randomized, phase III SWOG S1200 trial presented by Hershman et al.
A combination of pembrolizumab and trastuzumab tested in patients with trastuzumab-resistant advanced HER2-positive breast cancer was well tolerated and had clinical benefit in patients whose tumors were positive for a biomarker for pembrolizumab, according to data presented from the phase Ib/II PANACEA trial by Loi et al.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Chaturvedi et al found that whereas prophylactic human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination has reduced the incidence of oral HPV infection in young adults compared with no vaccination, low uptake of the vaccine has resulted in a modest overall population-level preventive effect, particularly in young men.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Schiffer et al, ASCO has issued a clinical practice guideline update on platelet transfusions in patients with cancer.
Adding ribociclib to standard endocrine therapy with temporary ovarian suppression significantly improved progression-free survival for pre- and perimenopausal women with advanced hormone receptor (HR)-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer, according to data from the MONALEESA-7 trial presented by Tripathy et al.
Meta-analysis of individual patient data from five randomized clinical trials provided a high level of evidence that treatment with a gonadotropin-releasing hormone analog could safely and effectively protect ovarian function and potentially preserve fertility in premenopausal women receiving chemotherapy for early-stage breast cancer, according to a study presented by Lambertini et al at the 2017 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.
On December 5, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted full approval of bevacizumab (Avastin) for the treatment of adults with recurrent glioblastoma that has progressed following prior therapy.
Increasing the dose intensity of chemotherapy—by either shortening the intervals between the cycles or by sequential administration instead of concurrent administration of the drugs—reduced the risk of early-stage breast cancer recurrence and death compared with standard chemotherapy regimens, according to data from an Early Breast Cancer Trialists' Collaborative Group meta-analysis study presented by Gray et al.
Adding trastuzumab to standard adjuvant chemotherapy did not improve invasive disease–free survival for patients with early-stage breast cancer found to have low levels of HER2, according to data from the randomized, phase III NSABP B-47 clinical trial presented by Fehrenbacher et al.
In a phase II trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Javle et al found that the oral pan-fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR) kinase inhibitor BGJ398 was active in <em>FGFR</em>-altered advanced cholangiocarcinoma.
In a phase III trial reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> Wick et al found that adding bevacizumab to lomustine at first disease progression did not improve overall survival in patients with progressive glioblastoma.
An analysis of bacteria present in the mouth showed that some types of bacteria that lead to periodontal disease were associated with higher risk of esophageal cancer, according to a study published by Peters et al in <em>Cancer Research</em>.
Patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) who are treated with combination antiretroviral therapy can safely undergo chemotherapy to treat associated lymphomas at the same time, researchers from the AIDS Malignancy Consortium have found. These findings were published by Tan et al in <em>Leukemia & Lymphoma</em>.
The phase III KRISTINE trial has shown that neoadjuvant therapy with docetaxel, carboplatin, and trastuzumab plus pertuzumab resulted in a higher pathologic complete response rate vs trastuzumab emtansine plus pertuzumab, as well as a higher incidence of severe adverse events. These study results were reported by Hurvitz et al in <em>The Lancet Oncology.</em>
A new study suggests that an American Cancer Society (ACS) program has been effective in promoting improvements in colorectal cancer screening rates in federally qualified health centers. The study data, published by Riehman et al in the <em>American Journal of Preventive Medicine</em>, shows the program has implications for broader public health efforts to increase cancer prevention and screening.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a combination sodium picosulfate, magnesium oxide, and anhydrous citric acid oral solution (Clenpiq) for cleansing the colon in adults undergoing a colonoscopy.
In a phase II study reported in <em>Blood Advances,</em> Green et al found that tandem autologous/allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) followed by bortezomib maintenance produced good results in patients with newly diagnosed high-risk multiple myeloma.
As reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by Herbst et al, the phase III SWOG S0819 trial showed no overall benefit of adding cetuximab to carboplatin/paclitaxel both with and without bevacizumab in patients with previously untreated stage IV non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). A survival benefit of cetuximab was observed in the subgroup of patients with epidermal growth factor receptor fluorescence in situ hybridization–positive squamous cell carcinoma.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today approved trastuzumab-dkst (Ogivri) as a biosimilar to trastuzumab (Herceptin) for the treatment of patients with breast or metastatic gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma whose tumors overexpress the HER2 gene. The drug is the first biosimilar approved in the United States for the treatment of breast cancer or stomach cancer and the second FDA-approved biosimilar for the treatment of cancer.
The phase III SOLE trial has shown no disease-free survival benefit with extended intermittent vs continuous adjuvant letrozole in postmenopausal women with breast cancer. These findings were reported by Colleoni et al in <em>The Lancet Oncology.</em>
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network<sup>®</sup> (NCCN<sup>®</sup>) has created a new resource for patients living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) who develop acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS)-related Kaposi sarcoma. Additional NCCN Guidelines devoted to overall cancer care for people living with HIV will be released in early 2018.
Compared with the non-Hispanic white population, the urban American Indian and Alaskan Native community was more likely to have lower survival rates following invasive prostate and breast cancers, according to a new study by Emerson et al in <em>Cancer Research</em>.
On November 30, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the FoundationOne CDx (F1CDx), the first breakthrough-designated, next-generation sequencing–based in vitro diagnostic test that can detect genetic mutations in 324 genes and 2 genomic signatures in any solid tumor type. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) at the same time proposed coverage of the F1CDx.
A new physician assistant (PA)-based study finds that despite personal satisfaction in the oncology specialty, high rates of burnout—over one-third of PAs (34.8%)—are common. These findings reveal important factors that could help to decrease burnout and improve the oncology workforce dynamics, including the relationship between PAs, collaborating physicians, and the care team. The study was published by Tetzlaff et al in the <em>Journal of Oncology Practice</em>.
Today, ASCO President <strong>Bruce E. Johnson, MD, FASCO</strong>, released a statement praising a report released by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine titled <em>Making Medicines Affordable: A National Imperative</em>.
On November 28, it was announced that the phase III JAVELIN Gastric 300 trial did not meet its primary endpoint of superior overall survival with single-agent avelumab compared with physician's choice of chemotherapy.
As reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em> by Soria et al, the phase III FLAURA trial has shown a significant progression-free survival benefit with the third-generation epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) osimertinib vs standard EGFR TKIs in previously untreated advanced <em>EGFR</em>-mutant non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
As reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by Oudkerk et al, a European Union (EU) expert group has issued a position statement on low-dose computed tomography screening for lung cancer, proposing a near-term phased implementation of screening in high-risk regions within 18 months and extension to all regions in Europe within 48 months.
An analysis in the Dutch Chemoradiotherapy for Esophageal Cancer Followed by Surgery Study reported by Noordman et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> showed no adverse effect of neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy vs surgery alone on postsurgery health-related quality of life in patients with esophageal or esophagogastric junction cancer.
In a longitudinal cohort study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Fenton et al found that discussion of cancer prognosis between oncologists and patients did not worsen patient judgment of the quality of the patient-physician relationship.
A new study found that 5.6% of new cancer cases worldwide in 2012—about 792,600 cases—were attributable to the combined effects of diabetes and a high body mass index (BMI). Individually, a high BMI was responsible for twice as many cancer cases as diabetes. These findings by Pearson-Stuttard et al were published in <em>The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology.</em>
A recent study published by Chan et al in <em>Cancer</em> showed approximately one-fifth of patients with cancer experienced post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) several months after diagnosis, and many of these patients continued to live with PTSD years later.
When choosing their preferred treatment, patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) place the highest value on treatments that deliver the longest progression-free survival, but they are willing to swap some drug efficacy for a reduced risk of serious adverse events, according to a study published by Mansfield et al in <em>Blood Advances</em>.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Doi et al, pembrolizumab showed activity in patients with previously treated advanced esophageal carcinoma in the phase Ib multicohort KEYNOTE-028 study.
In a study reported in <em>JAMA Oncology,</em> Song et al found that higher fiber intake after diagnosis of nonmetastatic colorectal cancer is associated with improved colorectal cancer–specific and overall survival. The benefit was also observed with a higher intake of whole grains.
In a study published by Vyas et al in <em>JNCCN–Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network</em>, a research team looked into the factors impacting the costs of treating breast cancer, including patient race, location, and neighborhood average income.
The Lung Cancer Awareness Month Coalition (LCAMC), a group of more than 20 research and advocacy organizations from around the world focused on thoracic cancers, announced the launch of the 2017 Lung Cancer Awareness Month in early November with a panel event at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. Panelists outlined the most pressing topics in lung cancer prevention and treatment and their priorities for this November, focusing on better implementation of lung cancer screening guidelines, expanding knowledge of treatment options, and growing patient participation in decision-making and in clinical trials.
Although younger and older thyroid cancer survivors had an increased risk for aging-related diseases such as heart disease and diabetes, those younger than age 40 had a higher risk for hypertension, cardiomyopathy, and nutritional deficiencies than older survivors. This study was published by Blackburn et al in <em>Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.</em>
The phase III E1505 trial has shown no benefit of adding bevacizumab to adjuvant therapy in early-stage resected non–small cell lung cancer. These results were reported by Wakelee et al in <em>The Lancet Oncology.</em>
Action to Cure Kidney Cancer (ACKC) was instrumental in securing a $10 million line item for the Kidney Cancer Research Program as part of the Department of Defense’s Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs. This represents the largest increase ever in the federal budget for kidney cancer research. Grant proposals continue to be accepted.
In a meta-analysis reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em> by Pan et al, it was found that breast cancer recurs at a steady incidence following cessation of adjuvant endocrine therapy after 5 years, with the risk dependent on initial nodal involvement.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> O’Connor et al combined genetic subtypes and minimal residual disease as a continuous variable to construct a risk stratification model for pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
Seattle Children’s has opened the first chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell immunotherapy trial in the United States for children and young adults with relapsed or refractory CD19- and CD22-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) that will simultaneously attack two targets on cancer cells. With this more robust defense, researchers hope the new experimental therapy—first being investigated in the phase I Pediatric Leukemia Adoptive Therapy (PLAT-05) trial—will ultimately be able to cut the rate of relapse following CAR T-cell therapy by almost half.
Osimertinib improves progression-free survival compared to standard first line therapy in Asian patients with <em>EGFR</em>-mutated non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to the Asian subset analysis of the FLAURA trial presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Asia 2017 Congress and simultaneously published by Soria et al in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em>.
A randomized trial in 650 patients has confirmed the safety and efficacy of modified XELIRI (combined capecitabine and irinotecan) for second-line treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer, researchers reported at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Asia 2017 Congress.
Pembrolizumab treatment was associated with improved or maintained health-related quality of life vs platinum-based chemotherapy in the phase III KEYNOTE-024 trial in advanced programmed cell death ligand 1–positive non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). These findings were reported by Brahmer et al in <em>The Lancet Oncology.</em>
The phase III SWOG S1202 trial has shown a benefit of the antidepressant agent duloxetine in reducing aromatase inhibitor–associated joint pain in women with early-stage breast cancer. These results were reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Henry et al.
In a meta-analysis reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Arbyn et al found that posttreatment high-risk human papillomavirus testing was a better predictor of recurrence of high-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia of grade 2 or higher than incomplete cervical excision.
In a study presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Asia 2017 Congress, researchers analyzed the presence of mutations in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with lung cancer and brain metastases.
As reported by Eichenauer et al in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> the final results of a phase II German Hodgkin Study Group trial showed similar efficacy but a better toxicity profile for BrECADD (brentuximab vedotin, etoposide, doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide, dacarbazine, dexamethasone) vs BrECAPP (brentuximab vedotin, etoposide, doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide, procarbazine, prednisone) in the first-line treatment of classical Hodgkin lymphoma.
In a study reported in <em>JAMA Oncology,</em> Shaikh et al found that despite existing recommendations, mismatch repair–deficiency testing is underused in patients with colorectal cancer, including younger patients.
The 5-year analysis of the phase III ExteNET trial has shown that 1 year of neratinib after trastuzumab-based adjuvant therapy significantly improved invasive disease–free survival vs placebo in HER2-positive breast cancer. These findings were reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by Martin et al.
A subanalysis of the phase III ALEX study has shown that alectinib is more effective than the standard of care, crizotinib, in Asian patients with anaplastic lymphoma kinase (<em>ALK</em>)-positive non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Chow et al have developed a model that distinguishes risk groups for ischemic heart disease and stroke in 5-year survivors of childhood cancer.
On November 16, Genentech announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved obinutuzumab (Gazyva) in combination with chemotherapy, followed by obinutuzumab alone in those who responded, for patients with previously untreated advanced follicular lymphoma. The approval is based on results from the phase III GALLIUM study, which showed superior progression-free survival for patients who received this obinutuzumab-based regimen compared with those who received a rituximab-based regimen as first-line therapy
On November 16, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced a comprehensive policy framework for the development and oversight of regenerative medicine products, including novel cellular therapies.
Health insurance coverage differences account for nearly one-half of the black-white survival disparity in colorectal cancer patients, according to a new study published by Sineshaw et al in <em>Gastroenterology</em>.
A prospective study by Palmer et al has found statistically significant evidence of an increased risk of estrogen receptor–negative breast cancer—but not estrogen receptor–positive breast cancer—among African American women with type 2 diabetes. These findings were published in <em>Cancer Research.</em>
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved sunitinib malate (Sutent) for the adjuvant treatment of adult patients who are at a high risk of recurrent renal cell carcinoma after nephrectomy.
The European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) has published its ESMO Precision Medicine Glossary in <em>Annals of Oncology</em>. The glossary’s 43 definitions are set to pave the way for consistent communication on precision medicine between oncologists, researchers, and patients by standardizing the language in the field.
The American Hospital Association, the Association of American Medical Colleges, and America’s Essential Hospitals have filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to prevent significant Medicare payment cuts for hospitals that participate in the 340B Drug Pricing Program.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>by Schneider et al, ASCO has endorsed the recently released American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) evidence-based guideline on stereotactic body radiotherapy in early-stage (T1–2, N0) non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Oncology Practice,</em> Duma et al found that African American, Hispanic, older, and female patients were underrepresented in oncology clinical trials during the period of 2003 to 2016.
In a phase III trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Cortes et al, the SRC/ABL kinase inhibitor bosutinib improved response rates vs imatinib in the first-line treatment of patients with Philadelphia chromosome–positive chronic phase chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) with typical BCR-ABL1 transcript types.
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved fulvestrant (Faslodex) in combination with abemaciclib (Verzenio) for the treatment of hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative advanced or metastatic breast cancer in women with disease progression after endocrine therapy. Fulvestrant was also approved today by the European Commission for use in combination with palbociclib (Ibrance) in the same disease setting.
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center’s MSK-IMPACT tumor profiling assay, an in vitro diagnostic test that can identify more biomarkers that may be found in various cancers than any test previously reviewed by the agency.
On November 14, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) granted clearance to the Ventana MMR IHC Panel, which provides clinicians with a comprehensive group of immunohistochemistry (IHC) tests for patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer. The tests detect proteins associated with the DNA mismatch repair (MMR) mechanism and aid in differentiating between sporadic colorectal cancer and probable Lynch syndrome.
In an Asian phase III trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Bang et al found that the addition of olaparib to paclitaxel did not significantly improve overall survival among patients with previously treated advanced gastric cancer, including those with ataxia-telangiectasia–mutated protein-negative tumors.
Long-term results of the Italian phase III FOLL05 trial, reported by Luminari et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> indicate superior progression-free survival with R-CHOP (rituximab plus cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone) and R-FM (rituximab plus fludarabine and mitoxantrone) vs R-CVP (rituximab plus cyclophosphamide, vincristine, and prednisone) in the initial treatment of advanced symptomatic follicular lymphoma, with no significant differences among regimens in 8-year overall survival.
A study by Schiffman et al has found that human papillomavirus (HPV) testing alone identified more women subsequently diagnosed with cancer and precancer than the Pap test. Excessive screening could have minimal cancer prevention benefits while increasing the harms of screening, concluded the researchers, who published their findings in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute.</em>
Establishing the way in which a genetic alteration called a <em>TMPRSS2-ERG</em> gene fusion forms in a prostate cancer, rather than the presence of the gene fusion itself, could help identify patients with prostate cancer with a low risk of spreading, which might determine the best course of treatment for the patient. These findings were published by Murphy et al in <em>Cancer Research</em>.
Elevated levels of chronic stress hormones, such as those produced by psychological distress, may promote resistance to drugs commonly used to treat lung cancer patients with <em>EGFR</em> mutations, according to new research published by Nilsson et al in <em>Science Translational Medicine</em>.
An Australian trial has shown that a novel theoretically/empirically based intervention (ConquerFear) reduced the fear of cancer recurrence compared with relaxation therapy among patients treated for curable cancers. These results were reported by Butow et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em>
In a National Cancer Data Base study reported in the <em>Journal of Oncology Practice,</em> Shulman et al found little difference in risk-adjusted cancer mortality rates among individual hospitals, suggesting survival may not be an ideal quality metric at the individual hospital level. However, survival was better among National Cancer Institute–designated comprehensive cancer centers compared with academic and community hospitals.
Pembrolizumab treatment was active in patients with programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1)–positive advanced cervical cancer enrolled in the phase Ib KEYNOTE-028 trial. The findings were reported by Frenel et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em>
<strong>Donald Coffey, PhD</strong>, a distinguished Johns Hopkins professor and prostate cancer expert, who was the former Director of the Brady Urological Research Laboratory and Deputy Director of the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, died on November 9 at the age of 85.
On November 9, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) expanded the indication for dasatinib (Sprycel) tablets to include the treatment of children with Philadelphia chromosome–positive chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) in chronic phase.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Maurer et al found that event-free survival at 24 months was associated with prolonged subsequent overall survival among patients with peripheral T-cell lymphoma.
A European phase II trial has shown activity of long-acting pasireotide, everolimus, or their combination in patients with advanced lung and thymus carcinoids. These study findings were reported by Ferolla et al in <em>The Lancet Oncology.</em>
On November 9, 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted regular approval to brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris) for the treatment of adult patients with primary cutaneous anaplastic large cell lymphoma or CD30-expressing mycosis fungoides who have received prior systemic therapy.
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved letermovir (Prevymis) once-daily tablets for oral use and injection for intravenous infusion. Letermovir is indicated for prophylaxis of cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection and disease in adult CMV-seropositive recipients of an allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant.
A laboratory study has found that adipocytes may metabolize and inactivate daunorubicin, reducing the active drug concentration in the tumor microenvironment and potentially contributing to poorer survival in patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The study by Sheng et al was published in <em>Molecular Cancer Research.</em>
Some women have a higher-than-average lifetime risk of developing breast cancer. For those women, earlier magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is recommended for cancer screening. But according to new findings presented at the American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress 2017, the vast majority of women in one health system who are at higher risk of breast cancer choose not to get MRI screenings—even when the service was available to them at no cost.
A French phase III trial has shown no significant survival difference between selective internal radiotherapy with yttrium-90 resin microspheres vs the kinase inhibitor sorafenib in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma. The findings were reported by Vilgrain et al in <em>The Lancet Oncology.</em>
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Lage et al found that among patients with advanced cancer who had an unplanned hospital admission, those discharged to hospice or post–acute care facilities had a worse symptom burden and physical function and worse survival than did those discharged home without hospice.
In a study reported in <em>JAMA Oncology,</em> Seligmann et al found that higher tumor HER3 messenger RNA expression among patients with <em>RAS</em> wild-type tumors was associated with a better outcome with panitumumab plus irinotecan vs irinotecan alone among patients with advanced colorectal cancer in the UK phase III PICCOLO trial.
Alcohol use—whether light, moderate, or heavy—is linked with increasing the risk of several leading cancers, including those of the breast, colon, esophagus, and head and neck, according to evidence gathered by ASCO. In a statement released November 7 identifying alcohol as a definite risk factor for cancer, ASCO emphasizes that 5% to 6% of new cancers and cancer deaths globally are directly attributable to alcohol.
A new study published by Lipitz-Snyderman et al in <em>JNCCN–Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network</em> found that among patients presenting to the emergency department, those with cancer, especially those aged 75 years or older, are more likely to be admitted to the hospital—and less likely to be observed and released home—than those without cancer.
As reported by Ganz et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> long-term follow-up showed no worsening of cardiac function or quality of life with the addition of adjuvant trastuzumab to anthracycline and taxane chemotherapy in patients with node-positive HER2-positive early breast cancer.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Cives et al found that postsurgical relapse occurred in 31% of patients with stage I to III midgut neuroendocrine tumors over long-term follow-up, with liver, mesentery, and pelvic lymph nodes being the main sites of relapse.
As reported in <em>JAMA Oncology</em> by Almassi et al, extragonadal androgen ablation with ketoconazole improved outcome in men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer according to the number of inherited <em>HSD3B1</em> (1245C) alleles.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted regular approval to alectinib for treatment of patients with anaplastic lymphoma kinase (<em>ALK</em>)-positive metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), as detected by an FDA-approved test.
On November 6, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) expanded the approval of vemurafenib to include the treatment of certain adult patients with Erdheim-Chester Disease, a rare cancer of the blood.
On October 25, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accepted a supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) for bevacizumab in combination with chemotherapy (carboplatin and paclitaxel), followed by bevacizumab alone, for the front-line treatment of women with advanced ovarian cancer.
A phase II study reported by Subbiah et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> indicates activity of the combination of dabrafenib plus trametinib in patients with locally advanced or metastatic <em>BRAF</em>V600–mutant anaplastic thyroid cancer.
As reported by Hillman et al in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> a novel genomic rearrangement signature associated with poorer overall survival has been identified in high-grade serous ovarian cancer.
In a study reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Fidler et al found that cancer burden was higher worldwide among women vs men aged 20 to 39 years in 2012 and that the incidence was higher but mortality lower in very high vs low Human Development Index regions.
In a St. Jude Adrenocortical Tumor Registry and Children’s Oncology Group study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Pinto et al found that a positive Ki67 labeling index was associated with a poorer outcome in children with adrenocortical tumors independent of germline <em>TP53</em> mutation status.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Lim et al have identified a microRNA expression–based risk model associated with event-free survival in pediatric acute myeloid leukemia.
A phase I trial has shown that the ALK and ROS1 tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) lorlatinib is active in patients with advanced <em>ALK-</em> or <em>ROS1</em>-positive non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), including those with central nervous sytem metastases and failure on at least two prior TKIs. The findings were reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by Shaw et al.
Mazzone et al presented new evidence on lung cancer screening with low-dose computed tomography and provided updated recommendations at CHEST 2017. The revised guideline from the American College of Chest Physicians will be published in an upcoming issue of CHEST.
Two new studies from CHEST 2017, held recently in Toronto, reveal disparities in lung cancer screening and care that may impact detection as well as mortality and survival rates in the disease.
In a research letter in <em>JAMA Oncology,</em> Soni et al reported reductions in the proportion of nonelderly adult cancer patients who were uninsured between 2010 and 2013 vs 2014, after institution of the Affordable Care Act.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Quon et al, ASCO has endorsed the recently published American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) evidence-based clinical practice guideline on radiation therapy for oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma.
Recently announced results of the phase III ARROW trial showed carfilzomib administered once weekly at 70 mg/m<sup>2</sup> with dexamethasone allowed relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma patients to live 3.6 months longer without their disease worsening than carfilzomib administered twice weekly at 27 mg/m<sup>2</sup> with dexamethasone.
On October 23, Novartis announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Breakthrough Therapy designation for dabrafenib (Tafinlar) in combination with trametinib (Mekinist) for the adjuvant treatment of patients with stage III melanoma with a <em>BRAF</em> V600 mutation following complete resection.
A new study presented at The Liver Meeting found that daily aspirin therapy was significantly associated with a reduced risk in hepatitis B virus–related liver cancer.
A new study presented at The Liver Meeting found that eradication of the hepatitis C virus induced by direct‐acting antiviral medications is associated with a 71% reduction in the risk of liver cancer.
In a prospective cohort study reported by Jagsi et al in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> autologous reconstruction was associated with fewer complications and greater patient satisfaction vs implant approaches in women receiving postmastectomy radiotherapy.
Results of the Pan-Canadian Early Detection of Lung Cancer (PanCan) study, reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by Tammemagi et al, indicate the PanCan risk model is effective in identifying persons found to have early-stage lung cancer on low-dose computed tomography screening.
A study reported by Lee et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> indicates that approximately 10% of patients undergoing curative-intent surgery for cancer become new persistent opioid users.
The results of a national cancer survey reveal a significant number of childhood cancer survivors are worried about keeping their health insurance, to the point of letting it affect their career decisions. The findings were published by Kirchhoff et al in <em>JAMA Oncology</em>.
Final results of the German Hodgkin Study Group phase III HD18 trial, reported in <em>The Lancet</em> by Borchmann et al, showed no benefit of adding rituximab to escalated BEACOPP (eBEACOPP; bleomycin, etoposide, doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide, vincristine, procarbazine, and prednisone) in patients with advanced Hodgkin lymphoma and positive positron-emission tomography conducted after 2 cycles of eBEACOPP (PET-2). However, the investigators did observe a benefit to reducing eBEACOPP to 4 cycles in patients with negative PET-2 results.
In a study reported in <em>JAMA Oncology,</em> Hearn et al found that the presence of the <em>HSD3B1</em> (1245C) allele was associated with faster development of metastases in patients receiving androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) for biochemical recurrence after primary radiation therapy for localized prostate cancer.
As reported by Van Poznak et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> ASCO and Cancer Care Ontario (CCO) have collaborated in providing a focused update for the ASCO clinical practice guideline on the role of bone-modifying agents in metastatic breast cancer.
Rare variants combined with background genetic risk factors may account for many unexplained cases of familial breast cancer, and knowing the specific genes involved could inform choice of prevention and treatment strategies, according to findings presented in a plenary session at the American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG) 2017 Annual Meeting.
The number of early-phase trials in oncology that adopted a seamless approach—as opposed to a traditional trial approach with defined phase I, II, and III plans—is rising, with data from the majority of them presented after 2014, according to a study presented by Barata et al at the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics.
The National Cancer Institute (NCI) Molecular Analysis for Therapy Choice (MATCH) clinical trial has achieved the goal of screening nearly 6,000 patients in just under 2 years, according to data presented by Chen et al at the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today granted accelerated approval to acalabrutinib (Calquence) for the treatment of adults with mantle cell lymphoma who have received at least one prior therapy.
A computational imaging–based signature of immune-cell infiltration in and around a tumor could predict patients’ responses to treatment with anti–programmed cell death protein 1/programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-1/PD-L1) immunotherapies, according to data from a study presented by Sun et al at the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics.
An investigational test that screens for colorectal cancer could detect genetic mutations that are indicative of the disease with a high degree of sensitivity and specificity, according to results of a study presented by Powell et al at the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics.
As reported in <em>JAMA Oncology</em> by Goode et al in the Ovarian Tumor Tissue Analysis Consortium, higher levels of cytotoxic CD8-positive tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes were associated with significantly improved overall survival among women with high-grade serous ovarian carcinomas.
In a study using California Cancer Registry data reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Ellis et al found that the stage at diagnosis was the greatest contributor to racial/ethnic disparities in cancer-specific survival, with neighborhood socioeconomic status and marital status also being important contributors.
<strong>Gary Gilliland, MD, PhD</strong>, President and Director of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, recently delivered the following testimony and answered questions from members of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies. His remarks came at a hearing about the vital need for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to fund the facilities and administrative costs, also known as “indirect costs,” of biomedical research.
Preliminary results from a phase II open-label trial of tipifarnib, a farnesyltransferase inhibitor, in patients with <em>HRAS</em>-mutant head and neck squamous cell carcinoma were presented by Ho et al at the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics.
Children with relapsed or refractory malignant rhabdoid tumors, epithelioid sarcomas, or poorly differentiated chordomas with a particular genetic defect tolerated treatment with the investigational drug tazemetostat well, and some had objective and durable responses, according to data from a phase I clinical trial presented by Chi et al at the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics.
On October 18, 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted regular approval to axicabtagene ciloleucel (Yescarta) for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory large B-cell lymphoma after two or more lines of systemic therapy, including diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) not otherwise specified, primary mediastinal large B-cell lymphoma, high-grade B-cell lymphoma, and DLBCL arising from follicular lymphoma.
Whole-exome sequencing revealed that colorectal cancers with high mutational load predominantly use “immunoediting” to escape immune surveillance, whereas colorectal cancers with low mutational load use oncogenic signaling to escape from the immune response, according to data presented by Grasso et al at the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics.
More than a quarter of patients with recurrent high-grade glioma treated with the retroviral vector Toca 511 (vocimagene amiretrorepvec) combined with Toca FC (an extended-release formulation of fluorocytosine, a prodrug of fluorouracil) were alive more than 3 years after treatment, according to data from a subset of patients in a phase I clinical trial presented at the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics.
An analysis of 2-year overall survival with nivolumab vs docetaxel in the phase III CheckMate 017 and 057 trials showed a continued survival benefit with nivolumab in patients with previously treated advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The findings were reported by Horn et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em>
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced the release of new educational materials for health-care professionals about biosimilar and interchangeable products.
On October 16, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted for priority review its supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) for nivolumab (Opdivo) to treat patients with melanoma who are at high risk of disease recurrence following complete surgical resection.
In discovering how certain chemotherapy drugs cause the nerve damage known as peripheral neuropathy, researchers may have found a potential approach to preventing this common and troublesome side effect of cancer treatment. Their findings were published by Pease-Raissi et al in <em>Neuron</em>.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Asdourian et al found that several factors considered to pose an increased risk of lymphedema were not significantly associated with the occurrence of lymphedema among women undergoing bilateral breast cancer surgery.
The phase III AFFINITY trial has shown no survival benefit with the addition of the antisense oligonucleotide custirsen to cabazitaxel/prednisone in patients with metastatic prostate cancer previously treated with docetaxel. These findings were reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by Beer et al.
The global phase III CELESTIAL trial met its primary endpoint of overall survival, with cabozantinib providing a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in median overall survival compared to placebo in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma.
On October 25, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved intravenous rolapitant (Varubi) in combination with other antiemetic agents in adults for the prevention of delayed nausea and vomiting associated with initial and repeat courses of emetogenic cancer chemotherapy, including, but not limited to, highly emetogenic chemotherapy.
Patients with chordoma—a rare bone cancer of the skull and spine—could be helped by existing drugs, according to findings from the largest genomics study of chordoma to date, published by Tarpey et al in <em>Nature Communications</em>.
In a Dutch phase III trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by Tjan-Heinjen et al, a nonsignificant survival advantage was found for 6 vs 3 years of adjuvant aromatase inhibitor therapy after 2 to 3 years of tamoxifen in hormone receptor–positive early breast cancer. Extended aromatase inhibitor treatment appeared to benefit subgroups of higher-risk patients.
A double-blind phase III trial has shown no benefit of anti–T-lymphocyte globulin vs placebo on chronic graft-vs-host disease–free survival in patients undergoing human leukocyte antigen–matched unrelated myeloablative hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). The study results were reported by Soiffer et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em>
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Oncology Practice,</em> Haider et al found that the median morphine equivalent daily dose decreased significantly among cancer patients seen at MD Anderson Cancer Center’s outpatient palliative care clinic between 2010 and 2015.
A randomized study investigating whether a brief, age-appropriate, skills-based intervention called PRISM in adolescents and young adults with cancer could improve their psychosocial health and quality of life has found that the intervention improved resilience and cancer-related quality of life, increased hope, and lowered distress compared with patients receiving usual psychosocial care only. The study is being presented by Rosenberg et al at the 2017 Palliative and Supportive Care in Oncology Symposium in San Diego.
A randomized study comparing patients’ perception of physicians’ compassion, communication skills, and professionalism between a traditional face-to-face clinic visit and a visit in which a computer is used in the examination room to access and document patient information has found that a large majority of patients preferred face-to-face interactions. Physicians who communicated face-to-face were perceived to be more compassionate, professional, and better communicators. The study is being presented by Haider et al at the 2017 Palliative and Supportive Care in Oncology Symposium in San Diego.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted and granted Priority Review to a supplemental New Drug Application for the use of olaparib tablets in patients with germline <em>BRCA</em>-mutated, HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer who have been previously treated with chemotherapy in the neoadjuvant, adjuvant, or metastatic settings.
In a feasibility trial of people with advanced lung cancer receiving radiation therapy and their caregivers, yoga was beneficial to both parties. These findings will be presented by Milbury et al at the upcoming 2017 Palliative and Supportive Care in Oncology Symposium.
A study of 100 people with acute myeloid leukemia receiving chemotherapy found that patient and physician perceptions of treatment risk and the likelihood of a cure varied widely. These findings will be presented by Nicholson et al at the upcoming 2017 Palliative and Supportive Care in Oncology Symposium.
As reported by Long et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> a 5-year landmark analysis of patients receiving dabrafenib and trametinib for BRAF V600–mutant metastatic melanoma shows persistent overall and progression-free survival benefits.
An analysis from the phase III AZURE trial has shown that <em>MAF</em>-negative status was associated with a benefit and <em>MAF</em>-positive status, with a detriment of adjuvant zoledronic acid in early breast cancer. The analysis was reported by Coleman et al in <em>The Lancet Oncology.</em>
Research presented at the 9th World Congress of Melanoma supports the updated guideline recommendation that sentinel lymph node biopsy be performed in more patients newly diagnosed with melanoma, as it has the potential to save lives due to the information the procedure provides.
OncoSec Medical Incorporated presented new clinical data on ImmunoPulse IL-12 (intratumoral plasmid interleukin 12 [tavokinogene telseplasmid] with electroporation) at the 9th World Congress of Melanoma.
A randomized phase Ib/II clinical study of the Axl inhibitor BGB324 in combination with either the MAP kinase inhibitors trametinib plus dabrafenib or the immune checkpoint inhibitor pembrolizumab in patients with advanced melanoma is recruiting well at four sites and reports a favorable safety profile.
On October 17, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accepted a supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) for durvalumab (Imfinzi) for the treatment of patients with locally advanced (stage III) unresectable non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose disease has not progressed following platinum-based chemoradiation therapy.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Wang et al have developed a model for predicting the risk of subsequent central nervous system (CNS) tumors in survivors of childhood cancer.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Ho et al found that tumor-based enhancer of zeste homolog 2 gene or protein expression was independently predictive of prognosis in localized clear cell renal cell carcinoma.
Physical exercise and psychosocial interventions in patients with advanced-stage lung cancer improved functional capacity, which may be linked to quality-of-life benefits, according to a study presented at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) 18th World Conference on Lung Cancer in Yokohama, Japan.
Community-based interventions implemented in minority community sites resulted in changes in participants’ knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about cancer, as well as perceived benefits and self-efficacy measures regarding lung cancer screening, according to findings presented at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) 18th World Conference on Lung Cancer in Yokohama, Japan.
As non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) survival rates have increased over time, new research presented at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) 18th World Conference on Lung Cancer shed light on how NSCLC outcomes are significantly influenced by the type of treatment facility where patients undergo care.
A targeted therapy studied at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center has produced high response rates among patients with metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) that carries a highly treatment-resistant mutation. Preliminary results were presented at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) 18th World Conference on Lung Cancer in Yokohama, Japan.
In the CALGB 80101/Alliance trial, no difference in overall survival was found for adjuvant chemoradiotherapy with epirubicin, cisplatin, and fluorouracil vs fluorouracil and leucovorin after curative resection of gastric cancer. The findings were reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Fuchs et al.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Klosky et al identified factors associated with sperm banking among adolescent males with newly diagnosed cancer who were at increased risk for treatment-related fertility loss.
Updated overall survival findings from the phase III KEYNOTE-024 trial evaluating pembrolizumab as a first-line monotherapy in patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose tumors express high levels of programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) were presented at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) 18th World Conference on Lung Cancer.
On October 18, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved axicabtagene ciloleucel (Yescarta), a cell-based gene therapy, to treat adult patients with certain types of large B-cell lymphoma who have not responded to or who have relapsed after at least two other kinds of treatment. Axicabtagene ciloleucel, a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy, is the second gene therapy approved by the FDA and the first for certain types of non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
The International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) released its <em>Atlas of EGFR Testing in Lung Cancer</em> at the IASLC 18th World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC) in Yokohama, Japan.
New research presented at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) 18th World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC) showed that treating patients with stage II and III node-positive resected non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with customized chemotherapy (CT) treatment based on their specific BRCA1 expression levels, as opposed to providing the standard treatment, did not increase overall survival rates among those patients who received individualized CT treatment.
Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) biopsy specimens were found to be reliable material for evaluating DLL3 expression, and high levels of DLL3 in SCLC are correlated with poor survival trends, according to findings presented at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) 18th World Conference on Lung Cancer.
A phase II study has shown that the addition of the oncolytic viral agent talimogene laherparepvec to ipilimumab significantly increased the response rate in patients with advanced unresectable melanoma. These findings were reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Chesney et al.
A phase II trial has shown activity of pembrolizumab in some subtypes of advanced sarcoma. These findings were reported by Tawbi et al in <em>The Lancet Oncology.</em>
<strong>Norman E. “Ned” Sharpless, MD</strong>, took the oath of office late Tuesday, October 17, 2017, to become the 15th Director of the National Cancer Institute.
A new subgroup analysis from the phase III REVEL trial of ramucirumab in advanced non–small cell lung cancer was presented at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) 18th World Conference on Lung Cancer in Yokohama, Japan.
The findings of a recent study presented at the IASLC 18th World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC) in Yokohama, Japan, confirm IASLC’s proposed criteria for uncertain resection margin status, R(un), in residual tumor (R) classification.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Dreyling et al, the phase II CHRONOS-1 trial has shown a high response rate and durable responses with the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) inhibitor copanlisib in adults with relapsed or refractory indolent lymphoma who had received at least two previous lines of therapy.
In a research letter to <em>JAMA Oncology,</em> Hwang et al detailed the outcomes of patients with metastatic lung cancer receiving an inhibitor of programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) or its ligand (PD-L1) with or without thoracic radiotherapy at Massachusetts General Hospital.
A study presented at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) 18th World Conference on Lung Cancer that integrated robust smoking cessation programs into an organized low-dose computed tomography (CT) lung cancer screening program found that the inclusion of both interventions has the potential to decrease mortality rates—while being relatively cost-effective.
New research presented at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) 18th World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC) in Yokohama, Japan, found race and specific socioeconomic factors to have a significant influence on disparities in the survival rates of non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients.
At the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) 18th World Conference on Lung Cancer in Yokohama, Japan, Pfizer Inc. announced full results from the phase II clinical trial of the investigational, next-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitor lorlatinib. The agent exhibited clinically meaningful activity against lung tumors and brain metastases in a range of patients with <em>ALK</em>-positive and <em>ROS1</em>-positive advanced non–small cell lung cancer, including those who were heavily pretreated.
At the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) 18th World Conference on Lung Cancer in Yokohama, Japan, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company announced data evaluating nivolumab and nivolumab plus ipilimumab in previously treated small cell lung cancer (SCLC) patients whose tumors were evaluable for tumor mutation burden.
On October 16, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) determined the supplemental New Drug Application for cabozantinib for patients with previously untreated advanced renal cell carcinoma to be sufficiently complete to permit a substantive review.
In an Asian phase III trial reported in <em>The Lancet,</em> Kang et al found that nivolumab produced an improvement in overall survival vs placebo in patients with advanced gastric or gastroesophageal junction cancer who had disease refractory to or who were intolerant of at least two previous chemotherapy regimens.
A study in the UK population has shown that long-term use of the long-acting insulin glargine was associated with an increased risk of breast cancer among women with type 2 diabetes. The findings were reported by Wu et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em>
Early specialist palliative care for patients who were recently diagnosed with malignant pleural mesothelioma does not impact quality-of-life measures, according to research presented at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) 18th World Conference on Lung Cancer in Yokohama, Japan.
Data from the phase II ALTA clinical trial evaluating brigatinib in patients with locally advanced or metastatic anaplastic lymphoma kinase (<em>ALK</em>)-positive non–small cell lung cancer who have disease progression on crizotinib were presented at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) 18th World Conference on Lung Cancer.
The final efficacy and safety data obtained from a phase I/II trial combining lurbinectedin (PM1183) with doxorubicin in relapsed small cell lung cancer was presented at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) 18th World Lung Conference in Yokohama, Japan.
In a French phase III trial, maintenance rituximab improved event-free survival vs observation after autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) in younger patients with mantle cell lymphoma. These findings were reported by Le Gouill et al in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine.</em>
An Italian single-center prospective cohort study suggests that adjuvant treatment with the beta-blocker propranolol significantly reduces the risk of melanoma recurrence in patients with stage IB to IIIA cutaneous disease. The findings were reported in <em>JAMA Oncology</em> by De Giorgi et al.
On October 12, ASCO President <strong>Bruce E. Johnson, MD, FASCO</strong>, issued a statement on how expanding the rights of employers to opt out of contraception coverage may affect patients with cancer of childbearing age.
On October 12, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cleared the first 7-Tesla (7T) magnetic resonance imaging device, more than doubling the static magnetic field strength available for use in the United States.
On October 12, Eli Lilly and Company announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Priority Review designation to its New Drug Application for abemaciclib (Verzenio).
As reported by Mok et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> overall survival analysis of the phase III IMPRESS trial indicated a poorer outcome when adding gefitinib vs placebo to chemotherapy after disease progression on first-line gefitinib in epidermal growth factor receptor (<em>EGFR</em>)-mutant non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
In patients with refractory CD19 B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), non-Hodgkin lymphoma, or chronic lymphocytic leukemia being treated with CD19 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy, certain factors seem to be associated with an increased risk for neurologic adverse events: having ALL, high CD19-positive cells in the bone marrow, high CAR T-cell dose, cytokine-release syndrome, and preexisting neurologic comorbidities. These study findings by Gust et al were published in <em>Cancer Discovery.</em>
On October 9, Clovis Oncology announced that the company submitted a supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for rucaparib (Rubraca) as maintenance treatment of patients with recurrent epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer who are in a complete or partial response to platinum-based chemotherapy.
On October 10, Eli Lilly and Company announced that its phase III JUNIPER study evaluating abemaciclib (Verzenio) as monotherapy in <em>KRAS</em>-mutated, advanced non–small lung cancer (NSCLC) did not meet its primary endpoint of overall survival.
For the most common high-risk type of human papillomavirus (HPV) to cause cervical cancer, an important viral gene may need to have a precise DNA sequence. These findings, published by Mirabello et al in <em>Cell</em>, contribute to a better understanding of HPV biology and may have implications for cervical cancer prevention and treatment.
Cryotherapy may prove to be an effective strategy for preventing chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy in patients with breast cancer treated with paclitaxel, resulting in a clinically and statistically significant reduction in patient-reported subjective symptoms. These study findings were published by Hanai et al in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute.</em>
As reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by Balar et al, first-line pembrolizumab produced durable responses in cisplatin-ineligible patients with locally advanced and unresectable or metastatic urothelial cancer in the phase II KEYNOTE-052 trial.
In a systematic review and meta-analysis reported in <em>JAMA Oncology,</em> Barroso-Sousa et al evaluated the incidence of endocrine dysfunction in patients receiving currently approved immune checkpoint inhibitors for various advanced solid tumors. Patients who received combination therapy were found to have an increased risk of thyroid dysfunction and hypophysitis.
On October 9, AstraZeneca announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Breakthrough Therapy designation for osimertinib (Tagrisso) for the first-line treatment of patients with metastatic epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation–positive non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
Trastuzumab therapy for breast cancers that express the HER2 protein does not increase the risk of complications at the surgical site in women who undergo immediate breast reconstruction after mastectomy, according to findings published by Shammas et al in the <em>Journal of the American College of Surgeons</em>.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Goetz et al, an interim analysis of the phase III MONARCH 3 trial has shown a significant progression-free survival benefit with the addition of the cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) 4/6 inhibitor abemaciclib to a nonsteroidal aromatase inhibitor as initial treatment of advanced hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative breast cancer.
In a study in the Danish population reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Salz et al found that preexisting cardiovascular conditions were associated with an increased risk of heart failure in survivors of aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
In a propensity score–matched analysis reported in <em>JAMA Oncology</em>, Mokdad et al found that adjuvant chemotherapy had a survival benefit vs observation after preoperative chemoradiotherapy and resection in patients with locally advanced gastroesophageal cancer.
Overweight and obesity are associated with an increased risk of 13 types of cancer–and these cancers account for about 40% of all cancers diagnosed in the United States in 2014–according to the latest Vital Signs report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In a Japanese analysis reported in <em>JAMA Oncology,</em> Haratani et al found that development of immune-related adverse events was associated with improved survival among patients receiving nivolumab for advanced or recurrent non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
A Swedish population-based observational study has shown that comorbidity is a significant factor in other-cause but not prostate cancer–specific mortality after adjustment for patient, tumor, and treatment factors among men with prostate cancer. The findings were reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Rajan et al.
On October 2, Seattle Genetics, Inc, announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Breakthrough Therapy designation to brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris) in combination with chemotherapy for the front-line treatment of patients with advanced classical Hodgkin lymphoma.
Health-care practitioners from all disciplines are invited to participate in a new project sponsored by the National Cancer Institute to develop an online continuing education course on integrative therapies in palliative care. Physicians, nurses, social workers, chaplains, pharmacists, and others are needed for online focus groups to give input on learning needs. Participants attend an online video conference focus group for 60 minutes and receive an honorarium of $200.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Oncology Practice,</em> Barbera et al found that a province-wide effort to improve symptom screening and management has increased the frequency of screening but has not improved opioid prescription rates in elderly cancer patients with severe pain.
On September 26, Eisai Inc announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted for review a supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) for lenvatinib (Lenvima) for potential use in the first-line treatment of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.
In a phase III noninferiority trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Mesa et al found that the selective Janus kinase 1 and 2 inhibitor (JAKi) momelotinib was noninferior to ruxolitinib in spleen response, but not symptom response, in JAKi-naive patients with myelofibrosis.
Researchers from The University of Sydney found that 29% of breast cancer clinical trials reviewed failed to establish a control arm meeting the current standard of care. Dear et al published findings in <em>JNCCN–Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network</em>.
On September 22, Roche announced that the European Commission has approved obinutuzumab (Gazyvaro) in combination with chemotherapy, followed by obinutuzumab maintenance in patients achieving a response, as a new treatment for previously untreated advanced follicular lymphoma.
In a study published in <em>Cancer Prevention Research,</em> Holmberg et al have found that a health-care professional's recommendation to take a selective estrogen receptor modulator (SERM) to reduce the risk of breast cancer is the most important driver in a woman's decision to use this type of medication. Other reasons included attitudes about taking medication, worry about developing breast cancer, trust in the health-care professional, having a family member with blood-clotting concerns, and knowledge about the experience of others who had taken SERMs.
The phase III ARCHER 1050 trial has shown superior progression-free survival with the second-generation irreversible epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitor dacomitinib vs gefitinib in the first-line treatment of advanced <em>EGFR</em>-mutant non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). These results were reported by Wu et al in <em>The Lancet Oncology.</em>
In a single-center study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> El-Jawahri et al found that inpatient palliative care during hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HCT) was associated with improvement in depression and post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms at 6 months after transplantation.
<strong>Oliver Press, MD, PhD</strong>, a blood cancer physician-scientist who made foundational contributions to the development of targeted cancer therapies, died Friday of complications from glioma. He was 65 years old.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), in partnership with international regulatory and law enforcement agencies, recently took action against more than 500 websites that illegally sell potentially dangerous, unapproved versions of prescription medicines, including opioids, antibiotics, and injectable epinephrine products to American consumers.
On September 29, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accepted a supplemental Biologics License Application and granted Priority Review for pertuzumab, in combination with trastuzumab and chemotherapy, for adjuvant treatment of HER2-positive early breast cancer.
In a study investigating the association between hypermutated blood-derived circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) and checkpoint inhibitor response, Khagi et al found that patients with more than three variants of unknown significance (VUS) in their ctDNA had a higher response rate to the therapy compared with those who had three or fewer VUS (45% vs 15%). The study was published in <em>Clinical Cancer Research.</em>
As reported in <em>JAMA</em> by Giuliano et al, 10-year overall survival in the ACOSOG Z0011 (Alliance) trial with sentinel lymph node dissection alone was noninferior to that with axillary lymph node dissection in women with clinical T1 or T2 invasive breast cancer, no palpable axillary adenopathy, and one or two positive sentinel lymph nodes.
In a single-institution phase II trial reported in <em>JAMA Oncology,</em> Iyengar et al found that consolidative stereotactic ablative radiotherapy improved progression-free survival vs maintenance therapy alone in patients with limited metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
Investigators at the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson uncovered potential new proteins that contribute to the development and progression of several types of lymphoma. Their findings were published by Adams et al in <em>Clinical Cancer Research</em>.
On September 22, the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) has approved nivolumab (Opdivo) for the treatment of unresectable advanced or recurrent gastric cancer that has progressed after chemotherapy.
The phase III RILOMET-1 trial showed no survival benefit of adding the MET inhibitor rilotumumab to first-line epirubicin, cisplatin, and capecitabine in patients with advanced MET-positive gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma. These results were reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by Catenacci et al.
In a retrospective study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Sznol et al have provided a pooled safety profile of combination nivolumab and ipilimumab treatment in patients with advanced melanoma.
A higher-dose, shorter form of radiation is safe, effective, and no more damaging to the breast tissue or skin of breast cancer patients under age 50 than it is in older patients. This is the finding of a study presented by Gerber et al at the 59th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO).
A new study found that Medicaid expansion enacted as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) improved coverage for care for patients with cancer receiving radiation therapy and potentially decreased health-care disparities. These findings were presented by Chino et al at the American Society for Radiation Oncology’s (ASTRO’s) 59th Annual Meeting.
- At 5 years following accelerated treatment, the rate of locoregional recurrence was noninferior to the rate for standard treatment. Locoregional recurrence rates were 8.3% following accelerated treatment and 8.1% following standard treatment.
- Among all patients, the 5-year overall survival rate was 84.4%, and the disease-free survival rate was 72.7%. Five-year overall survival rates were 83.2% following accelerated treatment and 85.6% following standard treatment.
- Rates of distant metastases were 23.2% and 26.2% at 5 years for accelerated and standard treatment, respectively.
In a phase II trial, the combination of dabrafenib plus trametinib produced durable responses in a cohort of patients with previously untreated <em>BRAF</em> V600E–mutant metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The findings were reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by Planchard et al.
Jemal et al found decreases in the percentage of uninsured patients and trends toward earlier diagnosis among nonelderly patients with cancer after implementation of the Affordable Care Act. Their findings were reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em>
A study using linked Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results–Medicare data has shown a significantly increased risk of all-cause mortality and a nonsignificantly increased risk of breast cancer–specific mortality in elderly breast cancer patients with preexisting severe mental illness. The study was reported by Iglay et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em>
A new survey finds breast cancer patients’ actual radiation therapy experiences largely exceeded their expectations, according to research presented by Shaverdian et al at the 59th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO).
In a new phase III trial report from the National Clinical Trial Network group, NRG Oncology, recurrence-free and overall survival rates for women with stage I–II high-risk endometrial cancer were not superior following adjuvant vaginal cuff brachytherapy plus chemotherapy when compared with adjuvant pelvic radiation therapy. Findings were presented by Randall et al at the 59th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO).
For certain patients with oropharyngeal cancer caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV), an aggressive reduction of radiation therapy after surgery may provide cancer control while simultaneously reducing post-treatment side effects, improving quality of life, and lowering treatment costs, according to research presented by Ma et al at the 59th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO).
In a prospective study by Parada et al investigating whether at-diagnosis smoking and postdiagnosis changes in smoking habits within 5 years after breast cancer were associated with long-term all-cause and breast cancer–specific mortality, compared with never smokers, smoking at the time of diagnosis was associated with a 69% increased risk of all-cause mortality. The study was published in <em>JNCI Cancer Spectrum.</em>
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Motzer et al, the phase III PROTECT trial showed no significant disease-free survival benefit for adjuvant pazopanib vs placebo after nephrectomy in patients with localized or locally advanced renal cell carcinoma at high risk of relapse.
Nearly 100 oncology care providers from across the United States traveled to Capitol Hill on September 27 and 28 to participate in the second annual ASCO Advocacy Summit. Advocates met with Members of Congress and their staff to educate them on critical issues affecting patients with cancer and their providers, and to encourage policymakers to support cancer policy priorities that will ensure patients with cancer have access to high-quality, high-value care.
A new study finds that immune response in prostate cancer may be able to forecast how patients will respond to radiation therapy, as well as their likelihood of disease recurrence and survival outcomes. Findings were presented by Zhao et al at the 59th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO).
Long-term results of a phase III clinical trial indicate that survival rates for patients receiving chemoradiation for unresectable, locally advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) may be more than twice as high as previous estimates. Findings were presented at the 59th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO).
A study by Wright et al has found that the presence of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) varied significantly in racially distinct triple-negative breast cancers, with African American patients harboring more TILs than European Americans. The study was presented at the 10th American Association for Cancer Research Conference on The Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved.
In a report from the St Jude Lifetime Cohort Study published in <em>The Lancet</em>, Bhakta et al detailed the burden of lifetime chronic health conditions in survivors of childhood cancers.
An Australian phase I first-in-human trial has shown early activity of microRNA-loaded minicells in patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma. These findings were reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by van Zandwijk et al.
A new study involving patients with stage IV cancer has found that treatment with radiation therapy and immunotherapy can slow tumor growth by stimulating the body’s immune system to attack the cancer. Findings were presented by Welsh et al at the 59th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO).
A new study has found that roughly half of all patients with cancer who reported having severe distress subsequently missed one or more radiation therapy appointments, and/or were hospitalized during treatment, compared with fewer than 20% of patients who reported lower levels of distress. The study was presented at the 59th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO).
For patients with limited metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), adding radiation therapy before maintenance chemotherapy may curb disease progression when compared to maintenance chemotherapy alone, according to a new randomized phase II clinical trial reported at the 59th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO).
A religiously tailored education program on the mammography-related barrier beliefs of American Muslim women that are impeding their use of breast screening increased the likelihood of their receiving a mammogram, with 42% of the woman undergoing mammography within 6 months of attending classes. These study findings (Abstract C03) were presented by Padela et al at the 10th American Association for Cancer Research Conference on The Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved.
The phase III COMBI-AD trial has shown a significant improvement in relapse-free survival with the combination of the BRAF inhibitor dabrafenib and the MEK inhibitor trametinib vs placebo as adjuvant therapy in patients with resected stage III melanoma with <em>BRAF</em> V600E or V600K mutations. These findings were reported by Long et al in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine.</em>
A phase III trial has shown that the addition of the multikinase/vascular endothelial growth factor receptor inhibitor motesanib to paclitaxel and carboplatin did not significantly improve progression-free survival in East Asian patients with stage IV/recurrent nonsquamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). These trial results were reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Kubota et al.
A new study demonstrates that a blood test to detect cancer may predict treatment outcomes for patients with localized non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and afford physicians additional lead time to personalize treatment for recurrent disease. Findings were presented by Chaudhuri et al at the 59th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO).
Findings from a new multicenter, international clinical trial confirm the effectiveness of high-dose brachytherapy, or internal radiation therapy, for managing locally advanced cervical cancer. Results from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) trial were presented at the 59th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO).
A new study of patients at an urban cancer center points to a potentially serious problem that may limit the impact of clinical cancer care—undiagnosed depression. These findings were presented by Domogauer et al at the 59th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO).
On September 22, 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to pembrolizumab for patients with recurrent locally advanced or metastatic, gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma whose tumors express programmed cell death ligand 1 as determined by an FDA-approved test.
On September 22, 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to nivolumab (Opdivo) for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma in patients who have been previously treated with sorafenib.
The pan-Canadian Oncology Drug Review (pCODR) has provided a positive clinical recommendation for the reimbursement of olaparib (Lynparza), a first-of-its-kind treatment for <em>BRCA</em>-mutated ovarian cancer.
As reported by Antonia et al in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em>, an interim analysis of the phase III PACIFIC trial showed improved progression-free survival with durvalumab vs placebo as consolidation in patients with unresectable stage III non–small cell lung cancer without disease progression after at least two cycles of definitive platinum-based chemoradiation therapy.
The phase III Checkmate 238 trial has shown improved recurrence-free survival with adjuvant nivolumab vs ipilimumab in patients with resected advanced melanoma. These findings were reported by Weber et al in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine.</em>
A pre-existing diagnosis of dementia was associated with increased risk of death for older patients with advanced colon cancer; however, some of the effects of dementia on survival could be mediated by receipt of chemotherapy, according to results of a study published by Chen et al in <em>Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention</em>.
Participating in twice-weekly practice of Tibetan yoga may reduce sleep disturbances and improve sleep quality in breast cancer patients receiving chemotherapy, according to a study published by Chaoul et al in <em>Cancer</em>.
The phase III MURANO study of venetoclax tablets in combination with rituximab met its primary endpoint. Results showed that the combination prolonged progression-free survival in patients with relapsed/refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) compared with bendamustine combined with rituximab.
Overall survival outcomes in the phase III CheckMate 067 trial indicate improved survival with nivolumab/ipilimumab vs ipilimumab and with nivolumab vs ipilimumab in patients with previously untreated advanced melanoma. These findings were reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em> by Wolchok et al.
In a single-center study reported in the <em>Journal of Oncology Practice</em>, Losk et al found that an intervention including surgeon initiation of gene-expression profile testing with Onco<em>type</em> DX significantly reduced the time to testing, receipt of testing results, and initiation of chemotherapy in patients with early-stage breast cancer.
Immune-cell based therapies opening a new frontier for cancer treatment carry unique, potentially lethal side effects that provide a new challenge for oncologists—one addressed by a team led by clinicians at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center with proposed guidelines for systematically dealing with the toxicities of these drugs. Their work, published by Neelapu et al in Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology, discusses the two main side effects of chimeric antigen receptor T-cells (CAR T-cells).
Federally funded research that provides a deep understanding of cancer is spurring advances against many types of the disease. With a strong bipartisan commitment from Congress to keep investment in biomedical research a national priority, we can accelerate our pace of progress and save more lives from cancer, according to the 7th annual American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Cancer Progress Report.
In a single-center phase II trial reported in <em>JAMA Oncology</em>, Jabbour et al found that salvage chemoimmunotherapy with the combination of inotuzumab ozogamicin and low-intensity chemotherapy produced promising results in patients with relapsed or refractory Philadelphia chromosome (Ph)-negative acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).
The final efficacy analysis of a trial of 9-valent human papillomavirus vaccine has shown a high preventive effect against disease due to the additional human papillomavirus pathogenic strains covered compared with the quadrivalent vaccine at up to 6 years. These findings were reported by Huh et al in <em>The Lancet.</em>
A new guideline from ASCO published by Gilligan et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> outlines best practices for cancer clinicians when communicating with patients and their loved ones.
In a UK-Swiss phase III trial, the combination of gemcitabine and docetaxel did not significantly improve progression-free survival vs doxorubicin in the first-line treatment of locally advanced or metastatic soft-tissue sarcoma. These findings were reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by Seddon et al.
A phase II trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Leonard et al showed no significant progression-free survival benefit of adding bortezomib to R-CHOP (rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone) in previously untreated patients with non–germinal center B-cell–like diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.
In a retrospective study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Reiss et al found that reducing the starting dose of sorafenib was associated with noninferior overall survival, reduced cost, and a lower risk of discontinuing treatment in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma.
The University of Texas System Board of Regents has selected Peter W.T. Pisters, MD, MHCM, as sole finalist for the position of president at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.
Due to its high degree of sensitivity and specificity to classify tumors, genome profiling using mutational signature analysis revealed mismatch repair–deficient breast cancer tumors that could potentially be targeted with programmed cell death protein 1 immune checkpoint inhibitors. These study findings were published by Davies et al in <em>Cancer Research.</em>
Mature results from the KEYNOTE-045 trial presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2017 Congress confirmed significantly longer survival in patients with advanced urothelial cancer who receive the checkpoint inhibitor pembrolizumab after initial chemotherapy compared to an alternative chemotherapy regimen.
In an analysis reported in <em>JAMA Oncology</em>, Seisen et al found that adjuvant chemotherapy was associated with a survival benefit vs observation in patients with adverse prognostic features after neoadjuvant therapy and radical cystectomy for urothelial carcinoma of the bladder.
A new tool to identify patients who would benefit from early palliative care was presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2017 Congress.
Body fat distribution in the trunk is more influential than body weight when it comes to cancer risk in postmenopausal women, according to a study presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2017 Congress.
Immunotherapy with the checkpoint inhibitor pembrolizumab may be a better option than standard treatments for patients whose head and neck cancer has spread or recurred after an initial round of chemotherapy, according to results of the KEYNOTE-040 trial presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2017 Congress.
The results of the MONARCH 3 trial, presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2017 Congress, showed that adding the cyclin-dependent kinase 4/6 inhibitor abemaciclib to endocrine therapy improved progression-free survival compared to endocrine therapy alone in the total study population.
A nationwide study in Ireland, the preliminary results of which were presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2017 Congress in Madrid, showed that although most oncology patients consider it important to have clinical trials available, many struggle with the central concepts that underpin trial methodology.
Factors that may limit the ability of young adult cancer survivors to work were reported at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2017 Congress.
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN) has instituted Categories of Preference for recommendations within the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines).
Osimertinib has shown high activity in the phase I expansion component of the AURA trial in previously untreated patients with <em>EGFR</em> mutation–positive advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). These findings were reported by Ramalingam et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em>
A phase II study has shown activity of recombinant adenovirus interferon-α with Syn3 in patients with high-grade bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG)-refractory or -relapsed non–muscle invasive bladder cancer. These findings were reported by Shore et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em>
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to copanlisib (Aliqopa) for the treatment of adults with relapsed follicular lymphoma who have received at least two prior systemic therapies.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved bevacizumab-awwb (Mvasi) as a biosimilar to bevacizumab (Avastin) for the treatment of multiple types of cancer. Bevacizumab-awwb is the first biosimilar approved in the U.S. for the treatment of cancer.
Durvalumab improves progression-free survival in patients with locally advanced, unresectable stage III lung cancer, according to late-breaking results from the phase III PACIFIC trial presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2017 Congress and published by Antonia et al in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em>.
Pembrolizumab has shown a promising response rate in patients with pretreated metastatic gastric cancer, according to late-breaking results from the KEYNOTE-059 trial presented at the 2017 European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress.
The preliminary results of a study presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2017 Congress in Madrid show that sociopsychological factors have become more significant for patients today than physical side effects such as nausea and vomiting, which were among the top concerns in similar studies carried out.
A 14-year randomized trial in more than 600 patients has concluded that chemoradiation should remain the standard treatment for patients with locally advanced cervical cancer. The findings were reported at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2017 Congress in Madrid.
The subgroup analysis of outcomes among patients with advanced liposarcoma from a pivotal phase III trial comparing eribulin vs dacarbazine in previously treated liposarcoma or leiomyosarcoma was reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Demetri et al.
In a European analysis reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Martínez et al found similar survival outcomes with posttransplantation cyclophosphamide-based haploidentical allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) vs conventional human leukocyte antigen–matched (HLA) sibling donor or HLA-matched unrelated donor transplantation in patients with Hodgkin lymphoma.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Whitney et al found that the majority of patients diagnosed with advanced cancer were hospitalized within 1 year of diagnosis, with a sizable proportion having multiple hospitalizations.
Adding taselisib to letrozole before surgery significantly improved outcomes for patients with early breast cancer that was both estrogen receptor–positive and HER2-negative, according to results of the LORELEI trial, presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2017 Congress.
The superiority of docetaxel-based triplet therapy over standard of care in patients with resectable esophagogastric cancer has been confirmed in late-breaking results from the FLOT4 trial presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2017 Congress.
Data from two separate phase III studies presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2017 Congress in Madrid show alectinib’s particular central nervous system (CNS) activity in patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer involving a mutation of the anaplastic lymphoma kinase gene (<em>ALK</em>-positive NSCLC).
Due to DNA sequencing, patients with rare cancers for which no standard treatment is available could receive existing therapies that work in patients treated for different cancers but who carry the same genetic mutations. The first results of a multidrug and multitumor clinical trial were presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2017 Congress.
Caucasian women with ovarian cancer can safely stick to the standard every-3-week dosing schedule for paclitaxel rather than boosting up to a weekly dose-dense regimen, according to results of the phase III ICON8 trial presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2017 Congress.
Patients with high-risk prostate cancer starting long-term hormone therapy may benefit from two new treatments, according to late-breaking results from the STAMPEDE trial presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2017 Congress.
A first-in-human phase I study of the oral tamoxifen metabolite Z-endoxifen showed high drug exposure, acceptable toxicity, and antitumor activity in endocrine-refractory estrogen receptor–positive metastatic breast cancer. These findings were reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Goetz et al.
As reported by Hsu et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, pembrolizumab has shown activity in programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1)–positive recurrent or metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma, in a cohort of the phase Ib KEYNOTE-028 trial.
Results from an ASCO-sponsored survey study indicate that despite professed interest in the area, most hematology-oncology fellows have inadequate training in geriatrics/geriatric oncology. These findings were reported in the <em>Journal of Oncology Practice</em> by Maggiore et al.
Some stroke survivors may have underlying cancer, according to an observational study presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2017 Congress.
Patients requiring surgery for esophageal cancer fare better after undergoing a hybrid minimally invasive esophagostomy compared to an open esophagostomy, according to long-term results of the MIRO trial presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2017 Congress.
Rucaparib maintenance therapy increases progression-free survival in <em>BRCA</em>-mutant recurrent ovarian cancer by 77%, according to late-breaking results from the ARIEL3 trial reported at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2017 Congress.
In a phase III trial reported by Govindan et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, the addition of first-line ipilimumab to paclitaxel/carboplatin did not improve overall survival in patients with advanced squamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
As reported by Baik et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Medicare patients who received androgen-deprivation therapy for prostate cancer do not appear to be at increased risk for Alzheimer’s disease and may have an extremely small increase in the risk for dementia.
In a single-center experience reported by Yamashita et al in <em>JAMA Surgery</em>, postoperative remnant liver ischemia of grade ≥ 2 was associated with worse cancer-specific survival after resection of colorectal cancer liver metastases.
Combination targeted adjuvant therapy with dabrafenib and trametinib doubles relapse-free survival in patients with stage III <em>BRAF</em>-mutant melanoma, according to late-breaking results from the COMBI-AD trial presented on September 11 at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2017 Congress in Madrid and published in the <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em> by Long et al.
Adjuvant nivolumab is superior to standard-of-care ipilimumab in patients with surgically resected stage III/IV melanoma who are at high risk of relapse, according to late-breaking results from the CheckMate 238 trial presented on September 11 at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2017 Congress in Madrid and published in the <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em> by Weber et al. The anti–programmed cell death 1 antibody nivolumab led to better relapse-free survival, with fewer side effects than ipilimumab.
In a single-center experience reported in <em>JAMA Surgery</em>, Eng et al found that an increased intraoperative fluid rate was associated with increased perioperative morbidity in patients with peritoneal cancer undergoing cytoreductive surgery with hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy.
A phase II study has shown that cabozantinib produces responses in patients with tyrosine kinase inhibitor–refractory differentiated thyroid cancer. The findings were reported by Cabanillas et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
The optimal follow-up protocol for patients with completely resected non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remains elusive after results of the IFCT-0302 trial, presented at the 2017 European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress, did not show a difference in overall survival between patients who received computed tomography (CT) scans as part of their follow-up and those who did not.
Even small tumors in the breast can be aggressive, according to a study in patients with early-stage breast cancer presented at the 2017 European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress. Researchers found that nearly one in four small tumors were aggressive, and patients benefited from chemotherapy. Aggressive tumors could be identified by a 70-gene signature test.
The vast majority of tumor marker tests in primary and secondary care are not necessary, according to a study presented at the 2017 European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress. The tests assisted with a cancer diagnosis in just 2% of patients.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Brasky et al found that the use of individual source supplemental vitamins B6 and B12 was associated with an increased risk of lung cancer among men in the Vitamins and Lifestyle (VITAL) cohort.
As reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by Pavel et al, no significant difference in deterioration of health-related quality of life was observed with everolimus vs placebo in the phase III RADIANT-4 trial, which included patients with advanced nonfunctional well-differentiated gastrointestinal or lung neuroendocrine tumors.
Cremonesi et al investigated the interaction between gut microbiota and chemokines in promoting colorectal cancer infiltration by immune cells and found that gut microbiota stimulates chemokine production that recruit T cells to the tumor, which may be associated with improved outcomes. The study findings were presented at the recent third CRI-CIMT-EATI-AACR International Cancer Immunotherapy Conference held in Mainz/Frankfurt, Germany.
The results of a phase II trial have shown high activity of guadecitabine, a next-generation hypomethylating drug, in treatment-naive older patients with acute myeloid leukemia. The findings were reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by Kantarjian et al.
A phase I/IIa study using third-generation CD19-targeting chimeric antigen receptor T cells in patients with relapsed or refractory lymphoma or leukemia has found that the treatment led to a complete response in 6 of 15 patients and that overall survival was associated with the patient’s immune status. The study by Lövgren et al was presented recently at the third CRI-CIMT-EATI-AACR International Cancer Immunotherapy Conference in Mainz/Frankfurt, Germany.
Two scientists at the National Cancer Institute—<strong>Douglas R. Lowy, MD</strong>, and <strong>John T. Schiller, PhD</strong>—will receive the 2017 Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award for their significant research leading to the development of human papillomavirus vaccines.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is granting exceptions under certain Medicare quality reporting and value-based purchasing programs without having to submit an extraordinary circumstances exception request if they are located in one of the Texas counties or Louisiana parishes that have been designated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as a major disaster county.
Although Zika virus causes devastating damage to the brains of developing fetuses, it someday may prove to be an effective treatment for glioblastoma. New research showed that the virus may kill brain cancer stem cells, the kind of cells most resistant to standard treatments. These findings were published by Zhu et al in <em>The Journal of Experimental Medicine</em>.
The phase III ACT IV study has shown no survival benefit of adding rindopepimut, a vaccine targeting the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) deletion mutation EGFRvIII, to temozolomide in patients with newly diagnosed EGFRvIII-positive glioblastoma. These findings were reported by Weller et al in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>.
As reported in <em>JAMA Oncology</em> by Shoushtari et al, a single-center experience has shown a very high rate of clinically significant immune-related adverse events with nivolumab plus ipilimumab for advanced melanoma. Their findings suggest the full course of four doses of combined therapy is generally not tolerated and may not be necessary to achieve clinical benefit.
Findings from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study, reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Nipp et al, indicate that childhood cancer survivors are more likely than unaffected siblings to spend a higher percentage of income on out-of-pocket medical costs, potentially leading to reduced use of health care.
On September 1, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cleared the first 2D digital mammography system that allows patients to increase or decrease the amount of compression applied to their own breast before the mammogram x-ray is taken.
As reported by Dimopoulos et al in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>, a prespecified interim analysis of the phase III ENDEAVOR trial has shown a significant overall survival benefit for carfilzomib vs bortezomib in patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma.
In a review of studies exploring the crosstalk between adipose tissue and carcinomas in humans published in <em>Cancer Prevention Research</em>, Himbert et al reported that adipose stromal cells may infiltrate cancer lesions and promote tumor growth. These findings may lead to new targets and strategies for decreasing the burden of obesity-related cancers.
In a study reported by Walling et al in the <em>Journal of Oncology Practice</em>, the embedding of a palliative care nurse practitioner in an oncology clinic resulted in improved hospice referral, advance care planning documentation, and referral for psychosocial support.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today approved gemtuzumab ozogamicin (Mylotarg) for the treatment of adults with newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia (AML) whose tumors express the CD33 antigen. The drug was also approved for the treatment of patients aged 2 years and older with relapsed or refractory CD33-positive AML.
Researchers have demonstrated that women with a history of preeclampsia have as much as a 90% decrease in breast cancer risk if they carry a specific common gene variant. Their findings were published by Powell et al in <em>Cancer Causes & Control</em>.
As reported by Dotan et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, the antibody-drug conjugate labetuzumab govitecan showed antitumor activity in a phase I/II trial in patients with heavily pretreated metastatic colorectal cancer who had received prior irinotecan therapy.
The German phase III CONKO-005 trial has shown no significant benefit of adding adjuvant erlotinib to gemcitabine after R0 resection in patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. The findings were reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Sinn et al.
On August 31, U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Center for Drug Evaluation and Research Director <strong>Janet Woodcock, MD</strong>, issued a statement on the recent clinical hold placed on two trials investigating the use of the cancer drug pembrolizumab in combination with two other therapies.
Men with localized prostate cancer who received androgen-deprivation therapy were at significantly higher risk of heart failure than men who did not receive this therapy, according to a study published by Haque et al in the <em>British Journal of Cancer</em>.
New technology is using artificial intelligence (AI) to help detect melanoma at earlier stages. The technology employs machine-learning software to analyze images of skin lesions and provide doctors with objective data on telltale biomarkers of melanoma.
The final overall survival analysis of the phase III KEYNOTE-006 trial showed maintained superiority of pembrolizumab vs ipilimumab in advanced melanoma. The results were reported by Schachter et al in <em>The Lancet</em>.
As reported by Larsen et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, a Danish retrospective study has shown reduced cancer-specific and all-cause mortality with postdiagnosis statin use in patients with prostate cancer.
Updated results of a phase I/II study of durvalumab in locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma were reported by Powles et al in <em>JAMA Oncology</em>. Data from the ongoing study supported the recent approval of durvalumab as second-line treatment in this setting on the basis of durable responses.
In the aftermath of the devastation caused by Hurricane Harvey, which has resulted in more than 30,000 people being displaced from their homes, ASCO has published a list of resources and information for oncology providers and patients with cancer affected by the storm.
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued what it has called a “historic action,” making the first gene therapy available in the United States with its approval of tisagenlecleucel (Kymriah) for certain pediatric and young adult patients with a form of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).
On August 29, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Breakthrough Therapy designation to DS-8201 for the treatment of patients with HER2-positive, locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer who have been treated with trastuzumab and pertuzumab and have disease progression after ado-trastuzumab emtansine therapy.
On August 28, AVEO Oncology announced that the European Commission has approved tivozanib (Fotivda) for the treatment of adult patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma in the European Union plus Norway and Iceland.
On August 24, positive topline results were announced from the phase III ALCYONE study of daratumumab in combination with bortezomib, melphalan, and prednisone (VMP) vs VMP alone as front-line treatment for newly diagnosed patients who are not considered candidates for autologous stem cell transplantation.
In a single-center phase II study reported in <em>JAMA Oncology</em>, Feng et al found that individualized adaptive stereotactic body radiotherapy achieved high rates of local tumor control with low complication rates in patients with liver tumors and preexisting liver dysfunction.
The simultaneous addition of anti–programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) to anti-OX40 negated the antitumor effects of OX40 antibody and resulted in poor treatment outcomes in mice, according to the findings of two laboratory studies: one by Shrimali et al published in <em>Cancer Immunology Research</em> and the other by Messenheimer et al published in <em>Clinical Cancer Research</em>.
In a retrospective study reported in the <em>Journal of Oncology Practice</em>, Riedel et al found that integration of oncology and palliative care in a solid tumor inpatient service resulted in improvements in quality-of-care metrics during the first year of implementation.
On August 28, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accepted the supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) and granted Priority Review for obinutuzumab (Gazyva) in combination with chemotherapy followed by obinutuzumab alone for patients with previously untreated follicular lymphoma.
The Pershing Square Sohn Cancer Research Alliance (PSSCRA) will begin accepting applications for its 2018 Pershing Square Sohn Prize for Young Investigators on <strong>October 2nd, 2017</strong>. At least six New York City area–based scientists will each be awarded $200,000 per year—for up to 3 years—to enable them to pursue groundbreaking research at a stage when traditional funding is lacking.
On August 28, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved fulvestrant (Faslodex) 500mg as monotherapy for expanded use in women with hormone–receptor positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2–negative advanced breast cancer, who have gone through menopause and have not received previous endocrine therapy.
In a meta-analysis reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Xie et al found that metastasis-free survival was a strong surrogate for overall survival in patients with localized prostate cancer, potentially providing a metric that could accelerate assessment of new adjuvant therapy approaches.
Results from the C SCANS study indicate that prediagnosis systemic inflammation and at-diagnosis sarcopenia are associated with an increased mortality risk in patients with nonmetastatic colorectal cancer. The findings were reported in <em>JAMA Oncology</em> by Cespedes Feliciano et al.
A new study by Klosky et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> suggests that survivors of childhood cancer receive the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine at an even lower rate than their peers without cancer—24% vs 40%, respectively. Nearly three-quarters of study participants reported that their health-care provider did not proactively recommend vaccination.
A new study published by Triplett et al in the <em>Journal of Oncology Practice</em> showed that palliative care substantially decreased health-care utilization among Medicare beneficiaries with advanced cancer, resulting in less intensive care being delivered at the end of life. This included lower rates of hospitalization, fewer invasive procedures, and reduced chemotherapy administration at the end of life, along with higher rates of hospice enrollment and stays.
In a study published in <em>Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention</em>, Lairson et al found that the health-care cost of the first 2 years of treatment of new cases of oropharyngeal cancer among commercially insured patients in Texas is nearly $140,000. The cost estimates provide parameters for the development of decision-analytic models to inform decision-makers about the potential value of initiatives for increasing the human papillomavirus (HPV) immunization rate in the state.
A phase III trial has shown no progression-free survival advantage with obinutuzumab vs rituximab plus CHOP (cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, prednisone) in previously untreated patients with advanced diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. The results were reported by Vitolo et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
Female patients with locally advanced esophageal cancer treated with chemotherapy and radiation therapy before surgery are more likely to have a favorable response to the treatment than male patients are, and women are less likely to experience cancer recurrence, according to a study published by Roswe et al in <em>The Annals of Thoracic Surgery</em>.
Researchers have found a relationship between the genetics of tumors with germline <em>BRCA1/2</em> mutations–and whether the tumor retains the normal copy of the <em>BRCA1/2</em> gene–and risk for primary resistance to a common chemotherapy that works by destroying cancer cells’ DNA. The findings were published in a paper by Maxwell et al in <em>Nature Communications</em>.
In a phase III trial reported by Eisenberger et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, a cabazitaxel dose of 20 mg/m2 was noninferior for overall survival vs the currently recommended dose of 25 mg/m2 after docetaxel treatment in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, with evidence that the lower dose was associated with reduced toxicity.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Lu et al found that autologous CD4-positive T cells engineered to express a major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II–restricted T-cell receptor targeting the cancer germline antigen MAGE-A3 produced responses in several types of metastatic cancer.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Oncology Practice</em> by Chang et al, for the first time for any type of malignancy, the American Urological Association (AUA), ASCO, American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO), and Society of Urologic Oncology (SUO) have formulated an evidence-based guideline on the treatment of nonmetastatic muscle-invasive bladder cancer.
Over the past 30 years, squamous cell carcinoma of the anus has been one of the few cancers with a steadily rising incidence in the United States, with the most rapid increase seen in black men. To further investigate this trend, researchers looked at more than 7,800 cases of anal cancer in the United States and found that the complex chemistry of social, economic, biologic, and cultural factors led not only to disparities in incidence, but also survival. Their findings were published by Arora et al in <em>JNCCN – Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network</em>.
On August 21, Clinical Genomics announced the implementation of QIAGEN’s PAXgene circulating cell-free DNA tube for blood sample collection in its Colvera colorectal cancer recurrence assay, a liquid biopsy test.
In a study in the Swedish population reported by Beernaert et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, distrust in the end-of-life care provided to a parent with cancer was associated with long-term adverse emotional/psychological effects among bereaved adolescents.
In a study reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>, Sekhar et al found that the increasing proportion of lymph node–positive disease associated with enhanced detection techniques has led to nodal stage migration in anal cancer, which may reduce prognostic discrimination on the basis of lymph node positivity.
A UK phase III trial has shown no significant survival benefit of extended and intensified neoadjuvant chemotherapy with epirubicin, cisplatin, and capecitabine vs standard cisplatin/fluorouracil followed by resection in patients with esophageal adenocarcinoma. The findings were reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by Alderson et al.
Vitamin C may “tell” faulty stem cells in the bone marrow to mature and die normally, instead of multiplying to cause blood cancers. This is the finding of a study published by Cimmino et al in <em>Cell</em>.
A new study compares the number of deaths that might be prevented as a result of three of the most widely discussed recommendations for screening mammography. Published by Arleo et al in <em>Cancer</em>, the findings may provide valuable guidance to women and their physicians about choosing a screening regimen.
van Es et al found that occult cancer is detected in 1 in 20 patients within a year of receiving a diagnosis of unprovoked venous thromboembolism and that older age is associated with a a higher cancer prevalence. Although extensive screening detected twice as many cancer cases as limited screening alone, no statistically significant difference was found in cancer detection between the two approaches. This study was published in the <em>Annals of Internal Medicine</em>.
Interim results of the phase III CATNON trial indicate a survival benefit of adjuvant temozolomide in 1p/19q non-codeleted anaplastic glioma. These findings were reported in <em>The Lancet</em> by van den Bent et al.
A randomized phase II trial has shown improved progression-free survival with the addition of the AKT inhibitor ipatasertib to paclitaxel in the first-line treatment of metastatic triple-negative breast cancer. These results were reported by Kim et al in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>.
Next-generation sequencing of circulating tumor DNA identified distinct genomic profiles with potentially targetable alterations in 99.7% of patients with carcinoma of unknown primary who have detectable alterations, according to results published by Kato et al in <em>Cancer Research</em>.
In a paper published by Phallen et al in <em>Science Translational Medicine</em>, scientists reported the development of a test that spots tiny amounts of circulating tumor DNA in blood and have used it to accurately identify more than half of 138 people with relatively early-stage colorectal, breast, lung, and ovarian cancers.
In the phase III historically controlled Children’s Oncology Group AAML0631 trial, arsenic trioxide consolidation permitted the use of lower-dose anthracycline without appearing to compromise outcomes in pediatric patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia. The results were reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Kutny et al.
A meta-analysis of three randomized trials indicates no overall survival benefit of adding first-line selective internal radiotherapy to chemotherapy in patients with liver metastases from colorectal cancer. The findings were reported by Wasan et al in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>.
On August 15, topline results from the phase III CheckMate-214 trial were announced. The study is investigating nivolumab in combination with ipilimumab vs sunitinib in intermediate- and poor-risk patients with previously untreated advanced or metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC).
In a Children’s Oncology Group study, high response rates were achieved with crizotinib treatment in pediatric <em>ALK</em>-positive anaplastic large cell lymphomas and inflammatory myofibroblastic tumors. These results were reported by Mossé et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
In a phase II study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Tzannou et al found that use of off-the-shelf, broad-coverage, adoptively transferred, virus-specific T cells was feasible and effective in treating viral infections in patients who had undergone allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.
On August 17, 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted regular approval to olaparib tablets (Lynparza) for the maintenance treatment of adult patients with recurrent epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer, who are in a complete or partial response to platinum-based chemotherapy.
On August 17, 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved inotuzumab ozogamicin (Besponsa) for the treatment of adults with relapsed or refractory B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).
On August 16, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accepted a supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) and granted Priority Review for brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris) in patients with cutaneous T-cell lymphoma.
In a Hong Kong study reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em>, Chan et al found that screening for circulating cell-free Epstein-Barr virus DNA is useful in detecting nasopharyngeal carcinoma in asymptomatic individuals.
A German retrospective study has found that pretransplantation vitamin D deficiency is associated with an increased risk of relapse in patients undergoing allogeneic stem cell transplantation for myeloid malignancies. These findings were reported by Radujkovic et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Wang et al, many older patients with acute myeloid leukemia do not receive hospice care at the end of life, with those who do tending to enroll in hospice within days of death.
An update of the ASCO clinical practice guideline on the systemic treatment of patients with stage IV non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) clarifies the role of immunotherapy in this setting. The update, published by Hanna et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, also provides new recommendations on the use of targeted therapies for patients with changes in tumor <em>EGFR, ALK</em>, and <em>ROS1</em> genes.
Patients newly diagnosed with cancer may have a substantially increased short-term risk of arterial thromboembolism, according to a study published by Navi et al in the <em>Journal of the American College of Cardiology</em>.
A French phase III trial, stopped early due to excessive hematologic relapse in the azithromycin group, showed worse airflow decline–free survival with azithromycin vs placebo after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) for hematologic malignancy. These findings were reported by Bergeron et al in <em>JAMA.</em>
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Freedman et al found that many older breast cancer survivors with a limited life expectancy still undergo annual surveillance mammography despite the absence of known benefits.
As reported by Shindo et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, deleterious germline mutations in known pancreatic cancer susceptibility genes were frequently found in patients with pancreatic cancer who do not have a reported family history of cancer.
In a study of nearly 9,000 people treated for solid tumor cancers published by Coombs et al in <em>Cell Stem Cell</em>, researchers found that radiation treatment and tobacco use were linked to higher rates of blood-based DNA mutations that could lead to a higher risk for blood cancers such as leukemia.
With the advent of molecular targeted therapies and immunotherapy, eligibility criteria have increased in number and complexity for lung cancer clinical trials, according to an analysis published by Garcia et al in the <em>Journal of Thoracic Oncology</em>.
A UK phase III trial has shown noninferiority in local relapse for partial-breast and reduced-dose vs standard whole-breast radiotherapy after breast-conserving surgery in early breast cancer. These study results were reported by Coles et al in <em>The Lancet.</em>
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Oncology Practice,</em> Bruckel et al found that among patients with in-hospital cardiac arrest, those with advanced cancer had lower survival rates and were more frequently designated as Do Not Attempt Resuscitation within 48 hours after return of spontaneous circulation.
In a research letter to <em>JAMA,</em> Siegel et al reported that overall colorectal cancer mortality rates have declined in the United States between 1970 and 2014 in patients aged 20 to 54 years but increased in white persons in this age group between 2004 and 2014.
One-third of insured people with cancer end up paying more out-of-pocket than they expected, despite having health insurance coverage. The data, published by Chino et al in <em>JAMA Oncology</em>, showed that costs such as copays and deductibles could lead to financial distress among insured patients of all income levels and with all stages of cancer.
Administering a magnetic resonance imaging scan and a blood test to patients with metastatic colorectal cancer may help to select those who would benefit from a targeted cancer treatment, a new study published by Khan et al in <em>Gut</em> reported.
The phase III FIRSTANA trial has shown no difference in overall survival with two dose regimens of cabazitaxel vs docetaxel in the first-line treatment of metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. These results were reported by Oudard et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em>
In a study reported in <em>JAMA Oncology,</em> Karn et al found that triple-negative breast cancers with high immune gene expression levels were characterized by lower clonal heterogeneity, reduced copy number alterations, and lower somatic mutation and neoantigen loads.
As reported in <em>The Lancet</em> by Tewari et al, the final overall survival results of the phase III Gynecologic Oncology Group (GOG) 240 trial show continued benefit of the addition of bevacizumab to chemotherapy in patients with metastatic, persistent, or recurrent cervical carcinoma.
Through a 5-year observational study recently published by McElory et al in <em>PLOS One</em>, researchers found that women with increased levels of cadmium—a metal commonly found in foods such as kidney, liver, and shellfish, as well as tobacco—had an increased risk of endometrial cancer.
On August 8, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced it would pursue a strategic, new public health education campaign aimed at discouraging the use of e-cigarettes and other electronic nicotine delivery systems by children.
In an analysis of a Swedish trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Sjöström et al found that adjuvant radiotherapy vs no radiotherapy had an increased benefit in triple-negative disease and little effect on HER2-positive disease in a population of patients with node-negative stage I or II breast cancer who mostly did not receive systemic adjuvant therapy.
A new study published by Diedrich et al in the <em>Journal of Lower Genital Tract Disease</em> found that an alternative fabric-hooked device may produce better colposcopy samples than the traditional metal instrument, with less discomfort to patients.
A new study published by Patel et al in <em>Nature</em> identifies genes that are necessary in cancer cells for immunotherapy to work—addressing the problem of why some tumors don’t respond to immunotherapy, or respond initially but then stop as tumor cells develop resistance to immunotherapy.
In a health-related quality-of-life study among patients in a phase III trial, immediate vs delayed androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) was associated with early worsening of ADT-related symptoms but few other comparative adverse effects on functioning or quality of life. The findings were reported by Duchesne et al in <em>The Lancet Oncology.</em>
A cohort study in Ashkenazi Jewish women with breast cancer identified mutations other than <em>BRCA1</em>and <em>BRCA2</em> founder alleles that were associated with cancer risk. These study results were reported by Walsh et al in <em>JAMA Oncology.</em>
In a study reported by Puckett et al in the <em>Journal of Oncology Practice,</em> factors associated with premature discontinuation of palliative radiotherapy in cancer patients included poorer performance status, higher number of prescribed radiotherapy fractions, and treatment site other than bone metastasis.
A new study published by Sutradhar et al in <em>Cancer</em> found that opioid prescription use is more common in cancer survivors than in individuals without a history of cancer. This was true even among survivors who were 10 or more years past their cancer diagnosis.
On August 3, the leadership of Kids v Cancer, an advocacy group promoting pediatric cancer research, issued a statement on the passage of the the FDA Reauthorization Act and the RACE for Children Act. The statement noted that with the RACE for Children Act as law, children will have many more novel drugs and clinical trials open to them, pediatric oncologists will have new information about novel treatments, and companies developing cancer drugs will, as standard practice, plan to develop their drugs for a pediatric setting.
According to a study by Alibhai et al published in the <em>Annals of Internal Medicine,</em> both bisphosphonates and denosumab improve bone mineral density in men with nonmetastatic prostate cancer receiving androgen-deprivation therapy. However, it is unclear whether bisphosphonates reduced bone fractures.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute</em> by van Hellemond et al, 12% of women with chemotherapy-induced ovarian function failure experienced ovarian function recovery during 30 months of aromatase inhibitor therapy with anastrozole.
An update of the MARCH meta-analysis showed that hyperfractionated radiotherapy maintained a survival advantage over conventional radiotherapy in head and neck cancers. The findings were reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by Lacas et al.
A new study published by Shaashua et al in <em>Clinical Cancer Research</em> found a specific drug regimen administered prior to and after surgery significantly reduces the risk of postsurgical cancer recurrence. These medications, a combination of a beta blocker and an anti-inflammatory agent, may also improve the long-term survival rates of patients.
Neuroscientists may have uncovered the genetic basis for why many long-term survivors of childhood cancer develop meningiomas decades after their treatment with cranial radiation. The findings, published by Agnihotri et al in <em>Nature Communications</em>, show that radiation causes genetic rearrangements in DNA that may result in the brain tumors.
According to a study reported by Yang et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> high dietary intake of total fat and saturated fat was associated with an increased risk of lung cancer, with the association with saturated fat being particularly evident among current smokers.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Oncology Practice,</em> Pedraza et al found that patients with advanced cancer who had Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment forms in place were more likely to have hospice admission and death out of the hospital than those with only advance directives.
In a new study published by Mai et al in <em>JAMA Oncology</em>, researchers found a higher-than-expected prevalence of cancer at baseline screening in individuals with Li-Fraumeni syndrome. The research demonstrates the feasibility of a new, comprehensive cancer screening protocol for this high-risk population.
According to a new study published by Elsayem et al in <em>The Oncologist</em>, patients with advanced cancer who are diagnosed with delirium when presenting to emergency departments are more likely to be hospitalized and more likely to die earlier than patients without delirium.
The phase II CheckMate 142 trial has shown that nivolumab produces durable responses in recurrent or metastatic DNA mismatch repair–deficient/microsatellite instability–high colorectal cancer. These study findings were reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by Overman et al.
According to a meta-analysis reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by McCarthy et al, lenalidomide maintenance therapy after autologous stem cell transplantation was associated with improved progression-free and overall survival vs placebo or observation in patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma.
On August 3, 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted regular approval to a liposome-encapsulated combination of daunorubicin and cytarabine (Vyxeos) for the treatment of adults with newly diagnosed therapy-related acute myeloid leukemia (AML) or AML with myelodysplasia-related changes (AML-MRC), two types of AML having a poor prognosis. This is the first FDA-approved treatment specifically for patients with therapy-related AML or AML-MRC.
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accepted a supplemental New Drug Application and granted Priority Review for alectinib (Alecensa) as a first-line treatment for people with anaplastic lymphoma kinase (<em>ALK</em>)-positive, locally advanced, or metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) as detected by an FDA-approved test. The FDA will make a decision on approval by November 30, 2017.
The phase III FLAURA trial showed a statistically significant and clinically meaningful progression-free survival benefit with osimertinib compared to erlotinib or gefitinib in previously untreated patients with locally advanced or metastatic epidermal growth factor receptor (<em>EGFR</em>) mutation–positive non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
On July 28, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced a new comprehensive plan for tobacco and nicotine regulation that will serve as a multiyear roadmap to better protect children and significantly reduce tobacco-related disease and death. The approach places nicotine and the issue of addiction at the center of the agency’s tobacco regulation efforts.
A phase III trial has shown improved progression-free survival with an olaparib tablet formulation vs placebo as maintenance therapy in patients with <em>BRCA1/2</em>-mutant platinum-sensitive relapsed ovarian cancer. The study results were reported by Pujade-Lauraine et al in <em>The Lancet Oncology.</em>
A comparative analysis of outcomes with two different trastuzumab-based adjuvant regimens in older women with early HER2-positive breast cancer found little difference in safety or efficacy between the treatments. The study was reported by Reeder-Hayes et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em>
In a single-center analysis reported in <em>JAMA Oncology,</em> Patel et al found that among men undergoing elective radical prostatectomy, those with low-volume intermediate-risk disease had significantly higher rates of adverse pathologic findings than did those with very low-risk and low-risk disease.
On August 2, 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved ibrutinib (Imbruvica) for the treatment of adult patients with chronic graft-vs-host disease after failure of one or more lines of systemic therapy. This is the first FDA-approved therapy for the treatment of chronic graft-vs-host disease.
On July 27, IBM Watson Health and Quest Diagnostics announced the launch of IBM Watson Genomics from Quest Diagnostics, a new service that helps advance precision medicine by combining cognitive computing with genomic tumor sequencing. The launch marks the first time that Watson for Genomics has been made widely available to patients and physicians across the country.
The 10-year follow-up of the phase III TEAM trial has shown that exemestane alone and sequential tamoxifen/exemestane provide similar outcomes as adjuvant endocrine therapy in postmenopausal women with hormone receptor–positive early breast cancer. These findings were reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by Derks et al.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Wyatt et al found high agreement between driver mutations in plasma circulating tumor DNA and metastatic tissue biopsy in castration-resistant prostate cancer.
An analysis reported by Lassaletta et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> showed that <em>BRAF</em> V600E mutation is associated with a poor outcome in pediatric low-grade gliomas treated with standard adjuvant therapy.
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved enasidenib (Idhifa) for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML) who have a specific genetic mutation. The drug is approved for use with a companion diagnostic, the RealTime IDH2 Assay, which is used to detect specific mutations in the <em>IDH2</em> gene in patients with AML.
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Breakthrough Therapy Designation for acalabrutinib for the treatment of patients with mantle cell lymphoma who have received at least one prior therapy.
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved nivolumab (Opdivo) injection for intravenous use for the treatment of adult and pediatric patients with microsatellite instability-high (MSI-H) or mismatch repair deficient (dMMR) metastatic colorectal cancer that has progressed following treatment with a fluoropyrimidine, oxaliplatin, and irinotecan.
In a randomized phase IIB trial, the cytotoxic T-lymphocyte–associated protein 4 (CTLA-4) inhibitor tremelimumab did not improve overall survival vs placebo as second- or third-line treatment of relapsed malignant mesothelioma, according to findings reported by Maio et al in <em>The Lancet Oncology.<em>
An analysis of the GeparSixto trial in triple-negative breast cancer showed that adding carboplatin to neoadjuvant therapy improved pathologic complete response rate in patients without <em>BRCA1/2</em> mutation and that response rates were higher overall in those with mutations, without additive effects observed for carboplatin. The analysis was reported by Hahnen et al in <em>JAMA Oncology.</em>
An observational study reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by Wolthers et al in the Ponte di Legno Toxicity Working Group identified characteristics and the course of asparaginase-associated pancreatitis in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
An update of the ASCO Clinical Practice Guideline covers new medicines for nausea and vomiting related to cancer treatment. The update, issued in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> today, provides new evidence-based information on the appropriate use of olanzapine, neurokinin 1 receptor antagonists, and dexamethasone.
On July 28, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Breakthrough Therapy designation for venetoclax (Venclexta) in combination with low-dose cytarabine for elderly patients with previously untreated acute myeloid leukemia who are ineligible for intensive chemotherapy.
On July 26, the European Commission (EC) approved fulvestrant (Falsodex) for the treatment of estrogen receptor–positive, locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer in postmenopausal women not previously treated with endocrine therapy.
On July 31, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Breakthrough Therapy designation for durvalumab (Imfinzi) for the treatment of patients with locally advanced, unresectable non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose disease has not progressed following platinum-based chemoradiation therapy.
In a study by Pillai et al published in <em>Cancer</em>, researchers reported that 24 (3%) of 920 patients with advanced-stage lung cancer in a recent study had mutations in the gene <em>HER2</em>.
In the phase IB KEYNOTE-029 study, standard-dose pembrolizumab plus reduced-dose ipilimumab produced high response rates in patients with advanced melanoma. These results were reported by Long et al in <em>The Lancet Oncology.</em>
A study in postmenopausal women in the French E3N prospective cohort indicated bisphosphonate use was not associated with a reduced risk of breast cancer. These findings were reported by Fournier et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em>
On July 27, researchers announced the progression-free survival results for the phase III MYSTIC trial of durvalumab monotherapy or durvalumab in combination with tremelimumab vs platinum-based standard-of-care chemotherapy in previously untreated patients with metastatic first-line non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
Several national cancer organizations have released a joint position statement to guide the future of cancer health disparities research. The statement, which was published by Polite et al in <em>Cancer Research</em>, represents a unified strategy by the American Association for Cancer Research, the American Cancer Society, the National Cancer Institute, and ASCO to foster cooperation across the cancer research community to ensure that all patients—regardless of social demographics, socioeconomic status, or the communities in which they live—benefit from cancer research.
A systematic review and meta-analysis has found no association between vasectomy and high-grade, advanced, or fatal prostate cancer but a weak association with any prostate cancer. These findings were reported in <em>JAMA Internal Medicine</em>by Bhindi et al.
In a study reported in the<em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Wallner et al found that minority women vs white women and women with a lower vs higher attained education level were more likely to prefer oncology-directed care vs primary care provider (PCP)-directed care for aspects of care normally delivered by PCPs.
A new study indicates many young adults who survived the disease struggle with “getting back to normal” as much as 2 years after their initial diagnosis. The longitudinal study, published by Husson et al in <em>Cancer</em>, is among the first seeking to understand the social functioning among adolescents and young adults who have had cancer.
The molecular classification of four distinct subtypes of gastric cancer—Epstein-Barr virus, microsatellite instability, genomically stable, and chromosomal instability—may potentially provide tailored treatment options by helping physicians to predict survival outcomes and patients’ response to chemotherapy, according to a study published by Sohn et al in <em>Clinical Cancer Research.</em>
As reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Morton et al have identified gene loci associated with radiation-related risk of breast cancer in survivors of childhood cancer.
As reported by Turtle et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor–modified (CAR) T-cell therapy produced high response rates in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia previously treated with ibrutinib.
A study in the offspring and third-generation cohorts of the Framingham Heart Study showed that eligibility for statin therapy was associated with an increased risk for cancer and cancer mortality. These findings were reported by Pursnani et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em>
After 19.5 years of follow-up in the PIVOT trial, radical prostatectomy was not associated with significantly improved all-cause or prostate cancer mortality vs observation among men with localized prostate cancer. The long-term follow-up data were reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em> by Wilt et al.
Today, investigators at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the Children’s Oncology Group (COG) announced the opening of enrollment for a unique precision medicine clinical trial. NCI-COG Pediatric Molecular Analysis for Therapy Choice (Pediatric MATCH) is a nationwide trial to explore whether targeted therapies can be effective for children and adolescents with solid tumors that harbor specific genetic mutations and have progressed during or after standard therapy.
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) expanded the indication for ipilimumab (Yervoy) injection for intravenous use to now include the treatment of unresectable or metastatic melanoma in pediatric patients 12 years of age and older.
In preclinical studies, tumors that consitutively expressed the protein indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO1) responded to the cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitor celecoxib and had improved infiltration of certain subsets of T cells, making them more likely to respond to anti–programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) therapies, according to findings published by Hennequart et al in <em>Cancer Immunology Research</em>.
For patients with advanced, inoperable stage III lung cancer, concurrent chemotherapy and proton-beam radiotherapy offers improved survival compared to historical data for standard-of-care chemotherapy plus traditional radiotherapy, according to a new study reported by Chang et al in <em>JAMA Oncology</em>.
Janowitz et al have developed a new model for estimating glomerular filtration rate that improves accuracy compared with chromium-51 EDTA excretion measurements and accuracy of carboplatin dosing compared with other published models in cancer patients. Their findings were reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em>
A West German Study Group phase II trial, reported by Harbeck et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> has shown a higher pathologic complete response rate with neoadjuvant ado-trastuzumab emtansine with or without endocrine therapy vs trastuzumab with endocrine therapy in early HER2-positive, hormone receptor (HR)-positive breast cancer.
How well patients with cancer fared after chemotherapy was affected by their social interaction with other patients during treatment, according to a new study by Lienert et al in <em>Network Science</em>.
Centralization of surgery services to high-volume hospitals in Ontario was not independently associated with improved operative mortality rates in lung cancer, based on the findings of a study reported by Bendzsak et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em>
Approval rates for participation in oncology clinical trials rose from about 85% prior to implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to approximately 95% after the law went into effect, according to study findings published by Kehl et al in <em>Clinical Cancer Research.</em> In addition, patients with private insurance experienced fewer delays in being approved for participation in clinical studies.
In an Italian phase III trial reported by Locatelli et al in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> a lower vs higher dose of rabbit anti–T-lymphocyte globulin was associated with a nonsignificantly greater incidence of acute graft-vs-host disease (GVHD) but better event-free and overall survival in children with hematologic malignancies undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation from an unrelated donor.
A new study published by Peng et al in <em>Nature</em> sheds new light on the precise mechanism behind radiation-induced bystander effect, identifying both a protein released by irradiated cells and the pathway it takes to influence healthy ones. Ultimately, researchers hope it could lead to medication patients could take before radiation treatment to mitigate radiation-induced bystander effect.
The most comprehensive analysis yet of medulloblastoma has identified genomic changes responsible for more than 75% of the brain tumors, including two new suspected cancer genes that were found exclusively in the least understood disease subgroups. The results were published by Northcott et al in <em>Nature</em>.
A study reported by Moreau et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> indicated no difference between magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and positron-emission tomography–computed tomography (PET-CT) in detecting bone lesions at diagnosis in patients with multiple myeloma. PET-CT normalization after induction therapy and prior to maintenance therapy was associated with improved outcome.
In a U.S. single-institution study reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>, Mahajan et al found that stereotactic radiosurgery to the surgical cavity reduced local recurrence vs observation in patients with completely resected brain metastases.
The phase III NRG Oncology RTOG 0436 trial has shown no survival benefit of adding cetuximab to paclitaxel/cisplatin and radiation therapy in patients with esophageal cancer treated without surgery. These results were reported by Suntharalingam et al in <em>JAMA Oncology.</em>
Today, ASCO issued a position statement aimed at contributing to the national dialogue on rising cancer drug prices. The statement, which asserts that any solutions must also preserve patients' access to care and foster innovation, analyzes a wide array of options and recommends that a panel of stakeholders be established to determine which proposals will be effective and develop a uniform approach for assessing the value of drugs.
On July 18, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a combination tablet (Vosevi) to treat adults with chronic hepatitis C virus genotypes 1–6 without cirrhosis or with mild cirrhosis. This fixed-dose, combination tablet contains two previously approved drugs—sofosbuvir and velpatasvir—and a new drug, voxilaprevir. The tablet is the first treatment approved for patients who have been previously treated with the direct-acting antiviral drug sofosbuvir or other drugs for hepatitis C virus that inhibit a protein called NS5A.
As reported by Sivendran et al in the <em>Journal of Oncology Practice,</em> half of patients in a large community-based cancer institute did not know their stage of cancer, and one-third did not know of their cancer-free/in-remission status.
The phase I CheckMate 016 trial has shown activity of the combination of nivolumab plus ipilimumab in metastatic renal cell carcinoma. These findings were reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Hammers et al.
Stereotactic radiosurgery to the surgical cavity reduced cognitive deterioration and was associated with similar overall survival vs whole-brain radiotherapy in patients with resected brain metastasis. These phase III trial results were reported by Brown et al in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>.
In an analysis reported in <em>JAMA Oncology,</em> Esserman et al found that an ultralow-risk designation using the 70-gene MammaPrint assay is capable of identifying patients with node-negative disease who have a very low long-term risk of death from breast cancer after surgery without systemic therapy.
A class of oral drugs for treating breast cancer known as cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) 4/6 inhibitors are generally well-tolerated, with a manageable toxicity profile for most patients. This is the conclusion of a comprehensive review of toxicities and drug interactions related to this class of drugs, published by Spring et al in <em>The Oncologist</em>.
Research published by Poleszczuk et al in <em>Breast Cancer Research</em> found that patients with early-stage breast cancer who receive neoadjuvant radiation therapy have a significantly lower risk of developing a second primary tumor at any site.
In a study reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Turajlic et al found that renal cell carcinomas were characterized by the highest proportion and number of insertion and deletion mutations among solid cancers and that these alterations were associated with augmented immunogenicity across cancer types.
In a Children’s Oncology Group study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Hardy et al found that age < 10 years at diagnosis was associated with poorer neurocognitive function in patients with high-risk B-lineage acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) regardless of methotrexate and corticosteroid treatment strategies.
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved neratinib (Nerlynx) for the extended adjuvant treatment of adult patients with early-stage HER2-overexpressed/amplified breast cancer, to follow adjuvant trastuzumab-based therapy.
To uncover the correlation between cancer screening adherence and use of medical services at community and academic cancer centers, researchers reviewed electronic health record data from 55 cancer centers in the United States and Canada. The results showed that adherence to screening protocols led to 18% fewer emergency department visits and 19% fewer hospitalizations in the 2-month period following the screening. The study was published by Zebrack et al in the <em>Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network</em>.
The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) has issued an update to its recommendations for medical insurance coverage regarding the use of proton beam therapy to treat cancer. The updated Proton Beam Therapy Model Policy provides guidance to payers on clinical indications that are appropriate for treatment with proton therapy and should be covered by health insurance, including Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurance.
In a retrospective analysis reported in <em>JAMA Oncology</em>, Long et al found that a substantial proportion of patients with advanced melanoma derived benefit from continued nivolumab treatment after Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors version 1.1–defined disease progression.
Public or no health insurance was associated with a greater risk of death from 11 of 12 cancers in adolescents and young adults (AYAs), according to a study reported by DeRouen et al in <em>Cancer Causes & Control</em>. In addition, disparities in cancer survival by race/ethnicity and neighborhood sociodemographic status were more pronounced among AYAs with private/military insurance than those with public or no health insurance, especially among younger AYAs.
In an analysis of a phase III Children’s Oncology Group trial, published by Lambda et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, the CD33-targeted immunoconjugate gemtuzumab ozogamicin was shown to have benefit among patients with de novo acute myeloid leukemia (AML) who carry the CC genotype at rs12459419 in the CD33 splice enhancer region.
A new study indicates that survivors of the Holocaust have experienced a small but consistent increase in the risk of developing cancer. Published by Sadetzki et al in <em>Cancer</em>, the findings offer an example of how extreme population-level tragedies can have an impact on health.
A Danish phase III trial has shown no difference in disease-free survival with adjuvant docetaxel/cyclophosphamide vs epirubicin, cyclophosphamide, and docetaxel in patients with early <em>TOP2A</em>-normal breast cancer. These trial results were reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Ejlertsen et al.
In a study published by Wrzeszczynski et al in <em>Neurology: Genetics</em>, researchers at the New York Genome Center (NYGC), The Rockefeller University, and IBM illustrated the potential of IBM Watson for Genomics to analyze complex genomic data from state-of-the-art sequencing of whole genomes. The study compared multiple assays used to analyze genomic data from a glioblastoma patient’s tumor cells and healthy cells.
Despite decreases in cancer death rates nationwide, a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows slower reduction in cancer death rates in rural America compared with urban America, according to data published by Henley et al in <em>Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report</em>.
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee voted unanimously in favor of CTL019, a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy, for the treatment of relapsed or refractory pediatric and young adult patients with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).
On July 11, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the supplemental biologics license application (sBLA) for blinatumomab (Blincyto) to include overall survival data from the phase III TOWER study. This approval converts blinatumomab's accelerated approval to full approval for the treatment of adults and children with relapsed or refractory Philadelphia chromosome–positive or –negative B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).
On June 22, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted premarket approval to Thermo Fisher Scientific for the first next-generation sequencing–based test that simultaneously screens tumor samples for biomarkers associated with three FDA-approved therapies for non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
On July 10, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accepted a supplemental new drug application (sNDA) to include an indication for dasatinib (Sprycel) to treat children with Philadelphia chromosome–positive chronic-phase chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), as well as a powder for oral suspension formulation of dasatinib.
On July 10, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration accepted a new drug application (NDA) for abemaciclib, a cyclin-dependent kinase 4/6 inhibitor, and gave the NDA a Priority Review designation.
In a single-institution case-control analysis reported in the <em>Journal of Oncology Practice</em>, Judy et al found that complexity of procedure or schedule was a significant factor in near-miss or safety incidents involving cancer patients undergoing radiotherapy.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Larkin et al, the phase III CheckMate 037 trial has shown no difference in overall survival with nivolumab vs investigator’s choice of chemotherapy in ipilimumab-refractory advanced melanoma. More chemotherapy patients never received study treatment and more received programmed cell death protein 1 inhibitors after assigned treatment.
New recommendations on the use of the MammaPrint genomic test issued on July 10 will help guide decisions on adjuvant systemic therapy for women with early breast cancer. The recommendations update the ASCO 2016 clinical practice guideline on the use of biomarkers in these patients. The update was published by Krop et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
A new study from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania shows common, so-called “narrow network” insurance plans—lower-premium plans with reduced access to certain providers—are more likely to exclude doctors associated with National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated or National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) cancer centers. These findings were published by Yasaitis et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
Postponing lymph node biopsy more than 30 days after melanoma diagnosis does not adversely impact long-term clinical outcomes, according to findings published by Nelson et al in the <em>Journal of the American College of Surgeons</em>.
In an analysis of the UK cohort of the International Breast Cancer Intervention Study (IBIS-I) reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Smith et al found similar effects of predefined symptoms on nonadherence in both tamoxifen and placebo recipients.
Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh investigating current performance measures requiring adherence to strict time intervals for cervical cancer screening found the requirements may incentivize health-care providers to overscreen women. Changing cervical screening performance measures to align better with clinical guidelines may help to reduce the frequency of unnecessary procedures and more accurately measure the quality of women’s health care, said Parekh et al in a report published in the <em>Annals of Internal Medicine</em>.
Varian Medical Systems has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 510(k) clearance for its Halcyon system, a new device for cancer treatment. Halcyon simplifies and enhances image-guided volumetric intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT).
On July 5, Merck announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has placed a clinical hold on KEYNOTE-183, KEYNOTE-185, and KEYNOTE-023, three combination studies of pembrolizumab, an anti–programmed cell death protein 1 therapy, in multiple myeloma.
A Korean phase III trial showed no difference in outcomes with high-dose daunorubicin vs idarubicin induction in newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia, although high-dose daunorubicin was associated with better outcomes in patients with <em>FLT3</em>–internal tandem duplication mutation. These findings were reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Lee et al.
A phase III trial has shown no survival benefit of adding evofosfamide to doxorubicin in the first-line treatment of locally advanced unresectable or metastatic soft-tissue sarcoma. Trial results were reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by Tap et al.
The use of fat grafting as a tool for breast reconstruction following a mastectomy may improve breast satisfaction, psychosocial well-being, and sexual well-being in patients, according to a study published by Bennett et al in <em>JAMA Surgery</em>.
On June 29, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted marketing approval to the Praxis Extended <em>RAS</em> Panel, a next-generation sequencing test to detect certain genetic mutations in <em>RAS</em> genes in tumor samples of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer. The test is used to aid in the identification of patients who may be eligible for treatment with panitumumab.
In a large single-center analysis reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Ikoma et al found that salvage surgery was associated with prolonged survival in patients with lung-only and liver-only recurrence but not in those with locoregional-only recurrence after preoperative chemotherapy and total mesorectal excision of locally advanced rectal cancer.
As reported in <em>The Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology</em> by Meyer et al, the UK phase III TACE 2 trial has shown no progression-free survival benefit with the addition of sorafenib to transarterial chemoembolization in patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma.
In a biomarker-based phase II trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Choueiri et al found that the MET tyrosine kinase inhibitor savolitinib was active in MET-driven advanced papillary renal cell cancer.
In a phase III trial reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em>, Stone et al found that the addition of midostaurin to standard chemotherapy improved overall survival in patients with newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia with <em>FLT3</em> mutation. The trial supported the recent approval of midostaurin in this setting.
As reported by Stolley et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, a community-based interventionist-guided weight loss program for African American breast cancer survivors (Moving Forward) proved successful in achieving weight loss goals compared with a self-guided weight loss program.
Patients whose liver metastases had spread from right-sided primary tumors had a 36% better survival rate after treatment with a combination of first-line chemotherapy and selective internal radiation therapy using yttrium-90 resin microspheres, compared to chemotherapy alone, according to data presented by van Hazel et al at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 19th World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer.
On July 3, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cleared the expanded use of a cooling cap, DigniCap Cooling System, to reduce hair loss during chemotherapy. This is the first cooling cap cleared by the agency for use in cancer patients with solid tumors.
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the supplemental Biologics License Application for panitumumab (Vectibix) for patients with wild-type <em>RAS</em> metastatic colorectal cancer as first-line therapy in combination with FOLFOX and as monotherapy following disease progression after prior treatment with fluoropyrimidine, oxaliplatin, and irinotecan-containing chemotherapy.
The benefits of a Mediterranean diet are well-known when it comes to colorectal protection, but it’s hard to know specifically what elements of the diet are the healthiest. A new study presented by Fliss Isakov et al at the ESMO 19th World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer suggest that increasing consumption of fish and fruit and reducing soft drink consumption are the three most important components.
On June 29, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) allowed marketing of ClearLLab Reagents, the first agency-authorized test for use with flow cytometry to aid in the detection of several leukemias and lymphomas, including chronic leukemia, acute leukemia, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, myeloma, myelodysplastic syndrome, and myeloproliferative neoplasms.
On June 29, the European Commission approved expanding the use of ceritinib (Zykadia) to include the first-line treatment of patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose tumors are anaplastic lymphoma kinase (<em>ALK</em>)–positive.
Clinical data on an investigational immuno-oncology drug pegilodecakin in combination with FOLFOX (folinic acid, fluorouracil, and oxaliplatin) chemotherapy in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer was presented by Hecht et al at the ESMO 19th World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer.
Preliminary results from patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma enrolled in a phase I study of the investigational anti–programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) antibody BGB-A317 in advanced solid tumors were presented by Yen et al at the ESMO 19th World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer. The preliminary phase I data suggest that BGB-A317 was generally well-tolerated and exhibited preliminary evidence of antitumor activity in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.
A phase III trial has shown no significant difference in overall survival with first-line cetuximab vs bevacizumab plus chemotherapy in patients with advanced or metastatic <em>KRAS</em>wild-type colorectal cancer. These study findings were reported by Venook et al in <em>JAMA</em>.
In a prospective cohort study reported in <em>JAMA</em>, Kuchenbaecker et al derived estimates of cumulative risks for breast, ovarian, and contralateral breast cancers among women carrying <em>BRCA1</em> or <em>BRCA2</em> mutations.
An intraoperative label-free optical system was able to detect cancer cells in patients with brain tumors with a high degree of accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity in real time. The findings, reported by Jermyn et al in <em>Cancer Research</em>, suggest the potential for this technology to impact a wide range of surgical and noninvasive interventional procedures by improving cancer detection capabilities.
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) unveiled a strategic plan to eliminate the agency’s existing orphan designation request backlog and ensure continued timely response to all new requests for designation with firm deadlines.
On June 27, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) took two new, important steps to increase competition in the market for prescription drugs and facilitate entry of lower-cost alternatives. The agency published a list of off-patent, off-exclusivity branded drugs without approved generics, and also implemented, for the first time, a new policy to expedite the review of generic drug applications where competition is limited.
A simple blood test could improve treatment for more than one in six patients with stage II colon cancer—but researchers also discovered that many patients who could benefit from the test likely aren’t receiving it. These findings were published by Spindler et al in the <em>Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery</em>.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Brose et al, a prespecified analysis of the phase III double-blind SELECT trial of lenvatinib vs placebo in radioiodine-refractory differentiated thyroid cancer showed progression-free survival benefits in both older and younger lenvatinib patients.
As reported by Carbone et al in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em>, the phase III CheckMate 026 trial has shown no progression-free survival benefit for first-line nivolumab vs platinum-based chemotherapy in patients with recurrent or stage IV non–small cell lung cancer with programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression ≥ 5%.
New data from two clinical trials—ENESTfreedom and ENESTop—demonstrate that approximately half of adult patients with Philadelphia chromosome–positive chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) in the chronic phase, were able to maintain treatment-free remission after stopping treatment with nilotinib both in the first-line setting and after switching from imatinib. The studies were presented at the 2017 Congress of the European Hematology Association (EHA).
On June 26, at the Alexandria Center for Life Science, Vice President Joe Biden and Dr. Jill Biden launched the Biden Cancer Initiative, their new venture to continue the fight to make progress in cancer prevention, detection, treatment, and care.
Data from two phase I/II clinical trials evaluating ixazomib in patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma were presented at the 2017 European Hematology Association (EHA) Annual Meeting. Both studies evaluated ixazomib plus lenalidomide and dexamethasone in newly diagnosed multiple myeloma patients with who did not undergo stem cell transplant, followed by maintenance with single-agent ixazomib.
Having health insurance not only reduces the risk of death, it improves self-rated health, provides financial protection, and decreases the likelihood of depression as well, according to a study published in <em>Annals of Internal Medicine</em>by Woolhandler and Himmelstein.
A phase II trial has shown that the combination of the BRAF inhibitor dabrafenib and the MEK inhibitor trametinib produces responses in brain metastases in patients with <em>BRAF</em> V600–mutant melanoma. These findings were reported by Davies et al in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>.
Updated results from the ELIANA clinical trial demonstrated CTL019 (tisagenlecleucel) remission rates are maintained at 6 months in relapsed/refractory pediatric and young adult patients with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Results from this study of CTL019—an investigational chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy—were presented at the 2017 European Hematology Association (EHA) Annual Meeting.
Extended follow-up data demonstrated responses from nivolumab in adult patients with relapsed or progressed classical Hodgkin lymphoma after autologous stem-cell transplant, irrespective of brentuximab vedotin therapy history. Results from the phase II CheckMate-205 study reflect the longest follow-up data of a programmed death 1 inhibitor in patients with classical Hodgkin lymphoma. These data were presented by Fanale et al at the 14th International Conference on Malignant Lymphoma (ICML).
Long-term follow-up data from two subsets of the DYNAMO study—patients with follicular lymphoma or small lymphocytic lymphoma—was presented at the 22nd Congress of the European Hematology Association (EHA).
On June 23, 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved betrixaban (Bevyxxa) for the prophylaxis of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in adult patients hospitalized for an acute medical illness who are at risk for thromboembolic complications due to moderate or severe restricted mobility and other risk factors for VTE.
Although exposure to secondhand smoke among nonsmoking cancer survivors has declined from 39.6% to 15.7% over the past decade, certain sociodemographic subgroups—former smokers and those with smoking-related cancers—are disproportionally burdened. The study findings, which were published by Akinboro et al in <em>Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention</em>, highlight the need to adopt effective strategies to eliminate secondhand smoke exposure among socioeconomically disadvantaged nonsmoking cancer survivors.
The phase III ALCANZA trial has shown that brentuximab vedotin produces a higher global response rate vs physician’s choice of therapy in previously treated CD30-positive cutaneous T-cell lymphomas. These results were reported by Prince et al in <em>The Lancet</em>.
On June 22, 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted regular approvals to dabrafenib (Tafinlar) and trametinib (Mekinist) administered in combination for patients with metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with <em>BRAF</em> V600E mutation as detected by an FDA-approved test. These are the first FDA approvals specifically for treatment of patients with <em>BRAF</em> V600E mutation–positive metastatic NSCLC.
In a single-center retrospective analysis reported in the <em>Journal of Oncology Practice</em>, Wiesenthal et al found that among patients dying in a hospital, those with palliative care in place at final admission received less diagnostic testing and other services not associated with promoting patient comfort.
In the phase II BIRCH trial, atezolizumab was found to produce higher response rates as first-line or subsequent therapy in patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with higher levels of programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression. Study findings were reported by Peters et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
On June 22, 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted regular approval to the combination of rituximab and hyaluronidase human (Rituxan Hycela) for adult patients with follicular lymphoma, diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, and chronic lymphocytic leukemia. The approval provides a subcutaneous route for rituximab administration, which shortens the administration time to 5 to 7 minutes, as compared to intravenous infusion, which can take several hours.
Seattle Genetics has discontinued its phase III CASCADE clinical trial of front-line vadastuximab talirine (SGN-CD33A) in older acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients. The decision came after data indicated a higher rate of deaths, including fatal infections, in patients receiving vadastuximab talirene.
For early-stage breast cancer, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network<sup>®</sup> (NCCN<sup>®</sup>) Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology recommend standard imaging with bilateral mammography and ultrasound and, in some cases, breast magnetic resonance imaging. The NCCN Guidelines for Breast Cancer do not recommend chest computed tomography (CT) scans in patients asymptomatic for distant metastases. Regardless, many asymptomatic patients undergo chest CT. A recent study published in the <em>Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network</em> further confirmed the recommendations of the NCCN Guidelines<sup>®</sup> panel.
Nearly 1 in 2 Canadians is expected to be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime, according to a new report—Canadian Cancer Statistics 2017—released by the Canadian Cancer Society in partnership with the Public Health Agency of Canada and Statistics Canada.
There is considerable scope to develop digital resources by means of which teenagers and young adults living with cancer can receive information and connect with both professionals and fellow patients. Such tools could help them gain different perspectives on treatment and survivorship, according to results published by Abrol et al in the <em>Journal of Cancer Survivorship</em>.
Western Connecticut Health Network (WCHN) has announced the launch of a 3-year research study that will investigate the link between new-onset diabetes and pancreatic cancer. The main goal is to detect the often lethal cancer at a curable stage.
As reported by Hua et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, long-term survivors of colorectal cancer with <em>KRAS</em> wild-type tumors had improved survival with regular use of any nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) post diagnosis.
The phase III UK TACT2 trial has shown no efficacy benefit of accelerated vs standard epirubicin and a potential quality-of-life benefit of capecitabine vs CMF (cyclophosphamide, methotrexate, fluorouracil) as adjuvant therapy for breast cancer. The findings were reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by Cameron et al.
Three-year follow-up data from the phase III RAY study in patients with relapsed or refractory mantle cell lymphoma were presented at the 14th International Conference on Malignant Lymphoma (ICML) in Lugano, Switzerland. These results demonstrated that the subset of patients treated with ibrutinib at first relapse after one prior line of therapy achieved a median progression-free survival of more than 2 years.
Data from the TRANSCEND trial of JCAR017 in relapsed and refractory aggressive B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma were presented at the 2017 International Conference on Malignant Lymphoma (ICML) in Lugano, Switzerland. JCAR017 is an investigative chimeric antigen receptor T-cell product candidate that targets CD19.
An interim analysis of MAGNIFY, a phase IIIb, randomized, open-label, multicenter study of lenalidomide plus rituximab combination therapy in patients with relapsed or refractory marginal zone lymphoma, was presented at the International Conference on Malignant Lymphoma (ICML) in Lugano, Switzerland. This analysis expanded upon data presented earlier in the month at the ASCO Annual Meeting.
An updated interim analysis from an ongoing phase I/II clinical trial evaluating brentuximab vedotin and nivolumab in relapsed or refractory classical Hodgkin lymphoma was presented at the International Conference on Malignant Lymphoma (ICML) in Lugano, Switzerland.
Clinical data from an ongoing phase I clinical trial evaluating ADCT-402 for the treatment of relapsed or refractory non-Hodgkin lymphoma was presented at the 14th International Conference on Malignant Lymphoma (ICML) in Lugano, Switzerland. ADCT-402 is a novel antibody-drug conjugate composed of a humanized monoclonal antibody that binds to human CD19, conjugated to the pyrrolobenzodiazepine dimer toxin.
A phase III equivalence trial has shown comparable pathologic complete response rates with the proposed trastuzumab biosimilar CT-P6 vs reference trastuzumab in the neoadjuvant treatment of HER2-positive early breast cancer. The study was reported by Stebbing et al in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>.
On June 6, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved aminolevulinic acid hydrochloride (Gleolan) as an optical imaging agent indicated in patients with gliomas for preoperative imaging as an adjunct for the visualization of malignant tissue during surgery.
Data was recently presented from the phase III GENUINE trial of ublituximab, a novel glycoengineered anti–CD20 monoclonal antibody, in combination with ibrutinib, a Bruton tyrosine kinase inhibitor, for the treatment of high-risk chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), at the 14th International Conference on Malignant Lymphoma (ICML) in Lugano, Switzerland.
Data from the chemotherapy-free triple combination of umbralisib, an oral, next generation PI3K delta inhibitor; ublituximab, a novel glycoengineered anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody; and ibrutinib in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL)/small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL) and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) were presented at the 14th International Conference on Malignant Lymphoma (ICML) in Lugano, Switzerland.
Positive interim efficacy data from an ongoing phase II clinical trial of tazemetostat, a first-in-class, oral enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2) inhibitor, as a single-agent treatment for relapsed or refractory patients with follicular lymphoma or diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) grouped by EZH2 mutational status were presented by Morschhauser et al at the International Conference on Malignant Lymphoma (ICML).
A retrospective analysis reported in the <em>Journal of Oncology Practice</em> by Einstein et al showed the benefits of embedding palliative care in a clinic specializing in targeted and immune-based treatments in patients with melanoma or renal cancer.
In a study reported in <em>JAMA Oncology</em>, Morrow et al found that rates of surgery after initial lumpectomy for stage I or II breast cancer have decreased with dissemination of guidelines advocating a minimal negative surgical margin.
Researchers presented a preclinical study at the 2017 Annual Meeting of the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) that demonstrated the efficacy and optimal dose for targeted photodynamic therapy to treat prostate cancer before and during surgery.
Patients with neuroendocrine tumors may experience fewer symptoms and survive longer by undergoing peptide-receptor radionuclide therapy (PRRT) combined with a poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitor, said researchers at the 2017 Annual Meeting of the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI).
Simultaneous injections of two radiopharmaceuticals followed by quantitative positron-emission tomography (PET)/magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) significantly improved image quality and detection of bone metastases at a lower dose, according to research presented at the 2017 Annual Meeting of the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI).
According to a study by Olszewski et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Medicare Part D beneficiaries without a low-income subsidy may face daunting barriers in affording oral immunomodulatory drugs for myeloma.
The phase III ASCEND-5 trial has shown a significant improvement in progression-free survival with ceritinib vs chemotherapy in advanced <em>ALK</em>-rearranged non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) previously treated with crizotinib and chemotherapy. Trial results were reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by Shaw et al.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the use of daratumumab (Darzalex) in combination with pomalidomide and dexamethasone for the treatment of patients with multiple myeloma who have received at least two prior therapies including lenalidomide and a proteasome inhibitor.
A first-in-human study presented at the 2017 Annual Meeting of the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) demonstrated the feasibility and safety of imaging with the novel human monoclonal antibody HuMab-5B1, to enable highly specific targeting of cancer antigen 19-9, which is expressed on pancreatic tumors and a variety of other malignancies including small cell lung cancer and tumors of the gastrointestinal system.
Neuroendocrine tumors are are difficult to manage and unlikely to be cured, but researchers intend to slow progression of these tumors and aid survival by personalizing patient doses of peptide receptor radionuclide therapy (PRRT), according to research presented at the 2017 Annual Meeting of the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI).
Prostate-specific molecular imaging can help to clinically manage the disease much more efficiently, especially if the cancer returns, according to research revealed at the 2017 Annual Meeting of the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI).
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Shah et al, the phase IIIB HELOISE trial has shown no survival benefit of high-dose vs standard trastuzumab maintenance plus chemotherapy in the first-line treatment of metastatic gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma.
Programmed cell death ligand 2 (PD-L2) expression was independently associated with improved clinical outcomes in pembrolizumab-treated patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma and may be partly related to blockade of PD-L1/PD-L2 interactions. These findings by Yearley et al, which were published in <em>Clinical Cancer Research</em>, suggest that targeting both ligands may provide clinical benefit in these patients.
Cancer<em>Care</em> has announced the establishment of the Cancer<em>Care</em> Patient Values Initiative, a multipronged effort with an aim to reframe the national health-care policy dialogue so that it includes what is important to patients and their families. As the first step of this project, Cancer<em>Care</em> has released a white paper titled, “The Many Voices of Value: A CancerCare Focus Group Assessment.” These initial research findings support the hypothesis that resources are needed to help patients articulate and providers solicit and understand patient priorities and preferences during treatment decision-making—before treatment begins.
The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) has issued a new clinical guideline for the use of stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) in early-stage lung cancer. While SBRT is the current standard of care for peripherally located tumors in patients who cannot undergo surgery, the new guideline addresses the appropriateness of SBRT for medically inoperable patients with high-risk clinical scenarios requiring curative focused therapy. The guideline also reviews the role of SBRT for centrally located tumors because of their unique risks compared to peripheral tumors. The guideline was published by Videtic et al in <em>Practical Radiation Oncology</em>.
A Dutch study has shown long-lasting risk for human papillomavirus (HPV)-related carcinoma and premalignancies in women with a diagnosis of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 3 (CIN3). The findings were reported by Ebisch et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
In the phase III BELLE-2 trial, the addition of the PI3K inhibitor buparlisib to fulvestrant improved progression-free survival in postmenopausal hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative advanced breast cancer—but at the cost of excessive toxicity. These results were reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by Baselga et al.
Vital Options International has compiled tips for patients to manage their cancer care and treatment into a short eBook called <em>The Cancer Concierge</em>, available at www.thecancerconcierge.org.
The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) has published its first set of consensus screening recommendations for children with common cancer predisposition syndromes in <em>Clinical Cancer Research</em>. These recommendations emerged from the Childhood Cancer Predisposition Workshop held by the AACR Pediatric Cancer Working Group in October 2016.
As reported by Le et al in <em>Science</em>, pembrolizumab was found to be active across a range of solid tumors with mismatch-repair deficiency.
As reported by Petty et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, analysis of outcomes in the UK phase III Cancer Esophagus Gefitinib trial showed an overall survival benefit with second-line gefitinib in patients with advanced esophageal cancer who had epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) copy number gain on fluorescent in situ hybridization.
In the phase III MONARCH 2 trial reported at the recent ASCO Annual Meeting and in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Sledge et al, the addition of abemaciclib to fulvestrant improved progression-free survival in patients with hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative advanced breast cancer progressing on prior endocrine therapy.
Physicians gathering at the Annual Meeting of the American Medical Association (AMA) elected Barbara L. McAneny, MD, an oncologist from Albuquerque, New Mexico, as the new President-Elect of physicians' organization.
The first analysis of nearly 19,000 de-identified genomic records from the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) international data-sharing initiative known as AACR Project Genomics Evidence Neoplasia Information Exchange (GENIE) was recently published in <em>Cancer Discovery</em>.
For an investment of $125 for each year of life gained since the 1950s, the National Cancer Institute-funded SWOG clinical trials program has added 3.34 million years of life for patients with cancer in the United States because of successful therapies that were proved through its trials, according to results published by Unger et al in <em>JAMA Oncology</em> and presented at the 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting.
As reported by Heist et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, the antibody-drug conjugate sacituzumab govitecan showed activity in patients with previously treated metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
The phase III MSLT-II trial showed that completion dissection was not associated with improved melanoma-specific overall survival vs observation in patients with sentinel node metastasis, although a benefit was observed in regional disease control. The findings were reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em> by Faries et al.
At the 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting, results were presented from the phase II I-SPY 2 trial investigating pembrolizumab in combination with standard therapy (paclitaxel followed by doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide) as a neoadjuvant treatment for patients with locally advanced triple-negative breast cancer or hormone receptor–positive/HER2-negative breast cancer.
On June 8,the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requested that Endo Pharmaceuticals remove its opioid pain medication, reformulated oxymorphone hydrochloride (Opana ER), from the market. After careful consideration, the agency is seeking removal based on its concern that the benefits of the drug may no longer outweigh its risks. This is the first time the agency has taken steps to remove a currently marketed opioid pain medication from sale due to the public health consequences of abuse.
Combining the kinase inhibitor ibrutinib with an investigational personalized cellular therapy known as CTL119 can lead to complete remission in patients with high-risk chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), according to new research presented by Gill et al at the 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting.
ASCO President <strong>Bruce E. Johnson, MD, FASCO</strong>, released a statement today on the announcement of Dr. Collins’ continued service as the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
As reported at the recent ASCO Annual Meeting and in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em> by Peters et al, the phase III ALEX trial has shown improvement in progression-free survival with alectinib vs crizotinib in the first-line treatment of advanced <em>ALK</em>-positive non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
The blend of bacteria in the digestive tract of metastatic melanoma patients is associated with disease progression or delay in patients treated with immunotherapy, reported Wargo et al at the 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting.
On June 2, the European Commission approved nivolumab for the treatment of locally advanced unresectable or metastatic urothelial carcinoma in adults after failure of prior platinum-containing therapy.
By adding an experimental drug to a standard chemotherapy regimen, a subset of patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer had a significantly longer period before the cancer progressed as compared with those who received the standard treatment, according to a phase II clinical trial presented by Hingorani et al at the 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting.
Being transparent about the cost of cancer treatments with patients has been increasingly recommended to help minimize financial harm and improve care, but what's preventing or derailing those conversations is less understood. New findings identified several barriers and key facilitators that may help providers foster more successful discussions with their patients. The study was presented by Aakhus et al at the 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting.
Among patients with cancer, as many as 53% of emergency department visits that do not require admission could be avoided with better symptom management and greater availability of outpatient care tailored to their needs, according to a new study presented by Panattoni et al at the 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting.
Younger patients with colon cancer appear to have more than three times as many mutations in their tumors as older patients, which could lead to more effective treatment decisions. In a new study, researchers found that tumor mutation load, as well as gene mutations that play an important role in DNA repair, were more predominant in the younger patients. Their findings were presented by Weinberg et al at the 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting.
ASCO’s Targeted Agent and Profiling Utilization Registry (TAPUR) Study continues to expand, and now has more than 300 participants enrolled on study drug, more than 100 sites, new partnerships, and a revised protocol to lower the age of eligibility.
A retrospective biomarker analysis of the phase III GOG-0218 trial indicated a higher tumor microvessel density was associated with a survival benefit with bevacizumab vs placebo plus front-line chemotherapy in patients with ovarian cancer. These findings were reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute</em> by Bais et al.
A randomized phase II trial has resulted in the selection of dinutuximab plus irinotecan/temozolomide as a regimen to be further evaluated in the treatment of pediatric patients with refractory or relapsed neuroblastoma. These study results were reported by Mody et al in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>.
Combined testing for urinary <em>PCA3</em> and <em>TMPRSS2:ERG (T2:ERG)</em> RNA may increase accuracy in identifying the risk for aggressive early prostate cancer, according to a study reported in <em>JAMA Oncology</em> by Sanda et al.
In a single-site experience reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by Shaverdian et al, patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in the phase I KEYNOTE-001 trial of pembrolizumab were found to have better outcomes if they had received prior radiotherapy.
Findings from a phase III clinical trial point to a potential new treatment for patients newly diagnosed with advanced, epidermal growth factor receptor (<em>EGFR</em>)-positive non–small cell lung cancer. Compared to the EGFR inhibitor gefitinib, one of the standard targeted medicines for this disease, the second-generation EGFR inhibitor dacomitinib delayed cancer growth by a median of 5.5 months more. The study was reported by Mok et al at the 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting.
Malignant pleural mesothelioma is a rare cancer, but its incidence has been rising. There are currently no effective therapeutic options for patients with this disease. According to early findings from an ongoing phase II clinical trial in France, reported by Scherpereel et al at the 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting, immunotherapy may slow the growth of malignant pleural mesothelioma after relapse.
As reported in the Plenary Session at the 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting and in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em> by Robson et al, the phase III OlympiAD trial showed that olaparib prolonged progression-free survival vs standard therapy in patients with HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer with a germline <em>BRCA</em>mutation.
As reported in the Plenary Session at the 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting and in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em> by Fizazi et al, the phase III LATITUDE trial has shown that the addition of abiraterone acetate and prednisone to androgen-deprivation therapy resulted in marked improvements in overall and progression-free survival in patients with newly diagnosed castration-sensitive metastatic prostate cancer.
In an early clinical trial, 33 (94%) of 35 patients had clinical remission of multiple myeloma upon receiving immunotherapy with chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells targeting B-cell maturation protein. Most patients had only mild side effects. The study was presented by Fan et al today at the 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting.
Findings from a phase III clinical trial point to a more effective initial treatment for patients with <em>ALK</em>-positive non–small cell lung cancer. Compared to the current standard of care, crizotinib, the newer ALK inhibitor alectinib halted cancer growth for a median of 15 months longer and caused fewer severe side effects. The study was presented today by Shaw et al.
A phase III clinical trial of 4,805 women with HER2-positive breast cancer suggests the addition of a second HER2-targeted medicine, pertuzumab, to standard-of-care trastuzumab after surgery may improve outcomes, although the benefit is modest. The study was presented by von Minckwitz et al today.
After surgery for lymph node–positive colon cancer (stage III), some patients may need only half of the long-standing standard course of chemotherapy. In an analysis of 6 clinical trials with over 12,800 patients, 3 months of chemotherapy was nearly as effective as 6 months in patients with relatively lower recurrence risk and caused fewer side effects, particularly nerve damage. These data were presented by Grothey et al during the Plenary Session at the 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting.
A randomized clinical trial of 766 patients shows that a simple intervention—a Web-based tool that enables patients to report their symptoms in real time, triggering alerts to clinicians—can have major benefits, including longer survival. Patients with metastatic cancer who used the tool to regularly report symptoms while receiving chemotherapy lived a median of 5 months longer than those who did not use the tool. These findings were presented today by Basch et al during ASCO’s Plenary Session.
Findings from a phase III clinical trial of about 300 women may introduce poly ADP-ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitors as a new type of treatment for breast cancer. Compared to standard chemotherapy, the oral targeted medicine olaparib reduced the chance of progression of advanced, <em>BRCA</em>-related breast cancer by 42%, delaying progression by approximately 3 months. These data were presented by Robson et al today during the Plenary Session at the 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting.
Scientists may have developed the first targeted, oral, tumor-type agnostic therapy—an agent that works comparably well across many kinds of cancer, regardless of patient age. In clinical trials of adults and children with 17 different types of advanced cancer, larotrectinib treatment resulted in responses in 76% of patients, with 79% of responses ongoing 12 months after starting treatment. The study was presented by Hyman et al today.
A study in France of 1,944 patients with advanced cancer suggests that widespread, routine genomic testing is feasible, although at this time, it may offer clinical benefit to only a subset of patients. The results were presented today by Tredan et al.
In a study presented today by Razavi et al, in patients with advanced breast, lung, and prostate cancers, a new high-intensity genomic sequencing approach detected circulating tumor DNA at a high rate. In 89% of patients, at least one genetic change detected in the tumor was also detected in the blood. Overall, 627 (73%) genetic changes found in tumor samples were also found in blood samples with this approach.
Findings from a retrospective study of 1,200 women provide reassurance to breast cancer survivors who are contemplating pregnancy. In the study—presented today by Lambertini et al—women who became pregnant after an early breast cancer diagnosis, including those with estrogen receptor–positive tumors, did not have a higher chance of cancer recurrence and death than those who did not become pregnant.
Adding abiraterone acetate plus prednisone to standard hormonal therapy for men newly diagnosed with high-risk, metastatic prostate cancer lowers the chance of death by 38%. In the phase III LATITUDE trial of 1,200 men presented by Fizazi et al today, abiraterone also more than doubled the median time until the cancer worsened, from 14.8 months to 33 months.
The STAMPEDE clinical trial of nearly 2,000 men shows that adding abiraterone acetate to a standard initial treatment regimen for high-risk, advanced prostate cancer lowers the relative risk of death by 37%. The 3-year survival rate was 76% with standard therapy alone vs 83% with standard therapy plus abiraterone. These findings were presented today by James et al.
Most patients experience significant distress after they are diagnosed with cancer. This distress not only erodes quality of life, but can also negatively affect the course of the disease and the patient’s ability to tolerate treatment. Yet few patients with cancer receive psychological support. A prospective study shows that a Web-based stress management program may relieve distress and markedly improve quality of life for patients. The study was presented today by Hess et al at the 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting.
Spinal cord compression is a common complication in people with metastatic cancer and is a major detriment to quality of life. Radiation treatment is widely used to relieve pain and other symptoms, but there is no standard recommended schedule, and approaches currently vary. Findings from a phase III clinical trial show that a single radiation treatment may be as effective as a full week of radiation therapy. The study was presented today by Hoskin et al at the 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting.
In a large study, 38% of 491 testicular cancer survivors had low testosterone levels. Compared with survivors with normal testosterone levels, survivors with low testosterone levels were more likely to have a range of chronic health problems, including high blood pressure, diabetes, erectile dysfunction, and anxiety or depression. The study was presented today by Zaid et al at the 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting.
In a phase II randomized clinical trial, a psychological intervention called Conquer Fear substantially reduced the fear of recurrence in young breast cancer survivors immediately after the intervention as well as 3 and 6 months later. General anxiety, cancer-specific distress, and quality of life were better in the psychological intervention group immediately after therapy. The study was presented today by Beith et al at the 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting.
Treatments for childhood cancer are often intense and carry the risk of lifelong health problems for survivors. An analysis of 23,600 childhood cancer survivors in the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study found that the rate of severe health problems occurring 5 or more years after diagnosis declined over time. The study was presented by Gibson et al today at the 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting.
Most cancer centers lack systematic approaches to help patients and families manage the practical and emotional toll of advanced cancer. Findings from a randomized clinical trial of 305 patients with advanced cancer suggest that a brief psychological intervention, called Managing Cancer And Living Meaningfully (CALM), could help fill this need. The study was presented today by Rodin et al at the 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting.
CancerLinQ®, ASCO’s big data initiative to rapidly improve the quality of cancer care, is partnering with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to study the real-world use of newly approved cancer treatments and speed and strengthen the collection of national cancer surveillance data to improve patient care. The announcement was made at the 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting in Chicago.
As reported by Pemmaraju et al in the <em>Journal of Oncology Practice</em>, use of Twitter at the ASCO Annual Meeting has increased dramatically between 2011 and 2016.
A lung cancer diagnosis appears to put patients at the greatest risk of suicide when compared to the most common types of nonskin cancers, according to new research presented at the 2017 American Thoracic Society (ATS) International Conference.
A pooled analysis of three Spanish studies has shown that minimum residual disease (MRD)-negative status after induction therapy is more prognostic of favorable outcome than complete response alone in newly diagnosed multiple myeloma. The findings were reported by Lahuerta et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
A Japanese phase III trial has shown improved progression-free survival with alectinib vs crizotinib in ALK inhibitor–naive patients with <em>ALK</em>-positive non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Study results were reported by Hida et al in <em>The Lancet</em>.
In a clinical feasibility trial conducted at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, image-guided biopsies identified select breast cancer patients who achieved pathologic complete response after neoadjuvant systemic therapy consisting of chemotherapy and/or targeted therapy. The results of this trial are now updated with new data and published by Kuerer et al in <em>Annals of Surgery</em>.
In a study of three radiation therapies for early-stage breast cancer, one treatment option stands out as offering the most value based on factors including health outcomes, cost-effectiveness, and quality of life. The treatment—hypofractionated whole-breast irradiation—also requires fewer patient visits. The study findings were published by Deshmukh et al in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute</em>.
As reported by Visscher et al in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute</em>, changes in the histologic category between initial and subsequent biopsies had a significant effect on the risk for breast cancer among women with serial benign biopsy findings.
Luminal B prostate cancers carry a worse overall prognosis than luminal A and basal-like cancers, but luminal B tumors respond better to postoperative androgen-deprivation therapy, according to a study reported by Zhao et al in <em>JAMA Oncology</em>.
Pembrolizumab showed activity in previously treated patients with advanced programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1)–positive endometrial cancer in a cohort of the phase Ib KEYNOTE-028 study. These findings were reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Ott et al.
On May 26, 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted regular approval to ceritinib (Zykadia) for patients with metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose tumors are anaplastic lymphoma kinase (<em>ALK</em>)-positive as detected by an FDA-approved test.
The final overall survival results of the phase III TH3RESA trial indicate a 32% reduction in the risk of death with ado-trastuzumab emtansine vs treatment of physician’s choice in patients with previously treated HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer. The findings were reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by Krop et al.
A new survey finds that doctors would refer more patients with incurable blood cancers to hospice for end-of-life care if they could receive transfusions, which are generally not available because of hospice reimbursement policies. The findings, published by Odejide et al in <em>Cancer</em>, help explain why patients with leukemia, lymphoma, and other hematologic malignancies are less likely to receive hospice care at the end of life than are patients with solid tumors.
Draft recommendations as part of a focused update to the ASCO/College of American Pathologists (CAP) evidence-based guideline for human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) testing in breast cancer are now open for public comment through June 12, 2017.
Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University is mourning the loss of an esteemed colleague: <strong>H. Jean Khoury, MD, FACP</strong>.
As reported by Jones et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, <em>BRAF</em> mutations occurring outside of codon 600 are found in a small proportion of cases of metastatic colorectal cancer and are associated with improved clinical outcome.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Irwin et al, Tai Chi Chih, a form of movement meditation, was noninferior to insomnia-specific cognitive behavioral therapy in improving insomnia in breast cancer survivors.
On May 23, President Trump presented the White House’s fiscal year 2018 budget request. Various oncology and medical societies spoke out against the proposed budget.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted for review a supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) for pembrolizumab (Keytruda) seeking approval for treatment of patients with recurrent or advanced gastric or gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) adenocarcinoma who have already received two or more lines of chemotherapy.
In a UK study reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>, Allgood et al found that provision of a second timed appointment for breast cancer screening improved screening rates among women who did not attend a first offered appointment.
As thyroid cancer rates rise, more patients are having surgery to remove all or part of their thyroid. A new study by Papaleontiou et al in <em>The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism</em> suggests complications from these procedures are more common than previously believed.
As reported by Hyman et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, a basket study has shown activity of an investigational ATP-competitive pan-AKT kinase inhibitor (AZD5363) in solid tumors with <em>AKT1</em>E17K mutation.
On May 23, 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to pembrolizumab for adult and pediatric patients with unresectable or metastatic, microsatellite instability–high (MSI-H) or mismatch repair deficient (dMMR) solid tumors that have progressed following prior treatment and who have no satisfactory alternative treatment options or with MSI-H or dMMR colorectal cancer that has progressed following treatment with a fluoropyrimidine, oxaliplatin, and irinotecan.
About one in five cancer diagnoses in the United States is a rare cancer, according to new research from the American Cancer Society. The report, published by DeSantis et al in <em>CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians</em>, found rare cancers account for more than two in three cancers occurring in children and adolescents. The authors say the proportion of rare cancers is likely to grow as the use of molecular markers to classify cancers increases.
The FDA Drug Information Soundcast in Clinical Oncology (DISCO) is a new podcast series from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Oncology Center of Excellence (OCE), covering new product approvals, emerging safety information for cancer treatments, and other current topics in cancer drug development.
The risk for interval colorectal cancer—cancer that develops after a negative colonoscopy result but before the next recommended screening—appears to vary by race or ethnicity, according to a population-based cohort study by Fedewa et al reported in <em>Annals of Internal Medicine</em>. They found that black patients face a 31% higher risk for the cancer than white patients.
In an analysis reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Landsburg et al found no significant benefit of consolidative autologous stem cell transplantation in patients with double-hit lymphoma after first complete remission.
A consensus statement from a National Cancer Institute–sponsored clinical trials planning meeting, reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Park et al, presents revisions to the International Neuroblastoma Response Criteria for assessing treatment response in patients with neuroblastoma.
A focus group study found that 95% of patients surveyed felt they benefited from exercise during treatment, but only 3 of 20 patients recalled being instructed to exercise. Moreover, while all practitioners noted that exercise benefits many though not all patients, only 1 of 9 surveyed documented discussion of exercise in patient charts. These findings were published by Smaradottir et al in the <em>Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network</em>.
A study published by Pollack et al in the journal <em>Cancer</em> suggests how both existing and emerging immunotherapies could be successful in treating sarcomas.
There is a higher prevalence of chronic health conditions among cancer survivors vs people without a history of cancer, and the presence of chronic conditions is associated with greater annual medical expenditures in cancer survivors. These findings were reported by Guy et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
New criteria for evaluating response in lymphoma clinical trials—RECIL 2017—have been developed by an International Working Group with the aim of harmonizing criteria with the Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors. The new criteria were reported by Younes et al in Annals of Oncology.
Approximately 155,000 women are living with metastatic breast cancer in the United States, according to a study by Mariotto et al published in <em>Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention</em>. In addition, more than 11% of women diagnosed between 2000 and 2004 younger than age 64 have survived 10 years or more.
Active surveillance in men under 60, use of telemedicine in the management of prostate cancer, and physicians' personal prostate cancer screening preferences were all highlighted at the 2017 Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Urological Association (AUA).
Alcohol intake was associated with an increased risk of breast cancer in a large study of African American women, indicating that they, like white women, may benefit from limiting their alcohol consumption, according to results of a study published by Williams et al in <em>Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention</em>.
New phase III study results of blue light flexible cystoscopy with an optical imaging agent were presented by Daneshmand et al during a late-breaking plenary session at the 2017 American Urological Association (AUA) Annual Meeting.
A Dutch study has shown that blended cognitive behavioral therapy—mixing face-to-face and online sessions—reduced the fear of recurrence among survivors of breast, prostate, and colorectal cancers. These results were reported by van de Wal et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
The phase III SELECT-1 trial has shown no improvement in progression-free survival with the addition of the MEK inhibitor selumetinib to docetaxel in the second-line treatment of <em>KRAS</em>-mutant non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Trial results were reported by Jänne et al in <em>JAMA</em>.
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted regular approval to pembrolizumab (Keytruda) for patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma who have disease progression during or following platinum-containing chemotherapy or within 12 months of neoadjuvant or adjuvant treatment with platinum-containing chemotherapy. The FDA also granted accelerated approval to pembrolizumab for patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma who are not eligible for cisplatin-containing chemotherapy.
New results presented at the 2017 American Urological Association (AUA) Annual Meeting from a large, community-based, multicenter clinical validation study showed that the Oncotype DX Genomic Prostate Score test is a strong independent predictor of prostate cancer–specific death and disease progression at 10 years in men with localized prostate cancer.
Data presented at the 2017 Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Urological Association (AUA) showed harmful links between the use of e-cigarettes and bladder cancer risk, and associated the smoking of traditional cigarettes to a higher risk of mortality among patients with bladder cancer.
Data presented at the 2017 Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Urological Association (AUA) showed new findings related to the impact of certain genetic mutations on the risk and development of prostate cancer, in particular metastatic disease.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Lee et al, a phase I study has shown activity of the combination of the programmed cell death ligand 1 inhibitor durvalumab with either the PARP inhibitor olaparib or vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 1-3 inhibitor cediranib in recurrent women’s cancers.
Review of lymphoma diagnoses in French patients resulted in a change in diagnosis in 19.4% of cases of noncutaneous disease, according to a report in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Laurent et al.
As reported by Kim et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, the phase II ALTA trial showed that the next-generation oral ALK inhibitor brigatinib produced a high response rate, including intracranial responses, in patients with advanced crizotinib-refractory non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
An observational study of 826 patients with stage III colon cancer showed that those who consumed 2 ounces or more of nuts per week had a 42% lower chance of cancer recurrence and 57% lower chance of death than those who did not eat nuts. A secondary analysis revealed the benefit of nut consumption was limited to tree nuts—including almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts, cashews, and pecans, among others. These findings will be presented by Fadelu at the upcoming 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting.
In one of the first large studies to explore the possible impact of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination on oral HPV infections, researchers found it may confer a high degree of protection. But researchers reported that HPV vaccination rates remain low, especially among males, which limits population-level benefits of the vaccine in the United States. The study will be presented by Gillison et al at the upcoming 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting.
The targeted therapy gefitinib appears more effective in preventing recurrence after lung cancer surgery than the standard of care, chemotherapy. In a phase III clinical trial, patients with epidermal growth factor receptor–positive, stage II to IIIA non–small cell lung cancer who received gefitinib had a disease-free survival period about 10 months longer than patients who received chemotherapy. The study will be presented by Wu et al at the upcoming 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting.
A study of 992 patients with stage III colon cancer found that those who reported a healthy lifestyle during and following adjuvant treatment had a 42% lower chance of death and a trend for lower chance of cancer recurrence than those who had less healthy lifestyles. The study will be presented by Van Blarigan et al at the upcoming 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting.
An analysis of nearly 273,000 patients showed that between 2013 and 2014, there was a 1% increase in the percentage of breast, lung, and colorectal cancers diagnosed at the earliest, most treatable stage. Following full implementation of the Affordable Care Act, this study is the first to explore changes in the proportion of cancers—those that can be detected through screening— diagnosed at stage I. The findings will be presented by Han et al at the upcoming 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting.
A phase III randomized clinical trial in 447 patients with biliary tract cancers showed that treating the disease with capecitabine after surgery extends survival by a median of 15 months compared to surgery alone. The study will be presented by Primrose et al at the upcoming 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting.
To help address problematic prescription drug use, Health Canada and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research provided McMaster University funding to update the <em>Canadian Guideline for Safe and Effective Use of Opioids for Chronic Non-Cancer Pain</em> and associated training tools for prescribers.
Researchers at Seattle Children’s have opened a first-in-human clinical trial aimed at reducing the rate of relapse after T-cell immunotherapy, which is about 50%. The new phase I pilot study, PLAT-03, will examine the feasibility and safety of administering a second T-cell product intended to increase the long-term persistence of the patient's chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cells.
A UK retrospective study showed that colonoscopic surveillance was associated with a reduced risk of colorectal cancer among patients with removal of intermediate-risk adenomas. The study was reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by Atkin et al.
A final efficacy analysis of the Intergroup Exemestane Study, reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Morden et al, shows continued benefit of switching to adjuvant exemestane after 2 to 3 years of tamoxifen in patients with early breast cancer.
A phase I study reported by Burris et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> has shown that the first-in-class agonist anti-CD27 antibody varlilumab is well tolerated and active in patients with advanced solid tumors.
Yale Cancer Center researchers compared treatment patterns among patients treated with hypofractionated radiotherapy vs conventionally fractionated radiotherapy for early-stage glottic cancer using a large national database. Their findings were published by Bledsoe et al in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute</em>.
The risk of colorectal cancer increased significantly when colonoscopy was delayed by more than 9 months following a positive fecal screening test, according to a large Kaiser Permanente study published by Rutter et al in the <em>Journal of the American Medical Association</em>.
In a phase II trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Khan et al found that hypofractionated postmastectomy radiotherapy, completed in 15 treatment days, was safe and effective in women with stage II to IIIa breast cancer.
Hanna et al have reported that the 2013 update to the 2007 ASCO/College of American Pathologists (CAP) recommendations for HER2 testing in breast cancer did not result in changes in the overall HER2-positivity rate but was associated with a higher rate of equivocal results. Their findings were reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
In a phase III trial, use of a dose-reduced vs a standard myeloablative conditioning regimen prior to allogeneic stem cell transplantation (ASCT) did not appear to reduce 2-year relapse-free or overall survival in patients with myelodysplastic syndrome. These findings were reported by Kröger et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
On May 8, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the ribociclib (Kisqali)/letrozole (Femara) co-pack for the treatment of hormone receptor–positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2–negative advanced or metastatic breast cancer in postmenopausal women.
If vincristine is mistakenly administered into the spinal fluid, it is uniformly fatal, causing ascending paralysis, neurologic defects, and eventually, death. This mistake, however, is almost completely avoidable with one small administration change—instead of “pushing” intravenous (IV) vinca alkaloids via syringe, experts now call for these agents to be diluted into mini-IV drip bags. During the Oncology Nursing Society (ONS) 42nd Annual Congress, Olsen et al presented results of a center-wide effort to administer vincristine via mini-IV drip bags.
ASCO has released findings from a collaboration with the National Cancer Institute (NCI) that explored centralizing the development of coverage analyses for multisite cancer clinical trials. The ASCO special article was published by Szczepanek et al in the <em>Journal of Oncology Practice</em>.
ASCO and the oncology community are deeply saddened by the loss of <strong>Robert L. Comis, MD, FASCO</strong>, who passed away on May 10, 2017, at the age of 71.
In a study of 2012 data, Tai et al, of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, estimated that average costs per hospital stay for cancer-related neutropenia or fever were approximately $25,000, with a total cost of more than $2.7 billion. Their study was published in the <em>Journal of Oncology Practice</em>.
The phase III PHEREXA trial has shown no significant improvement in progression-free survival with the addition of pertuzumab to trastuzumab/capecitabine in patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer with disease progression after trastuzumab-based treatment who had received prior taxane therapy. These study findings were reported by Urruticoechea et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
On May 10, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved pembrolizumab (Keytruda), an anti–programmed cell death protein 1 therapy, in combination with pemetrexed and carboplatin for the first-line treatment of metastatic nonsquamous non–small cell lung cancer, irrespective of programmed death-ligand 1 expression.
Radiotherapy at a high enough dose may increase survival in early-stage pancreatic cancer, according to research presented at the ESTRO 36 Conference. Previous research has suggested that radiotherapy may be of little help to patients with pancreatic cancer, but new research indicates that it may have a role to play.
Treating prostate cancer with a single, high dose of radiation delivered precisely to the site of the tumor results in good quality of life and fewer trips to the hospital, with adverse side effects that are no worse than if the radiation treatment had been given in several lower doses. These findings were presented at the European Society for Radiotherapy & Oncology (ESTRO) 36 Conference.
At the European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology (ESTRO) 36 Conference, leaders of ESTRO announced plans for The Global Impact of Radiation in Oncology (GIRO) partnership, a program with a goal to tackle the global problem of access to radiotherapy and aiming to save one million lives by 2035.
Around half of women who have been treated for locally advanced cervical cancer suffer from symptoms of insomnia, fatigue, or hot flashes at some point, according to new research presented at the European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology (ESTRO) 36 Conference.
An update to the 2012 International Pediatric Fever and Neutropenia Guideline Panel recommendations for management of fever and neutropenia in children with cancer and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) recipients was reported by Lehrnbecher et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
As reported in <em>JAMA</em>, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) has recommended against thyroid cancer screening in asymptomatic individuals. The current USPSTF statement is an update of a 1996 USPSTF recommendation statement.
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to avelumab (Bavencio) for patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma whose disease progressed during or following platinum-containing chemotherapy or within 12 months of neoadjuvant or adjuvant platinum-containing chemotherapy.
Detection of <em>EGFR</em> mutations in circulating tumor (ct) DNA from plasma samples can be accomplished using the cobas platform, according to findings presented by Kumar et al at the 2017 European Lung Cancer Conference. Assays of ctDNA offer a noninvasive method of finding <em>EGFR</em> mutations that can guide the clinical decision to offer EGFR inhibitor treatment to a patient with non–small cell lung cancer.
An investigation of immune cell subtypes in the tumor microenvironment of patients with lung adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma identified an immune subgroup that associates with prolonged patient survival and may be prognostic of response to nivolumab, according to findings presented by Mazzaschi et al at the 2017 European Lung Cancer Conference.
Ensartinib demonstrated intracranial responses in patients with anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)–positive non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and central nervous system (CNS) metastases, according to findings presented by Reckamp et al at the 2017 European Lung Cancer Conference.
Validation using patient data of an outcome prediction model for the development of dyspnea subsequent to radiotherapy revealed that the prognostic factors in the model did not adequately predict for delta toxicity endpoints, according to results reported by Defraene et al at the 2017 European Lung Cancer Conference.
In a pooled analysis of four trials of platinum adjuvant therapy vs observation in resected early-stage non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), Shepherd et al found no prognostic effect of <em>KRAS</em> or <em>EGFR</em> with <em>TP53</em> comutation but a potential negative predictive effect for adjuvant therapy with <em>TP53</em> and </em>KRAS</em> comutation. These findings were reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
The final, 10-year follow-up of the ‘all comers’ tAnGo trial, reported by Earl et al in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>, continued to show no overall benefit of adding gemcitabine to adjuvant therapy in women with early-stage breast cancer.
A late-breaking subanalysis of the phase III CONVERT trial presented by Gomes et al at the 2017 European Lung Cancer Conference shows that white blood cell–boosting drugs are safe during concurrent chemoradiotherapy of small cell lung cancer.
Some patients with advanced lung cancer benefit from immunotherapy, even after the disease has progressed as evaluated by standard criteria, according to research presented by Artal-Cortes et al at the 2017 European Lung Cancer Conference.
Osimertinib improved cancer-related symptoms in patients with advanced lung cancer, according to an analysis of patient-reported outcomes from the AURA3 phase III clinical trial presented by Lee et al at the 2017 European Lung Cancer Conference.
White blood cell counts may predict whether patients with lung cancer will benefit from immunotherapy, according to research presented by Tiseo et al at the 2017 European Lung Cancer Conference.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Chen et al, the phase II KEYNOTE-087 trial has shown that the programmed cell death protein 1–inhibitor pembrolizumab is highly active in patients with relapsed or refractory classical Hodgkin lymphoma.
Skinner et al have found that programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) is significantly associated with locoregional failure after radiation therapy in patients with human papillomavirus–negative head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. These findings, which support incorporating immune checkpoint blockade and radiation to affect tumor radiosensitization and immune response, were published in <em>Clinical Cancer Research</em>.
Findings comparing the mutational landscape in pregnant and nonpregnant patients with breast cancer that sought to define whether the disease may have a different biology in pregnant women were reported by Loibl et al at the 2017 IMPAKT Breast Cancer Conference.
Baseline levels of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes in pretreatment biopsies from patients with HER2-positive breast cancer are significantly associated with pathologic complete response rates following neoadjuvant chemotherapy plus anti-HER2 agents, according to findings presented by Solinas et al at the 2017 IMPAKT Breast Cancer Conference.
Researchers have identified a subtype of triple-negative breast cancer that may be responsive to cyclin-dependent kinases 4 and 6 (CDK4/6) inhibition, according to findings presented by Asghar et al at the 2017 IMPAKT Breast Cancer Conference.
This year, the World Health Organization (WHO) will launch a pilot project for prequalifying biosimilar medicines, a step toward making some of the most expensive treatments for cancer more widely available in low- and middle-income countries.
As reported by Virgo et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, ASCO has issued a provisional clinical opinion on second-line hormonal therapy for men with chemotherapy-naive castration-resistant prostate cancer.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Kurian et al, surveys in a population-based sample of patients recently diagnosed with breast cancer indicate that many undergo genetic risk testing without seeing a genetics counselor and that many with <em>BRCA1/2</em>variants of uncertain significance or no mutations undergo bilateral mastectomy.
American Medical Association (AMA) President <strong>Andrew W. Gurman, MD</strong>, released the following statement today after the U.S. House of Representatives passed the American Health Care Act.
Research presented during the 2017 American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) Annual Scientific Meeting aimed to characterize seizure control rates in patients undergoing insular tumor resection, identify predictors of seizure control, and evaluate the association between seizure recurrence and tumor progression.
In a recent lecture presented during the 2017 American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) Annual Scientific Meeting, researchers aimed to understand the genetic underpinnings and natural history of desmoplastic infantile ganglioglioma/astrocytoma, rare malignancies typically found in young children.
Spanish-speaking patients with cancer have new tools to help them understand treatment options for their disease. The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) has released a series of Spanish-language patient videos on radiation therapy for cancer, including breast, prostate, lung, brain, and other common cancer types.
According to a study reported by Hamada et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, postdiagnosis aspirin use was associated with improved survival vs nonuse among patients with colorectal cancer who have lower, but not higher, tumor levels of CD274 (programmed cell death 1 ligand 1; PD-L1).
In a phase III trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>, Coleman et al found evidence of an overall survival advantage with the addition of bevacizumab to paclitaxel-carboplatin in recurrent platinum-sensitive ovarian cancer.
Jamal-Hanjani et al found that early-stage non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) tumors were characterized by widespread intratumor genomic heterogeneity and that increased subclonal copy-number alterations in this context were associated with poorer disease outcome, according to a study reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em>.
In an article in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Sasse et al reported long-term follow-up of German Hodgkin Study Group trials in early-stage favorable and unfavorable Hodgkin lymphoma.
Men may need more frequent lung cancer screening than women, according to research to be presented by Koo et al at the 2017 European Lung Cancer Conference.
Babies born to mothers who underwent fertility treatments may be at increased risk of developing types of pediatric malignancies and neoplasms, according to a study published by Wainstock et al in the <em>American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology</em>.
A study by Pailler et al, evaluating whether circulating tumor cells with aberrant <em>ALK</em>–fluorescence in situ hybridization patterns monitored on crizotinib could predict progression-free survival in patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with <em>ALK</em> gene alterations, has found that the analysis could identify a predictive biomarker of therapeutic efficacy. The study’s results were published in <em>Cancer Research</em>.
On May 1, Congress announced a bipartisan 2017 budget deal that contains a $2 billion increase in medical research funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), including $475 million more for the National Cancer Institute.
Higher costs for complex cancer surgery may be an indicator of worse—rather than better—quality of care, according to new research by experts at Rice University and The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Their findings are published by Ho et al in <em>Surgery</em> and provide multiple implications for care delivery.
On April 28, the European Commission approved nivolumab (Opdivo) as monotherapy for the treatment of squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck in adults with disease progression on or after platinum-based therapy. Nivolumab is the first and only immuno-oncology treatment that has demonstrated significant improvement in overall survival for these patients in a phase III trial setting.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Kris et al, ASCO and Cancer Care Ontario (CCO) have issued an update to the ASCO/CCO clinical practice guideline on adjuvant systemic therapy and adjuvant radiation therapy for stage I to IIIA completely resected non–small cell lung cancers.
A study in a prospective database at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center has shown that use of perioperative hepatic arterial infusion pump chemotherapy after complete resection of colorectal liver metastases is associated with a marked improvement in overall survival. The study was reported by Koerkamp et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
Granzyme B positron-emission tomography (PET) imaging was able to distinguish mouse and human tumors that responded to immune checkpoint inhibitors from those that did not respond early in the course of treatment. These preclinical study findings, reported by Larimer et al in <em>Cancer Research</em>, suggest that granzyme B PET imaging may serve as a quantitative predictive imaging biomarker.
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to durvalumab (Imfinzi) for the treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma who have disease progression during or following platinum-containing chemotherapy or who have disease progression within 12 months of neoadjuvant or adjuvant treatment with platinum-containing chemotherapy.
Declines in prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing that came after changes in government screening guidelines appear to have abated in recent years. According to a new study published by Fedewa et al in <em>JAMA Internal Medicine</em>, about 1 in 3 men aged 50 years or older still receive routine PSA testing.
Mayo Clinic researchers have discovered that surgery could more than double life expectancy for many patients with late-stage kidney cancer, giving them anywhere from 2 to almost 10 years more than they would have without the surgery. A paper published by Zaid et al in <em>The Journal of Urology</em> found a “clinically meaningful difference in survival” between patients with renal cell carcinoma who underwent metastasectomy and those who didn't.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Renfro et al have derived a nomogram for predicting early mortality in metastatic colorectal cancer using data from more than 20,000 patients in the ARCAD (Aide et Recherche en Cancérologie Digestive) database.
Nivolumab has been found to produce durable responses in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma, in the phase I/II CheckMate 040 trial. These findings were reported in The Lancet by El-Khoueiry et al.
In an international phase III trial reported by Thieblemont et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, lenalidomide maintenance was found to prolong progression-free survival vs placebo in older patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma responding to first-line chemotherapy. No overall survival benefit was observed with longer follow-up.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today granted accelerated approval to brigatinib (Alunbrig) for the treatment of patients with metastatic anaplastic lymphoma kinase (<em>ALK</em>)-positive non–small cell lung cancer who have had disease progression on or are intolerant to crizotinib.
On April 28, 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved midostaurin (Rydapt) for the treatment of adult patients with newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia (AML) who are <em>FLT3</em> mutation–positive, as detected by an FDA-approved test, in combination with standard cytarabine/daunorubicin induction and cytarabine consolidation. The FDA also approved midostaurin for the treatment of adults with aggressive systemic mastocytosis (with or without associated hematologic neoplasm) or mast cell leukemia.
A randomized trial, reported by Maly et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, has shown that having an individualized survivorship care plan in place was associated with increased physician implementation of recommended breast cancer survivorship care among low-income, predominantly Latina breast cancer survivors.
A UK phase II trial comparing pazopanib with paclitaxel after failure of platinum-based therapy in patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma was stopped early due to futility. These results were reported by Jones et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
Second cancers in children, adolescents, and young adults are far deadlier than they are in older adults and may partially account for the relatively poor outcomes of cancer patients aged 15 to 39 years overall, according to a new study by Keegan et al published in JAMA Oncology.
On April 27, the investigational next-generation ALK/ROS1 tyrosine kinase inhibitor lorlatinib was granted Breakthrough Therapy designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of patients with anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)-positive metastatic non–small cell lung cancer previously treated with one or more ALK inhibitors.
A new laboratory technique developed by researchers at Baylor College of Medicine and other institutions can rapidly test the effectiveness of treatments for life-threatening breast cancer metastases in bone. Findings of this research were published by Wang et al in <em>Nature Communications</em>.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has expanded the approved use of regorafinib (Stivarga) to include treatment of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma who have been previously treated with the drug sorafenib. This is the first new FDA-approved treatment for liver cancer in almost a decade.
Lung cancer patients treated with programmed cell death protein 1/programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-1/PD-L1) checkpoint inhibitors may be at increased risk of adverse events after receiving the seasonal influenza vaccination, according to the first study measuring this effect. The results, to be presented at the 2017 European Lung Cancer Conference (ELCC) in Geneva, Switzerland, offer the first hint of a possible contraindication with two routine treatments in this population.
A new position statement, jointly published by seven international and European organizations, identifies fracture-related risk factors in patients treated with aromatase inhibitors and outlines key management strategies to help prevent bone loss and related fractures. It was published by Hadji et al in the <em>Journal of Bone Oncology</em>.
In newly updated clinical guidelines from the Society for Integrative Oncology published by Greenlee et al in <em>CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians</em>, researchers analyzed which integrative treatments are most effective and safe for patients with breast cancer.
In an analysis reported in the <em>Journal of Oncology Practice</em>, Isenberg et al sought to determine the maximum possible costs for an inpatient palliative care unit to be considered cost-effective.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Jensen et al have undertaken a study to estimate cancer population–based reference values for patient-reported outcome domains in the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS).
The long-term follow-up of a phase II trial reported by Ruers et al in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute</em> showed a 42% reduced risk of death among patients with colorectal liver metastases receiving aggressive local treatment plus systemic therapy vs systemic therapy alone.
On April 25, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) posted warning letters addressed to 14 U.S.-based companies illegally selling more than 65 products that fraudulently claim to prevent, diagnose, treat, or cure cancer. The products are marketed and sold without FDA approval, most commonly on websites and social media platforms.
Results of the SARAH trial presented at the 2017 International Liver Congress (ILC) demonstrated that selective internal radiation therapy resulted in a median overall survival of 8.0 months, compared to 9.9 months with sorafenib, in patients with locally advanced and inoperable hepatocellular carcinoma.
A phase II trial showed good outcomes with reduced-dose radiotherapy in patients with human papillomavirus (HPV)-positive oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma. The findings were reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by Chen et al.
A Japanese phase III trial has shown no survival benefit of prophylactic cranial irradiation vs observation in patients with extensive-disease small cell lung cancer who had any response to platinum-based doublet chemotherapy and no brain metastases at baseline. These findings were reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by Takahashi et al.
The addition of a widely available, noninvasive imaging test called 99mTc-sestamibi SPECT/CT (single-photon emission computed tomography plus computed tomography to conventional CT or magnetic resonance imaging may increase the accuracy of kidney tumor classification, according to results published by Rowe et al in <em>Clinical Nuclear Medicine</em>.
Oncology community professionals are concerned about the ability of their patients to access cancer screening and treatment under the proposed American Health Care Act, according to a survey conducted March 23–24, 2017, at the National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®) 22nd Annual Conference.
The long-term follow-up of a phase II trial reported by Ruers et al in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute</em> showed a 42% reduced risk of death among patients with colorectal liver metastases receiving aggressive local treatment plus systemic therapy vs systemic therapy alone.
A study investigating the risk for axillary metastases in patients with breast cancer who have a pathologic complete response following neoadjuvant chemotherapy has found that the risk for local metastasis is low. These findings, reported by Tadros et al in <em>JAMA Surgery</em>, provide the fundamental basis and rationale for management of the axilla in clinical trials of omission of cancer surgery when image-guided biopsy indicates a pathologic complete response in the breast.
A study using linked Texas Cancer Registry–xMedicare data has identified racial/ethnic disparities in end-of-life care in women with ovarian cancer. The study was reported by Taylor et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
Women enrolled in California's Medicaid program who have been diagnosed with severe mental illness have been screened for cervical cancer at much lower rates than other women, according to a new study published by James et al in <em>Psychiatric Services</em>.
Testing for variants in seven cancer-associated genes (instead of the usual process of testing in just two genes) followed by risk-reduction management could cost-effectively improve life expectancy for women at risk of hereditary breast cancer, according to research published by Li et al in <em>Value in Health</em>.
As reported by Blum et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, the efficacy analysis of the combined adjuvant Anthracyclines in Early Breast Cancer (ABC) Trials showed better invasive disease–xfree survival with taxane plus doxorubicin/cyclophosphamide regimens vs docetaxel/cyclophosphamide in high-risk HER2-negative breast cancer.
As reported by Chandran et al in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>, a single-center study has shown that adoptive transfer of autologous tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes produces tumor responses in metastatic uveal melanoma.
In the largest-known study on bone metastases in thyroid cancer, researchers found that patients with follicular and medullary thyroid cancer had the highest rate of cancer-related bone lesions and fractures and an increased risk of death. Their findings were published by Choksi et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism</em>.
In contrast to other racial/ethnic groups in the United States, Asian Americans have experienced steadily increasing breast cancer rates over the past 15 years, according to findings published by Gomez et al in <em>Breast Cancer Research and Treatment</em>.
In a single-center study reported in the <em>Journal of Oncology Practice</em>, Jacobs et al found that improved satisfaction with clinician communication and treatment was the strongest predictor of treatment adherence in patients receiving oral anticancer medication.
The 21-gene recurrence score assay testing is not recommended for women with intermediate- or high-risk, node-positive breast cancer because significant evidence exists that patients in this population benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy. However, a recent study published by Jasem et al in the <em>Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network</em> found oncologists are indeed using the assay in patients with high-risk disease and, in some cases, forgoing adjuvant chemotherapy as a result.
New research published by Minlikeeva et al in <em>Cancer Causes & Control</em> provides evidence that hypertension and diabetes and the use of medications to treat these common conditions may influence the survival of patients with ovarian cancer.
An ASCO clinical practice guideline update, reported by Khorana et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, includes the recommendation of the doublet gemcitabine-capecitabine as an adjuvant therapy option in potentially curable pancreatic cancer.
Casali et al have reported 10-year progression-free and overall survival rates among patients with locally advanced unresectable or metastatic gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) receiving imatinib at 400 or 800 mg/d in the phase III European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer, Italian Sarcoma Group, and Australasian Gastrointestinal Trials Group intergroup trial. These findings were reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has permitted marketing of the Philips IntelliSite Pathology Solution as an aid to pathologists to review and interpret digital images of surgical pathology slides prepared from formalin-fixed paraffin embedded tissue.
On April 17, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to atezolizumab (Tecentriq) for the treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma who are not eligible for cisplatin chemotherapy.
The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) has issued a new clinical guideline for the management of oropharyngeal cancer. The guideline, published by Sher et al in <em>Practical Radiation Oncology</em>, address the use of radiotherapy to treat tumors of the oropharynx in a variety of scenarios, optimal radiation dose and fractionation schedules, the integration of chemotherapy with radiotherapy, and the role of induction chemotherapy.
In an Australian study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Haydu et al found that conditional melanoma-specific survival was worse within the first 2 years of diagnosis of stage III disease for men, with increasing age, and with increasing American Joint Committee on Cancer stage. The findings suggest that adjuvant systemic treatments may have the greatest benefit when administered within this period.
A radiotherapy boost for ductal carcinoma in situ with local control after whole-breast radiotherapy was associated with a reduction in the risk for ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence, according to an analysis reported in <em>JAMA Oncology</em> by Moran et al.
On April 13, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) removed the risk evaluation and mitigation strategy requirements for the use of epoetin alfa and darbepoetin alfa to treat patients with anemia due to associated myelosuppressive chemotherapy.
In a study reported in <em>JAMA Surgery</em>, Katz et al found that most patients considering contralateral prophylactic mastectomy for stage 0 to II breast cancer were satisfied with surgical decision-making. Most surgeons discussed the prophylactic procedure, and most did not recommend against it.
In newly diagnosed patients with glioblastoma, a vaccine targeting cytomegalovirus antigen pp65 combined with high-dose temozolomide chemotherapy improved both progression-free and overall survival, according to a small phase I study by Batich et al published in <em>Clinical Cancer Research</em>.
A new analysis of patients who have undergone treatment for prostate cancer shows a connection between androgen-deprivation therapy and dementia, according to findings published by Nead et al in <em>Prostate Cancer and Prostatic Diseases</em>.
An individual patient-level meta-analysis has shown that the Decipher® (GenomeDx) genomic classifier is capable of distinguishing risk groups for metastatic disease after radical prostatectomy for prostate cancer. The study was reported by Spratt et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
On April 11, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force posted for public comment a draft recommendation statement and three draft evidence reviews on screening for prostate cancer. Through this draft recommendation, the Task Force is providing clinicians and their patients with information to help guide decisions about screening for prostate cancer.
Matching the size of a tumor to the body’s immune response could help physicians tailor immunotherapy treatments for patients with metastatic melanoma, according to research by Huang et al published in <em>Nature</em>. The investigators found that patients who didn’t respond to treatment had an imbalance between the size of their tumor and how exhausted their immune cells were.
A study of data from large prospective U.S. cohorts has shown that current cigarette smoking, greater pack-years, and heavy smoking were associated with poorer survival among patients with pancreatic cancer. The study was reported by Yuan et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
In a research statement reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Visvanathan et al, ASCO has outlined steps for incorporating high-quality observational research into the evidence base for clinical decision-making.
Findings recently published by Sofis et al in <em>Behavioural Brain Research</em> showed that the compound KU-32 may prevent cognitive decline in rats caused by chemotherapy treatment.
On April 11, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) released its first report examining the costs of treating cancer, specifically the out-of-pocket portion patients face.
In a Spanish phase II trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>, García-Donas et al found that maintenance therapy with vinflunine improved progression-free survival vs best supportive care alone in patients with advanced urothelial carcinoma with disease control on first-line chemotherapy.
Both thyroid cancer incidence and mortality have increased over recent decades, reflecting increases in papillary thyroid cancer incidence and mortality, according to data from a Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results-9 cancer registry program reported in <em>JAMA</em> by Lim et al.
In a phase II trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Martinelli et al found that blinatumomab produced complete responses in patients with relapsed/refractory Philadelphia chromosome–positive B-precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia progressing after failure of tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI)-based therapy.
According to findings published by Sredni et al in <em>Pediatric Blood & Cancer</em>, researchers have discovered a promising target to treat atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumors.
A study published by Smith et al in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute</em> indicates that different therapies for early-stage breast cancer have very different relative values. Some therapies may have fewer complications and be much less expensive than others. Women may be making treatment decisions based on factors other than medical value.
A series of studies published in <em>The Lancet</em> finds that racial segregation, mass incarceration, economic inequality, and lack of universal health care in the United States are factors in declining health outcomes, with a survival gap between the wealthiest and poorest Americans now reaching between 10 and 15 years.
The final results of a European phase III trial, reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Zucca et al, showed that event-free and progression-free survival were better with rituximab plus chlorambucil vs either agent alone in patients with mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma; however, no differences in overall survival were observed.
A biomarker implicated in cancer, telomere length, could be influenced by sociodemographic circumstances associated with neighborhood. The study was published by Lynch et al in the journal <em>Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention</em>.
Overall cancer death rates continue to decrease in men, women, and children for all major racial and ethnic groups, according to the latest Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer, 1975–2014, published by Jemal et al in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute</em>.
The programmed cell death ligand 1–inhibitor avelumab has shown activity in patients with refractory metastatic urothelial cancer, according to findings in a phase Ib study reported by Apolo et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
A French phase III trial, reported by Attal et al in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em>, has shown that consolidation treatment with lenalidomide, bortezomib, and dexamethasone was associated with poorer progression-free survival vs high-dose chemotherapy and autologous hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) in patients aged ≤ 65 years with multiple myeloma. However, no difference in overall survival at 4 years was observed.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted marketing authorization to the ipsogen JAK2 RGQ PCR Kit to detect mutations affecting the Janus tyrosine kinase 2 (<em>JAK2</em>) gene. This is the first FDA-authorized test intended to help physicians in evaluating patients for suspected polycythemia vera.
The length of the telomeres that protect the tips of chromosomes may predict cancer risk and be a potential target for future therapeutics, reported Yuan et al at the 2017 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting.
Interim results from a phase Ib/II FB-10 clinical trial of neratinib given in combination with the antibody-drug conjugate ado-trastuzumab emtansine were presented at the 2017 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Pusic et al, patient-reported outcomes in the Mastectomy Reconstruction Outcomes Consortium Study indicate that autologous tissue breast reconstruction is associated with greater breast satisfaction and greater sexual and psychosocial well-being than implant-based reconstruction at 1 year after mastectomy for breast cancer.
An analysis of patients from 4 prospective radiotherapy trials for locally advanced non–small cell lung cancer conducted at 2 centers in Michigan showed that grade ≥ 3 cardiac events occurred in more than 10% of patients. The study was reported by Dess et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
A protein known as arginine methyltransferase 1 (PRMT1) may be a potential therapeutic target for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, according to results presented by Giuliani et al the 2017 Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR).
A study presented by Hildebrandt et al at the 2017 Annual Meeting of the American Association of Cancer Research (AACR; Abstract 990) revealed several findings about racial disparities in health-related quality of life among colorectal cancer patients. Hispanics and blacks had a higher burden of poor health-related quality of life than white patients, and poor health-related quality of life resulted in shorter median survival.
Immunologic changes observed in an early study of patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC) raised the possibility for a larger clinical study of combination immunotherapy, according to findings reported by Gao et al the 2017 Annual Meeting of the American Association of Cancer Research (AACR). The results of an open-label pilot study comparing combinations of nivolumab alone, or in combination with either ipilimumab or bevacizumab, revealed “promising clinical activities” in metastatic RCC patients.
The benefits of early positron-emission tomography (PET)-adapted treatment in patients with stage I or II Hodgkin lymphoma were confirmed in the final results of a phase III trial reported by André et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Oncology Practice</em>, Adelson et al found that using standardized criteria for palliative care consultation on a solid tumor oncology service resulted in increased hospice referral and reduced rates of hospital readmission and chemotherapy use after discharge.
A multinational equivalence trial has shown no difference in disease-free survival with total laparoscopic hysterectomy vs total abdominal hysterectomy in women with treatment-naive stage I endometrial cancer. The findings were reported by Janda et al in <em>JAMA</em>.
Treatment with a combination of ipilimumab and coxsackievirus A21 (CVA21) led to durable responses in a number of patients with advanced melanoma, according to results from a phase Ib clinical trial presented by Curti et al at the 2017 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting.
Adding the investigational immunotherapy indoximod to the immunotherapy pembrolizumab increased the proportion of patients with advanced melanoma who responded to treatment compared with previously reported response rates for pembrolizumab monotherapy, according to interim results from a phase I/II clinical trial presented by Zakharia et al at the 2017 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting.
Tumors with mutations in the proteins isocitrate dehydrogenase-1 or -2 (IDH1/2) exhibited features similar to BRCA-mutant tumors and were more likely to respond better to PARP inhibitors than to IDH inhibitors, according to preclinical data presented by Sulkowski et al at the 2017 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting.
In the phase II KEYNOTE-055 trial, pembrolizumab was found to produce durable responses in patients with platinum- and cetuximab-refractory head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Results of the trial were reported by Bauml et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
Landier et al found no association between oral mercaptopurine ingestion habits in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia and risk of relapse after adjustment for medication adherence, according to a report published in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
The adaptive phase II/III GATSBY trial has shown no survival difference between ado-trastuzumab emtansine vs taxane treatment in patients with previously treated locally advanced or metastatic gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma. Results were reported by Thuss-Patience et al in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>.
Among patients with metastatic triple-negative breast cancer who were treated with atezolizumab, those who responded to the treatment had a longer overall survival compared with those who did not respond, according to data from a phase I clinical trial presented by Schmid et al at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2017.
Treatment with the immune checkpoint inhibitor nivolumab yielded durable responses in some patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to data from a phase I clincal trial presented by Brahmer et al at the American Assocation for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2017.
Among patients with advanced melanoma, those who received both nivolumab and ipilimumab had improved overall survival compared with those who received only ipilimumab, and appeared to have more favorable survival outcomes compared with those who received nivolumab, according to results from the phase III CheckMate 067 clinical trial presented by Larkin et al at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2017.
In a population-based trial reported in <em>JAMA</em>, Lappe et al found that dietary supplementation with vitamin D3 and calcium did not significantly reduce the incidence of all cancers over 4 years among postmenopausal women aged ≥ 55 years.
In a phase III trial reported by Ascierto et al in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>, treatment with ipilimumab at 10 mg/kg vs 3 mg/kg resulted in improved overall survival in patients with advanced unresectable or metastatic melanoma.
On March 31, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a supplemental New Drug Application for a first-in-class cyclin dependent kinase 4/6 inhibitor, palbociclib, based on the results from the confirmatory phase III trial PALOMA-2.
A combination of two HER2-targeted therapies, trastuzumab and lapatinib, showed clinical benefit in patients with heavily pretreated HER2-positive metastatic colorectal cancer, according to final results from the phase II HERACLES clinical trial, presented by Siena et al at the 2017 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting.
Patients with glioblastoma who wore a medical device that delivers alternating electrical fields in addition to being treated with the chemotherapeutic agent temozolomide had significantly improved median overall survival compared with those treated with temozolomide only, according to final results from a randomized phase III clinical trial presented by Stupp et al at the 2017 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting.
The likelihood that a patient’s cancer responded to the investigational pan-HER–targeted therapeutic neratinib was influenced by both the cancer type and the identity of the gene mutation present in the cancer, according to results presented by Hyman et al at the 2017 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting.
Using high-throughput genomics in patients with diificult-to-treat cancers, Massard et al found that progression-free survival was significantly higher in those treated with targeted therapies than in those treated with a previous line of therapy, according to a study published in <em>Cancer Discovery</em>. However, randomized trials are needed to validate these findings and quantify the magnitude of benefit.
Few pediatric oncology patients or their parents expressed negative attitudes toward early integration of palliative care during cancer treatment, according to a study by Levine et al reported in <em>JAMA Oncology</em>.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Bardia et al, the anti–Trop-2 antibody drug conjugate sacituzumab govitecan has been found to produce durable responses in patients with heavily pretreated metastatic triple-negative breast cancer.
Researchers recently found that white women with breast cancer are far more likely to receive a particular gene-expression profiling test—Oncotype Dx—than black or Hispanic women with the same diagnosis. The study was published by Davis et al in the <em>Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network</em>.
To support clinical decision-making around the use of radiation therapy in patients with cancer, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN) launched the NCCN Radiation Therapy Compendium during the NCCN 22nd Annual Conference in Orlando, Florida.
On March 30, 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted regular approval to osimertinib (Tagrisso) for the treatment of patients with metastatic epidermal growth factor receptor (<em>EGFR</em>) T790M mutation–positive non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), as detected by an FDA-approved test, whose disease has progressed on or after EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy.
A first-in-human clinical trial examining the investigational small-molecule drug ONC201 in patients with advanced solid tumors showed the oral agent to be well tolerated at the recommended phase II dose, according to data published by Stein et al in <em>Clinical Cancer Research</em>.
In the past, mainly women with a history of cancer were referred for genetic testing, but as awareness has grown, more women at low risk are undergoing <em>BRCA</em> testing. A new study by Guo et al in the <em>American Journal of Preventive Medicine</em> found that the proportion of women without a history of cancer who underwent <em>BRCA</em> testing rose sharply from 2004 to 2014.
In an interim analysis of the phase IB KEYNOTE-028 trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>, Alley et al found that pembrolizumab treatment produced durable responses in patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma.
In a study of four immunohistochemistry programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression assays registered with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, scoring was highly concordant for expression in tumor cells but poorly concordant for scoring in immune cells in non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) samples. These findings were reported by Rimm et al in <em>JAMA Oncology</em>.
A retrospective study has shown that the presence and abundance of a particular bacterial group in the intestinal microbiota are associated with a significantly lower risk of relapse or disease progression after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation. The findings were reported by Peled et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
Patients admitted to the hospital with advanced cancers who were referred early to palliative care had decreased health-care utilization and increased use of support services following discharge, according to a new study led by researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Published by Adelson et al in the <em>Journal of Oncology Practice,</em> the study also determined that a systemized process of referrals resulted in significant improvements in 30-day readmission rates, hospice referral, and receipt of chemotherapy after discharge in patients with advanced cancers.
Remission in patients with advanced lymphoma induced by treatment with chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells targeting CD19 is associated with elevated serum interleukin-15 levels, according to a report by Kochenderfer et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
In a retrospective cohort study reported in the <em>Journal of Oncology Practice</em>, Calip et al found that polypharmacy overall was associated with increased adherence to adjuvant endocrine therapy for breast cancer. However, frequent use of some medication classes was associated with decreased adherence.
Promising 3-year outcomes were found in patients from a Japanese phase I/II study of alectinib in previously treated patients with <em>ALK</em>-positive non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The findings were reported by Tamura et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved niraparib (Zejula) for the maintenance treatment of adult patients with recurrent epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer, whose tumors have achieved complete or partial response to platinum-based chemotherapy.
ASCO and Cancer Care Ontario have issued a joint clinical practice guideline update on brachytherapy for patients with prostate cancer. The update provides evidence-based recommendations for different patient risk groups and specifies the most effective forms of brachytherapy. The guideline was published in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
Data from a new study published by Tomasetti and Vogelstein in <em>Science</em> provides evidence that random, unpredictable DNA copying “mistakes” may account for nearly two-thirds of the mutations that cause cancer. Their research is grounded on a novel mathematic model based on DNA sequencing and epidemiologic data from around the world.
Hypofractionated radiotherapy was noninferior to standard radiotherapy in biochemical-clinical failure disease-free survival in men with localized prostate cancer, according to a study reported by Catton et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
In a Dutch observational study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Kuijer et al found that use of the MammaPrint 70-gene signature test changed physician-intended recommendations to administer adjuvant chemotherapy in half of patients with early-stage estrogen receptor–positive breast cancer.
In an analysis of the phase III ASSURE trial reported in <em>JAMA Oncology</em>, Haas et al found no disease-free or overall survival benefit of adjuvant sunitinib or sorafenib vs placebo in a high-risk subset of patients with clear cell renal cell carcinoma histology and pT3, pT4, or node-positive disease.
To empower patients confronting distress after a cancer diagnosis, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN) has published the NCCN Guidelines for Patients and NCCN Quick Guide™ for Distress through funding from the NCCN Foundation and Good Days, a patient advocacy organization providing financial assistance to patients.
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN) Oncology Research Program has funded three studies in its first multi-industry collaborative research project in which Boehringer Ingelheim and Eli Lilly are collaborating with NCCN to study combination therapeutic agents in lung cancer and head and neck cancers.
Interruption of radiotherapy for head and neck cancer was more frequent and treatment outcomes were poorer among indigent populations vs commercially or Medicare-insured populations within a single academic health system, according to a study by Thomas et al reported in the <em>Journal of Oncology Practice</em>.
As reported by Mason et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, long-term survival results of the UK-based STAMPEDE trial showed no survival benefit with the addition of celecoxib or celecoxib plus zoledronic acid in men initiating long-term hormone therapy for high-risk locally advanced or metastatic prostate cancer.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today granted accelerated approval to avelumab (Bavencio) for the treatment of adults and pediatric patients 12 years and older with metastatic Merkel cell carcinoma, including those who have not received prior chemotherapy. Avelumab is a programmed cell death ligand 1–blocking human IgG1 lambda monoclonal antibody. This is the first FDA-approved treatment for this rare, aggressive form of skin cancer.
Building on previous research focusing on intratumoral vaccination for the most common form of pancreatic cancer, investigators have shown that in a mouse model of early-stage resected pancreatic cancer, intratumoral vaccination induces an antitumor response that results in a significant improvement in overall survival. Results of the work were presented by Dudgeon et al at the 70th Annual Society of Surgical Oncology Cancer Symposium.
The International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) has endorsed a report released by the Core Team for Tobacco Control that outlines key action items that can be taken immediately to accelerate progress toward ending cigarette smoking in adults.
In a report from the Global, Multicenter RET Registry in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Gautschi et al documented response rates with multikinase RET inhibitors in patients with <em>RET</em>-rearranged non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Oncology Practice</em>, Stratton et al found that most postmenopausal Medicare patients with early-stage breast cancer receiving aromatase inhibitor therapy do not receive recommended bone mineral density (BMD) evaluation.
Adding the multi–tyrosine kinase inhibitor vandetanib to gemcitabine did not improve overall survival in patients with previously untreated locally advanced or metastatic pancreatic carcinoma, according to a UK phase II trial reported by Middleton et al in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>.
Sud et al found an increased risk of second cancers in survivors of Hodgkin lymphoma, according to a Swedish study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>. Risk was further augmented in those with first-degree relatives with a cancer diagnosis.
Use of testosterone replacement therapy was not linked to an increased risk of prostate cancer and was associated with a lower risk of aggressive cancer among men developing the disease. These findings from a Swedish population were reported by Loeb et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
In a Japanese phase II trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>, Kudo et al found that nivolumab had activity in heavily pretreated patients with advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.
Among patients receiving adjuvant therapy for HER2-positive breast cancer, those with diabetes who received metformin had better outcomes than those who did not receive metformin, according to an analysis by Sonnenblick et al from the phase III ALTTO trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
In a press briefing today on Capitol Hill, ASCO presented its fourth annual State of Cancer Care in America: 2017 report, which outlines key areas of advances made in oncology care, including new approaches for cancer diagnosis and treatment, improved data-sharing to drive innovation, and an increased focus on value-based health care. The report, which was published in the <em>Journal of Oncology Practice</em>, also details the challenges ahead, including access and affordability to care and increased burdens on oncology practices, which threaten high-value, high-quality cancer care.
In a phase II study reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>, Rugo et al found that use of a dexamethasone-based mouthwash may prevent everolimus-related stomatitis in postmenopausal women receiving everolimus for hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer.
Patients in their 80s and 90s who have early-stage lung cancer but cannot undergo an operation can be treated safely and effectively with stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT), according to research presented by Cassidy et al at the 2017 Multidisciplinary Thoracic Cancers Symposium.
A presentation by Singh et al at the 2017 Multidisciplinary Thoracic Cancers Symposium updated evidence that patients receiving stereotactic body radiation therapy as treatment for non–small cell lung cancer benefit as much from a single fraction of radiation as they would from the standard three-dose treatment schedule—and with significant advantages in terms of convenience for patients and caregivers.
In a Belgian two-center phase II trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>, Schreuer et al found that rechallenge with the BRAF inhibitor dabrafenib and the MEK inhibitor trametinib showed activity in patients with <em>BRAF</em>V600–mutant melanoma whose disease had progressed on BRAF inhibitor treatment.
In a phase III trial reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em>, Perry et al found that adding temozolomide to short-course radiotherapy improved overall survival in patients aged ≥ 65 years with newly diagnosed glioblastoma. The survival advantage was greatest among patients with methylated O<sup>6</sup>-methylguanine–DNA methyltransferase status.
An emerging approach for cancer treatment seeks to combine radiation therapy with immune checkpoint inhibitors to more effectively control tumors in the chest with an acceptable risk of severe treatment-related side effects. About 10% of patients in a retrospective analysis of metastatic lung cancer experienced severe toxicity as a result of the combination therapy. Findings were presented by Ahmed et al at the 2017 Multidisciplinary Thoracic Cancers Symposium.
Analysis of the largest American cancer database indicates that racial disparities persist in the treatment and outcomes of patients diagnosed with stage I non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Despite increased availability of potentially curative treatments for early-stage NSCLC, African Americans and American Indians were less likely to receive these treatments and more likely to die from the disease. The study was presented by Farach et al at the 2017 Multidisciplinary Thoracic Cancers Symposium.
In the largest analysis to date of reirradiation using intensity-modulated proton therapy for lung and other thoracic tumors, more than three-fourths of patients were free from local recurrence at 1 year following retreatment, and fewer than one in ten patients experienced severe side effects. The study was presented by Ho et al at the 2017 Multidisciplinary Thoracic Cancers Symposium.
Several single-nucleotide polymorphisms in the chromosomal region containing both <em>ABCB1</em>and <em>ABCB4</em>genes were associated with an increased risk of gallbladder cancer, in an Indian case-control genome-wide association study reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by Mhatre et al.
Adding the second-generation antisense oligonucleotide custirsen to docetaxel and prednisone did not improve overall survival in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, according to a phase III trial reported by Chi et al in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>.
Analysis of 355 biopsied tumors from patients with lung cancer who acquired resistance to epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitors found that mutations frequently varied between biopsies and that nearly one in five patients harbored more than one type of genetic resistance to treatment. These findings were presented by Piotrowska et al at the 2017 Multidisciplinary Thoracic Cancers Symposium.
In the largest prospective clinical trial to date of circulating tumor cells as biomarkers for locally advanced lung cancer, the findings indicate that blood tests potentially can be used in conjunction with computed tomography (CT) and positron-emission tomography/CT scans to guide personalized treatment planning for patients with non–small cell lung cancer. The study was presented by Chinniah et al at the 2017 Multidisciplinary Thoracic Cancers Symposium.
ASCO President <strong>Daniel F. Hayes, MD, FACP, FASCO</strong>, released a statement today concerning President Trump’s proposed budget outline, which would drastically reduce funding to the National Institutes of Health.
In a substudy of a European phase III trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>, Nygaard Nielsen et al found that higher leukocyte DNA-incorporated thioguanine nucleotide levels were associated with an improved relapse-free survival among patients receiving mercaptopurine and methotrexate maintenance for childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).
To reduce costs and improve quality of care, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has made reducing hospital readmission rates a priority, yet two research studies presented at the 2017 Society of Gynecologic Oncology (SGO) Annual Meeting on Women’s Cancer question the use of the metric in surgeries performed in patients with ovarian cancer. The presentations find that readmission rate as a metric of quality of care in ovarian cancer surgeries focuses on short-term outcomes but is not an ideal measure of patient survival in the long run.
Parental concern that a child is not sexually active is declining as a reason parents do not get their daughters the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, according to a research study presented by Beavis et al at the Society of Gynecologic Oncology’s (SGO) 2017 Annual Meeting on Women’s Cancer.
A new immunotherapy drug, axalimogene filoslisbac (AXAL), showed improved survival rates for patients with cervical cancer, according to a study presented at the 2017 Society of Gynecologic Oncology (SGO) Annual Meeting on Women’s Cancer.
Secondary endpoint results from the phase III ENGOT-OV16/NOVA trial of niraparib in recurrent ovarian cancer were presented at the 2017 Society for Gynecologic Oncology (SGO) Annual Meeting on Women's Cancer.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved pembrolizumab for the treatment of adult and pediatric patients with classical Hodgkin lymphoma who have refractory disease or have relapsed after three or more prior lines of therapy.
A new study published by Greenup et al in the <em>Journal of Oncology Practice</em> demonstrates that the use of less radiation therapy for patients with breast cancer who have undergone lumpectomy does not negatively impact patient outcomes and could result in significant reductions in health-care costs.
In a phase III trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>, Ladenstein et al found that high-dose chemotherapy with busulfan and melphalan vs carboplatin, etoposide, and melphalan was associated with an improved event-free survival in patients with high-risk neuroblastoma and adequate disease response to induction therapy.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Green et al found that risk factors for death within 1 month of diagnosis of childhood cancer included age up to 1 year, specific diagnoses, and minority race/ethnicity.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Dhesy-Thind et al, Cancer Care Ontario and ASCO have issued a clinical practice guideline on the use of adjuvant bisphosphonates and other bone-modifying agents in breast cancer.
Long-term follow-up of patients with chronic myeloid leukemia randomized to receive imatinib in the IRIS trial was reported by Hochhaus et al in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em>.
In a large European cohort study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Smith Byrne et al found that vasectomy was not associated with an increased overall risk of prostate cancer or death from prostate cancer but appeared to increase the risk of lower-grade disease.
Treatment with the MEK inhibitor binimetinib improved progression-free survival vs dacarbazine in patients with advanced <em>NRAS</em>-mutant melanoma, according to a phase III trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by Dummer et al.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Rosenthal et al found evidence of a shift to an earlier stage among ovarian cancers detected in high-risk women in the UK Familial Ovarian Cancer Screening Study.
In a phase III trial reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em>, Kantarjian et al found that blinatumomab treatment improved overall survival vs chemotherapy in heavily pretreated patients with B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
A genetically engineered mouse model developed by Blattner et al has found that the <em>SPOP</em> mutation drives prostate neoplasia through coordinate deregulation of both P13K/mTOR and androgen receptor–signaling pathways. The study was published in <em>Cancer Cell</em>.
ASCO and the Conquer Cancer Foundation of ASCO (CCF) have announced the winners of ASCO's Special Awards, the Society's highest honors, and the CCF Women Who Conquer Cancer Mentorship Award. The recipients of these awards include researchers, patient advocates, and global oncology leaders who have worked to transform cancer care around the world. ASCO will recognize this year's awardees at its Annual Meeting in June.
On March 13, 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved ribociclib, a cyclin-dependent kinase 4/6 inhibitor, in combination with an aromatase inhibitor as initial endocrine-based therapy for the treatment of postmenopausal women with hormone receptor–positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative advanced or metastatic breast cancer.
Regular exercise appears to help mitigate the increased cardiovascular risk faced by women treated for breast cancer, according to a study scheduled for presentation at the American College of Cardiology's 66th Annual Scientific Session (ACC.17).
Cedars-Sinai investigators have identified a stem cell–regulating gene that affects tumor growth in patients with brain cancer and can strongly influence survival rates of patients. The findings, published by Edwards et al in <em>Nature Scientific Reports</em>, could move physicians closer to their goal of better predicting the prognosis of patients with brain tumors and developing more personalized treatments for them.
Salloum et al found that use of nonindicated imaging for diagnostic staging of low-risk prostate cancer in a nonprofit integrated health-care system remained common but has decreased in frequency, according to a study reported in the <em>Journal of Oncology Practice</em>.
In a Dutch study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Hummel et al found that use of an Internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy intervention improved sexual functioning among breast cancer survivors.
Seckl et al found that adding pravastatin to first-line standard chemotherapy did not improve overall survival in patients with small cell lung cancer, according to a UK phase III study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
In the phase II extension component of the phase I/II AURA trial, reported by Yang et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, osimertinib was found to be highly active in epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitor–pretreated T790M-positive advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
A new study published by Datta et al in <em>Molecular Cancer Therapeutics</em> has identified a mechanism by which cancer cells develop resistance to a class of drugs called fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR) inhibitors.
In a Spanish phase II study reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>, Llombart-Cussac et al found that the HER2-enriched subtype was associated with the highest likelihood of pathologic complete response after neoadjuvant trastuzumab and lapatinib in early-stage HER2-positive breast cancer.
Trials initiated through national cooperative groups and the time taken from trial activation to first patient enrollment were among the factors linked to slow accrual to cancer clinical trials, according to a report by Tang et al published in <em>Clinical Cancer Research</em>.
Event-free survival rates were not maintained with the use of reduced and compressed cisplatin-based regimens in children and adolescents with intermediate-risk extracranial malignant germ cell tumors, according to a report by Shaikh et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
<strong>Ronald A. DePinho, MD</strong>, President of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, has submitted a letter to Chancellor William H. McRaven of the University of Texas System tendering his resignation.
In a rigorous study of tumor tissue collected from 125 patients with aggressive brain cancers, researchers at Johns Hopkins said they have found no evidence of cytomegalovirus infection and concluded that a link between the two diseases, as claimed by earlier reports, likely does not exist. A report on the research was published by Holdhoff et al in <em>Clinical Cancer Research</em>.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Fung et al found that although adverse health outcomes were common among testicular cancer survivors, there did not appear to be differences in such outcomes according to chemotherapy regimens commonly used to treat favorable-risk disease.
The cumulative incidence of late relapse in patients with classical Hodgkin lymphoma was 6.9% at 20 years, and late relapse was more common among those with early-stage favorable disease at initial diagnosis, according to an analysis of German Hodgkin Study Group trials reported by Bröckelmann et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Nekhlyudov et al, ASCO has endorsed the 2016 American Cancer Society (ACS) guideline on head and neck cancer survivorship care.
In a retrospective study reported in <em>JAMA</em>, Turcotte et al found that the risk for subsequent neoplasms in 5-year survivors of childhood cancers decreased between those diagnosed in the 1970s vs the 1990s but nevertheless remained elevated vs expected incidence. The reduced risk was associated with the use of reduced therapeutic radiation doses.
In a retrospective cohort study, Adeboyeje et al found that a utilization management tool that makes real-time care recommendations can help reduce overuse of colony-stimulating factors in attempts to prevent febrile neutropenia.
Researchers have outlined a quality improvement initiative that significantly cut chemotherapy administration errors at a large urban pediatric academic medical center. Their findings were presented and published by Weiss et al at the 2017 Quality Care Symposium and in the <em>Journal of Oncology Practice</em>, respectively.
In a study reported at the 2017 Quality Care Symposium by Zheng et al and published in the <em>Journal of Oncology Practice</em> by Jackman et al, researchers explored the use of clinical pathways to support clinical decision-making and manage resources for patients with late-stage non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
In a phase II trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>, Morris et al found that nivolumab was active in previously treated unresectable metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the anal canal.
In a phase I study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Aggarwal et al found evidence that the histone deacetylase inhibitor abexinostat may act to reverse resistance to the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) inhibitor pazopanib via epigenetic modulation of VEGF in advanced solid tumors, including renal cell carcinoma.
Two-thirds of patients with locally advanced head and neck cancer had to use a financial coping strategy to help pay for care within the first 6 months of treatment, according to a single-institution study reported by de Souza et al in the <em>Journal of Oncology Practice</em>.
Exercise and/or psychological therapy may work better than medications to reduce cancer-related fatigue and should be recommended first to patients, according to study results published by Mustian et al in <em>JAMA Oncology</em>.
In a prospective cohort study reported in <em>JAMA</em>, Rugo et al found that use of a scalp-cooling device reduced hair loss in women receiving nonanthracycline chemotherapy for early-stage breast cancer.
In a single-institution experience reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Gershenson et al found that hormonal maintenance therapy was associated with improved progression-free survival among women with stage II to IV low-grade serous carcinoma of the ovary or peritoneum who had received primary cytoreductive surgery and platinum-based chemotherapy.
As reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by Borchmann et al, a phase III German Hodgkin Study Group trial in advanced Hodgkin lymphoma showed no progression-free survival benefit of adding rituximab in patients with positive positron-emission tomography (PET) findings after two courses of escalated chemotherapy.
Positive results from the phase III APHINITY study show that adjuvant treatment with the combination of pertuzumab, trastuzumab, and chemotherapy achieved a statistically significant reduction in the risk of recurrence of invasive disease or death in patients with HER2-positive early breast cancer compared to trastuzumab and chemotherapy alone.
Results from a new prospective clinical trial indicate that high–dose rate (HDR) brachytherapy administered in a single 19-Gy treatment may be a safe and effective alternative to longer courses of HDR treatment for men with localized prostate cancer. The study was reported by Krauss et al in the <em>International Journal of Radiation Oncology*Biology*Physics</em>.
Adding two blood-borne proteins associated with cancer cell migration increases the predictive ability of the current biomarker for pancreatic cancer to detect early-stage disease, a research team from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center reported in a study by Balasenthil et al in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute</em>.
One year of trastuzumab following adjuvant therapy for HER2-positive breast cancer remained associated with improved disease-free and overall survival compared with observation, according to the 11-year follow-up of the HERA trial reported by Cameron et al in <em>The Lancet</em>.
New cases of colon and rectal cancers are rising sharply among young and middle-aged adults, according to a study by Siegel et al in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute</em>. As a result, the investigators propose that colorectal cancer screening be considered before the age of 50.
In a study reported in <em>JAMA Oncology</em>, Basch et al found that use of patient-reported outcome questionnaires to report symptomatic adverse events was feasible in the setting of multicenter cancer treatment trials.
Thomas et al found that clofarabine-based consolidation may provide improved relapse-free survival vs conventional high-dose cytarabine in postremission treatment in younger patients with acute myeloid leukemia and no identified donor for allogeneic stem cell transplantation, according to a French phase II trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
In the phase III KEYNOTE-045 trial reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em>, Bellmunt et al found that pembrolizumab significantly improved overall survival vs investigator choice of chemotherapy as second-line treatment in patients with advanced urothelial cancer whose disease progressed after platinum-based treatment.
A diet low in vegetables and high in sugar-sweetened and diet soft drinks, refined grains, red and processed meats, and margarine consumed during adolescence or early adulthood was associated with an increased incidence of premenopausal, but not postmenopausal, breast cancer. The study by Harris et al was published in <em>Cancer Research</em>.
On February 28, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved telotristat ethyl tablets in combination with somatostatin analog therapy for the treatment of adults with carcinoid syndrome diarrhea that somatostatin analog therapy alone has inadequately controlled.
A new study led by American Cancer Society investigators found that cancer survivors are more likely to change their prescription drug use for financial reasons than those without a cancer history. These findings were published by Zheng et al in <em>Cancer</em>.
A new analysis of data from the U.S. Military Health System to be presented by Burke et al found that mood and adjustment disorders such as anxiety and depression were strong predictors of the annual number of outpatient visits, hospital admissions, and number of days in the hospital for patients with breast and prostate cancers.
According to an analysis to be presented by Dulaney et al, the websites of many National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated cancer centers lack sufficient information to help patients with breast cancer understand all their treatment options and make well-informed decisions. It also found they are not fully accessible to Spanish-speaking patients and those using mobile devices. In contrast, websites of the NCI and Susan G. Komen had high-quality patient information.
New research by Adelson et al shows that the addition of an in-house specialty pharmacy at a cancer center in New Haven, Connecticut, improved overall quality of care for patients, reduced the amount of time it took patients to receive their medication, and prevented errors associated with filling, dispensing, and taking oral chemotherapy.
Mackler et al found that use of a validated symptom assessment tool for patient-reported outcomes was feasible in evaluating symptom burden in outpatients receiving oral anticancer treatment in the clinical setting, according to a study reported in the <em>Journal of Oncology Practice</em>.
In a study of National Cancer Database data reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Trifiletti et al found that adjuvant chemoradiotherapy was associated with a survival benefit in patients with resected locally advanced head and neck cancer with negative surgical margins and no extracapsular extension.
Use of cholesterol-lowering medication during adjuvant endocrine therapy was associated with a reduced risk of breast cancer recurrence in women with hormone receptor–positive disease in the BIG 1-98 trial, according to a study reported by Borgquist et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine used heart muscle cells made from stem cells to rank commonly used chemotherapy drugs based on their likelihood of causing lasting heart damage in patients. Their findings were published by Sharma et al in <em>Science Translational Medicine</em>.
Scientists at the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Thomas Jefferson University have developed a noninvasive technique to detect the presence of prostate cancer cells in patients' urine. The pilot study was published by Trabulsi et al in <em>BJU International</em>.
A Danish study reported in the <em>European Journal of Cancer</em> by Donia et al indicates that more than half of patients with metastatic melanoma do not satisfy requirements for enrollment in phase III trials of immune checkpoint inhibitors.
A laboratory study by Cuppens et al found that dual PI3K/mTOR inhibition is a promising therapeutic strategy in uterine leiomyosarcoma. The study, which was published in <em>Clinical Cancer Research</em>, also found that the P-S6S240 protein is a potential predictive biomarker for response to the treatment.
A study by Pinheiro et al has found that cancer mortality varies considerably among Hispanic ethnic groups, with Cubans having the highest overall mortality rate. Understanding the acculturation differences among Hispanic ethnic groups may help to identify interventions to counteract unfavorable trends toward worsening cancer outcomes. The study was published in <em>Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers, & Prevention</em>.
In a phase III trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Scott et al found that reduced-intensity conditioning for allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) was associated with a greater risk of relapse vs myeloablative conditioning in patients with acute myeloid leukemia and myelodysplastic syndromes.
On February 22, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) expanded the existing indication for lenalidomide 10 mg capsules to include use for patients with multiple myeloma as maintenance therapy following autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplant.
Innovation in precision medicine has introduced an amalgam of testing options, of which hereditary cancer panels—multigene tests—are a major component. Controversy lay, however, in the lack of formal insurance coverage policy for such tests. To expose the major roadblocks to coverage, researchers interviewed 11 major U.S. payers covering 160 million lives. The results of their study were published by Trosman et al in the <em>Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network</em>.
Zhang et al found that adding the epothilone analog utidelone to capecitabine prolonged progression-free survival in heavily pretreated women with metastatic breast cancer refractory to both anthracycline and taxane treatment, according to a phase III trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>.
Patients with advanced malignant soft tissue sarcoma of the extremities have typically faced amputation of the afflicted limb as the only treatment option. However, a technique that limits the application of chemotherapy to the cancerous region can preserve limbs in a high percentage of these patients, researchers from five cancer centers in the United States and Australia report in a study published by Mullinax et al in the <em>Journal of the American College of Surgeons</em> and presented at the Southern Surgical Association 128th Annual Meeting.
Women with early-stage breast cancer who had an intermediate risk recurrence score from a 21-gene expression assay had similar outcomes, regardless of whether they received chemotherapy, a new study published by Barcenas et al in <em>Cancer</em>.
A large population-based study suggests that the utility of particular types of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes to predict colorectal cancer survival depends on where the tumor originates in the body. The study will be presented by Berntsson et al at the upcoming 2017 ASCO-SITC Clinical Immuno-Oncology Symposium in Orlando, Florida.
Researchers have found a link between microbes in the gut and response to immunotherapy. In the study, the ability of patients with advanced melanoma to respond to programmed cell death protein 1 immune checkpoint inhibitors depended on the presence of a diverse microbiome as well as specific bacterial species. The study will be presented by Gopalakrishnan et al at the upcoming 2017 ASCO-SITC Clinical Immuno-Oncology Symposium.
On February 17, positive results were announced from the phase III OlympiAD trial comparing olaparib tablets to physician’s choice of a standard-of-care chemotherapy in the treatment of patients with HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer harboring germline <em>BRCA1</em> or <em>BRCA2</em> mutations.
Results from the phase II IMmotion150 study that compared atezolizumab plus bevacizumab and atezolizumab monotherapy to sunitinib alone in patients with previously untreated, locally advanced or metastatic renal cell carcinoma were presented at the 2017 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium in Orlando, Florida.
At the 2017 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium, Powles et al presented updated efficacy and safety data for durvalumab in patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer.
In a post hoc analysis of the UK ACT II trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>, Glynne-Jones et al found that the best time to assess for complete response to chemoradiotherapy in patients with anal squamous cell carcinoma is at approximately 26 weeks from the start of treatment.
A “secret shopper” study reported by Zafar et al in the <em>Journal of Oncology Practice</em> found that transparency of industry-sponsored oncology patient assistance programs varied among programs.
Patients with esophageal cancer who suffer sarcopenia (loss of muscle mass) during neoadjuvant chemotherapy survive, on average, 32 months less than patients with no sarcopenia. This is the central finding of a recent study published by Paireder et al in the <em>European Journal of Surgical Oncology</em>.
The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) recently published an updated clinical guideline that underscores the safety and effectiveness of palliative radiation therapy for treating painful bone metastases. Based on recent clinical trial data, the guideline recommends optimal dosing schedules for pain relief, including options for retreatment. The guideline was published by Lutz et al in <em>Practical Radiation Oncology</em>.
As reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by Coens et al, there was little difference between adjuvant ipilimumab vs placebo in health-related quality of life in patients with high-risk stage III melanoma in the phase III trial supporting the 2014 approval of ipilimumab in this setting.
Daly et al found that recommended use of adjuvant endocrine therapy for breast cancer improved in the United States between 2004 and 2013 but remains suboptimal. They reported the findings of this retrospective cohort study in <em>JAMA Oncology</em>.
In a new study published by Shumilov et al in <em>Nature Communications,</em> researchers have shown that a viral protein present in the infectious Epstein-Barr virus particle called BNRF1 frequently leads to the formation of an excessive number of spindle poles (centrosomes). As a result, the chromosomes are no longer divided equally and accurately between the two daughter cells—a known and acknowledged cancer risk factor.
Researchers have discovered a way to predict whether patients with blood cancer who received a bone marrow transplant will develop graft-vs-host disease, according to a study published by Hartwell et al in <em>JCI (The Journal of Clinical Investigation) Insight</em>.
An interim analysis of the SCALP trial, reported in <em>JAMA</em> by Nangia et al, showed that use of a scalp-cooling device significantly reduced hair loss in women receiving chemotherapy for stage I or II breast cancer compared with no scalp cooling. The study was stopped early on the basis of efficacy.
In a study reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em>, Lindsley et al found that a number of mutations present in patients with myelodysplastic syndrome were associated with poorer clinical outcome after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.
In a retrospective study in three U.S. institutions reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute</em>, Pelosof et al found that never smokers accounted for an increasing proportion of cases of non–small cell lung cancer during the period from 1990 to 2013.
Absence of a survival benefit in trials comparing first-line gefitinib or erlotinib vs chemotherapy in epidermal growth factor receptor (<em>EGFR</em>)-mutant advanced non–small cell lung cancer may be associated with a high crossover from chemotherapy to tyrosine kinase inhibitor treatment after disease progression, according to a meta-analysis reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute</em> by Lee et al.
A new study published by Currier et al in <em>Oncotarget</em> demonstrates that the combined usage of the aurora A kinase inhibitor alisertib and a virus derived from HSV-1 (HSV1716) resulted in significantly increased antitumor efficacy in models of malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor and neuroblastoma.
Recurrences of early-stage melanoma are more often detected by patients and their physicians than by routine imaging tests, according to study results published by Berger et al in the <em>Journal of the American College of Surgeons</em>.
In a phase II trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>, Dréno et al found that two long-term intermittent vismodegib dosing regimens provided a similar reduction in the number of clinically significant basal cell carcinomas among patients with multiple lesions.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Oncology Practice</em>, Goodman et al described a management practice for low-risk neutropenic fever in cancer patients that has reduced in-patient stay with intravenous antibiotic use at the Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Institute.
In a UK phase II/III trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>, Cunningham et al found that adding bevacizumab to perioperative chemotherapy did not improve survival in patients with operable esophagogastric cancer and may have been associated with impaired wound healing.
In a population-based study reported in a research letter in <em>JAMA</em>, Kurian et al found that genetic testing and genetic counseling are suboptimal among women with newly diagnosed breast cancer.
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine scientists and doctors are embarking on the first clinical trial to determine if a genetic test they pioneered could successfully spare patients with nonaggressive thyroid cancer from complete removal of their thyroid. Thyroid-preserving surgery minimizes surgical complications and allows many patients to avoid taking medication every day to keep thyroid hormone levels in check.
Breast cancer patients with dense breast tissue have almost a twofold increased risk of developing disease in the contralateral breast, according to new research published by Brewster et al in the journal <em>Cancer</em>.
A new retrospective analysis suggests that immunotherapy may be less effective in patients who receive antibiotics less than a month before starting treatment. In the study, cancer worsened more quickly in such patients than in those who did not receive antibiotics (with median progression-free survivals of 2.3 vs 8.1 months, respectively). The study will be presented by Derosa at the upcoming 2017 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium.
Among patients with advanced kidney cancer who stopped immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy early due to side effects, 42% had a durable response. The study will be presented by McKay et al at the upcoming 2017 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium.
Analysis of free-floating cancer DNA from blood samples has yielded leads for new prostate cancer treatment targets. Using a commercially available “liquid biopsy” test in patients with advanced prostate cancer, researchers found a number of genetic changes in cell-free, circulating tumor DNA. The study will be presented by Sonpavde et al at the upcoming 2017 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Sepulveda et al, a joint guideline on the use of molecular biomarkers for evaluation of colorectal cancer has been developed by an expert panel from the American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP), the College of American Pathologists (CAP), the Association for Molecular Pathology (AMP), and ASCO.
In a prospective cohort study reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>, Rossi et al found that sentinel lymph node mapping was highly accurate in detecting metastases compared with complete lymphadenectomy in women with endometrial cancer.
A new method has been found for identifying therapeutic targets in cancers lacking specific key tumor suppressor genes. The process, which located a genetic site for the most common form of prostate cancer, has potential for developing precision therapy for other cancers, such as breast, brain, and colorectal, said researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Study results were published by Zhao et al in <em>Nature</em>.
Oral antibiotics combined with mechanical bowel preparation were more effective at preventing surgical site infections after elective colorectal surgery compared to no bowel preparation or use of mechanical bowel preparation alone, according to findings from a study published by Koller et al in <em>Annals of Surgery</em>.
In a phase II trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>, Soulières et al found that adding the pan-PI3K (phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase) inhibitor buparlisib to paclitaxel improved outcomes in patients with platinum-pretreated recurrent metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.
Hortobagyi et al found that an every-12-week schedule of zoledronic acid was noninferior to an every-4-week schedule in terms of skeletal-related event rate in women with bone metastases from breast cancer who were currently receiving intravenous bisphosphonate therapy. These findings from the phase III OPTIMIZE-2 trial were reported in <em>JAMA Oncology</em>.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute</em>, Chang et al found that overweight and obesity were associated with an increased risk for transformation of monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance to multiple myeloma. Black race was also associated with an increased risk.
Researchers from the School of Health Sciences at the University of Surrey have completed the first-ever systematic review of cancer survivors’ experience of online and telephone telehealth interventions in cancer care, a new study by Cox et al in the <em>Journal of Medical Internet Research</em> reported.
New research published by Landier et al in <em>Blood</em> suggests that young patients with acute lymphocytic leukemia and their parents are likely to report to their physician that they took more of their anticancer medication than they actually did.
Symmans et al found that residual cancer burden after neoadjuvant chemotherapy was significantly prognostic for long-term outcome across breast cancer subtypes, according to a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
In an Italian phase III trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Tiseo et al found that adding first-line bevacizumab to cisplatin/etoposide did not prolong overall survival in patients with extensive-disease small cell lung cancer.
An interim analysis of a phase III trial has shown the superiority of adding the phosphoinositide-3-kinase δ inhibitor idelalisib to bendamustine/rituximab in patients with relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Zelenetz et al reported these findings in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>.
A new, evidenced-based clinical practice guideline on molecular biomarker testing for patients with colorectal cancer identifies opportunities for improving patient outcomes. The American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP), the College of American Pathologists (CAP), the Association for Molecular Pathology (AMP), and ASCO have collaborated to develop the Molecular Biomarkers for the Evaluation of Colorectal Cancerguideline.
Cervical cancer is a preventable disease if detected on time, but it remains one of the leading causes of cancer deaths among women in Latin America, particularly women of poor and indigenous communities. A new study by the University of Michigan published by Gottschlich et al in the <em>Journal of Global Oncology</em> suggests that women in these communities—who often lack the hospitals and health-care facilities needed to process traditional screenings—would prefer to perform an alternative test at home.
In a study by Luo et al published in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, intentional weight loss decreased the risk for endometrial cancer among postmenopausal women by as much as between 29% and 56%. In addition, women who were overweight or obese and achieved a normal body mass index after intentional weight loss had the same risk for the cancer as women who had maintained a normal body mass index.
As reported by Rodenbach et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, a patient coaching session for patients with advanced cancer prior to an oncologist visit made it more likely that patients would discuss their prognosis during the visit. However, prognosis was still infrequently discussed.
In a Danish study reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>, Klemann et al found a low risk of prostate cancer–specific mortality in men with benign initial transrectal ultrasound–guided biopsy sets. The risk was particularly low among those with lower prostate-specific antigen levels.
As reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by Sharma et al, the phase II CheckMate 275 trial has shown nivolumab to produce durable responses in patients with metastatic urothelial cancer who had received at least one prior platinum-based regimen. The study supported the recent accelerated approval of nivolumab in this setting.
Nearly half of women treated for early stage breast cancer reported at least one side effect from their treatment that was severe or very severe, according to a new study published by Friese et al in <em>Cancer</em>.
On February 3, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accepted for review two supplemental Biologics License Applications (sBLAs) for pembrolizumab in patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer.
A higher dose of radiation to the heart was associated with an increased risk of cardiac events in patients receiving high-dose radiation therapy for stage III non–small cell lung cancer, according to a single-center pooled analysis reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Wang et al.
As reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by Polgár et al, 5-year late side effects and cosmetic results were similar with accelerated partial-breast irradiation with interstitial brachytherapy vs whole-breast irradiation after breast-conserving surgery for low-risk invasive and in situ carcinoma in a European phase III trial.
As reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em> by Shipley et al, the final analysis of the phase III Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) 9601 trial showed that the addition of antiandrogen therapy with bicalutamide to radiation therapy significantly improves overall and prostate cancer–specific survival in men with recurrent prostate cancer.
Three clinical trials of the immunotherapy pembrolizumab have shown that it is active against a rare subtype of skin cancer, mucosal melanoma. The findings were presented by Butler et al at the 2017 European Cancer Congress.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Oncology Practice</em>, Gray et al found that many medical oncologists did not use genomic testing endorsed by guidelines in place in 2012 and 2013 in patients with non–small cell lung cancer and colorectal cancers.
The final results of the phase III FACE trial showed no difference in disease-free or overall survival for adjuvant letrozole vs anastrozole in postmenopausal women with hormone receptor–positive node-positive early breast cancer. These findings were published in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Smith et al.
On February 2, 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to nivolumab for the treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma who have disease progression during or following platinum-containing chemotherapy or have disease progression within 12 months of neoadjuvant or adjuvant treatment with a platinum-containing chemotherapy.
On February 1, 2017, the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) commented on a new policy statement from Phillip Morris entitled <em>Philip Morris International Looks Toward a Smoke-Free Future</em>. The Association expressed skepticism about the statement and reaffirmed its commitment to tobacco control.
By 2050, the death rates from malignant melanoma will have decreased from their current levels, but the numbers of people dying from the disease will have increased due to the aging of populations. However, if new treatments for the deadly skin cancer prove to be effective, the numbers of deaths could fall as well, according to research presented by Autier et al at the 2017 European Cancer Congress.
A test that measures the levels of five chemicals in the breath has shown promising results for the detection of cancers of the esophagus and stomach in a large patient trial presented by Markar et al at the 2017 European Cancer Congress.
In a phase II study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Ornstein et al found that an intermittent schedule of sunitinib may be feasible in patients with previously untreated metastatic renal cell carcinoma.
Ceritinib improved progression-free survival (PFS) vs platinum-based chemotherapy in the first-line treatment of advanced <em>ALK</em>-rearranged non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to a phase III trial reported by Soria et al in <em>The Lancet</em>.
In a study published in <em>Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention</em>, Liang et al compared the risk of colorectal cancer in normal-weight postmenopausal women with a metabolically unhealthy phenotype vs those with a metabolically healthy phenotype. They found that those who were metabolically unhealthy had more than a twofold higher risk for colorectal cancer, suggesting that normal-weight postmenopausal women should be evaluated for metabolic health and the use of preventive strategies to reduce their risk for colorectal cancer.
Today, the American Society of Hematology, the American Association for Cancer Research, the Association of American Cancer Institutes, the American Society for Radiation Oncology, the American Society of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, and the LUNGevity Foundation issued a statement on the Administration’s Executive Order on Immigration.
A growing number of patients with cancer are benefiting from research advances in immunotherapy, leading ASCO to name immunotherapy as the Society's Advance of the Year for a second year in a row. Released today, <em>Clinical Cancer Advances 2017: ASCO's Annual Report on Progress Against Cancer</em> highlights the expanding role of immunotherapy. Evolving research findings are providing new insights on how to get optimal results from these relatively new treatments.
In a UK study reported in <em>The Lancet</em>, Ahmed et al found that use of multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging might reduce the need for transrectal ultrasound–guided prostate biopsy and may improve detection of clinically significant prostate cancer.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Finelli et al, ASCO has released a clinical practice guideline on management of small renal masses.
An Italian single-center trial compared treatment with sublingual fentanyl tablets and subcutaneous morphine in managing severe pain episodes in cancer patients receiving opioid treatment. In the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Zecca et al reported that the trial did not show noninferiority of sublingual fentanyl vs subcutaneous morphine.
In a European phase III trial reported in <em>The Lancet</em>, Neoptolemos et al found that adding adjuvant capecitabine to gemcitabine significantly improved overall survival in patients with resected pancreatic cancer.
Breast-conserving therapy (breast-conserving surgery combined with radiation therapy) may be superior to mastectomy in certain patients with breast cancer, according to results from the largest study on this topic to date, presented at the 2017 European Cancer Congress.
Women over 50 who have been treated for ductal carcinoma in situ are more likely to be alive 10 years later than women in the general population, according to new research presented by Elshof et al at the 2017 European Cancer Congress (ECCO).
More than three-quarters of patients receiving targeted oral therapy for chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) reached the catastrophic phase of the Medicare Part D benefit within the calendar year of starting such treatment, according to a study reported by Shen et al in the <em>Journal of Oncology Practice</em>.
In a study reported in <em>JAMA</em>, Mokdad et al found that cancer mortality rates have dropped from 240.2 to 192.0/100,000 population between 1980 and 2014. Mortality rates varied widely among U.S. counties for various cancers.
In an article published by Fero et al in <em>JAMA Surgery</em>, researchers at the University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine reported findings from the first population-based analysis of adolescents and young adult patients with gastrointestinal stromal tumors.
An international panel of experts has released updated evidence-based and expert opinion–based recommendations for the diagnosis and treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in adults. The recommendations were issued by the European LeukemiaNet and published by Döhner et al in <em>Blood</em>.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Husson et al found that health-related quality of life improved between diagnosis and 2 years after diagnosis in adolescent/young adult patients with cancer, but it remained impaired compared with population norms.
In a Dutch study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, van den Bogaard et al found that a model including the volume of the left ventricle receiving 5 Gy (LV-V5) might provide improved prediction of acute cardiac events in patients with breast cancer receiving radiotherapy.
Three genetic alterations have been identified that may help identify high-risk pediatric patients with acute megakaryoblastic leukemia (AMKL) who may benefit from allogeneic stem cell transplants. The study, published by de Rooij et al in <em>Nature Genetics</em>, is the largest to date using next-generation sequencing technology to define the genetic missteps that drive AMKL in children without Down syndrome.
Treating patients with head and neck cancer with hyperfractionated twice-daily radiation therapy combined with chemotherapy could potentially reduce mortality, according to new research presented by Petit et al at the 2017 European Cancer Congress (ECCO).
The BCL-2 inhibitor venetoclax was found to be active in patients with relapsed or refractory non-Hodgkin lymphoma, according to a phase I study reported by Davids et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
Bell et al derived a molecular-based recursive partitioning analysis model for overall survival in glioblastoma multiforme in the temozolomide era, with the aim of refining existing clinically based models, according to a study reported in <em>JAMA Oncology</em>.
People with rare cancers now have the option of joining a national clinical trial testing leading-edge immunotherapies for a wide variety of tumor types. The DART (Dual Anti–CTLA-4 and Anti–PD-1 Blockade in Rare Tumors) is managed by SWOG and sponsored by the National Cancer Institute.
In a Danish population–based study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Jakobsen et al found that patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) in first remission and event-free at 24 months after treatment have a low loss of residual lifetime compared with the general population.
In a study reported in <em>JAMA Oncology</em>, Royce et al found that a prostate-specific antigen nadir > 0.5 ng/mL may be a dominant risk factor for all-cause mortality after radiation therapy and androgen-deprivation therapy in men with localized unfavorable-risk prostate cancer.
A study evaluating the psychosocial concerns and mental health in the partners of young survivors of early stage breast has found that more than 42% of partners experience symptoms of anxiety, even several years after their partner’s cancer diagnosis. Maladaptive coping strategies, including emotional withdrawal and aggressive behavior, were strongly associated with higher levels of anxiety, followed by parenting and financial concerns. The study by Borstelmann et al is being presented at the 2017 Cancer Survivorship Symposium.
Four frailty classifications performed well in predicting outcomes in a cohort of patients 70 years of age and older with various cancers, finds a French study reported by Ferrat et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
As many as 75% of patients with cancer report reducing their physical activity levels following a cancer diagnosis, according to a study by Romero et al. Psychological barriers, including difficulty getting motivated and remaining disciplined as well as physical symptoms, such as fatigue and pain, were identified as contributing to patients’ decreased activity. Interventions targeting these barriers are needed to promote maintenance of physical activity levels throughout the cancer care continuum, noted the study authors, who will present their findings at the 2017 Cancer Survivorship Symposium.
Blackburn et al found that cancer survivors ages 40 and younger were five times more likely to develop swelling around the heart; more than twice as likely to develop heart valve disease; and seven times more likely to develop osteoporosis than the control group. Understanding the late effects resulting from treatment may lead to better surveillance and disease management of younger cancer survivors, suggested the investigators. The study will be presented at the 2017 Cancer Survivorship Symposium.
A team of researchers has found that, despite the recommendation of screening guidelines, less than half of adults younger than 50 years old who have colorectal cancer are being screened for Lynch Syndrome, a genetic anomaly that increases the risk of colorectal and several other forms of cancer. The study was presented as a poster by Shaikh et al at the 2017 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium.
Results of the ONO-4538-12 trial demonstrated that nivolumab significantly reduced the risk of death by 37% in patients with previously treated advanced gastric cancer refractory to or intolerant of standard therapy, a condition without current standard-of-care treatments, according to an abstract presented by Kang et al at the 2017 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute</em>, Kerlikowske et al identified risk factors for estrogen receptor–positive and –negative breast cancer using data from the Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium.
Treatment with MABp1, an antibody that targets interleukin 1α and exhibits antitumor activity, was associated with improvement in the composite outcome of stabilizing/improving lean body mass and debilitating symptoms in patients with advanced colorectal cancer, according to the results of a phase III trial. Hickish et al reported their findings in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>.
Clinical testing on more than 200 pediatric brain tumor samples found that a majority had genetic irregularities that could influence how the disease was diagnosed and/or treated with approved drugs or agents being evaluated in clinical trials. These findings were reported by Ramkissoon et al in <em>Neuro-Oncology</em>.
Scientists at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have discovered that during early cancer development, when a common tumor suppressor known as <em>SMAD4</em> is deleted, a nearby metabolic enzyme gene called malic enzyme 2 (ME2) also is eradicated, suggesting the possibility of malic enzyme inhibitors as a novel therapy approach. Study findings were published by Dey et al in Nature.
Parada et al found that higher intake of grilled/barbecued and smoked meat may be associated with poorer overall survival in breast cancer survivors, according to a study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute</em>.
In an observational study reported in <em>JAMA Oncology</em>, Kelly et al found that overall survival was similar with upfront surgery and definitive chemoradiotherapy among patients with newly diagnosed human papillomavirus (HPV)-negative oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today approved ibrutinib for the treatment of patients with marginal zone lymphoma who require systemic therapy and have received at least one prior anti–CD20-based therapy.
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration officially established the Oncology Center of Excellence and appointed <strong>Richard Pazdur, MD</strong>, as its Director. This will make oncology the first disease area to have a coordinated clinical review of drugs, biologics, and devices across the agency’s three medical product centers.
A new white paper from the Institute for Clinical Immuno-Oncology (ICLIO), an organization established by the Association of Community Cancer Centers, highlights immunotherapy research from 2016, emerging policy issues and challenges that may impact the future of immuno-oncology in practice, and ICLIO resources to support the multidisciplinary cancer care team in delivering immunotherapies for cancer.
The combination of the BCL2 inhibitor venetoclax and the anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody rituximab was highly active in patients with relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia, according to a phase Ib study reported by Seymour et al in <em>The Lancet Oncology.</em>
In the phase III NETTER-1 trial reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em>, Strosberg et al found that adding lutetium Lu-177 dotatate to octreotide long-acting repeatable (LAR) significantly improved progression-free survival vs high-dose octreotide LAR in patients with advanced progressive somatostatin receptor–positive midgut neuroendocrine tumors.
Scientists have been able to validate the recently proposed five-tiered system of Gleason grade grouping using population-based data. These findings were published by He et al in the <em>Journal of European Urology</em>.
Phase I clinical trial data published by Moulder-Thompson et al in <em>Clinical Cancer Research</em> reported that the investigational anticancer agent tucatinib showed 'notable activity' in the treatment of patients with HER2-positive breast cancer.
As reported by Plimack et al in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> pembrolizumab has shown activity in patients in the locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma cohort included in the phase Ib KEYNOTE-012 trial.
Worsening of overall menopause-specific quality of life was associated with early discontinuation of aromatase inhibitors in high-risk postmenopausal women, according to an analysis from the Canadian Cancer Trials Group MAP.3 chemoprevention trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Meggetto et al. Also linked to early discontinuation of treatment were other quality-of-life domains, assignment to exemestane, a history of smoking, and current employment.
Real-world data from a large observational study suggests that omitting surgery in strictly selected patients with a clinical complete response does not compromise outcomes in rectal cancer. The study will be presented by van der Valk at the upcoming 2017 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium in San Francisco, California.
A new analysis of the CALGB 80405 (Alliance) trial suggests that people with metastatic colorectal cancer who are more physically active fare better than those who are less active. The study will be presented by Guercio et al at the upcoming 2017 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium in San Francisco, California.
Findings from the CALGB 80803 (Alliance) trial point to a new way to improve the outlook for patients with esophageal cancer: using positron-emission tomography (PET) scans to assess tumor response to initial chemotherapy may allow doctors to tailor further chemotherapy. The study will be presented by Goodman et al at the upcoming 2017 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium in San Francisco, California.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Kehl et al found that most federal exchange networks under the Affordable Care Act contain a Commission on Cancer–accredited hospital, but less than half contain a National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated cancer center.
The addition of cetuximab to definitive chemoradiotherapy appeared to reduce the rates of locoregional failure but increase the risk of severe toxicity in patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the anal canal, according to a phase II trial reported by Garg et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em>
Moore et al found that mirvetuximab soravtansine (also known as IMGN853)—an antibody-drug conjugate targeting folate receptor alpha (FRα)—is active in FRα-positive platinum-resistant ovarian cancer, according to a phase I expansion cohort study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em>
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Gibson et al found that clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential at the time of autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) in patients with lymphoma was associated with an increased risk of poorer outcomes.
A team of University of South Carolina scientists identified a new subtype of cervical cancer that, like most cervical cancers, is triggered by human papillomavirus (HPV), but whose growth is not directed by the virus, suggesting that therapy targeting these tumors’ distinct genomic pathways may improve patient outcomes over standard treatment. The study was published by Banister et al in <em>Oncotarget</em>.
As some national guidelines now recommend against routine prostate cancer screening, the overall rate of men receiving treatment for the disease declined 42% between 2007 and 2012, a new study published by Borza et al in <em>Health Affairs</em> found.
In an article published by Siegel et al in <em>The Journal of Nuclear Medicine</em>, researchers assert that exposure to medical radiation does not increase a person’s risk of getting cancer. The long-held belief that even low doses of radiation, such as those received in diagnostic imaging, increase cancer risk is based on an inaccurate, 70-year-old hypothesis, according to the authors.
On January 9, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved morphine sulfate extended-release tablets with abuse-deterrent properties (Arymo ER) for the management of pain severe enough to require daily, around-the-clock, long-term opioid treatment and for which alternative treatment options are inadequate.
On January 9, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accepted the supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) and granted Priority Review for atezolizumab in the treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma who are ineligible for cisplatin chemotherapy and are either previously untreated or have had disease progression at least 12 months after receiving chemotherapy before or after surgery.
Elevated circulating tissue factor levels were associated with an increased risk of recurrent venous thromboembolism in cancer patients receiving anticoagulant therapy, according to a biomarker analysis of the CATCH trial reported by Khorana et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em>
ASCO has released the “ASCO Principles for Patient-Centered Health-Care Reform,” seven recommendations designed to ensure access to high-quality cancer care amid the changing U.S. health-care delivery landscape. The principles aim to assist the new Congress and Administration, so, as they consider the critical underpinnings of any health-care reform proposal, the needs of patients facing a cancer diagnosis are met.
Out-of-pocket expenditures are thought to be a significant barrier to receiving cancer preventive services, especially for individuals of lower socioeconomic status. A new study published by Cooper et al in <em>Cancer</em> looked at how the Affordable Care Act, which eliminated such out-of-pocket expenditures, has affected the use of mammography and colonoscopy.
A new study published by Himelstein et al in <em>JAMA</em> reported that patients with bone metastases due to breast cancer, prostate cancer, or multiple myeloma who used zoledronic acid every 12 weeks compared with every 4 weeks did not have in an increased risk of skeletal events over 2 years.
In a brief report in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> Brown et al described regression of glioblastoma after chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy.
van Imhoff et al showed no difference in progression-free survival with the addition of ofatumumab vs rituximab to cisplatin, cytarabine, and dexamethasone in relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. The final results of the international phase III ORCHARD study were reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em>
Overall survival with sorafenib was significantly improved vs comparator treatments among patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma who tested both negative for the hepatitis B virus and positive for the hepatitis C virus but not in other viral status subgroups. These findings from a meta-analysis were reported by Jackson et al in the </em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em>
In a phase III trial reported in <em>The Lancet,</em> Durie et al found that adding bortezomib to lenalidomide/dexamethasone improved progression-free and overall survival in patients with newly diagnosed myeloma who were not planned for immediate autologous stem cell transplantation.
The 69 National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated cancer centers have issued a joint statement in support of recently revised recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to improve national vaccination rates for human papillomavirus (HPV).
A new Yale study suggested that patients with non–small cell lung cancer may still benefit from delayed chemotherapy started up to 4 months after surgery, according to the researchers. The study was published by Salazar et al in <em>JAMA Oncology</em>.
Depending on the type of treatment older patients with lung cancer receive, they can spend an average of 1 in 3 days interacting with the health-care system in the first 60 days after surgery or radiation therapy, according to a study by Yale researchers. These findings were published by Presley et al in the <em>Journal of Oncology Practice</em>.
A new integrated genomic study by The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) Research Network published in <em>Nature</em> identified genetic alterations that distinguish the two most common subtypes of esophageal cancer. The findings suggest that esophageal squamous cell and adenocarcinoma are two separate diseases that should not be combined in clinical trials and may benefit from a molecular system of classification.
In an analysis of the ACOSOG Z1031 Trial/Alliance reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Ellis et al found that switching to chemotherapy in patients with elevated Ki67 levels after 2 to 4 weeks of neoadjuvant aromatase inhibitor (AI) therapy resulted in a low pathologic complete response rate in estrogen receptor–positive primary breast cancer.
Adjuvant chemotherapy after radical nephroureterectomy was associated with a survival benefit in patients with locally advanced or regional lymph node–positive upper tract urothelial carcinoma, according to a National Cancer Database analysis reported by Seisen et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em>
A large international survey on sun exposure behaviors and skin cancer detection found there are many imperfections and geographic disparities in primary and secondary prevention of skin cancer. This information could help inform future awareness campaigns developed to address the global need to reduce mid- and long-term development of skin cancer. Findings were published by Seite et al in the <em>Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology & Venereology</em>.
A steady decline over more than 2 decades has resulted in a 25% drop in the overall cancer death rate in the United States. The drop equates to 2.1 million fewer cancer deaths between 1991 and 2014. The news comes from "Cancer Statistics, 2017," the American Cancer Society’s comprehensive annual report on cancer incidence, mortality, and survival. It is published in <em>CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians</em>.
Nearly half of women with breast cancer in a prospective longitudinal study reported a clinically significant decline in cognitive function from before to after chemotherapy, compared with only 10% of age-matched noncancer controls over the same interval. These results were reported by Janelsins et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em>
As reported by Ferrell et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> ASCO has released a clinical practice guideline update on integration of palliative care into standard oncology care.
As more cost pressures are placed on the health-care system and the transition to value-based care gains momentum, the Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC) 7th annual Trends in Cancer Programs survey revealed critical challenges and emerging trends in U.S. cancer programs. The costs of cancer drugs was named the top challenge by 2016 survey respondents (83%)—nearly double the number (45%) from last year’s survey.
New research from the University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center has clarified the mechanisms involved in a common growth pathway implicated in many solid tumor types and could lead to better outcomes for patients with head and neck, lung, and triple-negative breast cancer, particularly those resistant to common therapies. The findings were published by Brand et al in <em>Science Signaling</em>.
In a Dutch trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Rutten et al found that initial diagnostic laparoscopy prevented futile primary cytoreductive surgery in patients with suspected advanced-stage ovarian cancer.
More extensive or serial resections were not associated with improvement in event-free survival in patients with wild-type gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs), according to findings from the National Institutes of Health Pediatric and Wildtype GIST Clinic, which were reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Weldon et al.
Early integration of palliative care resulted in better quality of life and reduced depression in patients with newly diagnosed incurable lung or noncolorectal gastrointestinal cancer, according to a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Temel et al. Outcomes differed by cancer type.
Mutations that have been linked to endometrial cancer can be found in the uterine lavage fluid of pre- and postmenopausal women both with and without detectable cancer, according to a study published by Nair et al in <em>PLOS Medicine</em>.
On January 4, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted priority review status for the supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) for regorafenib tablets for the second-line systemic treatment of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.
In a study reported in <em>JAMA Oncology,</em> Pearlman et al found that 16% of patients with early-onset colorectal cancer had germline cancer susceptibility mutations, with a wide array of such mutations being identified.
In a new study published by Jagsi et al in JAMA Surgery, nearly half of patients with early-stage breast cancer considered having double mastectomy, and one in six received it—including many who were at low risk of developing a second breast cancer. Many patients who chose double mastectomy demonstrated little knowledge of the lack of benefit this aggressive procedure has for most patients.
Scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute reported they have discovered a potential explanation for why brain and heart tissues in very young children are more sensitive to collateral damage from cancer treatment than older individuals. Published by Sarosiek et al in <em>Cancer Cell</em>, their research showed that the tissues in these still-developing organs are more prone to apoptosis when subjected to toxic stresses like chemotherapy and radiation.
The Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology Ototoxicity Scale may be more sensitive than other classification systems in detecting ototoxicity in children receiving cisplatin for cancer treatment, according to a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Knight et al of the Children’s Oncology Group.
In a retrospective cohort–based study reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Scott et al found that individual patient genomic-adjusted radiation dose was associated with outcomes across different cancer types.
A recent study led by researchers at Roswell Park Cancer Institute provided new insight into how myeloid-derived suppressor cells enable tumor cells to circumvent immune attack and offer the potential for improving cancer immunotherapy. The research was published by Ku et al in <em>eLife</em>.
In a European phase III trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Azzouzi et al found that padeliporfin vascular-targeted photodynamic therapy was associated with a reduced rate of disease progression vs active surveillance in men with low-risk prostate cancer.
Adding the MET inhibitor onartuzumab to erlotinib was of no benefit in patients with advanced MET-positive non–small cell lung cancer who had progressed after platinum-based treatment, according to a phase III trial reported by Spigel et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em>
Most people receiving cancer-related data through direct-to-consumer personal genomic testing tended not to change health or screening behaviors when an elevated risk was identified, according to a study reported by Gray et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>. However, men with an increased prostate cancer risk seemed to be more likely to change vitamin/supplement use.
On December 21, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) allowed marketing of a new tissue-expander system for soft-tissue expansion in two-stage breast reconstruction following mastectomy and in the treatment of underdeveloped breasts and soft-tissue deformities. A patient uses a dose controller to independently inflate the expander.
Higher baseline tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte values were associated with improved overall survival among patients with advanced HER2-positive breast cancer receiving trastuzumab/docetaxel plus pertuzumab or placebo, according to a retrospective analysis of the phase III CLEOPATRA trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by Luen et al.
In a phase II trial reported in <em>The Lancet,</em> Balar et al found that first-line atezolizumab produced durable responses in cisplatin-ineligible patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma.
A routine blood test measuring albumin, neutrophil, and lactate dehydrogenase may predict how long patients with cancer in palliative care will survive, researchers reported at the ESMO Asia 2016 Congress in Singapore.
A study presented at the ESMO Asia 2016 Congress found that patients with cancer suffering from depression have decreased amounts of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in their blood. Low levels of BDNF may make patients less responsive to cancer drugs, and less tolerant of their side effects.
In a phase III trial reported in <em>The Lancet</em> by Rittmeyer et al, treatment with the anti–programmed cell death ligand 1 antibody atezolizumab improved overall survival vs docetaxel in previously treated non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Results of the trial supported the recent approval of atezolizumab in metastatic NSCLC in patients who have received prior platinum-containing therapy.
Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) is an independent prognostic marker in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer and is associated with poorer outcomes, according to a study by Pietrasz et al in <em>Clinical Cancer Research.</em> Identifying ctDNA in blood samples using next-generation sequencing offers great potential as a noninvasive strategy for patient care and follow-up.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today granted accelerated approval to rucaparib to treat women with advanced ovarian cancer who have been treated with two or more chemotherapies and whose tumors have a specific gene mutation (deleterious <em>BRCA</em>) as identified by an FDA-approved companion diagnostic test.
Asian patients with head and neck cancer live longer with pembrolizumab immunotherapy than the overall population, according to a subanalysis of the KEYNOTE-012 trial presented at the ESMO Asia 2016 Congress in Singapore.
The first data on rare sarcomas in Asian patients were presented in three studies at the ESMO Asia 2016 Congress in Singapore. Just half of the patients with advanced angiosarcoma received chemotherapy, although it improved overall survival. <em>CIC</em>-rearranged sarcomas were associated with a much worse prognosis than <em>BCOR</em>-rearranged sarcomas, and clinical features were identified to aid accurate diagnoses.
In a case report in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> Tran et al at the National Cancer Institute described a response to adoptive transfer of ex vivo expanded tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes containing T cells targeting personalized cancer neoepitopes in a patient with lung metastases from colorectal cancer.
An ASCO clinical practice guideline update panel made no changes to the 2014 recommendations for sentinel lymph node biopsy in women with early-stage breast cancer, according to a report by Lyman et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em>
Studies suggest that approximately 30% to 40% of women with breast cancer report persistent hot flashes. Nocturnal hot flashes are among the most problematic because they can contribute to poor sleep. A new study published by Garland et al in <em>Menopause</em> shows that electroacupuncture may be effective in providing some relief.
In a meta-analysis reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Ribassin-Majed et al found that the addition of adjuvant chemotherapy to chemoradiotherapy was associated with the greatest overall survival benefit among options for treating locally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
Integrating palliative care into the treatment of patients undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for cancers like leukemia and lymphoma can improve their quality of life, relieve symptoms associated with the procedure, and reduce depression and anxiety, not only during the 3- to 4-week hospitalization required for the procedure, but also several months later, according to research published by El-Jawahri et al in <em>JAMA</em>.
Regorafenib improved overall survival vs placebo in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma who had experienced disease progression on sorafenib treatment, according to the phase III RESORCE trial reported by Bruix et al in <em>The Lancet.</em>
Around 20% of patients with breast cancer in Sweden do not complete endocrine therapy, according to research to be reported at the ESMO Asia 2016 Congress in Singapore. The study in over 5,500 women found that younger patients and those who had taken hormone replacement therapy were less likely to adhere to their prescribed regimen.
<strong>Monica M. Bertagnolli, MD</strong>, a long-time ASCO member and volunteer, has been elected to serve as the President of ASCO for the term beginning in June 2018. She will take office as President-Elect during the ASCO Annual Meeting in Chicago in June 2017.
Patients who received first-line ceritinib experienced a 45% risk reduction for advanced anaplastic lymphoma kinase (<em>ALK</em>)–rearranged non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) compared to a control group that received chemotherapy, according to research presented at the IASLC 17th World Conference on Lung Cancer.
Patients whose lung cancer spreads to their brain typically have only 4 to 6 months left to live, but research presented by Chinese investigators at the IASLC 17th World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC) suggests that using icotinib increases progression-free survival in these patients compared to whole-brain irradiation and chemotherapy combined.
A revised tumor classification based on more than 70,000 non–small cell lung cancer patients and 6,100 small cell lung cancer patients is now available to lung cancer specialists around the world in the form of the 8th edition of the tumor, node, and metastasis (TNM) classification. An overview of the TNM was presented at the IASLC World Conference on Lung Cancer.
Rovalpituzumab tesirine, a first-in-class antibody-drug conjugate directed against delta-like protein 3, produced responses in patients with recurrent small cell lung cancer, according to a phase I study reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by Rudin et al.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Armenian et al, ASCO has released a clinical practice guideline on prevention and monitoring of cardiac dysfunction in survivors of adult cancers.
Patients in Chandigarh, India, waited an average of 4 months before seeking a cancer diagnosis, according to a recent study. Some patients waited less than a week before seeing a doctor—while others waited 3 years. The researchers will report their findings at the ESMO Asia 2016 Congress, to be held December 16–19 in Singapore.
The LUME-Meso phase II trial in patients with unresectable malignant pleural mesothelioma, presented at the 17th IASLC World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC), showed nintedanib plus pemetrexed/cisplatin demonstrated a meaningful clinical benefit compared to placebo plus pemetrexed/cisplatin, with a significantly improved progression-free survival.
As reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by Hellman et al, the combination of nivolumab and ipilimumab showed promising activity as first-line treatment in patients in the non–small cell lung cancer cohort of the phase I CheckMate 012 study.
In a phase III trial reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em> by Mok et al, osimertinib significantly improved progression-free survival vs platinum/pemetrexed among patients with epidermal growth factor receptor <em>(EGFR)</em> T790M–positive non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) progressing during first-line EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy.
Today, President Obama signed into law the 21st Century Cures Act, landmark legislation designed to improve and accelerate the pace of biomedical research in the United States. ASCO Chief Executive Officer <strong>Clifford Hudis, MD, FACP, FASCO</strong>, attended the White House signing ceremony to witness the culmination of 3 years of intensive advocacy effort by ASCO and its members.
In a phase II trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Swisher et al found that the poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitor rucaparib was associated with prolonged progression-free survival among patients with relapsed platinum-sensitive high-grade ovarian carcinoma who had <em>BRCA</em>-mutant or <em>BRCA</em> wild-type loss of heterozygosity high tumors vs <em>BRCA</em> wild-type loss of heterozygosity low tumors.
In the international phase III FALCON trial reported in <em>The Lancet,</em> Robertson et al found that progression-free survival was improved with intramuscular fulvestrant vs oral anastrozole in endocrine therapy–naive women with hormone receptor–positive locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer.
The artificial-intelligence platform Watson for Oncology achieved a high degree of concordance with the recommendations of a panel of oncologists in a double-blinded validation study, according to results presented at the 2016 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.
Postmenopausal women with breast cancer who took aromatase inhibitors demonstrated endothelial dysfunction, a predictor of cardiovascular disease, according to study results presented at the 2016 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.
Presurgical treatment with the investigational therapeutic abemaciclib, either alone or in combination with the aromatase inhibitor anastrozole, reduced levels of Ki67, a marker of cell proliferation, in hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative breast cancer cells, compared with anastrozole alone, according to data from the neoMONARCH phase II clinical trial presented at the 2016 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.
A prospective randomized trial evaluating the safety and efficacy of a scalp-cooling device in reducing chemotherapy-induced alopecia in women with stages I to II breast cancer receiving anthracycline- or taxane-based chemotherapy has found the device to be safe and highly effective in preserving the patients’ hair. Over 50% of the women in the cooling group had hair preservation compared with 0% in the noncooling group, according to a study by Nangia et al presented at the 2016 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS).
Among women enrolled in the International Breast Cancer Intervention Study I (IBIS-I), those who had certain symptoms of menopause—nausea/vomiting and headaches—were significantly less likely to be adherent to the assigned medication 4.5 years after starting the treatment, according to data presented at the 2016 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.
The investigational PI3K inhibitor buparlisib, in combination with endocrine therapy, improved outcomes for patients with hormone receptor–positive advanced breast cancer that had progressed after treatment with everolimus plus exemestane, according to data from the phase III clinical trial BELLE-3 presented at the 2016 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.
Adding veliparib to carboplatin and paclitaxel chemotherapy improved the overall response rate without increasing adverse events among patients who had locally recurrent or metastatic breast cancer with <em>BRCA1</em> or <em>BRCA2</em> mutations, according to data from a phase II clinical trial presented at the 2016 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.
Radiotherapy increased complications and impaired patient-reported satisfaction with reconstructed breasts in breast cancer patients who received implant reconstruction, but not in those who received autologous reconstruction, according to data from a large, prospective, multicenter cohort study presented at the 2016 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.
Postmenopausal women with hormone receptor–positive early-stage breast cancer who received the bisphosphonate ibandronate in addition to adjuvant hormone therapy did not have improved disease-free survival outcomes, according to data from the phase III clinical trial TEAM IIB presented at the 2016 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.
Adding an aromatase inhibitor to presurgical treatment with docetaxel, carboplatin, trastuzumab, and pertuzumab did not significantly increase or decrease the percentage of patients with hormone receptor–positive, HER2-positive breast cancer who had a pathologic complete response, according to data from a phase III clinical trial presented at the 2016 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.
A sentinel lymph node biopsy during surgery that showed no signs of cancer was associated with a low risk for breast cancer recurrence in the axillary lymph nodes for patients with large, operable breast tumors and no clinical signs of the cancer in the axillary lymph nodes prior to neoadjuvant chemotherapy, according to data from the GANEA 2 clinical trial presented at the 2016 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.
The antioxidant sodium thiosulfate provided protection against cisplatin-related hearing loss in children with cancer, according to a phase III trial reported by Freyer et al in <em>The Lancet Oncology.</em>
Five additional years of hormone therapy with letrozole following an initial 5 years of aromatase inhibitor-based adjuvant hormone therapy did not demonstrate a statistical improvement in disease-free or overall survival in postmenopausal women with early-stage hormone receptor–positive breast cancer, according to data from the NSABP B-42 trial presented at the 2016 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.
Progression-free survival was more than doubled for patients with metastatic hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative breast cancer resistant to aromatase inhibitor therapy by adding everolimus to treatment with the endocrine therapeutic fulvestrant, according to data from the PrECOG 0102 phase II clinical trial presented at the 2016 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.
Genomic sequencing of estrogen receptor–positive metastatic breast cancer that had become resistant to therapies revealed multiple genomic and molecular alterations that were not present in the primary tumor samples, with implications for choice of next therapy, clinical trial eligibility, and novel drug targets, according to data presented at the 2016 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.
ASCO President <strong>Daniel F. Hayes, MD, FACP, FASCO</strong>, issued a statement praising Congress for the vote to pass the 21st Century Cures Act and authorize funding for the Beau Biden Cancer Moonshot and National Institutes of Health Innovation Projects.
In an analysis reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Fischer et al found that men with clinical stage I seminoma who relapsed after adjuvant carboplatin could be successfully re-treated with cisplatin-based chemotherapy.
Use of the angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor perindopril or the beta-blocker bisoprolol did not reduce the risk of trastuzumab-related cardiac remodeling in women with early HER2-positive breast cancer, according to a Canadian trial reported by Pituskin et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em> Both agents reduced trastuzumab-related declines in left-ventricular ejection fraction.
In part 1 of a phase III equivalence trial reported in <em>JAMA,</em> Rugo et al found that treatment with trastuzumab or a proposed trastuzumab biosimilar in combination with a taxane produced similar overall response rates in patients with previously untreated metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer.
Trial results presented by Stadtmauer during the 58th ASH Annual Meeting & Exposition suggest two therapies that are often added to standard therapy in patients with multiple myeloma do not improve rates of progression-free survival compared with the current standard course of treatment alone. The study is the largest randomized controlled trial of posttransplant therapy for multiple myeloma ever conducted in the United States.
Despite an elevated risk of toxicity from chemotherapy, children with Down syndrome and acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) did not experience higher rates of relapse or treatment-related mortality compared with other children treated on Dana-Farber Cancer Institute ALL Consortium Protocols, according to research presented by Athale et al at the 58th ASH Annual Meeting & Exposition.
A combination of two targeted agents has demonstrated safety as well as encouraging signs of effectiveness in a phase I clinical trial in patients with relapsed or hard-to-treat chronic lymphocytic leukemia or mantle cell lymphoma. Davids et al reported the findings at the 58th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition in San Diego.
Compared with standard therapy, pacritinib significantly reduces spleen size among people with myelofibrosis who have very low levels of platelets, according to a late-breaking study presented by Mascarenhas et al during the 58th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition in San Diego. The study investigators also reported that patients taking a twice-daily dose of this investigational oral multikinase inhibitor experienced significant improvements in symptoms.
A late-breaking abstract being presented by Churchman et al during the 58th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition in San Diego identified inherited genetic mutations in the gene <em>IKZF1</em> that confer a higher likelihood of developing pediatric acute lymphocytic leukemia.
A late-breaking abstract presented by Miklos et al during the 58th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition in San Diego showed patients who experience graft-vs-host disease after stem cell transplantation that is not resolved by corticosteroid treatment may benefit from the use of ibrutinib, an anticancer drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for treating certain blood cancers.
The presence of the excision repair cross complementing group 1 (ERCC1) biomarker did not predict better outcome with nonplatinum therapy in patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to a UK phase III trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Lee et al.
As reported by Sulman et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> ASCO has endorsed the 2016 American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) evidence-based guideline on radiation therapy for glioblastoma.
Interim results from cohort 2 of the phase II portion of the ZUMA-1 study, which used CAR T-cell therapy for patients with refractory primary mediastinal B-cell lymphoma and transformed follicular lymphoma, were presented by Locke et al during the 2016 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition.
The combined use of genetic markers and minimal residual disease assessment has made it easier to identify chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) patients likely to have a poor outcome after receiving front-line chemoimmunotherapy. Interim results from the phase III German CLL M1 study presented by Fink et al at the 2016 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition suggest that these patients would benefit from adding maintenance therapy with lenalidomide to their treatment.
In a small, early-phase trial, a high percentage of patients who had exhausted most traditional treatments for chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) saw their tumors shrink or even disappear after an infusion of a highly targeted, experimental chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell immunotherapy. These findings were presented by Turtle et al at the 58th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition.
In a UK population–based study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Khosrow-Khavar et al found no significant association between the use of androgen-deprivation therapy and the risk for dementia in patients with prostate cancer.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Ferrarotto et al found that the presence of activating <em>NOTCH1</em> mutations defined a subgroup of patients with adenoid cystic carcinomas with an aggressive phenotype.
A study led by researchers at the University of Liverpool presented by Clark et al at the 58th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition suggested many patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) may be able to safely reduce tyrosine kinase inhibitor side effects by cutting their dose in half.
In one of the largest-ever trials to assess the safety of stopping tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy, about half of 821 patients with chronic myeloid leukemia showed no evidence of relapse 2 years after treatment cessation, suggesting that some patients can safely discontinue tyrosine kinase inhibitor use. These findings were presented by Mahon et al at the 58th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition.
In a clinical trial presented by Erba et al at the 58th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition, vadastuximab talirine was found to be safe when used in combination with standard chemotherapy treatment for patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML).
A novel study revealed some patients with acute myeloid leukemia and myelodysplastic syndrome, who traditionally could not be considered for clinical trials, responded well and were safely treated in this setting. Research results were presented by Daver et al at the 58th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition in San Diego.
Patients successfully treated for breast, colon, and other cancers can go on to develop an often-fatal form of leukemia, sometimes years after completion of treatment, due to a genetic mutation leading to secondary malignancies known as therapy-related myeloid neoplasms. A study presented by Takahashi et al at the 58th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology revealed preleukemic mutations, called clonal hematopoiesis, may predict whether patients develop therapy-related myeloid neoplasms.
Children and young adults with relapsed or refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) who receive chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy targeting CD22, a protein found on the surface of leukemic cells, appear to mount a clinical response and, in some cases, achieve remission, according to phase I study results presented by Shah et al at the 58th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition.
A new analysis presented by Lancet et al at the 58th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition showed older patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) survived longer after receiving an allogeneic stem cell transplant if they were first treated with the experimental chemotherapy delivery method known as CPX-351 instead of the standard “7+3” administration of chemotherapy drugs cytarabine and daunorubicin.
It may be possible to safely prevent one of the most common and costly infections contracted by hospitalized patients undergoing bone marrow transplantation for the treatment of blood cancers—Clostridium difficile—according to a study from the Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania. Findings were presented by Ganetsky et al at the 58th Annual American Society of Hematology (ASH) Meeting and Exposition.
A new McGill University study published by Syrowatka et al in <em>JNCCN – Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network</em> found that most patients with breast cancer aged 65 and older use psychotropic and opioid medications during active treatment, often in the first year of survivorship, despite this population’s vulnerability to adverse events.
Having a child with cancer led to income reductions for parents and job discontinuation among mothers in a recent study, even after adjusting for prediagnosis sociodemographic factors. Published by Norberg et al in <em>Cancer</em>, the findings indicate that childhood cancer affects parents' income and employment for years after the child's diagnosis, and that these effects are not equally distributed among mothers and fathers.
Patients with tumors scored as HER2-enriched or luminal subtype derived a recurrence-free survival benefit from the addition of adjuvant trastuzumab to chemotherapy, according to an analysis of outcomes in the North Central Cancer Treatment Group/Alliance N9831 trial reported by Perez et al in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute.</em>
In a prospective study by Rivera et al, overall alcohol intake was associated with a 14% higher risk of melanoma per drink per day. Each drink per day of white wine was associated with a 13% increased risk of melanoma. Other forms of alcohol—beer, red wine, and liquor—did not significantly affect melanoma risk. In addition, melanoma risk was greater for parts of the body that received less sun exposure. The study was published in <em>Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention</em>.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted for review the supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) for pembrolizumab, an anti–programmed cell death protein 1 therapy, for the treatment of patients with refractory classical Hodgkin lymphoma or for patients who have relapsed after three or more prior lines of therapy.
In ongoing phase I trials presented at the 28th EORTC-NCI-AACR Symposium on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics in Munich, Germany, the <em>PDGFRα</em> and <em>KIT</em> inhibitors BLU-285 and DCC-2618 showed antitumor activity in patients with gastrointestinal stromal tumors and glioblastoma multiforme.
Results of a program at Massachusetts General Hospital focused on uncovering how gastrointestinal (GI) cancers develop resistance to targeted therapies were presented at the 2016 EORTC-NCI-AACR Symposium on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics in Munich, Germany.
Roberts et al found a high frequency of Philadelphia chromosome–like acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in adults with B-cell ALL and poorer outcome with conventional therapy in these patients, according to a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em>
Hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) survivors had higher rates of morbidity and mortality compared with a matched population of patients with cancer not undergoing HCT, according to a study reported by Chow et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em>
In the largest-ever study on screening mammography outcomes, researchers found that there is no clear cutoff age to stop breast cancer screening. The findings were presented at the 2016 Annual Meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).
Proactive outreach to cirrhosis patients in a safety net health system successfully doubled their screening rates for liver cancer, researchers found in a study published by Singal et al in <em>Gastroenterology</em>.
Surgeon-assessed resection of at least 90% was associated with improved event-free survival and a reduced cumulative incidence of local disease progression, according to an analysis of patients with high-risk neuroblastoma from the Children’s Oncology Group A3973 study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by von Allmen et al.
Greenlee et al found that obesity, overweight, and low levels of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity were associated with an increased risk of taxane-related peripheral neuropathy in women with invasive breast cancer, according to a study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute.</em>
In a retrospective analysis reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Adra et al found that good survival outcomes were achieved with the use of high-dose chemotherapy and peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (PBSCT) in second-, third-, or later-line treatment of patients with relapsed metastatic germ cell tumors at Indiana University.
On November 28, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accepted for review the supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) for pembrolizumab for the treatment of previously treated patients with advanced microsatellite instability–high cancer.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted ponatinib full approval for the treatment of adult patients with chronic-phase, accelerated-phase, or blast-phase chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) or Philadelphia chromosome–positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) for whom no other tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy is indicated; and for the treatment of adult patients with <em>T315I</em>–positive CML (chronic phase, accelerated phase, or blast phase) or <em>T315I</em>–positive, Philadelphia chromosome–positive ALL.
ASCO today released Criteria for High-Quality Clinical Pathways in Oncology, a set of 15 inter-related criteria that provide an overarching framework for assessing pathway programs in the United States. ASCO developed the criteria to guide stakeholders in assessing the quality, utility, and integrity of clinical pathways in oncology.
In an analysis reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Chen et al predicted that an increase in the number of patients living with chronic lymphocytic leukemia due to improved treatment with oral targeted therapies will be accompanied by a markedly increased overall cost to patients and payers in the United States.
Chambers et al found that a mindfulness-based cognitive therapy intervention did not improve measures of distress or anxiety vs minimally enhanced usual care among men with advanced prostate cancer, according to an Australian study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em>
In a Translational Breast Cancer Research Consortium prospective biomarker study, reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Visvanathan et al, a cumulative methylation index was found to be predictive of progression-free survival, overall survival, and disease status at first restaging in women with metastatic breast cancer.
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN), a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)-approved provider-led entity for imaging appropriate use criteria, has published NCCN Imaging Appropriate Use Criteria for an additional 15 NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology.
The American Medical Association (AMA) issued a statement on November 21 on the opening day of a court challenge against a merger deal involving two of the few remaining national health insurance companies—Anthem and Cigna.
In an analysis in the Nurses’ Health Study population reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Holmes et al found modest reductions in the risk for distant recurrence of breast cancer with greater protein intake. No associations with intake of essential amino acids, branched-chain amino acids, or leucine or with tumor expression of insulin receptor were observed.
Women with early-stage breast cancer previously treated for depression were more likely to receive nonguideline treatment for breast cancer, “probably contributing to poorer overall and cancer-specific survival,” according to a nationwide Danish cohort study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Suppli et al.
In an analysis of a French trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Balsat et al found that postinduction minimal residual disease was predictive of outcome and benefit from allogeneic stem cell transplantation (ASCT) in patients with <em>NPM1</em>-mutant acute myeloid leukemia (AML).
A study published in <em>Nature Genetics</em> by Dunford et al investigating the unexplained predominance of cancer incidence in males vs females has found the biallelic expression of escape from X-inactivation tumor suppressor (<em>EXITS</em>) genes in females may account for a portion of the reduced cancer incidence in females across a variety of tumor types. Clinical studies are needed to understand the sex-specific differences in outcomes resulting from distinct tumor genetics, according to the study authors.
Long et al identified factors predictive of progression-free and overall survival with combined dabrafenib plus trametinib in patients with <em>BRAF</em> V600E–mutant or <em>BRAF</em> V600K–mutant metastatic melanoma, according to a pooled individual data analysis reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology.</em>
A pooled analysis of outcomes in patients receiving nivolumab or nivolumab plus ipilimumab for advanced mucosal or cutaneous melanoma in clinical trials was reported by D’Angelo et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em>
As reported by Angela N. Bartley, MD, of St Joseph Mercy Hospital, Ann Arbor, and colleagues in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> the College of American Pathologists (CAP), American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP), and ASCO have released a guideline on HER2 testing and clinical decision-making in gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Weber et al performed a pooled analysis of the safety profile of nivolumab monotherapy in advanced melanoma, including a focus on potential immune-related (select) adverse events.
The Center for Leukemia and Lymphoma Research at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) was renamed to the Dr. James O. Armitage Center for Leukemia and Lymphoma Research in honor of Dr. Armitage's internationally recognized expertise in the treatment of lymphoma.
On November 21, 2016, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved daratumumab in combination with lenalidomide and dexamethasone, or bortezomib and dexamethasone, for the treatment of patients with multiple myeloma who have received at least one prior therapy.
Higher baseline levels of T-cell expression of CD62L (L-selectin) were associated with a greater likelihood of molecular response to nilotinib in early chronic-phase chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), according to a report by Sopper et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em>
Glioblastoma multiforme remains the most common and highly lethal brain cancer, known for its tendency to recur. Researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have identified a pathway by which cancer cells aggressively spread and grow in the brain, opening up new possibilities for treatment. Study findings were published by Hu et al in <em>Cell</em>.
New research shows that excess weight increases the risk that monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance will progress to multiple myeloma. The study, by a team at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, is published in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute</em>.
In the phase III MARIANNE trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Perez et al found that ado-trastuzumab emtansine (formerly known as T-DM1) was associated with noninferior progression-free survival compared with trastuzumab plus taxane in patients with HER2-positive advanced breast cancer who had received no prior therapy for advanced disease.
The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) has issued an updated clinical practice statement for accelerated partial-breast irradiation for early-stage breast cancer. The updated guideline reflects recent evidence that greater numbers of patients can benefit from accelerated treatment and also provides direction for the use of intraoperative radiation therapy for partial-breast irradiation. The update to the 2009 ASTRO consensus statement for accelerated partial-breast irradiation was published by Correa et al in <em>Practical Radiation Oncology</em>.
Johns Hopkins Medicine specialists reported they have developed a urine test for the likely emergence of cervical cancer that is highly accurate compared to other tests based on genetic markers derived directly from cervical tissue, according to results published by by Guerrero-Preston et al in <em>Cancer Prevention Research</em>.
In an article in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em>, Johnson et al reported the occurrence of fulminant, fatal immune-related myocarditis in two patients who received combined ipilimumab and nivolumab for metastatic melanoma.
In a phase II trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Drilon et al found that cabozantinib produced responses in some patients with advanced <em>RET</em>-rearranged non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
An interim efficacy analysis from a phase I/II study of the combination of lirilumab and nivolumab in the cohort of advanced platinum refractory squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck, including exploratory biomarker analyses of patient response by level of programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression, was presented at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) 31st Annual Meeting.
Safety and efficacy data from a phase I/II study of urelumab in combination with nivolumab in patients with hematologic and solid tumors, including biomarker analyses by level of programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression, was recently presented at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) 31st Annual Meeting.
In a phase III trial reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> Finn et al found that the addition of palbociclib to letrozole significantly improved progression-free survival (PFS) in postmenopausal women with previously untreated advanced estrogen receptor (ER)-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer.
In a case report in <em>Cancer Biology & Therapy,</em> Lou et al described an ‘exceptional response’ to first-line treatment with the hedgehog inhibitor vismodegib in a 51-year-old patient with a history of basal cell carcinoma who was diagnosed with an unresectable/multifocal form of adult medulloblastoma.
In a new study led by the Cancer Prevention Institute of California, published by Horn-Ross et al in <em>Cancer Causes and Control</em>, researchers evaluated changes in obesity, beginning at adolescence, to identify lifetime risk factors that may lead to endometrial cancer.
The first evidence-based consensus statement on cancer immunotherapy for the treatment of patients with the most common type of kidney cancer, renal cell carcinoma, has been published by the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) in the <em>Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer</em> by Rini et al.
Faltas et al identified factors in the clonal evolution of chemotherapy-resistant urothelial carcinoma, according to a study reported in <em>Nature Genetics.</em> Findings included wide intrapatient mutational heterogeneity and enrichment for clonal mutations involving L1 cell–adhesion molecule and integrin signaling pathways in chemotherapy-treated disease.
In a randomized phase II clinical trial comparing cabozantinib with standard-of-care sunitinib as first-line therapy for patients with advanced kidney cancer, Choueiri et al found the experimental drug reduced the rate of disease progression or death by 34%. Based on these findings, reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> cabozantinib may provide a potential new treatment option for patients with previously untreated metastatic renal cell carcinoma.
Treatment with the multikinase inhibitor cabozantinib alone or with erlotinib improved progression-free survival vs erlotinib alone in second- or third-line treatment of advanced nonsquamous epidermal growth factor receptor (<em>EGFR</em>) wild-type non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to a phase II trial reported by Neal et al in <em>The Lancet Oncology.</em>
In a phase I/II study reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Gettinger et al found that the anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) inhibitor brigatinib was active in patients with <em>ALK</em>-rearranged non–small cell lung cancer with or without prior crizotinib treatment.
Researchers from the University of Chicago Medicine and the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center have created the first mouse model for the most common form of infant leukemia, pro-B acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Their discovery, reported by Lin et al in <em>Cancer Cell</em>, could hasten development and testing of new drug therapies.
Combination immunotherapy is producing response rates ranging from 26% to 38% among patients with metastatic bladder cancer in the early stages of a three-arm clinical trial presented at the 2016 Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) Annual Meeting.
Researchers have discovered that a marker found on aggressive prostate cancer cells could also be used as a way to guide treatments to the cancer, according to new research presented by Luxton et al at the 2016 National Cancer Research Institute Cancer Conference.
Blocking the protein ADAM17 may bypass bowel cancer's defense against the drug cetuximab, according to new research presented by Weir et al at the National Cancer Research Institute Cancer Conference.
In the phase III TELESTAR trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Kulke et al, telotristat ethyl, a tryptophan hydroxylase inhibitor, significantly reduced the frequency of bowel movements in patients with metastatic neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) and carcinoid syndrome.
The final results of the Italian-German phase III APL0406 trial indicate that the combination of all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) and arsenic trioxide is associated with better outcomes than standard ATRA plus chemotherapy in the first-line treatment of low- or intermediate-risk acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL). These findings were reported by Platzbecker et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) has announced the launch of <em>Just Bag It: The NCCN Campaign for Safe Vincristine Handling</em>. This campaign encourages health-care providers to adopt a policy to always dilute and administer vincristine in a mini–intravenous drip bag to prevent a particular deadly medical error.
On November 10, 2016, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved nivolumab (Opdivo) for the treatment of patients with recurrent or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck with disease progression on or after a platinum-based therapy.
In a phase III trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Ryan et al found that adding palifosfamide to doxorubicin did not prolong progression-free survival among patients with metastatic soft-tissue sarcoma.
Adult cancer survivors receive medication for anxiety and depression at twice the rate of that in adults without cancer, according to a study of population-based data reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Hawkins et al.
Completed patient enrollment in the phase III ECHELON-2 trial was announced earlier this week. ECHELON-2 is a global phase III randomized trial evaluating brentuximab vedotin as part of a front-line combination chemotherapy regimen in patients with previously untreated CD30-positive mature T-cell lymphoma.
Vitamin D deficiency may be associated with an increased risk of developing bladder cancer, according to a systematic review of seven studies presented at the Society for Endocrinology Annual Conference in Brighton, United Kingdom.
In an analysis of data from the National Cancer Database reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Go et al found a lower risk of all-cause mortality among patients with multiple myeloma treated at higher-volume facilities.
In a phase II study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Liu et al found no progression-free survival benefit of adding the anti-HER3 (ErbB3) antibody seribantumab to paclitaxel in unselected patients with advanced platinum-resistant or -refractory ovarian cancer. However, exploratory analysis suggested women with detectable heregulin mRNA and low HER2 levels might benefit from the combination therapy.
Tagging gold nanoparticles with a small dose of radiation has helped researchers trace the precious metal as it delivers a drug right into the heart of cancer cells, according to new laboratory research presented by Bavelaar et al at the 2016 National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) Cancer Conference in Liverpool, United Kingdom.
Around one in six women (17%) diagnosed with breast cancer go to their doctor with a symptom other than a lump—the most commonly reported breast cancer symptom—according to new research presented by Koo et al at the 2016 National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) Cancer Conference.
The self-reported health status among childhood cancer survivors has not improved across 3 decades despite the evolution of treatment designed to reduce toxicities, according to a study by Ness et al published in <em>Annals of Internal Medicine.</em> The findings may provide opportunities to modify treatments with extreme toxicity and direct early intervention for survivors reporting an adverse health status.
In a <em>Lancet Oncology</em> article, Yang et al examined clinical, policy, safety, and regulatory considerations for generic oncology drugs focusing on the United States, Canada, European Union (EU), Japan, China, and India. Available data do not identify safety concerns in the United States, Canada, EU, or Japan, regions where drug regulations and enforcement are strong.
A new analysis indicates that many men with prostate cancer obtain second opinions from urologists before starting treatment, but surprisingly, second opinions are not associated with changes in treatment choice or improvements in perceived quality of prostate cancer care. Published by Radhakrishnan et al in <em>Cancer</em>, the findings also explore motivations for seeking second opinions and suggest that second opinions may not reduce overtreatment in prostate cancer.
In a phase II trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Gomez et al found that local consolidative therapy (with or without maintenance therapy) improved progression-free survival in patients with stage IV non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who had up to three metastatic disease lesions and no progression after first-line systemic therapy.
In the phase II portion of a German phase II/III trial (FLOT4) reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Al-Batran et al found that preoperative docetaxel-based vs anthracycline-based triplet therapy produced a higher complete histopathologic regression rate in patients with resectable gastric or gastroesophageal junction cancer who had clinical stage ≥ cT2 or node-positive disease.
Patients with malignant melanoma are more likely to respond to immunotherapy treatment if they have greater diversity in their gut bacteria, according to new research presented by Wargo et al at the National Cancer Research Institute's Cancer Conference.
The recall rate of screening mammography is reduced when radiologists compare with more than one prior mammogram, according to a recent study by Hayward et al in <em>American Journal of Roentgenology</em>.
An international team of researchers from the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital–Washington University Pediatric Cancer Genome Project has completed a detailed map of the genomic landscape for core-binding factor acute myeloid leukemia (CBF-AML). Their findings were published online by Faber et al in the journal <em>Nature Genetics</em>.
Scientists have measured the genetic damage caused by smoking in different organs of the body and identified several different mechanisms by which tobacco smoking causes mutations in DNA. A report published by Alexandrov et al in <em>Science</em> found smokers accumulated an average of 150 extra mutations in every lung cell for each year of smoking 1 packet of cigarettes a day.
The release of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) 14th Report on Carcinogens on November 3, 2016, included 7 newly reviewed substances, bringing the cumulative total to 248 listings. The chemical trichloroethylene, the metallic element cobalt, and cobalt compounds that release cobalt ions in vivo are being added to the list, as well as 5 viruses—human immunodeficiency virus type 1, human T-cell lymphotropic virus type 1, Epstein-Barr virus, Kaposi sarcoma–associated herpesvirus, and Merkel cell polyomavirus.
As many as 60% of patients with cancer report distress following a cancer diagnosis, and this stress can have a significant impact on patients’ well-being, resulting in psychosocial problems, physical side effects, and dissatisfaction with their health care. In a study published in <em>JNCCN – Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network</em>, Watson et al examined the impact of a new distress screening implementation on health-care providers’ confidence in addressing patient distress.
Researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have developed a new personalized assessment tool that could better predict lung cancer risk in never, light, and heavy smokers using a large Taiwanese prospective cohort study. The study, published by Wu et al in <em>Scientific Reports</em>, is the first to develop a tool for personalized risk assessment in never-smokers in a large prospective cohort design.
A study from the Duke Cancer Institute has found a lack of statistical evidence to support the current practice of treating thyroid cancer patients under age 45 differently from those 45 and older. The study, published recently by Adam et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, found that in nearly 32,000 cases of papillary thyroid cancer, there was no specific age at which patients’ prognoses changed so significantly as to require age-based standards.
On November 2, ASCO and Innovative Oncology Business Solutions, Inc, announced a new collaboration, ASCO COME HOME, an oncology medical home program designed to transition community oncology practices from volume-based to value-based care by structuring reimbursement around the full range of services needed by patients with cancer. ASCO COME HOME will also prepare oncology practices for full implementation of the Quality Payment Program, authorized by the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act and available across the country starting on January 1, 2017.
A population-based study by Brand et al investigating the effects of chemotherapy and genetic susceptibility on the risk of venous thromboembolism in patients with breast cancer has found that genetic testing may have clinical potential for venous thromboembolism risk stratification in the chemotherapy setting. The study, which was published in <em>Clinical Cancer Research,</em> also suggests that genetic testing may be more informative in older patients with breast cancer.
In the journal <em>Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention</em>, Durham et al reported that younger, uninsured women in North Carolina had higher odds of missing a 60-day window for getting follow-up after an abnormal mammogram and were also less likely to get follow-up within a year of a positive mammogram.
In a letter to the editor in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> Hari et al described a sustained response to the anti-CD38 antibody daratumumab in a patient with relapsed, refractory nasal-type extranodal natural killer (NK) cell–T-cell lymphoma.
On November 1, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accepted a New Drug Application (NDA) for filing and granted Priority Review for ribociclib as first-line treatment of postmenopausal women with hormone receptor–positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative advanced or metastatic breast cancer in combination with letrozole.
Positive results were announced on October 26, 2016, from the phase III SOLO-2 trial, designed to determine the efficacy of olaparib tablets as a monotherapy for the maintenance treatment of platinum-sensitive, <em>BRCA</em>-mutated relapsed ovarian cancer.
A new American Cancer Society study finds that incidence of anal cancer has been increasing in women or in both men and women in 13 of 18 countries studied, particularly in the Americas, Northern/Western Europe, and Australia. The authors say population-based preventive measures, including human papillomavirus vaccination and advocacy for safe sexual behaviors, may help curb the surging burden of the disease. The study was published by Islami et al in the <em>International Journal of Epidemiology</em>.
In a study of data from men in the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Kelly et al found that body mass index (BMI) increases during adulthood that lead to obesity are associated with an increased risk of fatal prostate cancer.
The addition of norethandrolone as maintenance therapy improved survival in patients aged ≥ 60 years with acute myeloid leukemia, according to a French phase III trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Pigneux et al.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Biggers et al found that persistence and adherence with hormonal therapy for breast cancer were greater among black, Hispanic, and white women with vs without low-income prescription subsidies in Medicare Part D.
A new study published by Santosa et al in the <em>Journal of the American College of Surgeons</em> found that older women enjoy the same benefits from breast reconstruction following mastectomy for breast cancer as younger women, without a significant increase in the risk for complications.
A research team from Kumamoto University set out to determine if there was a relationship between the concentration of estrogen in lung tissue and multiple primary lung cancers in postmenopausal women. Their findings were published by Ikeda et al in <em>PLOS One</em>.
Patients with double-hit and double-expressor relapsed and refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphomas have poorer outcomes after autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT), according to the findings of a retrospective analysis reported by Herrera et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em>
Painful sex experienced by women after cancer treatment is relatively common, often treatable, and needs to be addressed by medical providers. A review published in <em>Obstetrics & Gynecology</em> highlights various causes of painful sex in women after cancer, including those related to surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and hormonal therapy, and provides guidance on medical evaluation, physical exams, and treatment options.
Findings from a new study, reported by Kedage et al in <em>Cell Reports</em>, suggest that the molecular mechanism that triggers the rare disease Ewing's sarcoma could act as a potential new direction for the treatment of more than half of all patients with prostate cancer.
In a single-center analysis reported in <em>JAMA Oncology,</em> Nead et al found that the use of androgen-deprivation therapy for prostate cancer was associated with an increased risk for dementia.
Although smoking prevalence in the United States has declined by more than half since 1965, nearly 40 million adults still smoke cigarettes, resulting in about 167,133 cancer deaths in 2014, according to a study by the American Cancer Society. The study investigated cancer mortality due to smoking in each state and the District of Columbia and found that while cigarette use explained a high proportion of cancer deaths in all states, the proportion was highest in Southern states, including Kentucky, Arkansas, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Louisiana. The study by Lortet-Tieulent et al is published in <em>JAMA Internal Medicine</em>.
Patients with disseminated advanced cancer who undergo surgery are far more likely to endure long hospital stays and readmissions, referrals to extended care facilities, and death, according to research published by Bateni et al in <em>PLOS One</em>.
Among Japanese patients with esophageal cancer, those whose cancer tested positive for DNA from the bacterium <em>Fusobacterium nucleatum</em> had shorter cancer-specific survival compared with those whose cancer had no DNA from the bacterium, according to study results published by Yamamura et al in <em>Clinical Cancer Research</em>.
In a matched retrospective analysis reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Zhao et al identified and validated a 24-gene predictor of response to postoperative radiotherapy in prostate cancer.
Mir et al found that regorafenib was active in patients with advanced nonadipocytic soft-tissue sarcoma previously treated with an anthracycline, according to a French-Austrian phase II trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology.</em> Regorafenib should be evaluated further in this setting, the investigators concluded.
In a new report published by Young et al in <em>Cancer Medicine</em>, a two-gene circulating tumor DNA blood test for postsurgical monitoring of colorectal cancer recurrence has been shown to detect twice the number of recurrence cases as carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) testing, a standard of care component for colorectal cancer recurrence monitoring in patients who have undergone surgery. The test measures the presence of <em>BCAT1</em> and <em>IKZF1</em> gene methylation, a chemical modification associated with tumor growth and invasion.
In a secondary analysis of a clinical trial reported in <em>JAMA Oncology,</em> Chu et al found that use of proton pump inhibitors (gastric acid suppressants) reduced the effectiveness of oral capecitabine in patients with advanced gastroesophageal cancer.
Overall survival was poorer with isolated peritoneal metastasis in colorectal cancer vs other isolated sites of metastasis in patients receiving first-line systemic therapy but similar to that in patients with peritoneal plus another metastatic site and in patients with at least two nonperitoneal sites. These findings were based on an analysis of individual patient data reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by Franko et al.
On October 24, 2016, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved pembrolizumab for the treatment of patients with metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose tumors express programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) as determined by an FDA-approved test. This is the first FDA approval of a checkpoint inhibitor for first-line treatment of lung cancer. This approval also expands the indication in second-line treatment of lung cancer to include all patients with PD-L1–expressing NSCLC.
In a phase II trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Goss et al found that osimertinib produced a high response rate in epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitor–pretreated <em>EGFR</em> Thr790Met (T790M)–positive advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
- CDC and ACIP reviewed data from clinical trials showing 2 doses of HPV vaccine in younger adolescents (aged 9–14 years) produced an immune response similar or higher than the response in young adults (aged 16–26 years) who received 3 doses.
- Adolescents aged 13–14 are also able to receive HPV vaccination on the new 2-dose schedules.
As announced October 21, 2016, the phase III KEYNOTE-045 trial, which is investigating the use of pembrolizumab in patients with previously treated advanced urothelial cancer, met the primary endpoint of overall survival. In this trial, pembrolizumab was superior compared to investigator's choice of chemotherapy.
CancerLinQ LLC, a wholly owned nonprofit of ASCO, has announced that more than 1 million patient records are now in the CancerLinQ<sup>™</sup> platform. In addition, 70 practices have signed agreements to participate in CancerLinQ, representing more than 1,500 oncologists.
In an Australian trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Dieng et al found that use of a psychoeducational intervention reduced the fear of cancer recurrence and stress among patients at high risk of developing a second primary melanoma.
A longer interval from the end of preoperative chemoradiotherapy to surgery increases the rate of pathologic complete response and yields a higher proportion of patients achieving tumor downstaging in patients with locally advanced rectal cancer, according to new findings presented by Evans et al at the 2016 European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress.
Patients with metastatic colorectal cancer and tumors harboring the BRAF V600E mutation who received triple therapy with dabrafenib, trametinib, and panitumumab showed an improved best overall response and prolonged progression-free survival compared to panitumumab plus either drabrafenib or trametinib, according to results reported by Corcoran et al at the 2016 European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress.
Findings from the phase II ACSE trial presented at the 2016 European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress indicated that vemurafenib in previously treated patients with advanced disease and <em>BRAF</em>-mutated tumors is effective in patients with diverse <em>BRAF</em> V600–mutated tumors, but not in patients with <em>BRAF</em> non-V600 mutations. Antitumor activity of vemurafenib was found in non–small cell lung cancer, hairy cell leukemia, and a miscellaneous cohort of <em>BRAF</em> V600–mutated tumors.
In an analysis from the phase IB KEYNOTE-001 trial, Daud et al found that the level of programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression was associated with outcomes of pembrolizumab treatment in patients with advanced melanoma. These findings were reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em>
In the phase III CheckMate 141 trial reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> Ferris et al found that nivolumab increased overall survival vs standard therapies in patients with recurrent platinum-refractory squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.
In a phase I/Ib trial published in <em>Clinical Cancer Research,</em> the investigational immunotherapeutic IMC-20D7S was found to be well tolerated and somewhat active in patients with advanced melanoma. Further investigation of IMC-20D7S in combination with checkpoint blockade therapies is warranted, according to Khalil et al.
In patients with advanced lung or thymus carcinoid receiving everolimus, pasireotide LAR, or the combination of the two drugs, statistically significant positive impact was seen on the proportion of patients’ progression-free rate at 9 months in all three arms, but more so in the combination arm, according to phase II LUNA study findings presented by Ferolla et al at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2016 Congress.
Patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma achieved prolonged overall survival when concomitant chemotherapy was administered with locoregional treatment or radiotherapy, according to findings from a large meta-analysis reported by Blanchard et al at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2016 Congress.
A pooled analysis from the CheckMate 069 phase II trial and the CheckMate 066 and 067 phase III trials in advanced melanoma showed that while patients treated with nivolumab and nivolumab plus ipilimumab with ≥ 5% programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) tumor expression have similar progression-free survival, durable response rates were higher for the combination of both agents vs nivolumab alone across all PD-L1 expression subgroups. These findings were presented by Long et al at the 2016 ESMO Congress.
In a phase III trial reported at the 2016 European Society for Medical Oncology Congress and in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em> by Ravaud et al, adjuvant sunitinib significantly prolonged disease-free survival vs placebo in patients with high-risk renal cell carcinoma after nephrectomy.
In a study using SEER (Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results) data reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> Welch et al found that screening mammography has resulted in a substantial increase in detection of small breast tumors, many of which represent overdiagnosis, accompanied by only a modest decrease in the detection of larger breast tumors. Their analysis also indicated that the reduction in breast cancer mortality after implementation of screening is mainly the result of improved systemic therapy.
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to olaratumab in combination with doxorubicin to treat adults with certain types of soft-tissue sarcoma.
On October 18, 2016, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved atezolizumab for the treatment of patients with metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose disease progressed during or following platinum-containing chemotherapy, based on results from the OAK and POPLAR trials.
On October 18, 2016, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) modified the indication for erlotinib in the treatment of non –small cell lung cancer to limit its use to patients whose tumors have specific epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations —exon 19 deletions or exon 21 L858R substitution mutations, as detected by an FDA-approved test.
Clement et al found that 25% of survivors of childhood brain tumors were diagnosed with endocrine disorders over 6.6 years of follow-up, based on a Dutch nationwide study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em>
Ipilimumab was associated with prolonged progression-free survival—but not overall survival—compared with placebo in men with asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic chemotherapy-naive metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer without visceral metastases, according to a phase III trial reported by Beer et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em>
As reported by Langer et al in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> findings in a phase II cohort of the multicohort KEYNOTE-021 study showed that the addition of first-line pembrolizumab to carboplatin/pemetrexed significantly increased the response rate in patients with advanced nonsquamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
The addition of the CD38-targeted antibody daratumumab to lenalidomide/dexamethasone improved progression-free survival in patients with previously treated multiple myeloma, according to the results of the phase III POLLUX trial reported by Dimopoulos et al in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine.</em>
The addition of pembrolizumab to standard first-line chemotherapy for treatment-naïve advanced non–small cell lung cancer significantly improves response rates and progression-free survival, Langer et al reported at the 2016 European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress.
Nivolumab maintains function and reduces symptoms in treatment of relapsed metastatic head and neck cancer, according to results from the CheckMate 141 trial presented by Harrington et al at the 2016 European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress and published by Ferris et al in The New England Journal of Medicine.
In the phase I/II CheckMate 032 trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Sharma et al found that nivolumab was active in locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma progressing after platinum-based therapy.
In a secondary analysis from the NRG Oncology RTOG 0617 trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Chun et al found that use of intensity-modulated vs three-dimensional (3D) conformal external-beam radiation therapy was associated with a reduced risk for severe pneumonitis and reduced the radiation dose to the heart in patients with locally advanced non–small cell lung cancer.
In a phase III trial reported at the recent European Society for Medical Oncology meeting and in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em> by Eggermont et al, adjuvant ipilimumab was found to improve recurrence-free and overall survival vs placebo among patients with high-risk stage III melanoma. The trial results supported the 2015 approval for ipilimumab in this setting.
In a large prospective cohort study published in the <em>Annals of Internal Medicine,</em> Wang et al found that HIV-infected patients with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) co-infection who received antiretroviral therapy were at increased risk for non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) compared with uninfected persons. Early diagnosis and treatment of HIV infection in conjunction with routine screening for chronic HBV and HCV infection are crucial to decrease NHL morbidity and mortality in these patients, concluded the investigators.
Today in the Oval Office, Vice President <strong>Joe Biden</strong> delivered the Cancer Moonshot report to the President and the American public. The report summarizes the work of the Cancer Moonshot Task Force since its creation in January and lays out the Vice President’s strategic plan for transforming cancer research and care. The report also includes the Cancer Moonshot Blue Ribbon Panel’s identified areas of scientific opportunity.
In an analysis reported in <em>JAMA Oncology,</em> Fumagalli et al identified genetic markers associated with pathologic complete response among women with early-stage HER2-positive breast cancer receiving neoadjuvant therapy in the phase III NeoALTTO trial.
Severe cancer-related fatigue was associated with poorer clinical outcomes in patients receiving standard therapies for Hodgkin lymphoma and poorer social reintegration, according to an analysis of data from German Hodgkin Study Group trials reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Behringer et al.
Pembrolizumab significantly improved progression-free and overall survival vs platinum-based chemotherapy in patients with previously untreated advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with ≥ 50% PD-L1 (programmed cell death ligand 1) expression and no sensitizing <em>EGFR</em>mutations or <em>ALK</em>translocations. Reck et al reported these findings from the phase III KEYNOTE-024 trial in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine.</em>
Today, the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) finalized a landmark new payment system for Medicare clinicians that will continue the Administration’s progress in reforming how the health-care system pays for care. The Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 Quality Payment Program will equip clinicians with the tools and flexibility to provide high-quality, patient-centered care.
The rates of administering chemotherapy to patients with solid cancers within a month of succumbing to their disease remain high, which calls for a paradigm shift to consider initiating palliative care at an earlier stage and formulating clear guidelines for end-of-life care, according to findings of a large audit presented by Rochigneux et al at the 2016 European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress.
Lurbinectedin showed promising clinical benefit in pretreated patients with metastatic breast cancer and BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations, including patients previously treated with platinum, according to phase II trial results presented by Balmaña et al at the 2016 European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Loehrer et al found that the 2006 Massachusetts health-care reform has resulted in increased rates of resection and reduced emergent resection for colorectal cancer.
In a phase III trial reported at the recent European Society for Medical Oncology Congress and in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em> by Mirza et al, maintenance therapy with the PARP (poly ADP ribose polymerase) 1/2 inhibitor niraparib significantly prolonged progression-free survival vs placebo in women with platinum-sensitive recurrent ovarian cancer. The benefit of niraparib was observed irrespective of germline <em>BRCA</em> mutation status.
Fulvestrant significantly increases progression-free survival in women with hormone receptor–positive advanced breast cancer, particularly those with less aggressive lower-volume disease, Ellis et al reported at the 2016 European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress.
Nintedanib improves progression-free survival but not overall survival in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer who are not responding to standard therapies, according to the results of the phase III LUME-colon 1 trial presented by Van Cutsem et al at the 2016 European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress.
Immunotherapy has shown promising results in the first- and second-line treatment of metastatic bladder cancer in two phase II trials presented by Galsky et al and Balar et al at the 2016 European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress.
Cabozantinib significantly improves progression-free survival and response rate in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma compared to sunitinib, according to research presented by Choueiri et al at the 2016 European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Unger et al found that use of finasteride vs placebo in the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial was associated with a modestly increased risk of depression and a modestly reduced risk of procedures for benign prostatic hyperplasia–related events over 16 years of follow-up.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Chakravarthy et al found that human papillomavirus (HPV)-driven tumors accounted for 4.1% of nonoropharyngeal squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck. HPV-positive tumors were associated with poorer survival and reduced tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte levels compared with HPV-driven tumors.
In a phase III trial reported at the recent European Society for Medical Oncology Congress and in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em> by Hortobagyi et al, first-line treatment with ribociclib, a selective inhibitor of cyclin-dependent kinases 4 and 6, resulted in significantly longer progression-free survival vs placebo in women with hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative breast cancer receiving letrozole.
In a study using Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results–Medicaid data reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Winn et al found that 68% of Medicare patients with chronic myeloid leukemia initiated tyrosine kinase inhibitor treatment within 180 days after diagnosis.
In the phase III IMPRINT trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Rini et al found no overall survival benefit of adding the multipeptide cancer vaccine IMA901 to sunitinib in the first-line treatment of locally advanced or metastatic renal cell carcinoma.
Ceritinib provides longer progression-free survival than chemotherapy in crizotinib–pretreated patients with non–small cell lung cancer harboring an <em>ALK</em> rearrangement, according to results of the phase III ASCEND-5 study presented by Scagliotti et al at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2016 Congress.
The first phase III study of programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) inhibitor atezolizumab in previously treated non–small cell lung cancer has seen significant improvements in survival compared to standard chemotherapy, reported Barlesi et al at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2016 Congress.
A phase III trial of sunitinib has met its primary endpoint of disease-free survival for adjuvant treatment of high-risk renal cell carcinoma after nephrectomy, reported Ravaud et al at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2016 Congress.
Neoadjuvant chemotherapy with an anthracycline plus ifosfamide was associated with significant survival gains in patients with soft-tissue sarcoma of the trunk or extremities who are at high-risk of recurrence, in an interim analysis presented by Gronchi et al at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2016 Congress.
Most women with breast cancer reported high primary care physician quality, engagement, and communication, with a minority reporting high levels of participation by primary care physicians in treatment decisions, according to a study reported by Wallner et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em> However, greater involvement by primary care physicians did not generally translate into higher patient satisfaction in decision-making.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Etienne et al, long-term follow-up in the French Stop Imatinib (STIM1) study indicates imatinib can be safely stopped in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) with undetectable minimal residual disease sustained for at least 2 years.
Pembrolizumab is set to become a new option for first-line treatment of patients with advanced lung cancer and high programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression, according to the results of the phase III KEYNOTE-024 trial presented by Reck et al at the 2016 European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress and published by Reck et al in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em>.
The PARP inhibitor niraparib significantly improves the outcome of platinum-sensitive recurrent ovarian cancer, according to full data from the ENGOT-OV16/NOVA trial presented by Mirza et al at the 2016 European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress in Copenhagen, and published by Mirza et al in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em>.
Ipilimumab as adjuvant therapy significantly improves overall survival in patients with high-risk stage III melanoma, according to the EORTC 18071 phase III trial results presented by Eggermont et al at the 2016 European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress.
The addition of the CDK4/6 inhibitor ribociclib to letrozole therapy significantly improved progression-free survival in postmenopausal women with hormone receptor–positive advanced breast cancer, reported Hortobagyi et al at the 2016 European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress.
A partnership that added health navigation services to 2-1-1 call centers helped a significant number of underserved Texans receive cancer control measures such as Papanicolaou tests and smoking cessation help, according to a study presented at the 9th American Association for Cancer Research Conference on The Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved.
Triple-negative breast cancer in African American women is much more likely to lack the androgen receptor protein compared with triple-negative breast cancer in European American women, and this may contribute to the racial disparity in survival outcomes among these two populations, according to a study presented at the 9th American Association for Cancer Research Conference on The Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved.
A borderline survival benefit was found with second-line ramucirumab vs placebo among patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma who had a Child-Pugh score of 5, and a significant benefit was noted among patients with scores of 5 or 6 and an alpha-fetoprotein level ≥ 400 ng/mL. Zhu et al reported these findings in <em>JAMA Oncology.</em>
In a pooled analysis reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Gadgeel et al found that alectinib was associated with good central nervous system (CNS) response in patients with <em>ALK</em>-positive non–small cell lung cancer previously treated with crizotinib.
African American cancer survivors are more likely than whites to experience lasting debt or forgo necessary medical care as they struggle with the financial burden of cancer, whereas whites are somewhat more likely to use existing assets to pay for their cancer care, according to a study released at the 9th American Association for Cancer Research Conference on The Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved.
Implementation of the Affordable Care Act in California may have led to a significant increase in the number of Hispanic breast cancer patients at a National Cancer Institute–designated cancer center and an increase in the number of Hispanic women who consented to participate in a national breast cancer clinical trial, according to a study presented at the 9th American Association for Cancer Research Conference on The Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Luo et al found that a modified staging classification based on the European Neuroendocrine Tumor Society and the American Joint Committee on Cancer staging classifications may improve distinction among risk groups in pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors.
In a Chinese phase III trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Sun et al found that adding induction treatment with cisplatin, fluorouracil, and docetaxel to concurrent chemoradiotherapy improved failure-free survival in patients with locoregionally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
In a meta-analysis reported in <em>JAMA Oncology,</em> Munshi et al found that minimal residual disease–negative status was associated with improved survival in patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma.
In an analysis of survival data published by Mazul et al in <em>Oral Oncology</em>, researchers from the University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center confirmed findings that patients with oropharyngeal cancer linked to a particular strain of human papillomavirus (HPV) had better overall survival than patients with other strains of the virus in their tumors.
Looking for a better way to measure quality of care and share best practices in surgical oncology, a team from Roswell Park Cancer Institute developed a quality assessment tool and validated it in a study based on 10 years of prospectively collected data on robot-assisted cystectomies. According to the researchers, who shared their findings in a paper published by Hussein et al in <em>Urology</em>, centers that carefully track various aspects of care can better predict patient outcomes and improve patient care.
Pang et al found that the enrollment disparity in clinical trials in lung cancer has been reduced in recent years for older patients and women overall, according to a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em> However, disparities persist for elderly women, blacks, Asian/Pacific Islanders, and Hispanics.
In a phase III intergroup trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Baumert et al found no progression-free survival difference between temozolomide chemotherapy and radiotherapy alone in patients with high-risk low-grade glioma. Preliminary evidence of a benefit of radiotherapy was observed in a molecular subtype.
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted alectinib, an anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) inhibitor, a second Breakthrough Therapy designation. This latest designation was granted for the treatment of adult patients with advanced <em>ALK</em>-positive non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who have not received prior treatment with an ALK inhibitor, based on results of the J-ALEX trial.
The Community Oncology Alliance (COA) released the 2016 Community Oncology Practice Impact Report today, which tracks the changing landscape of cancer care in the United States. It documents a 121% increase in community cancer clinic closings and a 172% increase in consolidation into hospitals since 2008. In that period, 380 cancer treatment facilities have closed and 609 community cancer practices have been acquired by or become affiliated with hospitals. Another 390 practices report that they are struggling to stay open due to financial stresses.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Bagrodia et al found that alterations in <em>TP53</em> and <em>MDM2</em> were associated with cisplatin resistance and poorer outcome in patients with advanced germ cell tumors. Actionable alterations were found in a high proportion of cases of cisplatin resistance.
Kerr et al found that adding adjuvant bevacizumab to capecitabine did not improve disease-free survival in unselected patients with stage III or high-risk stage II colorectal cancer. The results of the phase III QUASAR 2 trial were reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology.</em>
In a two-institution experience reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Naidoo et al identified the incidence of pneumonitis occurring in patients receiving anti–PD-1/PD-L1 (programmed cell death protein 1/ligand 1) monoclonal antibody as monotherapy or combined with anticytotoxic T-cell lymphocyte 4 monoclonal antibody treatment.
On September 29, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a blood-based companion diagnostic for osimertinib. The companion diagnostic for osimertinib is the only FDA-approved and clinically validated companion diagnostic test that uses either tissue or a blood sample to confirm the presence of a T790M point mutation in patients with metastatic epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation–positive non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), who have had disease progression on or after EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy.
O’Brien et al found further evidence of the benefit of ibrutinib in relapsed/refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) with the 17p deletion, according to an extended analysis of the phase II RESONATE-17 trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology.</em> Ibrutinib currently is approved for use in this setting.
In an analysis of the Cancer Prevention Study II study cohort reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Jacobs et al found no significant association between vasectomy and overall prostate cancer incidence or mortality.
Enhanced, culturally competent communication with early-stage lung cancer patients can narrow racial gaps in curative treatment completion and increase treatment rates for all races, according to research presented the 58th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO). The study found that multiple, coordinated modalities of patient support essentially eliminated the inequity in curative treatment and improved completion of care for all patients.
Stereotactic radiosurgery for cancer patients who receive the treatment for brain metastases decreases the likelihood of local recurrence, but shows no positive difference in terms of overall survival or distant brain metastases rates when compared to observation alone following surgical resection of brain metastases, according to research at the 58th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO).
A study investigating the underlying reasons for the successful response vs failure of anti–PD-1 (programmed cell death protein 1) therapy in patients with advanced melanoma found that among patients treated with pembrolizumab, the ratio of a subset of immune cells in the blood to tumor burden correlated with clinical response. The study by Huang et al was recently presented at the International Cancer Immunotherapy Conference in New York City.
A phase Ib study evaluating the cytokine-based immunotherapy AM0010 in combination with the immune checkpoint inhibitor pembrolizumab has found that the regimen provided durable tumor responses in some patients with renal cell carcinoma and non–small cell lung cancer. The study by Naing et al was recently presented at the International Cancer Immunotherapy Conference in New York City.
For men with intermediate-risk prostate cancer, side effects at 2 years following radiation therapy were comparable for extremely-hypofractionated treatment, which was delivered in 7 fractions across 2.5 weeks, and conventional treatment of 39 fractions across 8 weeks, according to research presented at the 58th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO).
Myeloproliferative neoplasms are a group of blood cancers characterized by significant symptoms and a high risk of transformation into acute leukemia. To provide clinicians with the most up-to-date and comprehensive treatment recommendations, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN) recently published the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines®) for myeloproliferative neoplasms to specifically outline diagnosis, treatment, and supportive care strategies for myelofibrosis.
Analysis of data from the Veterans Administration Central Cancer Registry, reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Sanfilippo et al, showed that statin use was associated with a reduced risk of all-cause and multiple myeloma–specific mortality in patients with multiple myeloma.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Chow et al, a fixed-dose reduced-frequency pembrolizumab regimen produced durable responses in the phase IB KEYNOTE-012 expansion cohort of patients with recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.
For patients who have cancer that has metastasized to the brain, stereotactic radiosurgery results in statistically comparable survival rates, reduced cognitive decline, and better quality of life, compared to whole brain radiotherapy, according to research presented at the 58th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO).
In the largest trial conducted for average-risk medulloblastoma, survival rates following reduced radiation therapy boost volumes were comparable to standard treatment volumes for the primary tumor site, but lower doses of craniospinal axis irradiation were associated with higher event rates and worse survival, according to research presented at the 58th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO).
For patients with stage II and III non–small cell lung cancer unable to receive standard treatments of surgery or chemoradiation, hypofractionated radiation therapy results in similar overall survival and progression-free survival rates, limited severe side effects, and shorter treatment times when compared to conventional radiotherapy, according to research presented at the 58th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO).
High-dose stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) for men newly-diagnosed with low- or intermediate-risk prostate cancer results in shorter treatment times, low severe toxicity, and excellent cancer control rates, according to research presented the 58th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO).
Patient-reported outcomes differed among men with localized prostate cancer detected by prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing who were randomized to receive active monitoring, surgery, or radiotherapy in the UK ProtecT trial, according to a report by Donovan et al in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine.</em> The effects on sexual function and urinary incontinence were worse with surgery, and the effects on bowel function were worse with radiotherapy.
As reported by Recht et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> a joint ASCO, American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO), and Society of Surgical Oncology (SSO) panel has developed a focused guideline update of the ASCO guideline on postmastectomy radiotherapy.
For men with intermediate-risk prostate cancer, radiation treatment with brachytherapy alone can result in similar cancer control with fewer long-term side effects, when compared to more aggressive treatment that combines brachytherapy with external beam therapy, according to research presented at the 58th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology.
A supplemental “boost” of radiation improves local control and provides an incremental benefit in decreasing breast cancer recurrence for patients with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) who receive whole-breast radiation therapy radiation (WBRT) following lumpectomy, according to research presented at the 58th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO).
A new analysis of records in the Veterans Affairs Central Cancer Registry demonstrates a clear positive impact of the increased use of stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) to treat patients with stage I non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in recent years, according to research presented at the 58th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO).
In the largest study of its kind to date, researchers have identified and validated three distinct molecular subtypes of prostate cancer that correlate with distant metastasis-free survival and can assist in future research to determine how patients will respond to treatment, according to research presented at the 58th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO).
For men with early-stage, low-risk prostate cancer, treatment with hypofractionated radiation therapy offers comparable health-related quality-of-life outcomes in one-third less treatment time than conventional radiation therapy, according to research presented at the 58th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO).
Although approximately 50% of cancer patients in developing countries need radiation therapy to treat their disease, up to half of these patients do not have access to it, according to research presented at the 58th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO). Examining nine middle-income countries, researchers found that between 18% and 82% of patients who can benefit from radiation therapy in these countries do not receive the treatment.
Survival rates for elderly patients who received stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) for early stage non–small cell lung cancer rose from roughly 40% to 60% over the past decade, concurrent with the increasing adoption of SBRT, according to research presented at the 58th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO).
Patients with cervical and endometrial cancer have fewer gastrointestinal and genitourinary side effects and experience better quality of life when treated with intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) than with conventional radiation therapy, according to research presented at the 58th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO). Women receiving IMRT reported significantly fewer bowel and bladder problems than those receiving conventional radiation treatment.
In a phase III trial reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> Maury et al found that the addition of rituximab to standard chemotherapy resulted in improved event-free survival in adults with B-lineage acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).
In an analysis of commercial U.S. health plan data reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Agiro et al found that granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) primary prophylaxis was associated with a “low-to-modest’’ benefit in preventing neutropenia-related hospitalization in breast cancer patients receiving chemotherapy associated with a low-to-intermediate risk of febrile neutropenia.
Screening colonoscopy reduced the 8-year risk for colorectal cancer from about 2.6% to 2.2% in older individuals aged 70 to 74 and from 3.0% to 2.8% in older persons aged 75 to 79, according to a large observational study reported by García-Albéniz et al in <em>Annals of Internal Medicine.</em>. The risk for adverse events was low but greater among older persons.
Researchers found that treating human tumor cells, grown in the laboratory and in mice, with the CHK1 inhibitor CCT24474 and paclitaxel chemotherapy made them more susceptible to the effects of radiotherapy. These findings were published by Barker et al in <em>Molecular Cancer Therapeutics</em>.
While searching for a noninvasive way to detect prostate cancer cells circulating in blood, Duke Cancer Institute researchers have identified some blood markers associated with tumor resistance to two common hormone therapies. In a study published by Gupta et al in <em>Clinical Cancer Research</em>, a team of researchers reported that they isolated multiple key gene alterations in the circulating prostate tumor cells of patients who had developed resistance to abiraterone or enzalutamide.
The cumulative estimated risk of invasive breast cancer at 10 years after diagnosis of atypical ductal hyperplasia by core-needle biopsy was approximately 5%, according to a study reported by Menes et al in <em>JAMA Oncology.</em> The 10-year risk was 6.7% with atypical ductal hyperplasia diagnosed by excisional biopsy.
In a propensity score–matched analysis of National Cancer Database data reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Mokdad et al found that neoadjuvant therapy followed by resection was associated with a survival benefit vs upfront resection.
A new study from Drexel University College of Medicine suggests all organ transplant recipients, regardless of race, should receive routine, total-body screenings for skin cancer. Out of 259 nonwhite transplant recipients who were evaluated in the study, 19 skin cancer lesions were identified in 6% of the patients. The research was published by Pritchett et al in <em>JAMA Dermatology</em>.
New research shows a diet high in calcium and low in lactose may reduce the risk of ovarian cancer in African American women. The work, published by Qin et al in the <em>British Journal of Cancer</em>, also found sun exposure in the summer months may reduce the risk of developing the disease in this population.
In a Canadian phase III trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Gill et al found no benefit of modified FOLFOX6 (infusional fluorouracil [5-FU], leucovorin, and oxaliplatin) vs infusional 5-FU/leucovorin as second-line treatment in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer who had received gemcitabine-based chemotherapy.
Maintenance olaparib appeared to be associated with an overall survival benefit vs placebo in women with platinum-sensitive serous ovarian cancer and <em>BRCA1</em> and <em>BRCA2</em> mutations, according to an updated analysis of a phase II trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by Ledermann et al.
A small device implanted under the skin can improve breast cancer survival by catching cancer cells, slowing the development of metastatic tumors in other organs, and allowing time to intervene with surgery or other therapies. These findings, reported by Rao et al in <em>Cancer Research</em>, suggest a path for identifying metastatic cancer early and intervening to improve outcomes.
Although targeted drugs like imatinib have revolutionized the treatment of chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), patients generally must take them for the rest of their lives and may cease benefiting from them over time. However, new research shows that CML stem cells die in response to inhibition of a protein called Ezh2. These findings were published by Xie et al in <em>Cancer Discovery</em>.
Racial/ethnic minority parents were more likely to express regret about initial cancer treatment decisions for their children, according to a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em> Mack et al found that factors associated with less decisional regret included receiving high-quality information and detailed prognostic information as well as trust in the oncologist.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Balmaña et al found that conflicting interpretations of findings on multiplex testing for cancer genes are fairly common among reporting laboratories and may have implications for medical management decisions.
Hodi et al found “encouraging survival outcomes” with the addition of nivolumab to ipilimumab in patients with previously untreated unresectable stage III or IV melanoma, according to 2-year overall survival data from the phase II CheckMate 069 trial. These results were reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology.</em>
As reported by Yao et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> the final overall survival analysis from the phase III RADIANT-3 trial showed a median survival of 44.0 months among patients with advanced pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors initially randomized to receive everolimus treatment.
New findings from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that the cancer death rate for children and adolescents aged 1 to 19 declined by 20% from 1999 to 2014, with brain cancer replacing leukemia as the most common cancer-causing death in this population, accounting for 3 of 10 cancer deaths in 2014. The report by Curtin et al was published in the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics Data Brief.
A new study indicates that adolescent females with acute leukemia have low rates of pregnancy screening prior to receiving chemotherapy that can cause birth defects. These findings were published by Rao et al in <em>Cancer</em>.
Survival with hematopoietic cell transplantation from unrelated cord-blood donors was at least as good as that with HLA-matched unrelated donors and better than that with HLA-mismatched unrelated donors in patients with acute leukemia or myelodysplastic syndrome who had pretransplantation minimal residual disease. These findings from a single-center retrospective analysis were reported by Milano et al in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine.</em>
Today, Vice President <strong>Joe Biden</strong> announced a series of new steps focused on increasing access to information about clinical trials and improving the efficiency of our clinical research system. These steps include making it easier for participants to find clinical trial opportunities as quickly as possible; incentivizing new ways of designing clinical trials to maximize participation while minimizing burden and risk; and strengthening the transparency of clinical trials and trial results.
In a study in Kaiser Permanente patients reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Cespedes Feliciano et al found that the joint presence of obesity and metabolic syndrome in those with early-stage colorectal cancer was associated with poorer overall and colorectal cancer–specific survival.
Bilateral oophorectomy was associated with prevention of premenopausal breast cancer in <em>BRCA2-</em> but not <em>BRCA1-</em>mutation carriers, according to a study reported by Kotsopoulos et al in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute.</em>
Federally funded research continues to spur progress against cancer; however, accelerating the pace of progress will require robust, sustained, and predictable annual funding increases for the National Institutes of Health, the National Cancer Institute, and the Food and Drug Administration. Additionally, strong financial support for the National Cancer Moonshot Initiative is required, according to the 6th annual American Association for Cancer Research Cancer Progress Report, released September 15.
A drop in the number of cancer cells detected in a patient’s blood could be the best indicator yet as to whether treatment for prostate cancer is working. A new study, published by Lorente et al in <em>European Urology</em>, shows that a 30% decline in a patient’s numbers of circulating tumor cells could signify that the patient is benefitting from treatment.
The combination of everolimus and bevacizumab was associated with clinical benefit in advanced non–clear cell renal cell carcinoma with a major papillary component, according to a single-center phase II trial reported by Voss et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em>
On September 13, 2016, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) modified the dosage regimen for nivolumab for the currently approved indications for renal cell carcinoma, metastatic melanoma, and non–small cell lung cancer. The currently approved recommended dosage regimens were modified to 240 mg intravenously every 2 weeks.
The combined use of fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and immunohistochemistry (IHC) identified non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with rare or novel anaplastic lymphoma kinase (<em>ALK</em>) gene rearrangements, not otherwise identified by FISH alone, that showed response to crizotinib treatment. These findings were published by Li et al in the <em>Journal of Thoracic Oncology</em>.
In a UK trial reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> Hamdy et al found no significant differences in prostate cancer–specific or overall mortality among men with localized prostate cancer detected by prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing who underwent active monitoring, surgery, or radiotherapy. Metastases and disease progression were more common with monitoring.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Imperiale et al found that the National Cancer Institute (NCI) colorectal cancer risk assessment tool was able to estimate the current risk for advanced colorectal neoplasia.
A first-of-its-kind joint report from the American Cancer Society and Alliance for Childhood Cancer has compiled the latest information related to pediatric cancer, including statistics and trends; a current list of drugs used to treat pediatric cancers; ongoing pediatric cancer clinical trials; and research funding levels.
An animal study published by Hilakivi-Clarke et al in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute</em> suggests that resistance to tamoxifen therapy in some estrogen receptor–positive breast cancers may originate from in utero exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals.
In an analysis of a clinical trial population reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Giacalone et al found that prostate-specific antigen (PSA) failure was associated with an increased risk of mortality among men with unfavorable-risk prostate cancer who had no or minimal comorbidity burden.
Neoadjuvant chemotherapy was associated with shorter survival vs primary cytoreductive surgery in patients with stage IIIC ovarian cancer, according to a multi-institute observational study reported by Meyer et al in the </em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em>
The <em>Chinese Journal of Cancer (CJC)</em> is soliciting the 150 most important questions in cancer research and clinical oncology from cancer researchers around the world. The editors of <em>CJC</em> believe this will help provide important insights and guidance in future efforts to advance cancer research and care. The top-ranked 150 questions together with the participants who submitted them will be published in a special article in the December issue of <em>CJC</em>. The deadline for the submission of questions has been extended to October 31, 2016.
The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) surveyed its practicing members in the United States on self-assessment of their primary palliative/supportive care skills and access to continuing medical education on these skills. The results of the survey were presented by Wei et al at the 2016 Palliative Care in Oncology Symposium.
Among individuals with advanced cancer, frequent hospitalization is often at odds with patient preference and is increasingly viewed as a hallmark of poor-quality care. California Cancer Registry data linked with hospital claims were used to quantify hospitalization in the year after diagnosis among individuals with advanced cancer. These findings were presented by Whitney et al at the 2016 Palliative Care in Oncology Symposium.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Stewart et al found that treatment with carfilzomib, lenalidomide, and dexamethasone was associated with improved health-related quality of life vs lenalidomide/dexamethasone in relapsed multiple myeloma in the phase III ASPIRE trial.
The prevalence of incidental differentiated thyroid cancer has remained fairly stable since the 1970s, according to a meta-analysis of autopsy data reported by Furuya-Kanamori et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em> This finding does not support reports of manyfold increases in differentiated thyroid cancer over the past few decades.
In a phase II trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Kaufman et al found that the anti–PD-L1 (programmed cell death ligand 1) monoclonal antibody avelumab produced durable responses in patients with stage IV Merkel cell carcinoma progressing after cytotoxic chemotherapy.
In a UK-based phase III trial reported in <em>The Lancet,</em> Mulvenna et al found that use of whole-brain radiotherapy (WBRT) in addition to optimal supportive care including dexamethasone was associated with little additional benefit in non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with brain metastases unsuitable for surgical resection or stereotactic radiotherapy.
Despite access to and use of antiretroviral therapy, HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) infection was associated with reduced survival in women with cervical cancer in Botswana, according to a study reported by Dryden-Peterson et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em>
In 1997, Oregon enacted a voter initiative allowing terminally ill residents to self-administer physician-prescribed medication to end their lives. Researchers worked to evaluate and report participation trends in the initiative, with findings presented by Blanke et al at the 2016 Palliative Care in Oncology Symposium.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Koshkin et al found that among anatomic and functional imaging modalities, volumetric analysis and findings on early 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG)–positron-emission tomography (PET) were the best predictors of benefit in patients with Ewing sarcoma.
Researchers assessed the impact of an inpatient palliative care intervention on patient quality of life, symptom burden, and mood during hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) hospitalization and at 3 months post-HSCT. Their findings were presented by El-Jawahri et al at the 2016 Palliative Care in Oncology Symposium.
A study presented by Yennu et al at the 2016 Palliative Care in Oncology Symposium aimed to determine the frequency and factors associated with perception of curability in patients with advanced cancer in countries in North and South Americas, Europe, Asia, and Africa.
In a phase II Canadian Pediatric Brain Tumor Consortium Study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Lassaletta et al found that vinblastine monotherapy was associated response or stable disease in most children with chemotherapy-naive low-grade glioma.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is alerting women about the risks associated with the use of tests being marketed as ovarian cancer screening tests. Despite extensive research and published studies, there are currently no screening tests for ovarian cancer that are sensitive enough to reliably screen for ovarian cancer without a high number of inaccurate results. However, over the years, numerous companies have marketed tests that claim to screen for and detect ovarian cancer.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Vose et al have provided a summary of the groundwork of an initiative by ASCO and the Association of American Cancer Institutes (AACI) to identify and reduce administrative and regulatory burdens in the conduct of cancer clinical trials.
Although diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is a curable disease in most patients aged 65 years or older, these patients are also at higher risk of chemotherapy-related death within the first 30 days of treatment. To quantify the risk of early fatality and identify risk factors, researchers looked at Medicare claims linked to Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results registry data for more than 5,500 patients aged 65 and older with DLBCL who were treated with contemporary immunochemotherapy. Their findings were published by Olszewski et al in the <em>Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network</em>.
In an analysis of National Cancer Data Base data reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Bhatia et al found that adjuvant radiotherapy was associated with a survival benefit in patients with stage I and II but not stage III Merkel cell carcinoma. No benefit of adjuvant chemotherapy was identified.
Deaths from ovarian cancer fell worldwide between 2002 and 2012, and are predicted to continue to decline in the United States, European Union and Japan by 2020, according to new research published by Malvezzi et al in <em>Annals of Oncology</em>.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted for Priority Review the supplemental Biologics License Application for pembrolizumab for the first-line treatment of patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose tumors express programmed death-ligand 1. Additionally, the FDA granted Breakthrough Therapy designation for this indication.
The presence of extramedullary disease at acute myeloid leukemia diagnosis was not an independent prognostic factor for worse survival, based on an analysis of data from the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group–American College of Radiology Imaging Network reported by Ganzel et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em>
As reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Moran et al developed a classifier of cancer type based on microarray DNA methylation signatures (EPICUP assay), which has showed promise in diagnosing cancers of an unknown primary.
Despite being a risk factor for kidney cancer, obesity was linked to improved survival and progression-free survival in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma treated with targeted therapy compared with patients with a low body mass index. The results, which were reported by Albiges et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> suggest that inhibiting expression of fatty acid synthase may improve outcomes in patients with kidney cancer.
ASCO commended the Cancer Moonshot Initiative Blue Ribbon Panel for its ambitious recommendations, highlighted in a report released today, to accelerate progress against cancer.
Amgen announced September 1 that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the supplemental Biologics License Application for blinatumomab to include new data supporting the treatment of pediatric patients with Philadelphia chromosome (Ph)-negative relapsed or refractory B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).
New research from Thomas Jefferson University may help identify problems that are important to African American women—a first step in creating programs that better serve the needs of the community, which may reduce cancer disparities and improve health outcomes. The study was published by Barsevick et al in <em>Supportive Care in Cancer</em>.
Assessment of minimal residual disease in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) was associated with improved prediction of outcome in both partial and complete responders. Kovacs et al reported these findings, which are based on an analysis of two phase III studies of the German CLL Study Group, in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em>
In a phase III trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Marina et al found no improvement in event-free survival by adding postoperative ifosfamide/etoposide to cisplatin, doxorubicin, and methotrexate in patients with newly diagnosed high-grade osteosarcoma who responded poorly to preoperative chemotherapy.
The number of docetaxel cycles completed was associated with improved overall survival among men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer receiving docetaxel, prednisone, and lenalidomide or docetaxel/prednisone, in the phase III Mainsail trial. de Morrée et al reported this post hoc analysis in <em>JAMA Oncology.</em>
A team of researchers, using a novel approach, found that while many cancer centers offer palliative and supportive care services, patients may face challenges when trying to access them. The study showed that expanding awareness and education to patient-facing cancer center employees about such services could make an important difference. This study will be presented by Hutchins et al at the upcoming 2016 Palliative Care in Oncology Symposium.
A new multistate survey showed that nearly one-quarter to one-third of family caregivers of patients with high-mortality cancers experience high levels of depression and anxiety symptoms. The study also found that family caregivers can spend over 8 hours per day providing care and that as this time increases, self-care behaviors such as sleep and exercise decline, a trend associated with poorer mental health. This study will be presented by Dionne-Odom et al at the upcoming 2016 Palliative Care in Oncology Symposium.
A randomized clinical trial found that introducing palliative care shortly after a diagnosis of certain metastatic cancers greatly increases a patient’s coping abilities, as well as overall quality of life. Researchers also found that early integration of palliative care results in an increase in discussions about patient end-of-life care preferences. This study will be presented by Greer et al at the upcoming 2016 Palliative Care in Oncology Symposium.
An analysis of data from more than 1,200 caregivers in the United States found that cancer caregivers report a higher burden and spend significantly more hours per week caregiving, as opposed to individuals who care for people with other conditions. This study will be presented by Kent et al at the upcoming 2016 Palliative Care in Oncology Symposium in San Francisco.
In an analysis reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Press et al found notable discrepancies between recent ASCO–College of American Pathologists (ASCO-CAP) changes in the recommendations for evaluation of HER2 amplification by fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) and FISH scores in Breast Cancer International Research Group (BCIRG) trials in breast cancer. Long-term clinical follow-up data are now available from these trials.
Jemal et al described findings indicating a continued decline in the incidence of localized/regional-stage prostate cancer at 2 years after the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommendation against routine prostate-specific antigen screening in men aged ≥ 50 years in 2011, in a letter to the editor in <em>JAMA Oncology.</em> However, no change in the incidence of distant-stage disease was observed between 2012 and 2013.
In a post hoc analysis of a German phase III trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Stintzing et al found that first-line FOLFIRI (fluorouracil, leucovorin, irinotecan) plus cetuximab was associated with improved overall survival vs FOLFIRI plus bevacizumab in an extended <em>RAS</em> wild-type subgroup of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer.
A prostate-specific antigen (PSA)-based computational model that uses four consecutive postsurgical PSA values was highly predictive for prostate cancer relapse, according to study reported by Stura et al in <em>Cancer Research.</em> The collection of PSA values and a biologically sensible computational model may be a valuable tool in predicting the timing of tumor recurrence and helping physicians to plan more effective and personalized therapy for their patients.
Patients with cancer have heightened risks of unintentional and intentional injuries during the diagnostic process, revealed findings from a large study published by Shen et al in <em>The BMJ</em>. A range of injuries are common, and some are potentially life-threatening, the study showed.
In a Chinese phase III trial reported in <em>The Lancet,</em> Zhang et al found that gemcitabine/cisplatin improved progression-free survival vs fluorouracil/cisplatin in patients with recurrent or metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers, by tracking <em>p16INK4a</em>, a molecular marker that has been shown to increase in white blood cells as people age, have uncovered clues suggesting that stem cell transplant is linked to a marked increase in the “molecular age” of these immune cells in a group of patients with hematologic malignancies. Wood et al reported these findings in <em>EBioMedicine</em>.
Researchers funded by the Medical Research Council have shown that when the metabolite fumarate accumulates in a hereditary form of renal cancer, it leads to an epigenetic reprogramming that drives cancer, according to a study published by Sciacovelli et al in <em>Nature</em>.
In a retrospective study reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Hearn et al found that the inherited HSD3B1 (1245C) allele was significantly associated with resistance to androgen-deprivation therapy and poorer outcome in men with prostate cancer.
Intratumoral tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte level and prominent peritumoral Crohn’s-like lymphoid reaction appear to be independent prognostic factors for survival in colorectal cancer, according to a study reported by Rozek et al in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute.</em>
In a pooled analysis reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Meignan et al found that higher baseline total metabolic tumor volume measured by 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron-emission tomography–computed tomography was associated with poorer outcome in patients with high tumor burden follicular lymphoma.
Researchers at the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory identified 14 genes regulating genome integrity that were consistently overexpressed in a wide variety of cancers. They then created a scoring system based upon the degree of gene overexpression, which could accurately predict patient response to specific cancer treatments. Their finding were published by Zhang et al in <em>Nature Communications</em>.
Genmab A/S announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a supplemental Biologics License Application for the use of ofatumumab in combination with fludarabine and cyclophosphamide for the treatment of patients with relapsed chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).
Vaccarella et al estimated changes in the incidence of cervical cancer through 2040 in six Baltic, central, and eastern European countries on the hypotheses of continued absence of effective screening programs vs progressive implementation of such programs. Their findings were reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology.</em>
In a systematic review and meta-analysis reported in <em>JAMA Oncology,</em> Nishino et al identified the rates of PD-1 (programmed cell death protein 1) inhibitor–related pneumonitis in patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), renal cell carcinoma, and melanoma. Rates were higher in patients with NSCLC, renal cell carcinoma, and melanoma receiving combination treatment.
Retinoic acid may play a critical role in suppressing colorectal cancer in mice and humans, according to a new study. Mice with the disease have lower-than-normal levels of the metabolite in their gut, and human colorectal cancer patients whose intestinal tissues express high levels of a protein that degrades retinoic acid tend to fare more poorly than their peers. These findings were published by Bhattacharya et al in <em>Immunity</em>.
Researchers at Houston Methodist have developed artificial intelligence software that reliably interprets mammograms, assisting doctors with a quick and accurate prediction of breast cancer risk. According to a new study published by Patel et al in <em>Cancer</em>, the computer software intuitively translates patient charts into diagnostic information at 30 times human speed and with 99% accuracy.
Rates of central line–associated bloodstream infections were significantly higher for inpatients compared to ambulatory pediatric hematology/oncology patients, according to research published by Hord et al in <em>Pediatric Blood & Cancer</em>. Nevertheless, for outpatients who developed a bloodstream infection associated with the central line, median charges to treat it totaled $37,000 for a 6-day hospital stay, the investigators reported.
Adolescent girls from <em>BRCA1/2</em>-positive and breast cancer families appear to have higher self-esteem and similar psychosocial adjustment compared with their peers but experience greater breast cancer–specific distress and perceived risk of breast cancer. Bradbury et al reported these findings in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em>
In the phase III CASTOR trial reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> Palumbo et al found that adding the anti-CD38 antibody daratumumab to bortezomib and dexamethasone markedly improved progression-free survival among patients with relapsed or relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma.
In a paper published by Green et al in the <em>Journal of the American Medical Association</em>, physician-researchers raised concerns that there are inconsistencies between the five reference guides, or compendia, used by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to determine which drugs will be reimbursed for off-label uses in cancer care.
A novel magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) method that detects low levels of zinc ion can help distinguish healthy prostate tissue from cancer, UT Southwestern Medical Center radiologists have determined. The findings were published by Clavijo Jordan et al in the <em>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</em>.
In a genome-wide DNA-methylation analysis to identify genes implicated in Li-Fraumeni syndrome, Samuel et al found a significant association of loss-of-function <em>TP53</em> mutations with differential methylation at the locus encoding microRNA-34A. The study was reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em>
In a phase III trial (MINDACT) reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> Cardoso et al found that adjuvant chemotherapy may be avoidable in women with early-stage breast cancer who are at high clinical risk but low genomic risk as determined by the 70-gene signature assay (MammaPrint).
In an international genetic study reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Ballinger et al found that approximately half of all patients with sarcoma harbored potentially pathogenic monogenic and polygenic variation in known and novel cancer genes.
In a phase II trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Rini et al found that some patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma can safely undergo active surveillance for an extended duration prior to initiation of systemic therapy.
Analysis of a large non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patient cohort with stage IV M1a disease identified lymph node staging as having clinical significance and an impact on prognosis. Findings from the study were published by Dai et al in the <em>Journal of Thoracic Oncology</em>.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted Clovis Oncology’s New Drug Application for accelerated approval of rucaparib and granted Priority Review status to the application. Rucaparib is being tested for the treatment of advanced ovarian cancer in patients with deleterious <em>BRCA</em>-mutated tumors inclusive of both germline and somatic <em>BRCA</em> mutations (as detected by an FDA-approved test) who have been treated with two or more chemotherapies.
According to a paper published by Dror et al in <em>Nature Cell Biology</em>, scientists discovered that before spreading to other organs, a melanoma tumor sends out tiny vesicles containing molecules of microRNA. These actions induce morphologic changes in the dermis in preparation for receiving and transporting the cancer cells.
The proportion of patients with papillary thyroid cancer identified as having node-negative disease decreased substantially with an increased number of lymph nodes examined, according to an analysis of data from the National Cancer Database. Robinson et al reported these findings in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em>
A study of women receiving hormone therapies such as tamoxifen as part of their treatment for breast cancer found that the number and seriousness of side effects they experienced were influenced by their expectations. The study, published by Nestoriuc et al in <em>Annals of Oncology</em>, found that women who had higher expectations of suffering more and worse side effects before their treatment began did, in fact, experience more after 2 years of adjuvant hormone therapy.
As reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Gharahkhani et al identified several new genetic risk variants for the development of Barrett’s esophagus and esophageal adenocarcinoma through a large-scale meta-analysis of genome-wide studies.
As reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by Zielinski et al, the final results of the phase III TURANDOT trial showed that overall survival with first-line bevacizumab/capecitabine was noninferior vs bevacizumab/paclitaxel in per-protocol analysis among patients with advanced HER2-negative breast cancer.
The effect of combined hormone replacement therapy in increasing a woman’s risk of breast cancer is likely to have been underestimated by a number of previous studies, according to a new prospective study published by Jones et al in the <em>British Journal of Cancer</em>.
New research links specific inherited genetic alterations to an increased risk for uveal melanoma, a rare form of melanoma that arises from pigment cells that determine eye color. These findings were published by Ferguson et al in <em>Scientific Reports</em>.
Assessing breast density and breast cancer risk may identify subgroups of women over the age of 50 who might benefit from triennial vs annual screening, according to the results of a collaborative modeling study. The findings, which were reported by Trentham-Dietz et al in <em>Annals of Internal Medicine,</em> may be useful in guiding shared decision-making and tailoring screening intervals.
Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute scientists have shown that unexpectedly, esophageal cancer cells do not divide faster than their normal neighbors. Unlike normal cells, however, the tumor cells produce slightly more dividing daughter cells than nondividing cells, forming a tumor. The study, published by Frede et al in <em>Nature Cell Biology</em>, could lead to the development of new treatments for cancers that do not respond to current therapies targeting fast-growing cells.
As reported by Wright et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> ASCO and the Society of Gynecologic Oncology (SGO) have released a clinical practice guideline on neoadjuvant therapy for patients with newly diagnosed stage IIIC or IV epithelial ovarian cancer.
As scientists learn more about which genetic mutations are driving different types of cancer, they're targeting treatments to small numbers of patients, with the potential for big payoffs in improved outcomes. But even as we learn more about these driver mutations, a new study published by Spratt et al in <em>JAMA Oncology</em> suggests the science might be leaving racial and ethnic minorities behind.
Parents are more likely to support laws that would make the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine mandatory for school entry if their state offers opt-out provisions, according to a study published by Calo et al in <em>Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention</em>. However, opt-out provisions may weaken the effectiveness of the vaccine requirements, cautioned researchers.
Testing for the activity of two genes could help identify women who are at increased risk of dying from their breast cancers, according to a new study of almost 2,000 patients. Women whose tumors had a specific pattern of activity in the <em>F12</em> and <em>STC2</em> genes were three times as likely to die within 10 years as others with a different pattern of activity in these genes, reported Todd et al in <em>Oncotarget</em>.
The ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group has received federal approval to add a quality-of-life research study, <strong>COM</strong>munication and <strong>E</strong>ducation in <strong>T</strong>umor Profiling, or COMET, to the NCI-MATCH trial already underway. Using feedback surveys before and after a patient undergoes tumor gene testing to select cancer treatment, the COMET study will gather data to determine whether increasing knowledge about the limitations and benefits of the test can reduce a patient’s level of distress about the process. The trial will open later in August.
Computers can be trained to be more accurate than pathologists in assessing slides of lung cancer tissues, according to a new study by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine. Their findings were published by Yu et al in <em>Nature Communications</em>.
A large, nationwide study published by Lee et al in the journal <em>JAMA Oncology</em> found that patients who received transplants of cells collected from a donor’s bone marrow had better self-reported psychological well-being, experienced fewer symptoms of graft-vs-host disease, and were more likely to be back at work 5 years after transplantation than those whose transplanted cells were taken from the donor’s bloodstream.
A new study published by Gao et al in <em>Nature Genetics</em> used single-cell sequencing technology to provide previously unknown details about how and when DNA copy number aberrations impact tumor formation and growth in triple-negative breast cancer—information that may have significant implications for diagnosis and treatment.
A team of researchers from nine leading academic hospitals and research centers have published a paper in the journal <em>Cancer</em> that describes pulmonary outcomes among childhood cancer survivors. The study also evaluates the impact of complications such as asthma, chronic cough, emphysema, and recurrent pneumonia on daily activities.
The chemotherapy drug etoposide may have adverse effects on the developing ovaries of female fetuses, according to a preclinical study of mouse cells published by Stefansdottir et al in <em>BMC Cancer</em>.
A study published by Henderson et al in <em>PLOS ONE</em> has shown that a combined assessment of multiple types of protein biomarkers in the blood offers an important advancement for detecting early breast cancer. The study compared the ability of serum protein biomarkers and tumor-associated autoantibodies, either alone or in combination, to detect breast cancer.
Leptomeningeal metastases were found to be more prevalent in patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations. In a recent study of leptomeningeal metastases published by Li et al in the <em>Journal of Thoracic Oncology</em>, patients receiving tyrosine kinase inhibitors targeting EGFR mutations had a longer overall survival than those who did not receive tyrosine kinase inhibitors.
Immune response measured in tumor biopsies during the course of early treatment predicts which melanoma patients will benefit from specific immune checkpoint blockade drugs, researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center found in a report published by Chen et al in <em>Cancer Discovery</em>.
“Cancer in Los Angeles County: Trends by Race/Ethnicity 1976–2012,” a report recently released by Liu et al, includes every cancer diagnosis in the region over the past 37 years—more than 1.3 million. With easy-to-read charts, the report divides the Los Angeles population into 11 ethnic and racial groups to highlight the fact that cancer risk is a result of genetics, environment, and behavior.
As reported by Ascierto et al in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> longer-term follow-up in the pivotal phase III coBRIM trial confirmed the benefit of adding cobimetinib to vemurafenib in the first-line treatment of <em>BRAF</em> V600–mutant unresectable stage IIIC or IV melanoma.
In an international early-access phase IIIB trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Saad et al found benefit with the addition of abiraterone or enzalutamide to radium-223 in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.
Three leading national cancer organizations have issued a consensus guideline for physicians treating women who have ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) treated with breast-conserving surgery and whole-breast irradiation. The Society of Surgical Oncology (SSO), the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO), and ASCO together published the new guideline in their respective journals, the <em>Annals of Surgical Oncology, Practical Radiation Oncology</em>, and the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
For patients with the most common type of noninvasive breast cancer, routine testing for estrogen and progesterone receptors in tissue taken at the first “needle” biopsy is both unnecessary and wasteful, according to results of a study published by VandenBussche et al in the <em>American Journal of Surgical Pathology</em>.
A study published by Greenlee et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> showed that obesity was more prevalent in patients with a history of cancer than in the general population, and survivors of colorectal and breast cancers were particularly affected. The study is among the first to compare rates of obesity among U.S. cancer survivors and adults without a history of cancer.
To investigate the implications of socioeconomic status and health expenditures on cancer outcomes and mortality, researchers conducted an ecological study at the state level for three distinct patient populations: breast cancer, colorectal cancer, and all-cancer populations. Their findings were published by Chahoud et al in <em>JNCCN—Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network</em>.
A phase II study has found the BCL-2 inhibitor venetoclax to be clinically active in patients with high-risk relapsed/refractory acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) or those unfit for intensive chemotherapy, with an overall response rate of 19% and a tolerable safety profile. The study results, which were reported by Konopleva in <em>Cancer Discovery,</em> support evaluating venetoclax in combination with other agents in patients with AML.
Tumor shrinkage is not the only measure of a successful anticancer therapy. A University of Colorado Cancer Center article published by Serkova et al in <em>Frontiers in Oncology</em> describes a promising alternative: metabolic imaging. Tumors rush their metabolism to grow and proliferate. By recognizing a drug's ability to stop this energy overuse, doctors may be able to determine a patient's response to a new, targeted therapy far earlier and with far more precision than watching and waiting for a tumor to shrink.
A Massachusetts General Hospital research team has identified an additional mechanism for resistance to targeted treatment for <em>BRAF</em>-mutant melanoma. Their findings, published by Shen et al in <em>Nature Medicine</em>, report that inactivating mutations in two genes responsible for regulating key aspects of cell division can reactivate the signaling pathway driving tumor growth that had been blocked by BRAF inhibitor drugs.
As reported by Esselen et al in <em>JAMA Oncology,</em> cancer antigen 125 (CA-125) tests and computed tomography (CT) scans for surveillance in women with ovarian cancer continue to be used routinely, although their benefit has not been proven and the practices have significant quality-of-life and economic implications for patients.
iCell Gene Therapeutics has announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Orphan Drug designation for its chimeric antigen receptor engineered T-cells directed against the target protein CD4 (CD4CAR) for the treatment of peripheral T-cell lymphoma.
Although a majority of states are still missing important opportunities to pass and implement legislative solutions proven to prevent and fight cancer, there is progress being made to move the nation closer to ending cancer as we know it, according to a report recently released by the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network. “How Do You Measure Up?: A Progress Report on State Legislative Activity to Reduce Cancer Incidence and Mortality” rates states on the strength of proven policies that help prevent cancer.
A new analysis of breast tumors, before and after hormone-reduction therapy, reveals the extreme genetic complexity of these tumors and the variety of responses that are possible to estrogen-deprivation treatments. The findings also suggest that analyzing a single sample of the breast tumor is insufficient for understanding how a patient should best be treated. The study was published by Miller et al in <em>Nature Communications</em>.
Robot-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy and open radical retropubic prostatectomy yielded similar domain-specific quality-of-life or pathologic outcomes at 12 weeks in men with newly diagnosed, clinically localized prostate cancer, according to the results of a randomized phase III trial reported by Yaxley et al in <em>The Lancet.</em> Longer-term follow-up in these patients is ongoing.
Men with very high-risk prostate cancer treated at hospitals with a high proportion of administered radical local treatment (radiotherapy or prostatectomy) only have half of the mortality risk of men who are treated at hospitals with the lowest proportions, according to a new study published by Stattin et al in <em>European Urology</em>.
A laboratory study led by scientists at the National Institutes of Health investigating how <em>BRCA1</em>- and <em>BRCA2</em>-mutant cell breast cancers eventually acquire resistance to DNA-damaging drugs has identified several proteins that promote destabilization of replication forks and contribute to drug resistance (including PTIP, CHD4, and PARP1). The results of these findings, reported by Chaudhuri et al in <em>Nature,</em> suggest that the cellular levels of these proteins might be used as a prognostic factor in acquired resistance to <em>BRCA1/2</em>-mutant cancers.
In a phase III noninferiority trial reported by Lee et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, hypofractionated radiotherapy was found to be not inferior to conventional hypofractionated radiotherapy in disease-free survival among men with low-risk prostate cancer. Hypofractionated radiotherapy was, however, associated with a greater risk for mild late gastrointestinal and genitourinary adverse events.
Bristol-Myers Squibb Company announced last week that CheckMate-026, a phase III trial investigating the use of nivolumab as monotherapy, did not meet its primary endpoint of progression-free survival in patients with previously untreated advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose tumors expressed programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) at ≥ 5%.
Men with testicular cancer who were uninsured or on Medicaid had a higher risk of death from what is normally a curable disease than insured patients, a new study found. The findings, published by Markt et al in <em>Cancer</em>, add to growing evidence that differences in health insurance status can affect cancer outcomes, also examined by Rong et al and in an accompanying editorial published in the same journal issue.
The <em>Chinese Journal of Cancer (CJC)</em> is soliciting the 150 most important questions in cancer research and clinical oncology from cancer researchers around the world. The editors of <em>CJC</em> believe this will help provide important insights and guidance in future efforts to advance cancer research and care. The top-ranked 150 questions together with participants will be published in a special article in the December issue of the <em>CJC</em>.
ASCO and the Society of Gynecologic Oncology (SGO) today issued a joint clinical practice guideline on ovarian cancer treatment, published in both the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> and <em>Gynecologic Oncology</em>.
Receiving an invitation to get screened for cervical cancer is associated with a greater likelihood of getting screened, according to a study published by Tavasoli et al in <em>Preventive Medicine</em>.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved pembrolizumab, an anti–PD-1 (programmed cell death protein-1) therapy, at a fixed dose of 200 mg every 3 weeks, for the treatment of patients with recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma with disease progression on or after platinum-containing chemotherapy.
The most recent (2013) ASCO/College of American Pathologists (AC) guidelines for HER2 testing resulted in different rates of HER2 positivity compared with the use of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration or 2007 AC guidelines, according to a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Shah et al.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Breakthrough Therapy designation to ribociclib in combination with letrozole for the treatment of hormone receptor–positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative advanced or metastatic breast cancer.
In a retrospective study analyzing patients' medical records, researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital found that race significantly affected longevity by increasing the likelihood of death after receiving androgen-deprivation therapy. These findings were published by Kovtun et al in <em>Cancer</em>.
The addition of the anti–CTLA-4 checkpoint inhibitor ipilimumab to etoposide/platinum did not improve overall survival in the first-line treatment of patients with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer (SCLC), according to a phase III trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Reck et al.
A study by Hartz et al published in <em>Genetics in Medicine</em> examined whether Internet-based research approaches effectively engage participants from diverse racial and socioeconomic backgrounds. They found low engagement in this type of research among this underserved population, despite high initial interest, suggesting strategies should be developed to increase diversity in Internet-based research.
In a National Cancer Data Base analysis reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Seisen et al found that high-intensity local treatment was associated with an overall survival benefit in patients with metastatic urothelial carcinoma of the bladder.
Renal cell carcinomas (RCC) positive for the protein programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) from patients who did not respond to treatment with the anti–PD-1 therapeutic nivolumab had significantly higher expression of genes associated with metabolism, compared with PD-L1–positive tumors from patients who did respond to nivolumab. These findings were published by Ascierto et al in <em>Cancer Immunology Research</em>.
In a phase II study reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Brose et al found that vemurafenib had antitumor activity in patients with <em>BRAF</em>V600E–positive recurrent or metastatic papillary thyroid cancer refractory to radioactive iodine.
Next-generation sequencing of recurrent or metastatic head and neck tumors at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center has provided insight into the molecular characteristics of these tumors, which may aid in the implementation of precision treatment. These findings were reported by Morris et al in <em>JAMA Oncology.</em>
More imaging after thyroid cancer treatment identifies recurrence, but it does not always improve survival, a new study published by Banerjee et al in <em>The BMJ</em> suggests.
African American women undergoing mastectomy for breast cancer are more likely than white women to undergo autologous breast reconstruction using their own tissue, rather than implant-based reconstruction, reported Sharma et al in <em>Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery</em>.
In a genome-wide association study reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Li et al identified genetic variants associated with the risk of nasal-type extranodal natural killer T-cell lymphoma. This rare aggressive malignancy is seen predominantly in Asian and Latin American populations.
Obesity and being overweight were associated with an increased risk of cardiotoxicity in women receiving treatment with anthracyclines and sequential anthracyclines/trastuzumab for breast cancer, according to a systematic review and meta-analysis reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Guenancia et al.
In a population-based study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Greenlee et al found that rates of obesity have increased more in patients with a history of cancer than in the general population. These rates were particularly high among survivors of colorectal and breast cancers and black patients.
A novel method of extracting big data from positron-emission tomography (PET) images can provide additional information to quantify lung tumors caused by a genetic mutation. This information could help guide the most effective treatment, suggest findings from a study of nearly 350 patients presented by Yip et al at the 58th Annual Meeting of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM).
Women who engaged on social media after a breast cancer diagnosis expressed more deliberation about their treatment decision and more satisfaction with the path they chose, a new study published by Wallner et al in <em>JAMA Oncology</em> found.
Harmonized recommendations for surveillance of premature ovarian insufficiency in female survivors of childhood, adolescent, and young adult (CAYA) cancers have been published by van Dorp et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> on behalf of the International Late Effects of Childhood Cancer Guideline Harmonization Group in collaboration with the PanCare Childhood and Adolescent Cancer Survivor Care and Follow-Up Studies Consortium.
In an analysis from the St. Jude Lifetime Cohort Study reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Bhakta et al found a high cumulative burden of cardiovascular morbidity among pediatric, adolescent, and young adult survivors of Hodgkin lymphoma.
As reported by Rugo et al and Park et al in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> the adaptive randomization phase II I-SPY 2 trial has shown that the addition of veliparib/carboplatin and the addition of neratinib to standard neoadjuvant therapy have met criteria predictive of success in a phase III trial of the same comparators in early breast cancer patients with specific biomarker signatures.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Paice et al, ASCO has released a clinical practice guideline on management of chronic pain in survivors of adult cancers. The guideline was based on literature review of 63 studies.
Women were less likely to have breast reconstruction surgery after mastectomy if they had Medicaid or Medicare rather than private insurance or if they lived 10 or more miles from a plastic surgeon’s office, according to a study published by Roughton et al in <em>Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery</em>.
In a new study reported by Gyanchandani et al in <em>Clinical Cancer Research</em>, researchers demonstrated that tumor sampling techniques used with newly developed personalized medicine gene-expression profile tests may need to be refined to ensure that the most appropriate breast tumor sections are selected for testing.
Combining the immune checkpoint inhibitor ipilimumab with local peripheral treatments, such as radiotherapy or electrochemotherapy, significantly prolonged overall survival in patients with advanced melanoma, according to a study reported by Theurich et al in <em>Cancer Immunology Research.</em> Median overall survival for patients receiving the combination therapy was 93 weeks, compared with 42 weeks for those receiving ipilimumab alone.
In a letter to the editor in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> de Maleissye et al described two cases of severe demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy that occurred after pembrolizumab treatment for advanced melanoma.
According to a new study published by Fecteau et al in <em>JAMA Oncology</em>, a rare genetic mutation in the <em>VSIG10L<em> gene is associated with susceptibility to familial Barrett's esophagus and esophageal cancer.
A new study of more than 2,200 patients with low-risk prostate cancer in an ethnically and economically diverse population revealed that ethnicity influences this decision. The results, published by Kelly et al in <em>The Journal of Urology</em>, indicate that black men may be more likely than white men to begin active treatment independent of follow-up clinical measures, a finding that suggests greater attention to race/ethnicity is needed.
Pathologic complete response rate was not improved by increasing the interval between neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy and surgery from 7 to 11 weeks in patients with rectal cancer, according to a French phase III trial reported by Lefevre et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em> In fact, a longer wait time may be associated with higher morbidity and more difficult surgical resection.
In a prospective cohort study reported in <em>JAMA Oncology,</em> Shu et al found that risk for serous/serous-like endometrial carcinoma appeared to be increased after risk-reducing salpingo-oophorectomy (RRSO) without hysterectomy in women harboring the <em>BRCA1</em>mutation. The overall risk of uterine cancer was not increased.
In a study published by Gutman et al in <em>Bone Marrow Transplant</em>, researchers found that 3 years post transplant, the incidence of severe chronic graft-vs-host disease was significantly higher in patients who had received transplants from matched, unrelated donors than in patients who had received umbilical cord blood transplants.
A study by Brown et al published in <em>JAMA</em> outlines how among patients with one to three brain metastases, the use of stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) alone, compared with SRS combined with whole-brain radiotherapy (WBRT), resulted in less cognitive deterioration at 3 months. These results will allow tens of thousands of patients to experience a better quality of life while maintaining the same length of life.
In a study reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> Zaretsky et al found that defects in interferon receptor signaling and antigen-presenting pathways were associated with acquired resistance to PD-1 (programmed cell death protein 1) inhibition in melanoma.
Crinò et al found that ceritinib was active overall and in central nervous system metastases in patients with <em>ALK</em>-rearranged advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) previously treated with crizotinib and chemotherapy, according to a phase II trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em>
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) has concluded that the current evidence is insufficient to assess the balance of benefits and harms of visual skin examination by a clinician to screen for skin cancer in asymptomatic adults. The report was published in <em>JAMA</em>.
A new study indicates that delirium is relatively frequent and underdiagnosed by physicians in patients with advanced cancer visiting the emergency department. These findings were published by Elsayem et al in <em>Cancer</em>.
Treatment with the anti–PD-1 (programmed cell death protein 1) immune checkpoint inhibitor nivolumab produced response in two-thirds of patients with classical Hodgkin lymphoma after failure of both autologous stem cell transplantation (SCT) and brentuximab vedotin, according to a phase II trial reported by Younes et al in <em>The Lancet Oncology.</em>
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Chagtai et al of the International Society of Paediatric Oncology Renal Tumours Study Group found that chromosome 1q gain was associated with poorer event-free survival in patients with Wilms tumor treated with preoperative chemotherapy. Gain of 1q may be a potentially valuable prognostic biomarker in Wilms tumor.
The Children’s Oncology Group found that chromosome 1q gain is associated with poorer event-free and overall survival in patients with favorable-histology Wilms tumor. Gratias et al reported these findings in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em>
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Breakthrough Therapy Designation to the immunotherapy daratumumab in combination with lenalidomide and dexamethasone or bortezomib and dexamethasone for the treatment of patients with multiple myeloma who have received at least one prior therapy.
In an analysis reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Niedzwiecki et al found that the ColDx gene-expression signature assay identified high-risk stage II colon cancer among patients in the phase III Alliance C9581 trial.
New research published by Pham et al in <em>The Journal of Urology</em> found that patients with low-risk prostate cancer on active surveillance who were tracked for 3 years experienced similar health-related quality of life as men without prostate cancer, both clinically and psychologically.
When combined with other agents, the antipsychotic olanzapine significantly reduced the incidence of nausea and improved antiemetic complete response rates among patients receiving highly emetogenic chemotherapy, according to the results of a phase III trial reported by Navari et al in </em>The New England Journal of Medicine.</em>
Most adolescent survivors of childhood cancer have no reported psychological symptoms, but an analysis led by St. Jude Children's Research Hospital found that those who do often have multiple symptoms and distinct symptom profiles. The findings, published by Krull et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, highlight strategies to improve mental health screening and interventions.
In a phase I/Ib study reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> Davids et al found that ipilimumab (at a dose of 10 mg/kg) produced responses, including complete responses, in patients with relapsed hematologic cancer after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT).
EXaCT-1, a new whole-exome sequencing test developed by the Englander Institute for Precision Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine, detected mutations that guide precision cancer treatment with over 95% accuracy, according to a study by Rennert et al published in <em>Genomic Medicine.</em> The test may also be beneficial for evaluating germline alterations and determining how responsive a patient is to immunotherapy, the investigators concluded.
Among women undergoing fertility treatment in the Netherlands between 1980 and 1995, the use of in vitro fertilization (IVF) compared with non-IVF treatment was not associated with increased risk of breast cancer after a median follow-up of 21 years, according to a study published by van den Belt-Dusebout et al in <em>JAMA</em>.
A collaboration between multiple European institutions has uncovered a correlation between a rare mutation in colorectal cancers and a better prognosis, raising the possibility that patients with such tumors may not require chemotherapy after surgery. Findings were published by Domingo et al in <em>The Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology</em>.
The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) recently issued a new clinical practice statement, “Appropriate Customization of Radiation Therapy for Stage II and III Rectal Cancer: An ASTRO Clinical Practice Statement Using the RAND/UCLA Appropriateness Method.” An executive summary of the guideline was published by Goodman et al in <em>Practical Radiation Oncology</em>.
A new study published by Rosenblatt et al in <em>Gynecologic Oncology</em> confirms a link between Papanicolaou (Pap) smear screenings and a lower risk of developing cervical cancer in women over age 65. However, most American health guidelines discourage women in that age range from receiving screenings unless they have preexisting risk factors.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Odejide et al surveyed hematologic oncologists to identify acceptable quality measures of end-of-life-care and barriers to such care. Respondents considered unrealistic patient expectations the top barrier to quality end-of-life care.
In a meta-analysis reported in <em>JAMA Oncology,</em> Spring et al found that neoadjuvant endocrine therapy was associated with outcomes similar to those with chemotherapy in women with estrogen receptor&x2013;positive breast cancer.
The cumulative incidence of endocrinopathies steadily increased over time in aging survivors of childhood cancers, according to an analysis of data from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study reported by Mostoufi-Moab et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
Liquid biopsies detect pieces of DNA from tumors that are shed into the blood, but circulating tumor DNA can be difficult to pick out from the abundant pieces of circulating DNA from healthy cells. Published by Underhill et al in <em>PLOS Genetics</em>, a study demonstrated that the fragments of circulating tumor and healthy DNA in cancer patients were differently sized, a property that can be exploited to distinguish between the two types of DNA.
Self-administered relaxing acupressure and stimulating acupressure were both associated with reduced persistent fatigue vs usual care in breast cancer survivors, according to a randomized clinical trial reported by Zick et al in <em>JAMA Oncology.</em> However, only relaxing acupressure had significant effects on sleep quality and quality of life.
Five-year survival data published by Chen et al in <em>Blood</em> suggest that the targeted therapy brentuximab vedotin may be curative in some patients with Hodgkin lymphoma whose disease has persisted despite receiving previous therapies.
A large observational study examining the variation in breast density assessment among radiologists in clinical practice has found a wide variation—from 6.3% to 84.5%—in the percentage of mammograms rated as showing dense breasts. The study by Sprague et al, which has important clinical and research implications, was published in <em>Annals of Internal Medicine.</em>
The American Cancer Society (ACS) has endorsed human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), the principal source of guidance on U.S. immunization policy. The endorsement was published by Saslow et al in <em>CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians</em>.
Day-to-day psychological stress and adverse life events are unlikely to increase a woman’s risk of developing breast cancer, according to a new prospective study published by Schoemaker et al in <em>Breast Cancer Research</em>.
Nivolumab, a checkpoint inhibitor approved for patients with squamous and nonsquamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in 2015, is not cost-effective when compared to treatment with docetaxel chemotherapy. However, a Swiss analysis showed the cost-effectiveness of nivolumab is improved when patients are treated with nivolumab based on programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) positivity, or if there is a reduction in dose or drug price. Results were published by Matter-Walstra et al in the <em>Journal of Thoracic Oncology</em>.
Smith et al found no improvement in overall survival with cabozantinib vs prednisone in patients with previously treated metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, in the phase III COMET-1 trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em>
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Schmitz et al have developed and validated a risk score for CNS relapse—the Central Nervous System International Prognostic Index (CNS-IPI)—in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma treated with R-CHOP (rituximab and cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, prednisone).
FOLFOX (oxaliplatin, leucovorin, fluorouracil) seems to be a safer and more reliable regimen than ECF (epirubicin, cisplatin, fluorouracil) and irinotecan/cisplatin as a backbone for treatment in future studies of metastatic esophageal and gastroesophageal junction cancers. This finding was reported by Enzinger et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em>
In an analysis of data from SWOG studies reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Stephens et al found a continued risk of relapse among patients with limited-stage diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) irrespective of whether they received CHOP (cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone) with or without radiotherapy or rituximab plus CHOP with radiotherapy.
Misunderstandings about prognosis between patients with advanced cancer and their doctors was common, according to a study by Gramling et al in <em>JAMA Oncology</em>—and the vast majority of patients didn't know that their doctors held different opinions about how long they might live.
Prior results in men with aggressive, advanced-stage prostate cancer showed no evidence of antitumor activity with immune therapies that work by blocking programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) signals. However, a small study published by Graff et al in <em<Oncotarget</em>, showed robust responses to pembrolizumab in men with metastatic prostate cancer resistant to androgen-deprivation therapy and the androgen receptor antagonist enzalutamide.
Findings in a classical Hodgkin lymphoma cohort in the phase Ib KEYNOTE-013 trial, reported by Armand et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> indicate that pembrolizumab is active in patients with disease progressing on or after brentuximab vedotin treatment.
A receptor protein that is the target of the breast cancer drug trastuzumab is needed for proper heart blood vessel development, reported researchers in a paper by Aghajanian et al in <em>Nature Communications</em>.
A study published by Piert et al in The Journal of Nuclear Medicine reported that the addition of molecular imaging based on F-18-choline positron-emission tomography (PET) improves the identification of significant prostate cancer over multiparametric prostate magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) alone for targeted transrectal prostate biopsies.
Weight loss in postmenopausal overweight and obese women significantly lowered the levels of certain angiogenesis-related proteins, according to a report by Duggan et al. Published in <em>Cancer Research,</em> these findings suggest that weight loss could provide an incentive for reducing weight as a cancer prevention strategy in overweight and obese individuals.
Juno Therapeutics, Inc, announced on July 12, 2016, that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has removed the clinical hold on the phase II clinical trial of JCAR015 (known as the ROCKET trial) in adult patients with relapsed or refractory B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
A surgical procedure recommended to reduce the future risk of ovarian cancer has been successfully implemented throughout Kaiser Permanente in Northern California without a change in surgical outcomes, according to research published by Garcia et al in <strong>Obstetrics & Gynecology</strong>.
High expression of T-cell and B-cell signatures in infiltrates in the tumor microenvironment predicted improved overall survival across many tumor types, according to a study reported by Iglesia et al in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute.</em>
As reported by Mateos et al in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> long-term follow-up in the phase III QuiRedex trial indicates continued benefit of lenalidomide/dexamethasone vs observation in preventing disease progression in patients with high-risk smoldering multiple myeloma.
Considered a visionary in cancer research, Alfred George Knudson, MD, PhD, was internationally recognized for his “two-hit-theory” of cancer causation, which explained the relationship between hereditary and nonhereditary cancer types, predicting the existence of tumor suppressor genes. Dr. Knudson died on July 10, 2016. He was 94.
An analysis published by Wang et al in the <em>Canadian Medical Association Journal</em> has found that women who undergo axilla lymph node surgery for breast cancer are more likely to develop chronic pain.
Patients who develop heart failure after their first heart attack have a greater risk of developing cancer when compared to first-time heart attack survivors without heart failure, according to a study published by Hasin et al in the <em>Journal of the American College of Cardiology</em>.
Obesity may be associated with an increased risk for death from multiple myeloma in African Americans, according to a study reported by Sonderman et al in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute.</em>
In a Dutch population-based study reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> van Maaren et al found that breast-conserving surgery plus radiotherapy was associated with improved 10-year survival vs mastectomy in women with early breast cancer.
Patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer positive for the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitor T790M resistance mutation on a plasma assay had similar outcomes with the EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor osimertinib as did those who were positive on tissue genotyping, according to a study reported by Oxnard et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em>
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Gerbing et al found that prolonged posttreatment neutropenia was associated with shorter chromosomal telomere length in pediatric patients receiving chemotherapy for acute myeloid leukemia (AML).
Despite increasing legalization of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide worldwide, the practices remain relatively rare and, when carried out, are primarily motivated by psychological factors such as loss of autonomy or enjoyment of life, rather than physical pain. A new study published by Emanuel et al in <em> JAMA</em> shows that in areas where the practices are legal, only 0.3% to 4.6% of deaths result from euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide, with more than 70% of cases involving patients with cancer.
Research presented at the 2016 New England Association of Gynecologic Oncologists Annual Meeting indicated that when faced with a decision on the type of surgery to have for breast cancer, more women trust their own judgment over the input of their surgeon and even their partner.
The incidence of mutations in DNA-repair genes was significantly higher among men with metastatic prostate cancer than among men with localized disease (11.8% vs 4.6%), according to a study by Pritchard et al reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine.</em> In addition, the frequency of germline mutations in DNA-repair genes among men with metastatic prostate cancer did not differ significantly according to age at diagnosis or family history of prostate cancer.
On July 7, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the Roche cobas HPV Test as the first test for human papillomavirus (HPV) that can be used with cervical cells obtained for a Papanicolau test and collected in SurePath Preservative Fluid.
In support of the President’s Precision Medicine Initiative, on July 6, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued two draft guidances that, when finalized, will provide a flexible and streamlined approach to the oversight of tests that detect medically important differences in a person’s genomic makeup.
The European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) has released new consensus guidelines for the management of metastatic colorectal cancer that reflect an increasingly personalized approach to treatment. These guidelines were published by Van Cutsem et al in <em>Annals of Oncology</em>.
As part of the phase I CheckMate 012 study reported by Gettinger et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> nivolumab monotherapy was found to be active as first-line treatment in advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
Nivolumab was found to be active combined with platinum-based doublets as first-line treatment of advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), as part of a phase I study reported by Rizvi et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em>
In a National Cancer Data Base study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Hanna et al found that cytoreductive nephrectomy may improve survival in patients receiving targeted therapy for metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC).
A novel anti–interleukin-1 alpha antibody has shown a significant impact on symptoms and a high level of safety and tolerability in patients with advanced colorectal cancer, according to phase III data presented by Hickish et al at ESMO’s 18th World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer.
Postoperative treatment intensification with chemoradiotherapy does not achieve better outcomes compared to postoperative chemotherapy in patients with gastric cancer who have already undergone preoperative chemotherapy, according to phase III data presented by Verheij et al at the ESMO 18th World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer.
Anti–PD-L1 (programmed cell death ligand 1) immunotherapy may achieve a response in patients with microsatellite-stable metastatic colorectal cancer if combined with a MEK inhibitor, according to phase I data presented by Bendell et al at the ESMO 18th World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer.
Results from the phase III RESORCE trial show that regorafenib achieved a median overall survival improvement in patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma that progressed after treatment with sorafenib. These findings were presented by Bruix et al at the European Society for Medical Oncology 18th World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer.
Investigators of two European phase III trials have reached different conclusions on whether hypofractionated radiotherapy should replace conventional radiotherapy as a new standard of treatment in localized prostate cancer. The CHHiP trial findings favoring hypofractionation were reported by Dearnaley et al, and the HYPRO trial findings favoring conventional chemotherapy were reported by Incrocci et al, both in <em>The Lancet Oncology.</em>
As reported by Hulin et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> the updated findings of the phase III FIRST trial continue to show improved progression-free and overall survival with continuous lenalidomide plus low-dose dexamethasone vs melphalan, prednisone, and thalidomide in patients with multiple myeloma ineligible for stem cell transplantation. The benefit was observed in patients aged > 75 years as well as in the overall population.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Laird et al found that increased systemic inflammation was associated with poorer patient-reported quality of life independent of performance status.
Fentanyl (Lazanda) nasal spray, a schedule II narcotic, is now available at a 300-μg dose to treat breakthrough cancer pain, offering another titration option for dosing flexibility.
A new study published by Kelly et al in the <em>International Journal of Cancer</em> has identified a gene signature that predicts poor survival from ovarian cancer. The study also identified genes that help the cancer develop resistance to chemotherapy—offering a new route to help tackle the disease.
A large international study published by Teira et al in the journal <em>Blood</em> based on data from some 9,500 patients with leukemia who had undergone bone marrow transplant showed that the common cytomegalovirus does not prevent leukemia relapse and remains a major factor associated with the risk of death.
Prophylactic radiotherapy after surgery and large-bore pleural procedures did not result in significant reduction in the incidence of procedure-tract metastases in malignant pleural mesothelioma, according to a UK phase III trial reported by Clive et al in <em>The Lancet Oncology.</em>
In a study reported by Yuan et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> higher prediagnostic plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels were found to be associated with prolonged overall survival in patients with pancreatic cancer.
In a phase III trial reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> Johnson et al found similar efficacy with continued ABVD (doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, dacarbazine) chemotherapy vs omission of bleomycin (AVD) after negative interim PET-CT (positron-emission tomography–computed tomography) in patients with advanced Hodgkin lymphoma.
In a study report published by Bhatt et al in <em>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,</em> researchers explained how a type of herpesvirus uses mimicry to trick the host cell to produce proteins the virus needs and drive cell growth. The findings have implications for how the virus causes cancer.
A distinctive chemical or “oncometabolite” associated with the presence of malignant brain tumors, D-2-hydroxyglutarate, can be detected in cerebrospinal fluid, providing an alternative screening technique to more surgically invasive screening methods. These findings were published by Kalinina et al in <em>Clinical Cancer Research</em>.
The addition of prostate external-beam radiation therapy to androgen-deprivation therapy was associated with prolonged overall survival in men with newly diagnosed metastatic prostate cancer, according to a National Cancer Database analysis reported by Rusthoven et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em>
In an analysis of the linked Southwest Oncology Group–Medicare databases reported by Hershman et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> an increased risk of peripheral neuropathy in older patients receiving taxane therapy was associated with increasing age and a history of diabetes in addition to drug-related factors.
The multikinase inhibitor regorafenib prolonged progression-free survival vs placebo in patients with previously treated advanced gastric carcinoma, in a phase II trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Pavlakis et al. A regional difference in treatment effect was observed.
In a study of older women with newly diagnosed stage I to III breast cancer, published by Owusu et al in <em>Cancer</em>, approximately 1 in 5 lost the ability to complete some of the basic tasks necessary for independent living within 1 year of initiating treatment. The study also found that a simple survey can help identify which women are at risk of such functional decline.
People who visit their primary care physicians are more likely to get potentially life-saving colon cancer screenings and follow-up on abnormal stool blood test results—even in health systems that heavily promote mail-in home stool blood tests that don’t require a doctor visit, a study published by Halm et al in the <em>Journal of General Internal Medicine</em> showed.
Low-dose oral cyclophosphamide plus methotrexate maintenance therapy yielded no disease-free survival benefit in women with hormone receptor–negative early breast cancer, according to a phase III International Breast Cancer Study Group trial. Some evidence of benefit was observed in patients with triple-negative, node-positive disease. These findings were reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Colleoni et al.
In a phase III trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Sternberg et al found that tasquinimod, an oral therapy targeting components of the tumor microenvironment, increased radiographic progression-free survival (PFS) but not overall survival (OS) in men with chemotherapy-naive metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.
The addition of olaratumab, an anti–platelet-derived growth factor receptor alpha antibody, to doxorubicin resulted in prolonged progression-free and overall survival in the phase II evaluation of patients with advanced soft-tissue sarcoma, according to findings reported by Tap et al in <em>The Lancet.</em>
In a French phase III trial reported by Piperno-Neumann et al in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> the addition of zoledronate to chemotherapy and surgery provided no event-free survival benefit in the treatment of patients with newly diagnosed high-grade osteosarcoma.
In the phase III GADOLIN trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Sehn et al found that adding the anti-CD20 antibody obinutuzumab to bendamustine increased progression-free survival in patients with rituximab-refractory indolent non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL).
Bacteria that have the potential to abet breast cancer are present in the breasts of cancer patients, while beneficial bacteria are more abundant in healthy breasts, where they may actually be protecting women from cancer, according to research published by Urbaniak et al in <em>Applied and Environmental Microbiology</em>.
A large population-based Danish study assessing the long-term risks in women with a history of high-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia and the development of noncervical, HPV-associated anal, vulvar, and vaginal cancers has found the women had higher risks of developing these cancers than women with no history of the disease. The increased risk was associated with an impaired ability to control persistent HPV infection. The study by Sand et al is published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) has published the NCCN Guidelines for Patients and NCCN Quick Guide for myelodysplastic syndromes. Guidelines for Patients are easy-to-understand resources based on the same clinical practice guidelines used by health-care professionals around the world to determine the best way to treat a patient with cancer.
Today, the Cancer Moonshot hosted a summit at Howard University, in Washington, DC, as part of a national day of action that also included more than 270 events in communities across the United States. Vice President <strong>Joe Biden</strong> joined over 350 researchers, oncologists, care providers, data and technology experts, patients, families, and patient advocates at Howard; they were joined by more than 6,000 individuals at events in all 50 states, Washington, DC, Puerto Rico, and Guam.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner <strong>Robert Califf, MD</strong>, issued the following statement today regarding the appointment of <strong>Richard Pazdur, MD</strong>, as the Acting Director of the FDA Oncology Center of Excellence.
On June 28, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a fixed-dose combination of sofosbuvir plus velpatasvir (Epclusa) to treat adult patients with chronic hepatitis C virus either with or without cirrhosis.
ASCO voiced its strong opposition to the proposed Medicare Part B demonstration project in comments submitted on June 28 for the U.S. Senate Finance Committee hearing, “Examining the Proposed Medicare Part B Drug Demonstration.”
The phase III European MCL Younger trial has shown that adding high-dose cytarabine to immunochemotherapy prior to autologous stem cell transplantation increased the time to treatment failure among patients with mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) aged ≤ 65 years. The results were reported by Hermine et al in <em>The Lancet.</em>
According to a European phase III trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Kurzeder et al found that adding pertuzumab to chemotherapy did not improve progression-free survival in low-HER3 mRNA–expressing platinum-resistant ovarian cancer. However, the findings suggested a possible benefit when pertuzumab was added to gemcitabine or paclitaxel.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Chapuis et al, concurrent use of cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) antigen-4 (CTLA-4) blockade with ipilimumab and adoptively transferred antigen-specific CTLs produced enduring responses in patients with stage IV melanoma.
The College of American Pathologists (CAP), the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC), and the Association for Molecular Pathology (AMP) announced today the open comment period for the revised evidence-based guideline, “Molecular Testing Guideline for Selection of Lung Cancer Patients for <em>EGFR</em> and <em>ALK</em> Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors.” The open comment period begins today and will close on August 2, 2016.
Bristol-Myers Squibb Company announced June 27 that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Breakthrough Therapy Designation to nivolumab (Opdivo) for the potential indication of unresectable locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma that has progressed on or after a platinum-containing regimen.
Patients with lymphoma undergoing reduced-intensity conditioning had similar outcomes with related-donor haploidentical hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) and post-transplantation cyclophosphamide compared with HLA-matched sibling-donor HCT, with the former approach associated with a reduced risk for chronic graft-vs-host disease. These observational study findings were reported by Ghosh et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em>
In the phase I/II CheckMate 032 study, nivolumab alone and with ipilimumab demonstrated activity in patients with small cell lung cancer progressing after at least one previous platinum regimen, as reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by Antonia et al.
A systematic review of 12 prospective cohort studies examining the association between adherence to cancer prevention guidelines on diet and physical activity and cancer incidence and mortality has found that following the guidelines was associated with a 10% to 45% reduction in all-cancer incidence and a 14% to 61% reduction in all-cancer mortality. These findings by Kohler et al were published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.
Case reports on 13 patients with cancer suggest that patients taking the immunotherapeutics ipilimumab and nivolumab may be at higher-than-normal risk of developing autoimmune joint and tissue diseases, including inflammatory arthritis, according to a preliminary study reported by Cappelli et al in the <em>Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases</em>.
Early-stage breast cancer patients receiving a shorter course of whole-breast irradiation with higher radiation doses per fraction reported equivalent cosmetic, functional, and pain outcomes over time as those receiving a longer, lower-dose per fraction course of treatment, according to a recent study published by Swanick et al in <em>Cancer</em>.
In the phase II CheckMate 064 trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Weber et al found that sequential nivolumab/ipilimumab was more active than the reverse sequence (ipilimumab/nivolumab) in patients with advanced melanoma.
In a phase II trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Planchard et al found that combined MAPK pathway inhibition with the BRAF inhibitor dabrafenib and the MEK inhibitor trametinib resulted in a high response rate in patients with <em>BRAF</em>V600E–mutant non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
In a report published by Posey et al in <em>Immunity</em>, a research team described how an antibody that recognizes the combination of a known cancer-associated surface protein and a cancer-associated carbohydrate can be applied as a CAR (chimeric antigen receptor)-based therapy for a wide range of solid tumors.
In a study published by Klabunde et al in the <em>American Journal of Preventive Medicine</em>, researchers found that colorectal cancer screening consistent with recommendations of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force is not widely used by patients aged 65 or older, and that appropriate follow-up is not taking place in a timely manner.
As reported in <em>JAMA,</em> the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) has issued new recommendations for colorectal cancer screening.
Goldberg et al found that pembrolizumab was active in untreated or progressive brain metastases in melanoma and non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to a single-center phase II trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology.</em>
Research published by Alvarnas et al in <em>Blood</em> showed patients with HIV-associated lymphoma who receive autologous stem cell transplant have similar survival rates and are no more at risk of serious complications compared to those without HIV receiving this therapy.
In a phase I/II study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Massard et al found that the anti–PD-L1 (programmed cell death ligand 1) antibody durvalumab was active in patients with previously treated advanced urothelial bladder cancer. Objective response appeared to be confined to patients with PD-L1–positive tumors.
As reported by Walter et al in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> incidence screening with low-dose computed tomography (CT) in high-risk individuals detected new solid nodules in approximately 5% to 7% at second and third screenings in the ongoing Dutch-Belgian NELSON trial.
As reported by Choueiri et al in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> the final results of the phase III METEOR trial indicate significantly improved overall survival with cabozantinib vs everolimus in patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC) that had progressed after previous vascular endothelial growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor treatment.
A clinical trial published by Percac-Lima et al in <em>JAMA Internal Medicine</em> has found that the use of patient navigators may improve comprehensive cancer screening rates among patient populations not likely to receive recommended screenings.
A new report from the National Alliance for Caregiving in partnership with the National Cancer Institute and the Cancer Support Community draws on a nationally representative data set to identify the special challenges of a friend or family member caring for a loved one with cancer.
As reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> Papaemmanuil et al have identified 11 genomic subgroups in acute myeloid leukemia associated with distinct diagnostic features and clinical outcomes.
Patients with previously treated advanced renal cell carcinoma receiving nivolumab in the phase III CheckMate 025 trial had improved health-related quality of life compared with those receiving everolimus, according to a report published by Cella et al in <em>The Lancet Oncology.</em>
Preliminary tests have demonstrated that a new device may enable existing breast cancer imagers to provide up to six times better contrast of tumors in the breast, while maintaining the same or better image quality and halving the radiation dose to patients. These findings were presented at the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) 2016 Annual Meeting.
A new study published by Kariminia et al in the journal <em>Blood</em> has identified a protein, CXCL10, that could diagnose chronic graft-versus-host disease in patients undergoing blood and bone marrow transplantation.
Neoadjuvant chemotherapy seemed to alter the immune cells in the tumors of patients with stage III/IV high-grade serous ovarian cancer, according to a study by Böhm et al published in Clinical Cancer Research. The results suggest that the effects of immunotherapy might be enhanced if given after chemotherapy, possibly improving disease control.
Updated results of a Japanese phase III trial (JASPAC 01) reported in <em>The Lancet</em> by Uesaka et al showed that adjuvant S-1 was associated with significantly better overall survival compared with gemcitabine in patients with resected pancreatic cancer.
Presenters at the 2016 Annual Meeting of the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) unveiled a novel radioimmunotherapy that combines a cancer-seeking antibody with potent radionuclide agents, resulting in complete remission of colorectal cancer in mouse models.
At the 2016 Annual Meeting of the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI), researchers shared a PET imaging agent that targets prostate-specific membrane antigen, which may be used at the point of initial biopsy and preoperative planning to root out the full extent of prostate cancer.
Researchers at the 2016 Annual Meeting of the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) presented a molecular imaging technique that allows oncologists to set patients’ radiotherapy doses right at the critical limit of delivering the most powerful dosage to neuroendocrine tumors while protecting vulnerable vital organs.
In a study reported in <em>JAMA Oncology,</em> Song and Giovannucci found that a "healthy lifestyle pattern" was associated with a reduced risk for carcinomas among white adults.
In a phase III trial reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> Kantarjian et al found that treatment with the antibody-drug conjugate inotuzumab ozogamicin resulted in a greater complete remission rate and improved overall survival vs standard therapy in patients with relapsed/refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).
According to research presented at the 2016 Annual Meeting of the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI), an investigative blood test could predict how patients with neuroendocrine tumors will respond to peptide receptor radionuclide therapy before they commit to a course of treatment.
At the 2016 Annual Meeting of the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI), researchers tracked the ability of atezolizumab to bolster immunity against non–small cell lung cancer with positron emission tomography.
Patiennts with cancer often experience significant fluctuations in weight and lean body mass. Neglecting to account for these changes can prevent clinicians from obtaining precise data from molecular imaging, but a new method of measuring lean body mass takes changes in individual body composition into account for better staging of disease and therapy monitoring, said researchers at the 2016 Annual Meeting of the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI).
A mindfulness-based stress-reduction program for breast cancer survivors was associated with psychological and physical symptom benefits during and at 6 weeks after intervention, according to a randomized trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Lengacher et al.
As reported by Seiwert et al in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> pembrolizumab showed activity in patients with programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1)–positive recurrent or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck in the phase Ib KEYNOTE-012 study.
Although clinical trials have shown that lung cancer screening using low-dose computed tomography can detect lung cancers early and reduce lung cancer mortality, less than half of family physicians in a recent survey published by Ersek et al in <em>CANCER</em> agreed that screening reduces lung cancer–related deaths. Most were also unaware of current recommendations on lung cancer screening in high-risk patients.
The use of adjuvant chemotherapy in early-stage non–small cell lung cancer patients improves overall survival and 5-year overall survival rates in patients with tumor sizes ranging from 3 to 7 cm. These findings were published by Morgensztern et al in the <em>Journal of Thoracic Oncology</em>.
A Norwegian population-based study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Bains et al showed that use of aspirin after diagnosis of colorectal cancer was associated with improved colorectal cancer–specific survival.
A large population-based Swedish study found that patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) treated with tyrosine kinase inhibitors had an increased risk for arterial and venous vascular events compared with the general population. The study by Dahlén et al was published in <em>Annals of Internal Medicine.</em>
According to findings presented by Eng et al at the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting, nivolumab showed activity in the majority of patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the anal canal. The study is the first to investigate the use of immunotherapy in this patient population.
Hispanic white and non-Hispanic black cancer patients between ages 15 and 29 may be more likely than same-aged white patients to die of their disease, according to a study presented by Colton et al at the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting. The finding is partially but not wholly explained by socioeconomic status; in addition to the health risks associated with low socioeconomic status or stage of presentation, there are additional health risks associated specifically with these racial/ethnic identities.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Sohal et al, ASCO has released a clinical practice guideline on the treatment of patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer.
As reported by Balaban et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> ASCO has released a clinical practice guideline on the treatment of locally advanced, unresectable pancreatic cancer.
ASCO has released a clinical practice guideline on the treatment of potentially curable pancreatic cancer, as reported by Khorana et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em>
In long-term follow-up of a European trial reported by Demeestere et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist (GnRH) treatment during chemotherapy in young women with lymphoma was not associated with reduced premature ovarian failure or an improved pregnancy rate.
Few patients with advanced cancer and a short life expectancy have an accurate understanding of their illness, according to a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Epstein et al.
In the CheckMate 025 trial, nivolumab was shown to be a safe and effective therapy for kidney cancer even in patients who continued treatment after their disease progressed. These findings were presented by Escudier et al at the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting.
When Roswell Park Cancer Institute researchers evaluated the overall and site-specific incidence of cancer among patients registered in the U.S. Immune Deficiency Network, they found an increase in cancer incidence rates among patients with primary immunodeficiency diseases, and, in particular, a significant increase in lymphoma cases. The team’s findings were presented by Mayor et al at the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting.
A large prospective Swedish study reported by Larsson et al found a 2.2-fold increased risk of gallbladder cancer in people who consumed two or more servings of sweetened beverages a day compared with nonconsumers. The study was published in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute.</em>
During the 2016 Annual Meeting, ASCO announced the creation of the Allen S. Lichter Visionary Leader Award to recognize ASCO members who have transformed the oncology field or significantly advanced the mission of ASCO, the Conquer Cancer Foundation, or CancerLinQ, LLC, through their leadership, vision, and ability to inspire. The first award will be presented at the 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting in Chicago.
In a study reported in <em>The Lancet,</em> Maruthappu et al found that the global economic crisis beginning in 2008 was associated with a large excess in cancer mortality during 2008 to 2010.
A hypothetical leukemia patient buying the life-extending drug therapy for his condition would reach his annual out-of-pocket maximum in a month on most of the bronze policies and half of the silver policies offered through the Affordable Care Act marketplace, according to findings presented by Gable et al at the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Yu et al identified a four-biomarker panel that was predictive of chronic graft-vs-host disease after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation.
Treating head and neck cancer patients with recurrent or metastatic disease with pembrolizumab achieved significant clinical responses in nearly one- fifth of the patients from a phase II clinical trial, according to results presented by Bauml et al at the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting.
Crump et al found no disease-free survival benefit of maintenance therapy with the selective protein kinase Cb inhibitor enzastaurin in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) who were in complete remission and at high risk of relapse after first-line chemotherapy, according to a phase III trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em>
Costs associated with different breast cancer chemotherapy regimens can vary significantly, regardless of effectiveness, according to new research from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center presented by Giordano et al at the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting.
Skin cancer screenings performed by primary care physicians during routine office visits improve the detection of potentially deadly melanomas and find them in earlier stages, according to research presented by Ferris et al at the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting.
Greater levels of leisure-time physical activity were associated with a reduced risk for cardiovascular disease events in women with nonmetastatic breast cancer, according to a study reported by Jones et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em>
In a European phase III noninferiority trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Eichhorst et al found that progression-free survival was better with standard first-line fludarabine/cyclophosphamide/rituximab vs bendamustine/rituximab in fit patients with advanced chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) without del(17p).
Treatment with nivolumab doubled overall survival and improved quality of life compared with standard treatment, with fewer side effects, in a treatment-resistant and rapidly progressing form of head and neck carcinoma, reported Ferris et al at the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting. The trial was stopped early to allow patients in the comparison group to receive the study drug.
ASCO announced that a total of 58 practices in 39 states and the District of Columbia have joined CancerLinQ™, ASCO’s big data initiative to rapidly improve the quality of care for people with cancer. CancerLinQ is already up and running in a number of practices and drawing on approximately three-quarters of a million patient records from across the United States.
ASCO announced that Bayer and Merck are the most recent companies to sign on to provide study drugs at no cost to patients enrolled in the Targeted Agent and Profiling Utilization Registry (TAPUR) study, joining six other companies in ASCO’s first-ever clinical trial. Since opening on March 14, 2016, 18 participants have enrolled and are receiving study treatment, and 31 more have provided consent and are in, or have completed, the screening process.
Lung cancer patients with oliogometastases, defined as three or fewer sites of metastasis, may benefit from aggressive local therapy, surgery, or radiation, after standard chemotherapy, according to a phase II study presented by Gomez et al at the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting. Patients treated with local consolidative therapy experienced an 8-month improvement in progression-free survival compared to those who received standard therapy alone.
An experimental CDK inhibitor, abemaciclib, yielded encouraging and durable results against several different types of cancers, including breast cancer, lung cancer, glioblastoma, and melanoma, according to a report published by Patnaik et al in <em>Cancer Discovery</em>.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Wolmark et al, higher 21-gene recurrence score was strongly predictive of late disease recurrence among patients with high quantitative estrogen receptor expression receiving tamoxifen for 5 years in two NRG Oncology/NSABP studies.
Adding the vascular-disrupting agent fosbretabulin to bevacizumab improved outcomes in patients with recurrent ovarian, tubal, or peritoneal carcinoma, according to a randomized phase II NRG Oncology/Gynecologic Oncology Group study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Monk et al.
A pilot study revealed large differences in median retail prices for 23 cancer drugs in 7 different countries, with the highest retail prices identified in the United States and the lowest, in India and South Africa. The study was presented by Goldstein et al at the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting.
For breast cancer survivors who carry mutations in <em>BRCA</em> genes, preventive surgery may substantially reduce the risk of future breast and ovarian cancers. However, it appears that black women are far less likely to receive these widely recommended procedures than white or Hispanic women, according to a population-based study of breast cancer survivors in Florida. The study was presented by Pal et al at the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting.
An analysis of health claims data from 2007 to 2014 on more than 28,000 patients younger than age 65 found that a large proportion of patients with advanced solid tumors received at least one form of aggressive care within the last 30 days of life. The investigators found that use of chemotherapy, radiation, and hospice care were similar before and in the nearly 3 years after ASCO's Choosing Wisely recommendations were released in 2012. The study was presented by Chen et al at the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting.
A Web-mediated follow-up application (app) improved advanced lung cancer survival, as well as patients’ quality of life, according to a French multicenter randomized phase III study presented by Denis et al at the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting. The median overall survival of patients who used the app was 19 months, compared with 12 months for those who received standard follow-up care.
Findings from the European phase II FAST study showed that the novel, first-in-class antibody IMAB362 can significantly extend median survival when added to standard chemotherapy for patients with advanced gastric cancer. This therapy targets a protein called CLDN18.2, and patients in the study with the highest levels of CLDN18.2 experienced even greater benefit. The study by Al-Batran et al was presented in a press briefing today at the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting.
Initial findings from a pivotal phase III trial presented by Palumbo et al at the Plenary Session of the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting showed that daratumumab added to a standard two-drug regimen (bortezomib and dexamethasone) markedly improved outcomes for patients with recurrent or refractory multiple myeloma.
The anti–PD-L1 immunotherapy atezolizumab is effective in patients with previously untreated advanced bladder cancer who are not eligible for the standard treatment with cisplatin. According to a nonrandomized phase II trial by Balar et al, atezolizumab shrank tumors in about a quarter of patients and yielded a median survival of 14.8 months.
A phase III trial performed by the Children’s Oncology Group presented by Park et al during the Plenary Session of the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting found that adding a second autologous stem-cell transplant to standard therapy improves outcomes for these patients.
Early findings from a first-in-human clinical trial showed that the antibody-drug conjugate rovalpituzumab tesirine shows promising efficacy against recurrent small cell lung cancer. The treatment, which combines a novel anti-DLL3 antibody with a powerful anticancer agent, halted tumor growth in 89% of patients with high levels of DLL3 in the tumor and shrank tumors in 39%. Data from the phase I trial by Rudin et al were reported at the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting.
A Canadian-led randomized phase III trial presented by Perry et al at the Plenary Session of the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting found that adding temozolomide chemotherapy during short-course radiation therapy followed by monthly maintenance doses of temozolomide significantly improved survival of elderly patients with glioblastoma.
A randomized phase III clinical trial, MA.17R, found that postmenopausal women with early breast cancer benefit from extending aromatase inhibitor therapy with letrozole from 5 to 10 years. Data from two related abstracts from the MA.17R clinical trial were presented at the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting, with the first by Goss et al reporting on safety and efficacy outcomes and the second by Lemieux et al reporting patient quality-of-life outcomes.
The targeted PARP inhibitor rucaparib, which has demonstrated robust clinical activity in patients with ovarian cancer who have a BRCA mutation, also showed promise in previously treated patients with pancreatic cancer who have the mutation, according to results from a phase II clinical study presented by Domchek et al at the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting.
Several clinical trials have demonstrated that maintenance therapy with lenalidomide reduces the risk of disease progression in patients with multiple myeloma, but there have been no definitive results regarding overall survival. Results of a meta-analysis by Attal et al presented at the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting showed that continuous lenalidomide following autologous stem cell transplantation improved survival in these patients.
Surgery to remove the primary tumor in women diagnosed with stage IV breast cancer followed by standard combination therapies improved survival over standard therapy alone, an international clinical trial presented by Soran et al at the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting revealed.
A new study presented by Antonia et al at the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting showed that utilizing the immunotherapeutic agents nivolumab and ipilimumab could lead to more effective treatment options for patients with small cell lung cancer who have progressed after initial chemotherapy.
An innovative project launched in October 2015 may help expedite metastatic breast cancer genomics research and provide leads for development of new treatments. In the 7 months since the launch, more than 2,000 patients have enrolled in the research study designed to collect and analyze health records, tumor specimens, and saliva samples from patients with advanced breast cancer. The study by Wagle et al was featured at a press briefing today at the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting.
A large-scale genomic analysis found that patterns of genetic changes detected in blood samples, or liquid biopsy, closely mirror those identified in traditional tumor biopsy. With blood samples from more than 15,000 patients and 50 different tumor types, this is reportedly one of the largest cancer genomics studies ever conducted. The study by Zill et al was featured at a press briefing today at the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting.
Researchers reported encouraging early results from a phase II trial that matches patients with molecular abnormalities in the tumor to corresponding targeted treatments. Of 129 patients with 12 different types of advanced cancers, 29 responded to drugs outside of U.S. Food and Drug Administration–approved indications. The study, by Hainsworth et al, was featured in a press briefing today at the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting.
Patients with anaplastic glioma without 1p/19q codeletion benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy, according to early results from a European phase III trial. The estimated 5‐year survival rates were 56% with radiation therapy and adjuvant temozolomide vs 44% without adjuvant temozolomide. Addition of adjuvant temozolomide also delayed disease progression by more than 2 years.
A European phase III trial showed that adding the oral drug capecitabine chemotherapy to gemcitabine prolongs survival without increased toxicity. The study, by Neoptelemos et al, was featured in a press briefing today and presented at the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting.
A biosimilar trastuzumab antibody (MYL-1401O) is comparable in efficacy and safety to trastuzumab (Herceptin) in women with HER2-positive advanced breast cancer, according to a randomized phase III study presented at the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting. This is one of the first clinical trials to show equivalency of a trastuzumab biosimilar to the branded cancer drug.
For some women with advanced ovarian cancer that was successfully treated surgically, as well as in those treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy, intraperitoneal as well as intravenous chemotherapy appears more effective than intravenous chemotherapy alone. The study, by Mackay et al, was featured in a press briefing today at the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting.
Today, U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner <strong>Robert Califf, MD</strong>, released a statement on the release on the finalization of streamlining the process used by physicians to request expanded access, often called "compassionate use," to investigational drugs and biologics for their patients.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Cortes et al, the final 5-year results of the DASISION trial support the safety and efficacy of dasatinib as first-line treatment in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) in chronic phase.
In an analysis of the Breast International Group (BIG) 1-98 trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Chirgwin et al found that poorer adherence to endocrine therapy was associated with poorer disease-free survival in postmenopausal women with hormone receptor–positive breast cancer receiving adjuvant tamoxifen, letrozole, or sequential letrozole/tamoxifen or tamoxifen/letrozole for 5 years.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today approved the cobas EGFR Mutation Test v2, a blood-based companion diagnostic for the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitor erlotinib. This is the first FDA-approved, blood-based genetic test that can detect <em>EGFR</em> gene mutations in non–small cell lung cancer patients.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today approved Netspot, the first kit for the preparation of Ga-68 dotatate injection, a radioactive diagnostic agent for positron-emission tomography imaging. This radioactive probe will help locate tumors in adult and pediatric patients with somatostatin receptor positive neuroendocrine tumors.
A phase I study by Cloughesy et al investigating the effectiveness of vocimagene amiretrorepvec and extended-release 5-fluorocytosine in patients with recurrent glioblastoma has found that the treatment increased overall survival, in some patients for more than 2 years. The results were published in <em>Science Translational Medicine.</em>
Nearly 20% of women with ovarian cancer do not undergo surgery, despite it being a standard part of treatment recommendations, according to new research published by Shalowitz et al in <em>Gynecologic Oncology</em>.
ASCO has released a clinical practice guideline on endocrine therapy for hormone receptor–positive metastatic breast cancer, as reported by Rugo et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em>
In a French retrospective study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Tougeron et al found that the addition of adjuvant oxaliplatin to fluoropyrimidine treatment improved disease-free survival in patients with stage III deficient mismatch repair colon cancer.
Readmission rates after complex cancer operations tend to be higher in hospitals that are considered to be vulnerable because they serve as safety nets in their communities or have a high number of Medicaid patients. Payment programs that penalize hospitals for high readmission rates without understanding these issues could stress already financially threatened institutions, according to a new study published by Hong et al in the <em>Journal of the American College of Surgeons</em>.
In a study using National Cancer Data Base data reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Nussbaum et al found that preoperative and postoperative radiotherapy improved overall survival vs surgery alone in patients with retroperitoneal sarcoma.
ASCO today published an updated framework for assessing the relative value of cancer therapies that have been compared in clinical trials. The framework, published by Schnipper et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, defines value as a combination of clinical benefit, side effects, and improvement in patient symptoms or quality of life in the context of cost. The updated framework will be the basis for a software tool that doctors can use to assist shared decision-making with their patients.
On May 27, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved fluciclovine F-18 (Axumin), a radioactive diagnostic agent for injection. Fluciclovine F 18 is indicated for positron-emission tomography imaging in men with suspected prostate cancer recurrence based on elevated prostate specific antigen levels following prior treatment.
A model developed to estimate the absolute risk of breast cancer suggests that a 30-year-old white woman in the United States has an 11.3% risk, on average, of developing invasive breast cancer by the age of 80, according to a new study published by Maas et al in <em>JAMA Oncology</em>.
The International Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia–International Prognostic Index (CLL-IPI) working group has developed an IPI for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia based on a meta-analysis of individual patient data, as reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology.</em>
An analysis of the phase III adjuvant ALTTO trial showed that early rash was associated with better clinical outcome with lapatinib treatment of HER2-positive breast cancer, as reported by Sonnenblick et al in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute.</em>
Among nearly 35,000 initially healthy women who were followed for about 20 years, those with new-onset atrial fibrillation had an increased risk of cancer, according to a study published by Conen et al in <em>JAMA Cardiology</em>.
Play-based procedural preparation not only helps children cope with the stress and anxiety of radiation therapy, but can also help reduce the amount of sedation used and cut costs, according to a study published by Grissom et al in <em>Supportive Care in Cancer</em>.
On May 25, ASCO issued its first clinical practice guideline on invasive cervical cancer. This resource-stratified guideline is the first of its kind from ASCO, offering treatment recommendations tailored to resource availability.
ASCO and its wholly-owned subsidiary, QOPI Certification Program, LLC (QCP), announced May 25 that The Doctors Company, the nation's largest physician-owned medical malpractice insurer, will recognize QOPI Certification in its rate structure. Physicians participating in practices accredited by QCP's Quality Oncology Practice Initiative (QOPI<sup>®</sup>) Certification Program will be eligible for a discount of up to 10% on medical malpractice insurance from The Doctors Company.
Hurria et al validated a prediction tool for chemotherapy toxicity in cancer patients aged ≥ 65 years in an external cohort, according to a report in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em> The predictive model had been developed in a prior study in 500 patients.
A new study finds that patients who ate certain solid foods, considered “low residue,” were better prepared and more comfortable in the period leading up to and during their colonoscopies than individuals who followed the conventional liquid diet. These findings were presented by Samarasena et al at DDW 2016.
In a study reported in <em>JAMA Internal Medicine,</em> Moore et al found that greater leisure-time physical activity was associated with a reduced risk for many types of cancer.
Black patients diagnosed with hepatocellular carcinoma had a 33% increased risk of death compared to non-Hispanic whites, and were far less likely to receive lifesaving liver transplants, according to a new study presented by Jones et al at Digestive Disease Week (DDW) 2016.
An endoscopist's knowledge of a positive Cologuard test improves colonoscopy performance, according to a poster presentation by Johnson et al at DDW 2016.
A new study presented by Sutton et al at DDW 2016 shows the rate of colorectal cancer continues to increase in individuals under 50 years old, despite the fact that the overall rate of the disease has been declining in recent years.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Check et al identified disparities in supportive medication use and end-of-life care between black and white Medicare patients with stage IV breast cancer.
First-line FOLFIRINOX (leucovorin, fluorouracil, irinotecan, oxaliplatin) is associated with median overall survival of approximately 2 years in patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer, according to a systematic review and patient-level meta-analysis reported by Suker et al in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>.
Overweight colorectal cancer patients were 55% less likely to die from their cancer than normal-weight patients who have the disease, according to a study published by Kroenke et al in <em>JAMA Oncology</em>.
According to a new survey of more than 1,500 consumers and nearly 600 physicians conducted on behalf of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, only 35% of Americans indicated that they were “likely” to enroll in a clinical trial.
A sizable portion of patients with advanced cancer lack an understanding of their prognosis and impending death, according to a study by Epstein et al. The study’s findings, which were published in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> highlight the need for timely prognostic disclosures to terminally ill patients and suggest that oncologists discuss prognosis on an ongoing basis and as frequently as possible with their patients.
Next-generation sequencing identified clinically relevant somatic alterations in cancer-associated genes in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with central nervous system (CNS) cancers, according to a report by Pentsova et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em>
As reported by Ekholm et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> 25-year follow-up of a Swedish phase III trial suggests a survival benefit with 2 years of adjuvant tamoxifen vs no systemic treatment in premenopausal women with estrogen receptor–positive stage II primary breast cancer.
A study published in <em>Molecular Cancer Therapeutics</em> by Janku et al found that a polymerase chain reaction–based <em>BRAF</em> mutation test had acceptable concordance with standard testing of tumor tissue in the detection of <em>BRAF</em> V600 mutations in plasma cell-free DNA from patients with advanced cancers. In addition, the test has a 90-minute turnaround time and can predict response to therapy over the course of treatment.
A study published by Suneja et al in <em>Cancer</em> found that human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients with cancer in the United States appear to be less likely to receive cancer treatment, regardless of insurance status and other existing health conditions.
Using immunohistochemistry as a screening tool for <em>ROS1</em> gene rearrangements may be a faster, more cost-efficient approach that could be used as a first-line screening option, according to study findings published by Viola et al in the <em>Journal of Thoracic Oncology</em>.
Adding the PI3K inhibitor pictilisib to fulvestrant did not improve progression-free survival in women with estrogen receptor–positive, HER2-negative, aromatase inhibitor–resistant advanced breast cancer, according to a phase II trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by Krop et al.
In a French phase III trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Carrie et al found that adding short-term androgen suppression therapy to salvage radiotherapy was associated with improved progression-free survival among patients with prostate cancer who exhibited rising prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels after radical prostatectomy.
A recent study published by Yuan et al in <em>Cancer Cell</em> reviewed 13 cancer types and provided a molecular understanding of sex effects in diverse cancers. The research revealed two cancer-type groups associated with cancer incidence and mortality, suggesting a “pressing need” to develop sex-specific therapeutic strategies for some cancers.
Among patients with metastatic colorectal cancer harboring normal forms of the <em>KRAS</em> gene, only those who had two copies of a specific version of the </em>FCGR2A</em> gene (<em>FCGR2A H/H</em>) had a statistically significant increase in median overall survival when cetuximab treatment was added to best supportive care, according to a retrospective analysis of data from a phase III clinical trial published by Liu et al in <em>Clinical Cancer Research</em>.
A disparity in <em>BRCA1/2</em> testing between white and black women was influenced by patient-reported physician recommendation, in a population-based study reported by McCarthy et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em>
In a phase II study reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Stilgenbauer et al found that the BCL2 inhibitor venetoclax produced a high response rate in patients with relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) with the 17p deletion. The study supported the recent U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of venetoclax in this setting.
Women with early-stage breast cancer for whom chemotherapy was indicated and who used dietary supplements and multiple types of complementary and alternative medicine were less likely to start chemotherapy than nonusers of alternative therapies, according to research published by Greenlee et al in <em>JAMA Oncology</em>.
A protein called Bim may hold the clue to which patients may be successful on immunotherapy for metastatic melanoma, according to the results of a study published by Dronca et al in <em>JCI Insight</em>.
A meta-analysis of 346 phase I clinical trials involving more than 13,000 patients found that patients whose treatment was selected based on the molecular characteristics of their tumor had significantly better outcomes. The study will be presented by Schwaederle et al at the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting.
A randomized clinical trial found that introducing palliative care shortly after a cancer diagnosis results in better quality of life and fewer symptoms of depression among family caregivers. According to the authors, the study is the first to show that early palliative care alone for a patient with cancer can have a strong impact on family caregivers. It will be presented by El-Jawahri et al at the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting.
Long-term follow-up from the phase Ib KEYNOTE-001 trial in newly diagnosed and previously treated patients with advanced melanoma showed that 40% of patients were alive 3 years after starting the programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) inhibitor pembrolizumab, with similar 36-month overall survival rates in both groups. The study will be presented by Robert et al at the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting.
A retrospective analysis from a large, federally funded clinical trial in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer found that the location of the primary tumor within the colon predicts survival and may help inform optimal treatment selection. The study will be presented by Venook et al at the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting.
Early findings from a phase III clinical trial showed that patients with multiple myeloma who received an autologous stem cell transplant survived longer without disease progression than those who received only chemotherapy using novel agents. This is the largest study reported to date aimed at comparing autologous stem cell transplant with a bortezomib-based regimen alone in patients younger than 65 years. The study will be presented by Cavo et al at the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today granted accelerated approval to atezolizumab (Tecentriq) for the treatment of urothelial carcinoma, the most common type of bladder cancer. This is the first programmed cell death protein 1/programmed death ligand 1 (PD-1/PD-L1) inhibitor to be approved to treat this type of cancer.
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to nivolumab (Opdivo) for the treatment of patients with classical Hodgkin lymphoma that has relapsed or progressed after autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and post-transplantation brentuximab vedotin.
In a presentation at the 96th AATS Annual Meeting, researchers from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center shared the results of their experience with more than 500 patients with pulmonary metastases from soft-tissue sarcoma and described prognostic factors associated with improved survival.
A presentation by Samson et al at the 96th American Association for Thoracic Surgery (AATS) Annual Meeting demonstrated that survival rates for patients with clinical stage IIIA non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) increase as more quality measures are incorporated into patient care—but only about 13% of eligible patients actually received all four measures.
Untreated severe obstructive sleep apnea is associated with increased aggressiveness of malignant cutaneous melanoma, according to results presented by Martinez-Garcia et al at the American Thoracic Society (ATS) 2016 International Conference.
In a single-center phase II trial reported in <em>JAMA Oncology,</em> Dickson et al found that changing the dose and schedule of palbociclib from those in a previous phase II trial appeared to maintain activity while potentially reducing hematologic adverse effects in patients with advanced well-differentiated or dedifferentiated liposarcoma.
The addition of bevacizumab to first-line endocrine therapy with letrozole improved progression-free survival but increased toxicity among postmenopausal women with hormone receptor–positive metastatic breast cancer, according to the results of a phase III trial reported by Dickler et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em>
In a phase III trial reported in <em>JAMA</em> by Hammel et al, there was no survival benefit of chemoradiotherapy vs continued chemotherapy in patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer controlled after 4 months of gemcitabine with or without erlotinib.
Moreau et al found that adding the oral proteasome inhibitor ixazomib to lenalidomide and dexamethasone significantly prolonged progression-free survival among patients with relapsed, refractory, or relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma. They reported the findings from this phase III trial in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine.</em>
On May 13, 2016, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved lenvatinib capsules (Lenvima) in combination with everolimus for the treatment of advanced renal cell carcinoma following one prior antiangiogenic therapy.
Combining two diagnostic tests—the Papanicolau (Pap) and high-risk human papillomavirus (hrHPV)—dramatically decreased the chance of missing cervicovaginal tumors and high-grade lesions, according to results published by Zhou et al in <em>Cancer Cytopathology</em>.
A new report published by Byers et al in <em>CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians</em> assesses how the nation fared against the ambitious goal set by the American Cancer Society to reduce cancer death rates by 50% over 25 years, ending in 2015.
A new study published by Taylor-Phillips et al in <em>JAMA</em> has found there is no decline over time in the accuracy of medical staff analyzing mammogram scans for indications of breast cancer. The researchers investigated whether detection rates dropped toward the end of each batch of mammogram readings.
As reported by Muro et al in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> and Nanda et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> single-agent pembrolizumab showed activity in programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1)–positive advanced gastric cancer and metastatic triple-negative breast cancer.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Orphan Drug designation for the investigational MEK 1/2 inhibitor selumetinib (AZD6244, ARRY-142886) for adjuvant treatment of patients with stage III or IV differentiated thyroid cancer.
A promising new test is detecting prostate cancer more precisely than current tests by identifying molecular changes in the prostate-specific antigen protein, according to research presented at the 111th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Urological Association (AUA).
Women with breast cancer who know the characteristics of their tumor are more likely to receive the treatment recommended for their type of cancer, investigators reported in a new study published by Freedman et al in the <em>Journal of Oncology Practice</em>.
In comments submitted May 9 to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), ASCO underscored the urgent need to advance a more fair and responsible payment system for oncology than what is proposed in the ill-advised Medicare Part B proposal.
Poor response to combined BRAF and MEK inhibition with dabrafenib/trametinib in patients with BRAF inhibitor–refractory metastatic melanoma may be associated with failure to significantly inhibit the MAPK pathway, according to a single-center phase II study reported in <em>JAMA Oncology</em> by Chen et al.
In a phase III trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Vansteenkiste et al found that adjuvant therapy with the MAGE-A3 immunotherapeutic did not improve disease-free survival in patients with resected MAGE-A3–positive non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
In a study of Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) data reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Holowatyj et al found that survival was significantly poorer in black vs white patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer between the ages of 20 and 49 years.
In the phase III NEfERT-T trial reported in <em>JAMA Oncology</em>, Awada et al found no progression-free survival benefit of neratinib/paclitaxel vs trastuzumab/paclitaxel in previously untreated inoperable recurrent or metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer. A potential benefit of neratinib/paclitaxel was found in reducing risk of central nervous system progression.
Testosterone replacement therapy does not increase the risk of prostate cancer, according to an analysis of more than a quarter-million Swedish medical records presented at the 111th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Urological Association (AUA).
Results from a study of the prognostic information provided by the Prolaris test in patients with prostate cancer and a Gleason score < 7 were presented at the 111th Annual Scientific Meeting of the AUA.
Though predominantly known for their increased associations with breast cancer risk, germline mutations in the <em>BRCA1</em> and <em>BRCA2</em> genes are also associated with an increased susceptibility to other diseases, including prostate cancer. New data being presented during the 111th Annual Scientific Meeting of the AUA highlighted new research on the role that genetic sequencing and testing could play in prostate cancer screening and treatment.
African American men and men with a higher tumor stage may benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy after radical prostatectomy, according to a new U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs study featured at the 111th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Urological Association (AUA).
As reported by Larsen et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, final data from the Children’s Oncology Group (COG) AALL0232 trial indicate that the event-free survival benefit of high-dose methotrexate was maintained in children/young adults with high-risk B-acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Dexamethasone in combination with high-dose methotrexate was of benefit in younger children.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Liu et al found that Native American ancestry, older age, higher cumulative dose of asparaginase, and a rare variant of the <em>CPA2</em> gene increased risk for pancreatitis in children/young adults with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
A preclinical study showed transfer of a gene known as <em>KCC2</em> into the spinal canal restored chloride levels affected by nerve injury. Results from the research were published by Li et al in <em>Cell Reports</em>.
Researchers have demonstrated that distinct types of glioblastoma tend to develop in different regions of the brain, providing an explanation for how the same cancer-causing mutation can give rise to different types of brain malignancies. Results of the study were published by Steed et al in <em>Oncotarget</em>.
As reported by Vasen et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> surveillance for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma in high-risk individuals appears to be of benefit in individuals at risk due to <em>CDKN2A</em> mutation, with the advantage being less clear among individuals at risk due to familial clustering of pancreatic cancer.
Cetuximab exhibited little apparent activity in refractory metastatic colorectal cancer harboring the <em>KRAS</em> G13D mutation, according to the findings of the phase II Australasian Gastro-Intestinal Trials Group ICECREAM study, which were reported by Segelov et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em>
Researchers have identified a gene called spectrin that may be able to more accurately predict survival outcomes in human papillomavirus (HPV)-negative oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma, according to a study published by Yang et al in <em>Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery</em>.
Researchers have discovered how an immune system molecule controls a brain circuit and reduces appetite. Their research points to potential targets for treating loss of appetite and restoring a patient's strength. The findings were published by Francesconi et al in <em>The Journal of Neuroscience</em>.
Online information on pancreatic cancer overestimates the reading ability of the overall population and lacks accurate information about alternative therapy, according to a study published by Storino et al in <em>JAMA Surgery</em>.
Dual HER2 inhibition with trastuzumab and lapatinib was active in patients with refractory, <em>KRAS</em> codon 12/13 wild-type, HER2-positive metastatic colorectal cancer, according to an Italian phase II trial reported by Sartore-Bianchi et al in <em>The Lancet Oncology.</em>
The PD-1 inhibitor pembrolizumab was active in advanced Merkel cell carcinoma in both Merkel cell polyomavirus–positive and –negative tumors, according to Nghiem et al, who reported their phase II study findings in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine.</em>
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today announced the grant of Priority Review for the biologics license application (BLA) for olaratumab in combination with doxorubicin for the potential treatment of patients with advanced soft-tissue sarcoma not amenable to curative treatment with radiotherapy or surgery.
On May 3, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accepted for priority review the supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) for blinatumomab (Blincyto) to include new data supporting the treatment of pediatric and adolescent patients with Philadelphia chromosome (Ph) –negative relapsed or refractory B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).
In a phase III trial reported by Carde et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em>similar outcomes were achieved with eight cycles of ABVD (doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, dacarbazine) vs four cycles each of escalated BEACOPP (bleomycin, etoposide, doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide, vincristine, procarbazine, prednisone) and baseline BEACOPP in patients with high-risk stage III or IV Hodgkin lymphoma.
Black residents of highly segregated neighborhoods were less likely to receive surgery for early-stage non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) than their peers in less-segregated neighborhoods, according to a study published by Johnson et al in <em>Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention</em>.
New research presented at the ESTRO 35 Conference compared the risk of local recurrence and metastasis after mastectomy vs breast conserving therapy in women under age 45 and over age 45 with early-stage breast cancer.
A large study of testicular cancer patients, presented at the European Society for Radiotherapy & Oncology (ESTRO) 35 Conference, and published simultaneously by Glaser et al in <em>Clinical Oncology</em>, showed that radiation therapy was more effective than chemotherapy for patients with stage IIa disease.
Long-term exposure to ambient fine particulate matter, a mixture of environmental pollutants, was associated with increased risk of mortality for many types of cancer in an elderly Hong Kong population, according to a study published by Wong et al in <em>Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention</em>.
A gene known as <em>TJP1</em> (tight junction protein 1) could help determine which multiple myeloma patients would best benefit from proteasome inhibitors such as bortezomib, as well as combination approaches to enhance proteasome inhibitor sensitivity, according to a study published by Zhang et al in <em>Cancer Cell</em>.
Researchers have found that treating patients who have early-stage non–small cell lung cancer with stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) is associated with a small but increased risk of death from causes other than cancer, according to findings presented at ESTRO 35.
Research presented at the ESTRO 35 Conference showed that in preclinical models, the addition of an immune system–strengthening compound, L19-IL2, can extend the radiation therapy–induced immune response against the tumor sites, and that this response even has an effect on tumors outside the radiation field.
Although the publication of results of clinical trials carried out in the United States within 12 months of their completion has been mandatory since 2007, a remarkably high number of phase III radiotherapy trials did not do so, according to new research presented at the European Society for Radiotherapy & Oncology (ESTRO) 35 Conference in Turin, Italy.
In a study reported in <em>Modern Pathology,</em> Cani et al used next-generation sequencing to identify actionable mutations in orbital and ocular adnexal lymphomas, finding frequent alterations in MYD88 and chromatin modifiers.
A new report published by Teras et al in <em>Environmental Research</em> found a statistically significant, positive association between high levels of residential radon and the risk of hematologic cancer (lymphoma, myeloma, and leukemia) in women.
A new study by University of California, Los Angeles, researchers published by Van Dyk et al in <em>JAMA Oncology</em> found that commonly used chemotherapy drugs showed no association with cognitive decline following treatment in women with breast cancer.
In a study published by Rafferty et al in <em>JAMA</em>, researchers evaluated the screening performance of digital mammography combined with tomosynthesis compared with digital mammography alone for women with varying levels of breast density.
As reported in <em>JAMA Oncology,</em> Sacher et al have prospectively validated a plasma droplet digital polymerase chain reaction assay for detecting common <em>EGFR</em> and </em>KRAS</em>mutations in patients with advanced nonsquamous non–small cell lung cancer.
In a study published by Kressin et al in <em>JAMA</em>, researchers examined the content, readability, and understandability of dense breast notifications sent to women following screening mammography.
Long-term use of the cholesterol-lowering drugs statins does not appear to decrease a patient’s risk of colorectal cancer, suggests a new, large case-control study from published by Mamtani et al in <em>PLOS Medicine</em>. The observational analysis of over 100,000 patients’ medical records suggests it is the cholesterol levels themselves that influence risk.
In a Canadian retrospective population-based cohort study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Thavendiranathan et al found that trastuzumab-based regimens were associated with an increased risk of treatment-related cardiac dysfunction among women with breast cancer, with an age distribution representative of routine clinical practice.
A team of researchers found that about 5% of patients experienced unexpected relapses of bladder cancer after laparoscopic radical cystectomy, even with favorable pathology. Their results were reported by Albisinni et al in <em>The Journal of Urology</em>.
ASCO has adapted a Clinical Care Ontario (CCO) clinical practice guideline on the selection of optimal adjuvant chemotherapy for early breast cancer and adjuvant targeted therapy for HER2-positive breast cancer, as reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em>
Positive donor Epstein-Barr virus serostatus increases the risk for graft-vs-host disease but does not affect relapse-free or overall survival among patients with acute leukemia receiving allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), according to a study reported by Styczynski et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em>
In an analysis of the phase III BOLERO trials reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> André et al found that the addition of everolimus to trastuzumab and chemotherapy was associated with a progression-free survival benefit in advanced HER2-positive breast cancer with a <em>PIK3CA</em> alteration, PTEN loss, or a hyperactive PI3K pathway.
Patients who had cancer before receiving an organ transplant were more likely to die of any cause, die of cancer, or develop a new cancer than organ recipients who did not previously have cancer, a new study published by Acuna et al in the journal <em>Transplantation</em> has found. However, the increased risk is less than that reported in some previous studies.
A 5-year study published by Hannan et al in the <em>European Journal of Cancer</em> showed that stereotactic body radiation therapy offers a higher cure rate in prostate cancer than more traditional approaches.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted breakthrough therapy designation to nivolumab (Opdivo) for the treatment of patients with recurrent or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck that previously received platinum-based therapy.
On April 25, 2016, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved cabozantinib (Cabometyx) tablets for the treatment of advanced renal cell carcinoma in patients who have received prior antiangiogenic therapy.
Results from the I-SPY 2 TRIAL show that a neoadjuvant therapy combination of antibody-drug conjugate ado-trastuzumab emtansine and pertuzumab was more beneficial than paclitaxel plus trastuzumab for women with HER2-positive invasive breast cancer, according to research presented by DeMichele et al at the 2016 AACR Annual Meeting.
A study published by Ahmed et al in the <em>International Journal of Radiation Oncology • Biology • Physics</em> found liver metastases have different sensitivities to radiation therapy based on the location of the primary tumor.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Roemer et al identified <em>PD-L1</em> (programmed cell death ligand 1) and <em>PD-L2</em> genetic alterations in patients with classic Hodgkin lymphoma, finding that 9p24.1 amplification was common and associated with advanced-stage disease and poorer outcome.
The irreversible ErbB family inhibitor afatinib was associated with improvement in progression-free survival and time to treatment failure vs the reversible EGFR inhibitor gefitinib in the first-line treatment of <em>EGFR</em>-mutant non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to the phase IIB LUX-Lung 7 trial reported by Park et al in <em>The Lancet Oncology.</em>
Among females who received radiotherapy to the chest as part of treatment for a childhood cancer, those who had either of two specific genetic variants were at significantly higher risk of developing breast cancer later in life, according to research presented by Morton et al at the 2016 AACR Annual Meeting.
A noninvasive colorectal cancer–screening test detected the disease in patients who had previously avoided more invasive screening measures, according to research presented by Prince et al at the 2016 AACR Annual Meeting. The study of nearly 400 patients revealed four patients with cancers and 21 with advanced adenoma or polyps.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Forlenza et al found that noninteracting KIR3DL1 and HLA-B subtypes were associated with a better response to anti-GD2 antibody treatment in neuroblastoma.
Treatment with nivolumab improved survival for patients with recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma that progressed after platinum-based chemotherapy compared with single-agent chemotherapy of the investigator’s choice, according to results from the CheckMate-141 phase III clinical trial presented by Gillison et al at the 2016 AACR Annual Meeting.
Reeder-Hayes et al found that adjuvant trastuzumab may be underused in older women with early-stage HER2-positive breast cancer and reported their study results in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em> Adjuvant trastuzumab also was used less often in black women than in white women.
In a French phase III trial reported in <em>The Lancet,</em> Ribrag et al showed that adding rituximab to dose-dense chemotherapy improved event-free survival among adults with Burkitt lymphoma.
Women who underwent treatment for ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) were at higher risk of developing malignant breast tumors if they did not receive timely radiation therapy as part of their treatment, according to a study presented by Liu et al at the 2016 AACR Annual Meeting.
Three commercially available diagnostic tests were similarly effective in measuring PD-L1 protein expression on non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) tumor samples, indicating that health care providers may someday be able to use these tests interchangeably when determining which patients will respond best to anti–PD-L1/PD-1 immunotherapeutic drugs, according to research presented by Ratcliffe et al at the 2016 AACR Annual Meeting.
The presence of two species of bacteria linked to periodontal disease in the mouths of healthy individuals was associated with an increased risk of subsequently developing pancreatic cancer, according to research presented by Fan et al at the 2016 AACR Annual Meeting.
In a phase II trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Press et al found that early interim fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) to guide response-adapted therapy resulted in progression-free survival substantially higher than expected among patients with stages III to IV Hodgkin lymphoma switching therapy based on PET response.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Bailey et al, ASCO has released a statement on increasing human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination to prevent HPV-related cancers in the United States.
Planchard et al found that the BRAF kinase inhibitor dabrafenib produced responses in previously treated and untreated patients with <em>BRAF</em>-mutant metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to a phase II trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology.</em>
The molecularly targeted therapeutic palbociclib was effective in slowing the multiplication of cancer cells in patients diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer who received no prior therapy, according to data presented by Arnedos et al at the 2016 AACR Annual Meeting.
More than a third of metastatic melanoma patients who received the antiߝprogrammed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) immunotherapeutic nivolumab in a phase I clinical trial are still alive 5 years after starting treatment, according to research presented by Hodi et al at the 2016 AACR Annual Meeting.
A roundtable convened by the Turning the Tide Against Cancer initiative, composed of a multidisciplinary group of stakeholders, put forth five policy considerations that are critical to ensuring the delivery of high-quality oncology care while supporting innovation. The report was published by Miller et al in <em>Clinical Cancer Research</em>, in conjunction with a session at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting discussing the topic.
Family-focused grief therapy continued into bereavement reduced the severity of complicated grief and the risk of prolonged grief disorder among high-risk families of dying cancer patients, according to a report by Kissane et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em>
In a French phase II trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Mir et al found that pazopanib plus best supportive care increased progression-free survival vs best supportive care in patients with advanced gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) resistant to imatinib and sunitinib.
The use of combination therapy with estrogen plus progestin, previously shown to be associated with an increased incidence of estrogen receptor–positive breast cancer in postmenopausal women in studies based largely on white women, has been shown to increase this type of breast cancer among postmenopausal African American women. These findings were reported by Rosenberg et al in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute.</em>
A CCR2 inhibitor (PF-04136309) was active in combination with FOLFIRINOX (oxaliplatin, irinotecan, leucovorin, fluorouracil) in treatment-naive patients with borderline resectable or locally advanced pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, according to a single-center phase Ib study reported by Nywening et al in <em>The Lancet Oncology.</em>
In a French single-arm phase II study reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Bertucci et al found little evidence of benefit from the addition of bevacizumab to neoadjuvant and adjuvant therapies in women with nonmetastatic HER2-negative inflammatory breast cancer.
Among patients with early-stage breast cancer who were considered at high risk for disease recurrence based on clinical and biologic criteria, the MammaPrint genetic test identified a large group for whom 5-year distant metastasis–free survival was equally good whether or not they received adjuvant chemotherapy, according to results from findings presented by Piccart et al at the AACR Annual Meeting 2016.
The investigational drug LOXO-101, which selectively targets a family of proteins called neurotrophic tyrosine kinase receptors (NTRKs), produced significant tumor regression in patients whose tumors had <em>NTRK</em> gene fusions, according to data presented by Hong et al at the AACR Annual Meeting 2016.
The new investigational anticancer therapeutic BGB-283, which targets the RAF family of proteins, was safe, tolerable, and showed signs of clinical activity in patients who had a range of types of cancer with mutations in BRAF, KRAS, and NRAS, according to results presented by Desai et al at the AACR Annual Meeting 2016.
The benefit of plasma genotyping to predict treatment benefit in patients with non–small cell lung cancer was confirmed in three studies presented at the European Lung Cancer Conference. However, researchers warned that plasma tests are unlikely to fully replace tissue biopsies.
Patients with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-expressing advanced squamous non–small cell lung cancer benefit most from necitumumab added to gemcitabine and cisplatin chemotherapy, according to a subgroup analysis from the SQUIRE trial presented by Paz-Ares et al at the European Lung Cancer Conference.
A new study presented at the American Society of Breast Surgeons Annual Meeting found that despite recent advances in assisted reproductive technology for women with breast cancer, documented fertility counseling at diagnosis remains low. However, most women made aware of their options sought specialized consultation for reproductive preservation, and about half of these women chose one of the options discussed.
Hypofractionated radiotherapy was not inferior to conventional radiotherapy in terms of disease-free survival among men with low-risk prostate cancer, according to the results of a phase III trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Lee et al. However, it was associated with a greater risk for late gastrointestinal and genitourinary adverse events.
In a study reported in a research letter in <em>JAMA Oncology,</em> Rao et al found that high expression of EZH2 and Ki67 was associated with more-aggressive basal cell carcinoma.
Pathologists would disagree about 8% of the time when interpreting a single breast biopsy slide, with more overinterpretation than underinterpretation in discordant cases, according to an analysis of breast cancer pathology diagnoses in women aged 50 to 59 years from the Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium, which was reported in the <em>Annals of Internal Medicine</em> by Elmore et al. Disagreement was more likely in cases of ductal carcinoma in situ and atypia, and agreement was more likely in cases of invasive breast cancer.
Osimertinib is effective in the first-line treatment of <em>EGFR</em>-mutated nonߝsmall cell lung cancer, according to a presentation by Ramalingam et al at the European Lung Cancer Conference. A second presentation by Yang et al confirms the drug’s effectiveness in patients with the EGFR T790M point mutation.
Immunotherapy with a live bacterium combined with chemotherapy demonstrated more than 90% disease control and a 59% response rate in patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma, according to the results of a phase Ib trial presented by Jahan et al at the European Lung Cancer Conference.
In a new study, published by Martínez et al in <em>Cancer</em>, researchers reported that the benefits of being a married patient with cancer vary by race and ethnicity, with male non-Hispanic white bachelors experiencing the worst outcomes.
As reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Callegaro et al have developed nomograms to predict overall survival and risk of distant metastases in patients undergoing resection of soft-tissue sarcomas of the extremities.
A cancer and fertility program established at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center improves patient satisfaction with information received regarding fertility risks and preservation options, according to a report by Kelvin et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em>
In an analysis of the SOFT and TEXT trials reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Regan et al found that the greatest benefit of adjuvant exemestane in reducing breast cancer recurrence was among women with the highest risk of recurrence on the basis of clinicopathologic characteristics.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today accepted a supplemental Biologics License Application that seeks to expand the use of nivolumab (Opdivo) to patients with classical Hodgkin lymphoma after prior therapies.
On April 13, The Parker Foundation announced a $250 million grant to launch the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, a collaboration between scientists, clinicians, and industry partners to lead an unprecedented cancer immunotherapy research effort.
Data from a new study presented by Buonfiglioli et al at The International Liver Congress show that patients with hepatitis C virus taking direct-acting antiviral treatments who have previously been diagnosed with hepatocellular carcinoma had a high rate of redeveloping their illness.
The 21-gene recurrence score assay score was strongly associated with recommendation for adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with early-stage breast cancer, reported Jasem et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em> There were significant differences in use and clinical implications of the test on the basis of race, insurance, and type of facility.
The addition of chemotherapy with procarbazine, lomustine, and vincristine to radiotherapy significantly prolonged overall survival in patients with low-grade glioma, according to the final results of a phase III trial reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em> by Buckner et al. A previous report from the trial showed significantly prolonged progression-free survival with the addition of chemotherapy.
The survival benefits of reducing the time to surgery following a diagnosis of breast cancer and the time to initiation of adjuvant chemotherapy following surgery were outlined in two articles and an accompanying editorial in <em>JAMA Oncology.</em>
Elderly men had a significant increase in the risk of noncancer hospitalizations following the diagnosis of prostate cancer, according to a population-based retrospective cohort study among 57,489 men aged ≥ 67 years reported by Raval et al in the <em>Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network.</em>
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted for review the supplemental Biologics License Application for pembrolizumab (Keytruda) for the treatment of patients with recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma with disease progression on or after platinum-containing chemotherapy.
Wide variability exists in radiation treatment decisions following neoadjuvant chemotherapy and surgery for breast cancer, according to a review of the American College of Surgeons Oncology Group Z1071 trial. These findings were published by Haffty et al in the <em>International Journal of Radiation Oncology • Biology • Physics</em>.
Researchers using mouse models found that many medical androgen-deprivation therapies may suppress patients' adaptive immune responses, preventing immunotherapies from working if both treatments are used but not sequenced properly. Their findings were published by Pu et al in <em>Science Translational Medicine</em>.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Shaffer et al have developed a prognostic scoring system for patients undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation for myelodysplastic syndrome.
In a Japanese phase III trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Urata et al found that noninferiority of gefitinib vs erlotinib was not established in previously treated patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer.
In an Italian trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Lesi et al found that the addition of acupuncture to enhanced self-care improved hot flashes, climacteric symptoms, and quality-of-life measures in women with breast cancer.
Relatives of patients with carcinoma of unknown primary are at increased risk of developing it themselves as well as several other malignant neoplasms, including lung, pancreatic, and colon cancers; non-Hodgkin lymphoma; and myeloma, according to a study published by Samadder et al in <em>JAMA Oncology.</em>
Use of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines should be rapidly expanded to protect thousands of young people in the United States—and millions worldwide—from life-threatening cancers, ASCO said April 11 in a policy statement published by Bailey et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
On April 11, 2016, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved venetoclax (Venclexta) for the treatment of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia with 17p deletion, as detected by an FDA-approved test, who have received at least one prior therapy.
Ribi et al reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> that addition of ovarian function suppression to tamoxifen resulted in greater endocrine and sexual function symptoms among premenopausal patients with early breast cancer in the Suppression of Ovarian Function Trial (SOFT).
A National Cancer Database analysis reported by Ellis et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> indicates a doubling in the use of chemoradiation only in patients with nonmetastatic rectal cancer over recent years. However, current evidence is insufficient to support such nonoperative management.
While stem cells have shown promise for treating brain regions damaged by cancer radiation treatments, new research has found that microscopic vesicles isolated from these cells provide similar benefits without some of the risks associated with stem cells. These findings were published by Baulch et al in the <em>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America</em>.
A metabolic pathway that is upregulated in certain breast cancers promotes the disease's progression by activating a cell-signaling protein called Arf6, according to findings published by Hashimoto et al in the <em>Journal of Cell Biology</em>.
Use of a custom next-generation sequencing assay may accurately predict mismatch repair deficiency on the basis of mutational load in colorectal cancer, according to a report by Stadler et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em>
Aalders et al found relatively low rates of locoregional recurrence among young Dutch women undergoing surgery for unilateral invasive breast cancer between 2003 and 2008. Recurrence rates varied somewhat by biologic subtype, according to these findings reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em>
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Solomon et al found that crizotinib was associated with a significantly better disease control rate vs chemotherapy among patients with brain metastases in <em>ALK</em>-positive non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Crizotinib was associated with a nonsignificant improvement in intracranial time to disease progression.
In a UK noninferiority trial reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> Mehanna et al found that positron-emission tomography–computed tomography (PET-CT) surveillance was associated with similar survival vs planned neck dissection in patients with stage N2 or N3 squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck who had received chemoradiotherapy as primary treatment.
International Myeloma Working Group recommendations for the diagnosis and management of myeloma-related renal impairment were recently reported by Dimopoulos et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em>
Ultrasound was associated with improved incremental detection of breast cancer at screening compared with tomosynthesis in women with mammography-negative dense breasts, according to the interim findings of an Italian study reported by Tagliafico in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em>
A new study has shown that aged tumor cells in melanoma behave differently from younger tumor cells, according to results published by Kaur et al in <em>Nature</em>. Changes in the microenvironment make these older tumor cells more metastatic and more resistant to treatment with targeted therapies.
Researchers at the University of Southern California Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center and Clalit National Israel Cancer Control Center have found that coffee consumption may be inversely associated with the risk of colorectal cancer. The findings by Schmit et al were published in <em>Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention</em>.
An analysis in the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study cohort reported by Liu et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> indicated that differences in risk for poor outcomes among black, Hispanic, and white survivors of childhood cancer were generally mediated by differences in socioeconomic status and cardiovascular risk factors.
In a study reported in <em>JAMA Surgery,</em> Isaacs et al found that use of primary breast-conserving surgery for early-stage breast cancer has declined somewhat in recent years in New York State, most steeply among younger women. In addition, 90-day reoperation rates have declined and are lower for high-volume surgeons.
In the phase III EORTC 22991 trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Bolla et al found that the addition of 6 months of androgen suppression to radiotherapy improved biochemical and clinical disease-free survival in patients with intermediate- and high-risk prostate cancer.
A recent study published by Kozloski et al in <em>Blood</em> showed that a microRNA called miR-181a dampens signals from the cancer-driving NFκB protein pathway in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. By reducing NFκB signaling, miR-181a controls tumor cell proliferation and survival, and could be the target of novel therapies.
The National Cancer Institute (NCI) announced a Blue Ribbon Panel of scientific experts, cancer leaders, and patient advocates that will inform the scientific direction and goals at NCI of Vice President <strong>Joe Biden’s</strong> National Cancer Moonshot Initiative. The panel will serve as a working group of the presidentially appointed National Cancer Advisory Board and will provide scientific guidance from thought-leaders in the cancer community.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Fang et al found that lower vitamin D levels were associated with poorer outcome in patients with melanoma independent of C-reactive protein levels.
Pathologic complete response to neoadjuvant therapy in HER2-positive breast cancer was associated with a significantly better outcome vs non–pathologic complete response, in a patient-level meta-analysis reported by Broglio et al in <em>JAMA Oncology.</em>
Adding the antifolate receptor-α antibody farletuzumab to carboplatin/taxane did not improve progression-free survival in patients with ovarian cancer in first platinum-sensitive relapse, reported Vergote et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em> However, benefit was observed in patients with lower CA-125 levels and in those with higher farletuzumab exposure.
Glioblastoma multiforme resulting from germline biallelic mismatch repair deficiency was characterized by hypermutation and elevated neoantigen load—characteristics associated with response to immune checkpoint inhibitors in other settings—according to a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Bouffet et al.
As reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute</em> by Berg et al, use of ultrasound in primary screening for breast cancer resulted in increased detection of invasive cancers but more false-positive results vs mammography.
In an analysis in the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study cohort reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Chow et al found that increasing doses of several alkylating agents reduced the likelihood of fathering a pregnancy among male survivors of childhood cancer, with fewer drug associations with pregnancy observed among female survivors.
Northwestern University scientists created a prosthetic ovary using a three-dimensional printer—an implant that allowed mice that had their ovaries surgically removed to bear live young. Researchers hope to use the technology to develop an ovarian bioprosthesis that could be implanted in women to restore fertility.
A new culture system that tests the role of chemical exposure on the developing mammary gland has found that bisphenol A (BPA) directly affects the mammary gland of mouse embryos. The study results, presented by Speroni et al at the Endocrine Society's Annual Meeting, show that these changes to embryonic mammary tissue occur at a dose comparable to that of humans' environmental exposure to BPA.
New research published by Jennis et al in <em>Genes and Development</em> has pinpointed a single gene variant that is found only in Africans and African Americans, which makes cancer resistant to cell death and may contribute to increased cancer risk.
While absolute rates of biopsy and postbiopsy complications have decreased following several benchmark prostate-specific antigen screening publications, the relative risk for each patient continues to increase, according to a study published by Gershman et al in <em>European Urology</em>.
Treatment with adjuvant endocrine therapy and omission of chemotherapy on the basis of a 21-gene recurrence score ≤ 11 was associated with a high 3-year disease-free survival rate in women with hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative breast cancer, according to a trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Gluz et al of the West German Study Group.
Adding the anti–vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR-2) antibody ramucirumab to docetaxel improved progression-free survival among previously treated patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma, reported Petrylak et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em> However, no benefit was seen with the addition of the anti–VEGFR-1 antibody icrucumab to docetaxel.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Henry et al, ASCO has endorsed Cancer Care Ontario guideline recommendations on the role of patient and disease factors in decisions on adjuvant systemic therapy in early-stage operable breast cancer.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Nyame et al found that lower serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels were associated with an increased likelihood of adverse pathology at radical prostatectomy in men with localized prostate cancer.
Rosenberg et al found that the proportion of women diagnosed with breast cancer at age ≤ 40 years who have undergone <em>BRCA1</em> and <em>BRCA2</em> testing has increased during recent years. These findings were reported in <em>JAMA Oncology.</em>
A prospective study examining a trimodality treatment approach in localized bladder cancer cases using adaptive image-guided, intensity-modulated radiation therapy found that the bladder preservation rate at 3 years was 83%. These findings were published by Murthy et al in the <em>International Journal of Radiation Oncology • Biology • Physics</em>.
According to findings published by Raju et al in <em>Gastrointestinal Endoscopy</em>, endoscopic mucosal resection is safe and effective for those with complex polyps and could allow more patients to avoid surgery and its associated risks and costs.
In an analysis of the National Lung Screening Trial cohort reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Patz et al found that participants who had a negative low-dose computed tomography (CT) prevalence screen had a low incidence of lung cancer detected at first annual screen and exhibited reduced overall incidence and mortality during follow-up vs all participants undergoing prevalence screening.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today approved defibrotide sodium for the treatment of adult and pediatric patients with hepatic veno-occlusive disease with renal or pulmonary dysfunction following hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Näslund-Koch et al found an increased risk for cancers in addition to breast cancer in individuals heterozygous for the <em>CHEK2*</em>1100delC germline mutation associated with an increased breast cancer risk.
Hoster et al found that Ki67 index had greater prognostic value than cytology or growth pattern in mantle cell lymphoma, based on data from European Mantle Cell Lymphoma Network randomized trials reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em> A modified combination of Ki67 index and Mantle Cell Lymphoma International Prognostic Index identified distinct risk groups.
Use of epoetin alfa vs best standard of care to treat anemia did not achieve noninferiority for investigator-assessed progression-free survival in patients receiving chemotherapy for metastatic breast cancer, reported Leyland-Jones et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em>
ASCO has endorsed the European Association of Urology clinical practice guideline on muscle-invasive and metastatic bladder cancer, as reported by Milowsky et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em>
A promising new discovery by University of California, Los Angeles, scientists could lead to a new method of identifying cancer patients whose disease expresses high levels of an enzyme and who are more likely to respond to particular treatments. Their findings were published by Kim et al in <em>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America</em>.
Preclinical studies suggested that different combinations of therapeutics might prevent and overcome the acquisition of resistance of breast cancer cells to therapeutics targeting CDK4/6. The research was published by Herrera-Abreu et al in <em>Cancer Research</em>.
Dignitana Inc. announced today that the DigniCap scalp cooling system, which was cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration 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 centers across the United States.
A team led by investigators at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center identified and validated an accurate five-gene classifier for discriminating early pancreatic cancer from nonmalignant tissue. The findings were reported by Bhasin et al in <em>Oncotarget</em>.
Use of comprehensive geriatric assessment to guide therapy in elderly patients with stage IV non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) did not improve treatment failure–free or overall survival but was associated with slightly reduced toxicity, based on the results of a phase III trial reported by Corre et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em>
In a single-center retrospective study reported in <em>JAMA Oncology,</em> McDonald et al found that adding digital breast tomosynthesis to digital mammography reduced recall rates, increased cancer detection, and was associated with a numeric reduction in interval cancers.
Survivors of adolescent and young adult cancer were at a greater than twofold increased risk for cardiovascular disease than their counterparts without cancer, according to a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Chao et al.
Healy et al found that greater use of positron-emission tomography (PET) for detection of recurrence of lung and esophageal cancers was not associated with improved survival, suggesting potential overuse of the modality in this setting. They reported their results in the </em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute.</em>
The phase II portion of the Italian HD0801 study suggests that treatment based on positron-emission tomography (PET) performed early in first-line therapy for advanced Hodgkin lymphoma may improve outcome in patients at risk of first-line treatment failure. Zinzani et al reported their findings in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em>
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Harris et al, ASCO released a clinical practice guideline on the use of biomarkers in addition to estrogen receptor/progesterone receptor and HER2 status to guide decisions on adjuvant systemic therapy in women with early-stage invasive breast cancer.
Treatment with low-dose metformin reduced the risk of metachronous colorectal adenomas and polyps over 12 months in nondiabetic patients who had undergone endoscopic polypectomy, according to a report by Higurashi et al in <em>The Lancet Oncology.</em>
Findings published by Vestergaard et al in <em>Radiotherapy & Oncology</em> showed pretreatment imaging using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was effective at guiding radiotherapy towards tumors in the bladder, and taking regular MRI scans of a tumor’s position helped to ensure that treatment could be delivered accurately during a course of radiotherapy.
In a small trial reported in <em>JAMA Oncology,</em> Mogil et al found that low-magnitude, high-frequency mechanical stimulation improved the whole-body bone mineral density score in childhood cancer survivors with low bone mineral density.
Biomedical engineering researchers have developed a technique that uses a patch embedded with microneedles to deliver cancer immunotherapy treatment directly to the site of melanoma. In animal studies, the technique more effectively targeted melanoma than other immunotherapy treatments. These findings were published by Wang et al in <em>Nano Letters</em>.
In a study using managed-care organization data reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Armenian et al found that survivors of adult-onset multiple myeloma, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, lung/bronchus cancer, and breast cancer had an increased risk for subsequent cardiovascular disease.
In the phase III GeparSepto-GBG 69 trial, reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by Untch et al, neoadjuvant nab-paclitaxel improved pathologic complete response rate vs conventional solvent-based paclitaxel in women with early-stage breast cancer.
A new study by Leucci et al in <em>Nature</em> has found a strong link between malignant melanoma and a long noncoding RNA gene known as <em>SAMMSON</em>. The discovered link could pave the way for improved diagnostic tools and targeted melanoma treatments.
Overall survival differed according to the site of metastases in men with castration-resistant prostate cancer, according to a meta-analysis reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Halabi et al.
A new American Cancer Society guideline published by Cohen et al in <em>CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians</em>, provides clinicians with recommendations on key areas of clinical follow-up care for survivors of head and neck cancer.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Powles et al, the dual PI3K/mTOR inhibitor apitolisib was inferior to the mTOR inhibitor everolimus in progression-free survival in patients with metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma progressing on or after vascular endothelial growth factor inhibitor therapy.
<strong>Clifford A. Hudis, MD, FACP</strong>, Chief of the Breast Medicine Service, Vice President for Government Relations, and Chief Advocacy Officer at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and Professor of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College, has been named the next Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of ASCO. He will succeed <strong>Allen S. Lichter, MD, FASCO</strong>, who is stepping down after 10 years of service in the CEO position.
Many low- and middle-income countries do not have a defined medical specialty in surgical oncology and lack an educational infrastructure to respond to the local burden of cancer, but a Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center fellowship is succeeding in addressing this problem by training foreign medical graduates in surgical oncology. Outcomes of the program were discussed by Dominguez-Rosado et al in the <em>Journal of the American College of Surgeons</em>.
A new study by University of California, Los Angeles, researchers has revealed how patterns of gene mutations and expression in a melanoma tumor before starting anti–programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-1) immunotherapy may predict whether the tumor will respond to therapy and if the treatment might produce survival benefits. Their findings were published by Hugo et al in <em>Cell</em>.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Rosenberg et al found that use of estrogen with progestin is associated with an increased risk of estrogen receptor–positive breast cancer in postmenopausal African American women.
Treatment with enzalutamide tripled median progression-free survival vs bicalutamide in patients with nonmetastatic or metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, according to a phase II trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Penson et al.
Increased surgeon experience was associated with markedly better short- and long-term survival in patients undergoing esophagectomy for esophageal cancer, according to a report by Markar et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em>
As reported by Hodi et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> use of conventional Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors to assess response may have underestimated the benefit of treatment with the programmed cell death protein 1 inhibitor pembrolizumab in the KEYNOTE-001 study in advanced melanoma.
Increased travel distance to a cancer treatment facility negatively impacts the likelihood that patients with stage II/III rectal cancer will receive radiation therapy to treat their disease, according to a study published by Lin et al in the <em>International Journal of Radiation Oncology • Biology • Physics</em>.
Adding a genetically engineered “switch receptor” to second-generation CAR T cells blocked PD-1–mediated immune suppression, and made the immunotherapy effective against solid tumors in preclinical models, according to a study published by Liu et al in <em>Cancer Research</em>.
Chan et al found that 1 year of treatment with neratinib improved invasive disease–free survival vs placebo after trastuzumab-based adjuvant therapy in patients with early-stage HER2-positive breast cancer, in a phase III study reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology.</em>
In an analysis of the PETACC-8 trial reported by Taieb et al in <em>JAMA Oncology,</em> <em>BRAF</em>V600 and <em>KRAS</em>mutations were associated with shorter disease-free and overall survival in patients with microsatellite-stable colon cancer—but not in those with tumors with microsatellite instability—in the setting of adjuvant therapy.
Mature results of the Cancer and Leukemia Group B 9761/Alliance study, reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Martin et al, indicate that occult metastases detected by immunohistochemistry in N2 lymph nodes may be associated with poorer overall survival after resection in clinical stage I non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
Hypofractionated radiotherapy was not noninferior to conventionally fractionated radiotherapy in late genitourinary and gastrointestinal toxicity in patients with prostate cancer in a Dutch phase III trial. These findings were reported by Aluwini et al in <em>The Lancet Oncology.</em>
A new study by Prinsloo et al presented at the American Psychosomatic Society Annual Meeting evaluating the use of neurofeedback found a decrease in the experience of chronic pain and an increase in quality of life among patients with chemotherapy-induced neuropathic pain.
Women with advanced ovarian cancer caused by genetic mutations lived significantly longer than those who did not have a mutation following treatment with a chemotherapy regimen that included bevacizumab, according to results presented at the Society of Gynecologic Oncology’s 2016 Annual Meeting on Women’s Cancer.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Sadowski et al found that Ga-68 dotatate positron-emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) improved detection of gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors vs <sup>111</sup>In-pentetreotide single-photon emission computed tomography/computed tomography (SPECT/CT) and anatomic imaging with CT and/or magnetic resonance imaging.
As reported by Lichtman et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> there appeared to be no significant association of pretreatment creatinine clearance with outcomes in women aged ≥ 65 years with early-stage breast cancer receiving adjuvant chemotherapy for which dose adjustment was permitted.
The phase III ICON6 trial showed that adding cediranib to platinum-based therapy increased progression-free survival and toxicity in women with first relapse of platinum-sensitive ovarian cancer, reported Ledermann et al in <em>The Lancet</em>
Updated results of the phase I ASCEND-1 trial, reported by Kim et al in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> indicate that the ALK inhibitor ceritinib produced high response rates in advanced <em>ALK</em>-rearranged non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), including intracranial disease, in both patients with and without prior ALK inhibitor treatment.
In a long-term follow up of two large U.S. prospective cohorts reported in <em>JAMA Oncology,</em> Cao et al found that regular use of aspirin was associated with a reduced risk of gastrointestinal (GI) tract cancers.
Families of patients dying with lung or colorectal cancer judged end-of-life care as better when it was less aggressive, involved earlier hospice, avoided intensive care unit (ICU) admission, and included death outside of the hospital, according to a study reported by Wright et al in <em>JAMA.</em>
In a phase III trial reported in <em>The Lancet</em> by Haas et al, no benefit of adjuvant vascular endothelial growth factor receptor inhibitor treatment with sunitinib or sorafenib was observed vs placebo in patients with completely resected high-risk nonmetastatic renal cell carcinoma.
According to findings published by Johnson et al in <em>Cancer Research</em>, among patients with breast cancer, lung cancer, or chronic lymphocytic leukemia, those who had a specific form of the <em>CYP3A7</em> gene (the <em>CYP3A7*1C</em> allele) had worse outcomes compared with those who did not have <em>CYP3A7*1C</em>.
Latinas who eat processed meats such as bacon and sausage may have an increased risk for breast cancer, according to a new study published by Kim et al in <em>Cancer Causes & Control</em> that did not find the same association among white women.
Consuming a diet with a high glycemic index was independently associated with an increased risk of developing lung cancer in non-Hispanic whites, according to a new epidemiologic study published by Melkonian et al in <em>Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention</em>.
A study published by Beyaz et al in <em>Nature</em> reveals how a high-fat diet makes the cells of the intestinal lining more likely to become cancerous. It joins a growing body of research that finds obesity and eating a high-fat, high-calorie diet are significant risk factors for many types of cancer.
The United States had lower proportions of patients dying in acute care hospitals, the highest proportion of intensive care unit admissions, and relatively high per capita hospital expenditures in patients aged ≥ 65 years dying with cancer among the developed countries studied in a report by Bekelman et al in <em>JAMA.</em>
In a Finnish study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Uusitalo et al found that patients with neurofibromatosis type 1 were at increased risk of other cancers in addition to nervous system disease.
As reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by Garcia-Manero et al, treatment with the Ras mimetic rigosertib did not significantly improve overall survival vs best supportive care in patients with high-risk myelodysplastic syndromes after failure of hypomethylating drug treatment, but further study in high-risk subgroups is underway.
In a phase II trial reported in <em>The Lancet,</em> Fehrenbacher et al found that the anti–PD-L1 (programmed cell death ligand 1) antibody atezolizumab improved overall survival vs docetaxel in patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who had progressed on platinum-based chemotherapy. The benefit was related to PD-L1 expression in tumor cells or tumor-infiltrating immune cells.
A majority of patients diagnosed with breast cancer go on to develop symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, and in most of these cases, symptoms persist for at least a year. These findings were published by Voigt et al in <em>Psycho-Oncology</em>.
An overwhelming majority of people with incurable cancer want to hear findings from DNA sequencing of their own tumors and normal cells and to learn how those results may affect their health and treatment options, according to a study by Gray et al in <em>Genetics in Medicine</em>.
The addition of fosaprepitant to palonosetron and dexamethasone reduced the risk of emesis during 5 weeks of chemoradiotherapy for cervical cancer, according to a phase III trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by Ruhlmann et al.
A retrospective analysis of a phase III trial of cetuximab reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Rosenthal et al suggests that the addition of cetuximab to radiotherapy was of benefit irrespective of p16 expression in patients with locoregionally advanced oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.
As reported by Shaw et al in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> a woman with metastatic <em>ALK</em>-rearranged non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who had received multiple prior therapies regained response to crizotinib after experiencing disease progression on the third-generation ALK inhibitor lorlatinib. The mechanism of resensitization appears to be acquisition of the lorlatinib <em>ALK</em> resistance mutation L1198F.
The oral Aurora A kinase inhibitor alisertib was active in combination with irinotecan/temozolomide in patients with relapsed or refractory neuroblastoma, in a phase I dose-escalation trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by DuBois et al.
Using the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI's) Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events, researchers from Columbia University, New York, and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, identified six severe adverse events clusters in patients with advanced prostate cancer. The clusters “expand our understanding of the association among adverse events and may indicate that adverse events within each cluster should be treated and managed together,” Zhong et al reported in the <em>Journal of Oncology Practice.</em>
<em>The State of Cancer Care in America: 2016</em>, published today in the <em>Journal of Oncology Practice</em> and presented at a Congressional briefing in Washington, DC, highlights many promising cancer care developments, but also highlights major challenges for patients and physicians.
A screening effectiveness study published by Hodgson et al in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute</em> confirmed that early screening with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can reduce breast cancer mortality for female survivors of childhood Hodgkin lymphoma who received chest radiation.
As reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by Cristofanilli et al, the final results of the phase III PALOMA-3 trial show that the addition of the CDK4/CDK6 inhibitor palbociclib to fulvestrant improved progression-free survival in women with hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative breast cancer progressing on endocrine therapy.
Interviews with family members of patients who died of advanced-stage lung or colorectal cancer “suggest that efforts to increase earlier hospice enrollment and avoidance of intensive car unit admissions and hospital deaths might improve the quality of end-of-life care,” concluded Wright et al in a study reported in <em>The Journal of the American Medical Association.</em>
A tumor’s immune response to a single dose of the HER2 inhibitor trastuzumab predicted which patients with HER2-positive breast cancer would respond to the drug on a more long-term basis, in a study published by Varadan et al in <em>Clinical Cancer Research</em>.
The anti–PD-L1 (programmed cell death ligand 1) antibody atezolizumab produced durable responses in many patients with previously treated locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma, according to a phase II trial reported in <em>The Lancet</em> by Rosenberg et al. The higher response rate was associated with higher expression of PD-L1 on infiltrating immune cells.
In a study reported in <em>JAMA Oncology,</em> Howitt et al identified copy number gain of genes encoding programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) ligands in a sizable proportion of patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix or vulva.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved crizotinib (Xalkori) for the treatment of patients with metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose tumors are <em>ROS1</em>-positive. Crizotinib was first approved in 2011 for the treatment of patients whose tumors are anaplastic lymphoma kinase (<em>ALK</em>)-positive.
Researchers at Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Thomas Jefferson University have tested a strategy that combines radiotherapy with a drug that shuts down the ability of tumors to mend themselves, according to results published by Shi et al in the <em>Journal of Neuro-Oncology</em>.
Researchers have found that a bacterial species responsible for gum disease, <em>Porphyromonas gingivalis</em>, is present in 61% of patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. These findings were published by Gao et al in <em>Infectious Agents and Cancer</em>.
In a UK phase III trial reported in <em>JAMA Oncology,</em> Seligmann et al found that high expression of either epiregulin or amphiregulin was associated with a progression-free survival benefit with panitumumab/irinotecan among patients with <em>RAS</em>wild-type advanced colorectal cancer.
A review of major studies and the current literature underscored the role of geriatric assessment in making treatment recommendations for patients aged 80 years and older with early and metastatic breast cancer. “Geriatric assessment is the cornerstone for effectively measuring key domains associated with aging,” reported Shachar et al in the <em>Journal of Oncology Practice</em>, and “can identify major issues not usually found by oncologists, many with proven beneficial interventions.”
Physician-researchers from the International Mesothelioma Program at Brigham and Women's Hospital have found previously unknown genetic alterations in malignant mesothelioma, including some that may be clinically actionable, as well as others that may improve diagnostics, screening, and predictions about outcomes for patients. The team's results were published by Bueno et al in <em>Nature Genetics</em>.
Using a laser probe, neurosurgeons at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have opened the brain's protective cover, enabling them to deliver chemotherapy drugs to patients with glioblastoma. Their findings were published by Leuthardt et al in <em>PLOS One</em>.
In a single-center retrospective study reported in <em>JAMA Oncology,</em> Grossberg et al found that skeletal muscle loss before or after radiotherapy was associated with poorer overall survival in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.
Patients in the observational Mind-Body Study receiving adjuvant endocrine therapy for primary breast cancer treatment reported a greater symptom burden than did patients not receiving endocrine therapy over 12 months, as reported by Ganz et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>. No differences in mental health measures were observed.
A new study suggests that the PET scan–based approach to watching for a cancer's return is being inappropriately used at many hospitals and isn't helping patients survive longer. The findings are published by Healy et al in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute</em>.
While two advanced radiosurgery approaches—Gamma Knife and RapidArc—offer different strengths, they are equally effective at eradicating cancer in the brain, said research published by Liu et al in <em>Frontiers in Oncology</em>.
Although nevi are considered among the strongest risk factors for melanoma, most patients with melanoma had few total and no atypical nevi, according to a study of 566 patients with invasive cutaneous melanoma reported by Geller et al in <em>JAMA Dermatology.</em>
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Desmedt et al identified genomic alterations in invasive lobular breast cancer, including several that may serve as targets for current treatment and for treatment research.
A study published by Bradley et al in <em>Medical Care</em> showed that over a recent 10-year period, the rate of metastatic colorectal cancer patients older than age 75 receiving three or more treatments increased exponentially, but median survival for these patients increased by only 1 month.
Among children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, those who live in high-poverty areas are substantially more likely to suffer early relapse than other patients, despite having received the same treatment, according to findings published by Bona et al in <em>Pediatric Blood & Cancer</em>.
Anamorelin (a ghrelin-receptor agonist) increased lean body mass but had no beneficial effect on handgrip strength vs placebo in patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and cachexia, according to two international phase III trials reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by Temel et al.
In the phase III SIRFLOX trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> van Hazel et al found that adding selective internal radiation therapy to first-line FOLFOX (fluorouracil, leucovorin, oxaliplatin) did not improve any-site progression-free survival but delayed progression in the liver in liver-dominant metastatic colorectal cancer.
In the phase II Translational Breast Cancer Research Consortium 022 study, reported by Freedman et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> the erbB1, HER2, erbB4 inhibitor neratinib showed some activity in patients with HER2-positive breast cancer brain metastases.
As reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by O’Sullivan et al, a new staging system for human papillomavirus–related oropharyngeal cancer has been developed based on findings from the International Collaboration on Oropharyngeal Cancer Network for Staging study.
According to a study published by Shi et al in <em>Clinical Cancer Research</em>, radiofrequency ablation was found to induce antitumor immune responses in patients with colorectal tumors and liver metastases. In addition, these investigators found that mice treated with a combination of radiofrequency ablation and an immune checkpoint inhibitor survived longer than those treated with either of the two therapies.
A study published by Zhang et al in <em>Nature Communications</em> proved that the prostate basal cell layer contains adult stem cells, which possess a unique gene-expression profile resembling the deadliest form of prostate cancer.
Among uveal melanomas categorized as class 1, those with high levels of PRAME mRNA were more likely to metastasize than those with low levels of PRAME mRNA, suggesting that patients who have class 1 uveal melanoma with high levels of PRAME mRNA should be monitored more closely for metastatic disease, according to a study published by Field et al in <em>Clinical Cancer Research</em>.
Metabolic phenotyping of blood plasma by proton nuclear magnetic resonance identified unique metabolic biomarkers specific to lung cancer patients and allowed for the accurate identification of a cohort of patients with early and late-stage lung cancer. These findings were published by Louis et al in the <em>Journal of Thoracic Oncology</em>.
As reported by Patel et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> analysis of lung cancer incidence and mortality in the Women’s Health Initiative Study cohort of postmenopausal women showed a marginally significant lower risk of cancer in Hispanic women vs white women and no difference in mortality risk among all racial/ethnic groups in fully adjusted risk models.
Weekly dose-dense paclitaxel did not provide a progression-free survival benefit over every-3-week paclitaxel in combination with carboplatin and with or without elective bevacizumab in patients with previously untreated ovarian cancer, according to the results of a phase III trial reported by Chan et al in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine.</em>
The 69th Society of Surgical Oncology Annual Cancer Symposium (SSO 2016) features education and insight from some of the brightest minds working in surgical oncology today, including featured lecturers with ties to the recently announced White House “moonshot” initiative to cure cancer.
Light reflectance spectroscopy can differentiate between malignant and benign prostate tissue with 85% accuracy, a finding that may lead to real-time tissue analysis during prostate cancer surgery. These findings were reported by Morgan et al in <em>The Journal of Urology</em>.
In women undergoing breast reconstruction using autologous tissue, newer “muscle-sparing” abdominal flaps can reduce complications while improving some aspects of quality of life, according to a study by Macadem et al in <em>Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery</em>.
In the Asian phase III REGATTA trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Fujitani et al found that the addition of gastrectomy to chemotherapy did not improve overall survival in patients with advanced gastric cancer with a single noncurable factor.
Cheung et al found that factors associated with early mortality in patients in trials of adjuvant systemic therapy included age, performance status, tumor grade, stage, and ratio of positive lymph nodes to nodes examined. The results of their analysis were reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em>
The number of men smoking tobacco in India rose by more than one third to 108 million between 1998 and 2015, according to a new study published in the journal <em>BMJ Global Health</em>.
A new report published by Barnholtz-Sloan et al in the journal <em>Neuro-Oncology</em> sponsored by the American Brain Tumor Association found that malignant brain tumors are the most common cause of cancer-related deaths in adolescents and young adults aged 15 to 39, and the most common cancer occurring among 15 to 19 year olds.
Adjuvant chemotherapy and chemotherapy plus prophylactic cranial irradiation were associated with significantly improved survival vs surgery alone in patients with early-stage small cell lung cancer (SCLC) undergoing complete resection, according to an analysis of the National Cancer Data Base reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Yang et al.
In a phase II study reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>by Yock et al, use of proton radiotherapy for pediatric medulloblastoma was associated with acceptable long-term toxic effects and good survival outcomes.
A quality improvement initiative to reduce patients’ reliance on emergency room visits to treat cancer treatment side effects has shown to be highly effective, according to early findings from a study presented by Hunis et al at the 2016 Quality Care Symposium.
To facilitate doctor/patient conversations about costs of cancer care, researchers developed and piloted an online tool for oncologists that lists prices for the 50 most commonly prescribed cancer treatment regimens. Information on this resource was presented by Henrikson et al at the 2016 Quality Care Symposium.
A new study suggests that up to 60% of the CT scans, bone scans, and PET scans performed for more than 29,000 Michigan women diagnosed with early breast cancer between 2008 and 2014 could not be medically justified based on retrospective record review. These findings were presented by Henry et al at the 2016 Quality Care Symposium.
Use of minimally invasive hysterectomy did not seem to have an adverse impact on long-term survival in women with endometrial cancer, according to an analysis reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Wright et al.
In the phase III LUX-Breast 1 trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Harbeck et al found no benefit of afatinib/vinorelbine vs trastuzumab/vinorelbine after previous trastuzumab treatment in patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved everolimus for the treatment of adult patients with progressive, well-differentiated nonfunctional neuroendocrine tumors of gastrointestinal or lung origin with unresectable, locally advanced, or metastatic disease.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today approved obinutuzumab for use in combination with bendamustine followed by obinutuzumab monotherapy for the treatment of patients with follicular lymphoma who relapsed after, or are refractory to, a rituximab-containing regimen.
A new report outlines substantial progress in reducing the mortality gap between blacks and whites for some cancers, while the gap has widened or remained level for two leading cancers: breast cancer in women and colorectal cancer in men. The findings are included in <em>Cancer Statistics for African Americans, 2016</em>, published by DeSantis et al in <em>CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians</em>.
A new analysis published by Leiba et al in <em>Cancer</em> indicates that higher body weight and taller stature during adolescence increase the risk of developing non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
In a phase II study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Brown et al found no apparent benefit of hepatic artery chemoembolization using doxorubicin-eluting microspheres vs embolization with microspheres alone in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.
Wider excision margins in high-risk primary cutaneous melanoma were associated with improved melanoma-specific survival, according to long-term follow-up in a UK-led trial reported by Hayes et al in <em>The Lancet Oncology.</em> No significant improvement in overall survival was observed.
ASCO Chief Medical Officer <strong>Richard L. Schilsky, MD, FACP, FASCO</strong>, issued a statement today commending the confirmation of Dr. Califf as U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner.
A study from Lund University in Sweden showed that commonly used chemotherapy toxins impair the eyesight in childhood cancer survivors in a way that indicates an impact on the central nervous system. The results were published by Einarsson et al in <em>PLOS One</em>.
ONC201, an investigational anticancer drug that triggers cell death in various tumor types, may have clinical potential for some blood cancers including mantle cell lymphoma and acute myeloid leukemia, according to a recent clinical study published by Ishizawa et al in <em>Science Signaling</em>.
In a UK phase III trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Macbeth et al found no survival benefit of adding low–molecular-weight heparin to standard treatment in patients with lung cancer.
ASCO has endorsed, with qualifications, the 2015 Cancer Care Ontario guideline on active surveillance for management of localized prostate cancer, as reported by Chen et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em>
In a study reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> Ivey et al found that a leukemia-specific marker consisting of a mutation in the gene encoding nucleophosmin (NPM1) can be used to identify minimal residual disease in peripheral blood in standard-risk acute myeloid leukemia (AML), representing a potential prognostic factor for relapse and poorer survival.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Burstein et al, ASCO has released a clinical practice guideline update on ovarian suppression as part of the extant guideline on adjuvant endocrine therapy in hormone receptor–positive breast cancer.
Patients who received chemotherapy after surgical resection of pancreatic cancer have fewer distant disease recurrences and longer overall survival than those who also had adjuvant chemoradiation therapy, according to a study published by Parikh et al in the <em>Journal of the American College of Surgeons</em>.
Head and neck cancer patients who receive induction chemotherapy rather than the standard treatment of concurrent chemoradiation do not benefit from increased survival rates and are less likely to receive a full course of radiation, according to research presented by Stokes et al at the 2016 Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancer Symposium.
On February 19, 2016, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved palbociclib in combination with fulvestrant for the treatment of women with hormone receptor–positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)–negative advanced or metastatic breast cancer with disease progression following endocrine therapy.
As reported by Senan et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> the phase III PROCLAIM trial showed no significant improvement in overall survival for chemoradiation with pemetrexed/cisplatin vs etoposide/cisplatin followed by consolidation pemetrexed vs a platinum-based doublet in patients with nonresectable stage III non–small cell lung cancer.
The addition of chemotherapy to radiation therapy improves survival rates among a subset of elderly patients with head and neck cancer, specifically those aged 71 to 79 with low comorbidity scores and advanced disease stage, according to research presented by Amini et al at the 2016 Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancer Symposium.
For patients treated with definitive radiation therapy for oropharyngeal cancer caused by human papillomavirus (HPV), the majority of recurrences can be detected by post-treatment imaging at 3 months and physical exams during the 6 months following treatment, according to research presented by Frakes et al at the 2016 Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancer Symposium.
A survey of oncology surgeons from six hospitals in Washington State found that the surgeons in the sample “displayed and valued cultural awareness and sensitivity” but that “cultural awareness and sensitivity did not necessarily result in culturally competent behavior.” These findings, which were reported by Doorenbos et al in the <em>Journal of Oncology Practice</em> highlight the need for improved interventions “to achieve the goal of genuinely culturally competent care.”
A retrospective study to evaluate the frequency of serum tumor marker testing among 928 outpatients with advanced cancer “found a high rate of serum tumor marker testing overuse and extreme overuse in patients with advanced solid tumors,” reported Accordino et al in the <em>Journal of Oncology Practice.</em>
In a phase III trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Walker et al found that treatment with antithymocyte globulin reduced the need for immunosuppressive therapy in patients with hematologic malignancies receiving hematopoietic cell transplantation from unrelated donors.
Compared to patients with non-Medicaid insurance, uninsured patients and patients with Medicaid are more likely to present with advanced stages of head and neck cancer and have higher overall and cancer-specific mortality rates, according to research presented by Churilla et al at the 2016 Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancer Symposium.
The majority of patients with locally advanced head and neck cancers rely on cost-coping strategies that alter their lifestyle in order to manage the financial burden of their care, according to research presented by Kung et al at the 2016 Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancer Symposium.
Patients with throat cancer exposed to both human papillomavirus and tobacco smoke demonstrate a pattern of mutations along several key cancer genes, according to research presented by Zevallos et al at the 2016 Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancer Symposium.
An international research team has determined how inherited gene variations lead to severe drug toxicity that may threaten chances for a cure in children with leukemia. The research was published in Moriyama et al in <em>Nature Genetics</em> and focused on treatment-related toxicity associated with a class of medication called thiopurines.
Annual screening with the fecal immunochemical test is highly sensitive for detecting colorectal cancer and “is feasible and effective for population-level colorectal cancer screening,” according to a large-scale retrospective cohort study reported by Jensen et al in the <em>Annals of Internal Medicine.</em>
Preliminary research published by Wang et al in the <em>Journal of Thoracic Oncology</em> has identified autoantibodies that can potentially detect lung cancer early by distinguishing between smokers with or without lung cancer, and can also discriminate between lung cancer and low-dose computed tomography–detected noncancerous lung lesions.
According to new recommendations from the U.S. Multi-Society Task Force on Colorectal Cancer published by Kahi et al in <em>Gastroenterology</em>, postoperative colonoscopy is associated with improved overall survival for colorectal cancer patients.
A study of all Norwegian men born between 1965 and 1985 showed that male cancer survivors are less likely to have children than those without a cancer diagnosis. The study was published by Gunnes et al in the <em>British Journal of Cancer</em>.
Among patients with high-risk, primary cutaneous melanomas, the risk of death from melanoma at a median follow-up of 8.8 years was significantly higher among those randomized to surgery with a 1-cm excision margin than among those randomized to surgery with a 3-cm excision margin, according to a study reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by Hayes et al.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Brinkman et al, a study in the St. Jude Lifetime Cohort showed that adult survivors of pediatric central nervous system (CNS) tumors are at increased risk of severe neurocognitive impairment.
In a report published by Incio et al in <em>Clinical Cancer Research</em>, a Massachusetts General research team describes finding an association between obesity and an overabundance of a factor called PlGF (placental growth factor), and that PlGF's binding to its receptor VEGFR-1, which is expressed on immune cells within tumors, promotes tumor progression.
Scientists from The Wistar Institute have shown that a gene that was once thought only to be found in the brain is also expressed in breast cancer and helps promote the growth and spread of the disease. Additionally, they showed how a version of the gene with edited RNA prevents metastasis. The findings were published by Gumireddy et al in <em>Nature Communications</em>.
Intense tumor lymphocytic infiltration was associated with improved outcomes in patients with resectable non–small cell lung cancer, according to a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Brambilla et al.
In a phase III trial reported in <em>The Lancet,</em> Schöffski et al found that eribulin improved overall survival vs dacarbazine in patients with advanced or metastatic soft-tissue sarcoma who had received at least two prior systemic treatments for advanced disease. Outcome in the subgroup with liposarcoma led to U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of eribulin for unresectable or metastatic liposarcoma after an anthracycline-containing regimen.
In a Dutch study reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> Schaapveld et al found that survivors of Hodgkin lymphoma treated between 1965 and 2000 were at a 4.6-fold greater risk of second cancer vs the general population during long-term follow-up.
Pediatric oncologists from The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia say that a patient’s outcome may be improved if clinicians select specific subtypes of T cells to attack diseases like acute lymphoblastic leukemia and lymphoma. Their findings were published by Singh et al in <em>Science Translational Medicine</em>.
A novel study answers age-old questions about how cancers spread by applying tools from evolutionary biology. The new insights will help scientists better understand the genetic origins of tumor metastases, and lead to more effective targets for treatment, said Zhao et al in the <em>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</em>.
Two-year conditional overall and disease-free survival were substantially increased in patients surviving and surviving without recurrence for 2 years after first-line curative therapy for metastatic testicular germ cell tumors, according to a study reported by Ko et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
In a study published by Ohri et al in the <em>International Journal of Radiation Oncology Biology Physics</em>, investigators found cancer patients who miss two or more radiation therapy sessions (excluding planned treatment breaks) have a worse outcome than fully compliant patients.
Use of the androgen receptor–inhibitor enzalutamide more than doubled progression-free survival vs the nonsteroidal antiandrogen bicalutamide in patients with metastatic prostate cancer progressing on androgen-deprivation therapy, according to the randomized phase II TERRAIN trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by Shore et al.
To assist primary care clinicians and others in the care of women who have survived breast cancer, the American Cancer Society (ACS) and ASCO have issued a Breast Cancer Survivorship Care guideline, published jointly in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> and <em>CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians.</em>
A team of researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has found that an implantable device can deliver a particularly toxic cocktail of drugs directly to pancreatic tumors to stunt their growth, or, in some cases, shrink them, all while showing signs that the rest of the body would be spared toxic side effects. Their findings were published by Byrne et al in the <em>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</em>.
An experimental nanoparticle therapy that combines low-density lipoproteins (LDL) and fish oil preferentially kills primary liver cancer cells without harming healthy cells, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers report. The study was published by Wen et al in <em>Gastroenterology</em>.
Although a finding of a positive fecal blood test must be followed by colonoscopy to evaluate the test results, a study by Chubak et al has found significant variations of 41 to 174 days in the time between a positive result and a follow-up colonoscopy. Understanding the variability in follow-up colonoscopy after an abnormal fecal blood test may help providers identify patients needing targeted interventions to complete follow-up. The study is published in <em>Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention</em>.
In a study reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> Armstrong et al found that late mortality decreased over time among 5-year survivors of childhood cancer in the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study cohort. The reduction is consistent with efforts during recent decades to modify treatment with the aim of reducing life-threatening late effects.
As reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by Quoix et al, the addition of immunotherapy with the TG4010 vaccine to first-line chemotherapy improved progression-free survival in patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer in the phase IIb portion of a phase IIb/III trial.
A retrospective analysis of human papillomavirus (HPV) antibodies in patients treated for oropharyngeal cancers linked to HPV infection suggests at least one of the antibodies could be useful in identifying those at risk for a recurrence of the cancer, according to a study published by Fakhry et al in <em>Cancer Prevention Research</em>.
Robotic nephrectomy for inferior vena cava tumor thrombus has favorable outcomes in selected patients compared with open surgery, which can have a high rate of complications, reported Abaza et al in <em>The Journal of Urology</em>.
In a study reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> Dalerba et al found that absence of expression of the transcription factor CDX2, although prognostic for poor outcome in stage II and III colon cancer vs cancers with CDX2 expression, identified a subgroup of high-risk patients who appeared to benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy.
As reported in <em>The Lancet</em> by James et al, results of the STAMPEDE trial showed increased survival and toxicity with docetaxel and little benefit of zoledronic acid when added to first-line long-term hormone therapy in patients with high-risk locally advanced, metastatic, or recurrent prostate cancer.
Use of a tyrosine kinase inhibitor regimen can lower the blood chronic lymphocytic leukemia biomarker to levels imperceptible by current detection methods. A study by Alikian et al in <em>The Journal of Molecular Diagnostics</em> describes a new personalized DNA-based digital assay that detects persistent disease in 81% of samples taken from a group of patients thought to be in remission.
A new study has found that significant bone loss occurs during the first month of chemotherapy for acute lymphoblastic leukemia, which is far earlier than previously assumed. Results of the study were published by Orgel et al in the journal <em>Bone</em>.
In a study reported in <em>JAMA Oncology,</em> Mougalian et al found that 10-year overall and relapse-free survival rates in patients with breast cancer and axillary metastases receiving chemotherapy were higher in those with vs without axillary pathologic complete response.
In a UK study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Fallon et al found no improvement with pregabalin vs placebo combined with concurrent palliative radiotherapy in relieving cancer-induced bone pain.
Today on World Cancer Day 2016, the world unites against this disease that knows no borders and represents one of humanity’s most pressing and financial concerns. Under the campaign theme <em>“We can. I can,”</em> World Cancer Day represents a unique opportunity to draw attention to what can be done to address cancer, save millions of avoidable deaths and, in turn, support global economic growth and development.
At a Capitol Hill briefing today, ASCO announced immunotherapy as the top cancer advance of the year. Recent breakthroughs in immunotherapy, along with almost 60 other important cancer research advances, are described in ASCO's just-released report, <em>Clinical Cancer Advances 2016: ASCO's Annual Report on Progress Against Cancer</em>.
In some patients, blood in the urine, or hematuria, may be the only warning sign of cancer in the urinary tract. A new report from the American College of Physicians’ High Value Care Task Force published by Nielsen et al in <em>Annals of Internal Medicine</em> issues advice for physicians on how to detect and evaluate hematuria.
High-dose hypofractionated proton beam therapy produced a high rate of local control in patients with localized unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma or intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma, according to a phase II study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Hong et al.
A population-based study published in <em>Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention</em> by Keegan et al found that black adolescents and young adults with Hodgkin lymphoma were 68% more likely to die than white patients regardless of disease stage. Identifying and reducing barriers to recommended treatment and surveillance in these patients at higher risk are essential to improving survival disparities, concluded the investigators.
In a retrospective analysis reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Nead et al found that use of androgen-deprivation therapy in the treatment of prostate cancer was associated with an increased risk of subsequent Alzheimer’s disease.
In a study reported in <em>JAMA Oncology,</em> Acuna et al found a nearly threefold increased risk of cancer mortality in solid-organ transplant recipients compared with the general population in Ontario, Canada.
During hysterectomies for noncancerous conditions, removing both fallopian tubes while keeping the ovaries may help protect against ovarian cancer and preserve hormonal levels, but few women receive this surgical option, according to a new study published by Xu et al in <em>Obstetrics & Gynecology</em>.
Oncology researchers have discovered that an abnormal fused gene that drives pediatric brain tumors poses a triple threat, operating simultaneously through three distinct biologic mechanisms. The study was published by Bandopadhayay et al in <em>Nature Genetics</em>.
The “moonshot” initiative to defeat cancer earned support for a tax increase to fund cancer research among half of respondents in a new national public opinion survey commissioned by Research!America.
In a population-based study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Yabroff et al found that cancer and its treatment were associated with material financial hardship for 29% and psychological financial hardship for 32% of patients aged 18 to 64 years in the United States.
Women who eat more high-fiber foods during adolescence and young adulthood may have significantly lower breast cancer risk than those who eat less dietary fiber when young, according to a study published by Farvid et al in <em>Pediatrics</em>.
In the French phase III MAPS trial reported in <em>The Lancet,</em> Zalcman et al found that the addition of bevacizumab to standard cisplatin/pemetrexed treatment increased overall and progression-free survival in patients with newly diagnosed pleural mesothelioma.
Non–small cell lung cancer patients with <em>EGFR</em> mutations and brain metastases showed improved progression-free survival and response from the EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor afatinib compared to standard platinum doublet chemotherapy, according to analyses published by Schuler et al in the <em>Journal of Thoracic Oncology</em>.
Based on study findings published by Park et al in the journal <em>BMJ Palliative Care</em>, additional research and improved end-of-life care are needed to help dying parents and their families.
In an analysis of the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Henderson et al found that childhood survivors of sarcoma and leukemia with no history of chest radiotherapy were at an increased risk of breast cancer.
As reported in <em>The Lancet</em> by Liu et al, a study in UK women that attempted to adjust for the effect of health and lifestyle factors found that self-reported unhappiness was not associated with an increased risk of mortality from cancer or other conditions.
In a North American phase II trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Shaw et al found that alectinib was associated with considerable activity in crizotinib-refractory, <em>ALK</em>-positive non–small cell lung cancer, including CNS metastases, supporting its recent approval in this setting.
In a Swedish study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Weibull et al found that pregnancy did not appear to increase the risk of subsequent relapse in women with Hodgkin lymphoma in remission.
Grubb et al have published a study in <em>Pediatric Blood & Cancer</em>, which showed that African American pediatric patients with Hodgkin lymphoma have inferior overall survival compared with their white and Hispanic peers.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Ferguson et al found that cellulitis in the affected arm, but not blood draws, injections, trauma to the affected arm, or air travel, was associated with an increased risk of lymphedema in women treated for breast cancer.
In a study reported in <em>JAMA Oncology,</em> Evans et al identified a DNA damage and repair pathway gene signature that was significantly associated with outcomes after prostatectomy for high-risk prostate cancer independent of standard clinicopathologic factors.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved eribulin mesylate (Halaven), an antimicrotubular antineoplastic agent, for the treatment of unresectable or metastatic liposarcoma. This treatment is approved for patients who received prior chemotherapy that contained an anthracycline drug.
All National Cancer Institute-designated cancer centers have united to support human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination. A team of HPV experts drafted a consensus statement that advises widespread use of HPV vaccines to prevent cancer.
Nearly 15% of patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer were younger than 50, and those younger patients were more likely to have advanced disease, though this group was also more likely to receive aggressive treatment and survive their disease. These findings were published in by Abdelsattar et al in <em>Cancer</em>.
Poor black patients undergoing surgery for esophageal cancer are at higher risk for death than white patients and patients with higher socioeconomic status, according to a scientific presentation by Erhunmwunsee et al at the 2016 Annual Meeting of The Society of Thoracic Surgeons.
A study presented by Williams et al at the 2016 Annual Meeting of The Society of Thoracic Surgeons found that patients with a very high or very low body mass index measurement have the highest risks for complications following resection for the treatment of lung cancer.
In a UK retrospective population-based study reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Duffy et al found a significant inverse association between detection of ductal carcinoma in situ in breast cancer screening and the incidence of invasive interval cancers diagnosed within 3 years after screening.
In the long-term follow-up of the Italian HD2000 trial reported by Merli et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> no significant differences in overall or progression-free survival were observed after 10 years among patients with previously untreated advanced Hodgkin lymphoma receiving several different chemotherapy regimens.
On January 23, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved nivolumab in combination with ipilimumab for the treatment of patients with <em>BRAF</em> V600 wild-type and <em>BRAF</em> V600 mutation–positive unresectable or metastatic melanoma.
On January 21, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the supplemental New Drug Application of carfilzomib for injection in combination with dexamethasone or with lenalidomide plus dexamethasone for the treatment of patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma that have received one to three lines of therapy. The FDA also approved carfilzomib as a single agent for the treatment of patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma that have received one or more lines of therapy.
A study by Jensen et al, published in the <em>Annals of Internal Medicine,</em> assessing the performance characteristics of the fecal immunochemical test over four rounds of annual screening has found that the test was associated with high sensitivity for colorectal cancer, with high adherence to annual follow-up screening among initial participants.
The American College of Physicians’ High Value Care Task Force has found substantial variation in urologic referral practices for patients with hematuria, according to a study by Nielsen et al published in the <em>Annals of Internal Medicine.</em>. The Task Force findings highlight opportunities to increase awareness and define a high-value strategy to evaluate hematuria as a sign of urinary tract cancer.
Data from the ongoing phase II PANOVA clinical trial presented by Rivera et al showed that tumor-treating fields therapy plus first-line gemcitabine is tolerable and safe in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer.
An updated overall survival analysis of the phase III NAPOLI-1 study of irinotecan liposome injection in combination with fluorouracil (5-FU) and leucovorin achieved a substantial improvement in 12-month overall survival compared to 5-FU and leucovorin alone in patients with metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma who had received prior gemcitabine therapy, according to abstracts presented by Wang-Gillam et al and Chen et al.
Findings from a Polish phase III study presented by Bujko et al indicate that patients who received short-course radiation followed by consolidation chemotherapy before surgery achieved outcomes similar to those of patients treated with 5-week chemoradiation.
In a study published by Vogelsang et al in <em>Clinical Cancer Research</em>, researchers discovered an inherited genetic marker that might provide clinicians with a personalized tool to gauge an individual’s survival and determine which patients require closer monitoring in the years following surgery.
In a phase III trial in neuroendocrine tumors that began either in the gastrointestinal tract or have an unknown origin, everolimus was associated with a 6- to 8-month longer time period before the cancer worsened compared to placebo. The study was presented by Singh et al at the 2016 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium.
Early results presented by Strosberg et al from the NETTER-1 phase III study of patients with previously treated, advanced midgut neuroendocrine tumors show that a novel therapy, lutetium Lu-177 dotatate, may substantially slow tumor growth.
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) has published new NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines®) for Vulvar Cancer. The new guidelines provide recommendations on the evaluation and treatment of squamous cell carcinoma of the vulva.
In the phase III NSABP B-35 trial reported in <em>The Lancet,</em> Margolese et al found that adjuvant anastrozole significantly improved the breast cancer–free interval vs tamoxifen in postmenopausal women with hormone receptor–positive ductal carcinoma in situ who had received lumpectomy plus whole-breast irradiation. The benefit was seen mainly in patients younger than age 60.
In a research letter in <em>JAMA Oncology,</em> Sequist et al reported clinical benefit with the recently approved third-generation EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor osimertinib in patients with metastatic non–small cell lung cancer who had disease progression during treatment with the investigational third-generation agent rociletinib.
Two quality improvement projects described by Bryant-Bova in the <em>Journal of Oncology Practice</em> resulted in reduced errors in prescribing intravenous and oral chemotherapy through physician and nurse education and better completion and review of chemotherapy order forms.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Stearns et al found no association between new or worsening vasomotor or musculoskeletal symptoms and relapse-free survival in patients receiving adjuvant aromatase inhibitor therapy with anastrozole or exemestane in the NCIC CTG MA.27 trial.
Women who are pregnant or have recently been pregnant diagnosed with malignant melanoma are more likely to die, experience metastasis, and have a cancer recurrence, according to results published by Tellez et al in the <em>Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology</em>.
A committee of national experts has established first-of-its-kind guidelines to promote more accurate and individualized cancer predictions, guiding more precise treatment and leading to improved patient survival rates and outcomes. These guidelines were published by Kattan et al in <em>CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians</em>.
The WASF3 protein enables cancer cell invasion, and by interrupting its relationship with another protein, scientists have suppressed the ability of highly invasive human breast and prostate cancer cells to metastasize through an artificial surface that mimics blood vessel invasion. Their findings were published by Teng et al in <em>Cancer Research</em>.
Solid-organ transplant recipients have a higher rate of cancer mortality than what is expected in the general population, according to a Canadian study published by Acuna et al in <em>JAMA Oncology.</em> The increased mortality risk was observed irrespective of transplanted organ and remained elevated when patients with pretransplant malignant neoplasms were excluded.
A randomized phase II study in symptomatic, untreated patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia found an increased overall response rate with obinutuzumab at a dose of 2,000 mg vs 1,000 mg. Byrd et al, of The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, Columbus, reported these findings in <em>Blood.</em>
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved ofatumumab for extended treatment of patients who are in complete or partial response after at least two lines of therapy for recurrent or progressive chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
In a landmark study published by Timmerman et al in the <em>American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology</em>, investigators from Europe proposed a new and simple method to assess the risk of malignancy of women with an adnexal mass. The method identified between 89% and 99% of patients with ovarian cancer using the results of ultrasound examination.
Women with large breasts and women screened for breast cancer annually instead of biannually have an increased risk for radiation-induced breast cancer, according to results published by Miglioretti et al in the <em>Annals of Internal Medicine</em>.
As reported in <em>The Lancet </em> by Jacobs et al, the UK Collaborative Trial of Ovarian Cancer Screening suggests there may be a mortality benefit of ovarian cancer screening in postmenopausal women.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Epstein et al found that use of the 21-gene recurrence score assay was associated with lower chemotherapy use and lower medical spending among patients younger than age 55 with early-stage breast cancer and higher chemotherapy use and higher medical spending among those between the ages of 75 and 84.
A palliative care consultation initiated in the emergency department for patients with advanced cancer was associated with improved quality of life and did not seem to shorten survival, according to an article published by Grudzen et al in <em>JAMA Oncology</em>.
Findings from a new study by Du et al in <em>Nature Medicine</em> reveal that the activity of PARP inhibitors, an emerging class of drugs being studied in cancer clinical trials, may be enhanced by combining them with inhibitors targeting the oncogene c-MET.
In a Swedish study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Holm et al found that high risk on two different risk prediction scores tended to be associated with favorable prognostic features in women with breast cancer.
In a European phase III study reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> Kröger et al found that inclusion of antihuman T-lymphocyte immune globulin in the myeloablative conditioning regimen for patients with acute myeloid or lymphoid leukemia resulted in a significant reduction in chronic graft-vs-host disease 2 years after allogeneic stem cell transplantation.
ASCO has announced the creation of the Ellen L. Stovall Award and Lecture for Advancement of Cancer Survivorship Care, intended to recognize and promote the work of pioneers and leaders in the growing field of survivorship. The first award will be presented at the 2017 Cancer Survivorship Symposium, taking place January 27 to 28, 2017, in San Diego, California.
A study by Winters-Stone et al indicated that 45% of female cancer survivors still have chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy symptoms years after completing cancer treatment, contributing to issues such as worse physical functioning, poorer mobility, and a nearly twofold higher risk of falls.
A study by Hahn et al investigating adherence to the National Comprehensive Cancer Network post-treatment guidelines for adolescent and young adult survivors of Hodgkin lymphoma has found that less than half (48%) of patients received recommended care within the first 12 months post-treatment. However, nearly all survivors (96%) had recommended oncology visits, and 70% received the recommended laboratory testing within the first 5 years.
Low-income breast cancer survivors who received tailored survivorship care plans, which included personalized breast cancer treatment summaries and a list of resources, such as patient support groups, and one-on-one counseling reported a nearly 10% greater adherence to survivorship care recommendations than those receiving usual medical care, according to a study presented by Maly et al.
A research team has revealed the biological connection between obesity and increased colorectal cancer risk in preclinical models, and in the process, has identified an approved drug that might prevent development of the cancer. Their study was published by Lin et al in <em>Cancer Research</em>.
In a Japanese phase III trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Takashima et al found that first-line treatment with the oral fluoropyrimidine S-1 was associated with noninferior overall survival vs taxane regimens in women with HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer resistant to endocrine treatment.
Patients diagnosed with stage I to III rectal cancer at a younger age are at increased risk of having positive lymph nodes, according to an analysis of data published in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute.</em> “This finding merits further investigation and may ultimately impact treatment decision-making for young early-stage patients,” concluded the investigators.
A regional anesthesia technique called thoracic paravertebral nerve block is highly effective in controlling pain after breast cancer surgery, but concern about potential complications may limit its use. A new study provides evidence that using ultrasound to guide the nerve blocking procedure lowers the risk of complications, reported a study by Pace et al in <em>Anesthesia & Analgesia</em>.
ASCO announced today that the <em>Journal of Oncology Practice</em> will be printed on a monthly basis and offer new resources to supply oncology professionals with cutting-edge information on cancer care delivery. Doubling its content, the expanded journal also features clinical information from a multidisciplinary care team perspective led by new Deputy Editor, <strong>James O. Armitage, MD</strong>.
Adolescent girls living in high-poverty communities and majority Hispanic communities were more likely to have received at least one dose of a human papillomavirus vaccine than those living in low-poverty communities and in communities of other racial and ethnic compositions. These findings were published by Henry et al in <em>Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention</em>.
A modest and statistically nonsignificant increase in disease-free survival with concurrent adjuvant lapatinib and trastuzumab vs trastuzumab alone in patients with nonmetastatic HER2-positive breast cancer was reported by Piccart-Gebhart et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
In a study from the Utah Cancer Registry reported in <em>JAMA Oncology,</em> Samadder et al found an increased risk of carcinoma of unknown primary and other cancers in relatives of patients with this type of cancer.
A new study showed that a blood test that monitors blood levels of DNA fragments from dead cancer cells does a better job than the current standard test at tracking the severity and potential spread of metastatic melanoma. The study was published by Chang et al in <em>Molecular Oncology</em>.
ASCO released a new policy statement with recommendations to ensure that clinical pathways in oncology promote the care of patients with cancer. Published by Zon et al in the <em>Journal of Oncology Practice</em>, the statement asserts that the way in which these treatment management tools in cancer care have proliferated raises significant concerns about patient access, care quality, and transparency in pathway development and implementation.
As reported in <em>The Lancet</em> by Herbst et al, the phase II/III KEYNOTE-010 trial showed that pembrolizumab significantly improved overall survival vs docetaxel in patients with previously treated programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1)–positive advanced non–small cell lung cancer.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Harrigan et al found that telephone and in-person weight loss counseling was effective in reducing weight and C-reactive protein levels in overweight or obese women treated for breast cancer.
A new injectable agent that causes cancer cells in a tumor to fluoresce may increase a surgeon’s ability to locate and remove all of a cancerous tumor on the first attempt, according to results published by Whitley et al in <em>Science Translational Medicine</em>.
The American Association for Cancer Research, Triple Negative Breast Cancer Foundation, and Carol’s Crusade for a Cure Foundation announced a new partnership and grant opportunity in metastatic triple-negative breast cancer research.
In a study reported in a research letter in <em>JAMA,</em> Robbins et al found evidence that the Affordable Care Act Dependent Coverage Expansion has resulted in increased diagnosis of cervical cancer at an early stage and increased use of fertility-sparing treatments in women aged 21 to 25 years.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Levine et al found that use of the 21-gene recurrence score assay altered chemotherapy decisions compared with use of Adjuvant! Online in patients with axillary node–negative or nodal micrometastatic, estrogen receptor–positive, HER2-negative breast cancer. The major change was from unsure about chemotherapy to no chemotherapy.
A study presented at the 2016 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium by Flaig et al showed that 40% of patients with castration-resistant metastatic prostate cancer treated with docetaxel following abiraterone had at least a 50% reduction in prostate-specific antigen levels.
The DPYD variants c.1679T>G and c.1236G>A/HapB3 were predictive of severe fluoropyrimidine-associated toxicity, with the variant c.1601G>A not achieving a significant relationship, according to a systematic review and meta-analysis reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by Meulendijks et al.
Radiation therapy was associated with a lower risk of cancer recurrence in pancreatic cancer surgery patients, making it an important addition to treatment, according to research published by Merrell et al in the <em>International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics</em>.
In the phase II LUX-Breast 3 trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Cortés et al found that afatinib alone or combined with vinorelbine did not increase patient benefit vs investigator choice of treatment in patients with HER2-positive breast cancer and progressive brain metastases during or after treatment with trastuzumab, lapatinib, or both.
In the pivotal phase II IMvigor 210 study, the investigational cancer immunotherapy atezolizumab (MPDL3280A) showed encouraging response rates in patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma. These data were presented by Hoffman-Censits et al.
An early study presented by Scher et al suggests that an experimental new blood test may help guide individualized decisions on the most appropriate treatments for patients with prostate cancer.
New analyses presented by Escudier et al from a phase III clinical trial of patients with previously treated advanced kidney cancer demonstrated that patients of all risk levels experience more benefit from cabozantinib than from the current standard of care, everolimus.
A large observational study presented by Allard et al has found that men who take aspirin regularly may have a lower risk of dying from prostate cancer.
In an Italian trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Bandieri et al found that low-dose morphine provided better and more rapid pain relief than weak opioids in patients with moderate cancer pain.
In a long-term follow-up study among approximately 200,000 Nordic twin individuals, there was an increased cancer risk in twins whose co-twin was diagnosed with cancer, with an increased risk for cancer overall and for specific types of cancer, according to a study published by Mucci et al in <em>JAMA</em>.
Patients with incurable cancer and numerous other serious health conditions who consulted with a palliative care team within 2 days of hospitalization had significant savings in hospital costs, according to a new study published by May et al in <em>Health Affairs</em>.
In the phase III RADIANT-4 trial reported in <em>The Lancet,</em> Yao et al found that everolimus and supportive care significantly prolonged progression-free survival vs placebo and supportive care in patients with advanced nonfunctional neuroendocrine tumors of the lung or gastrointestinal tract.
A study assessing cardiac outcomes among survivors of childhood cancer has found evidence of cardiomyopathies, conduction or rhythm abnormalities, and coronary artery and valvular diseases in large numbers of adult survivors of childhood cancer who were exposed to cardiotoxic therapies. The study by Mulrooney et al was published in the <em>Annals of Internal Medicine.</em>
In a study published by Sanderson et al in the <em>American Journal of Medicine</em>, results indicated that black and white women aged 75 to 84 years who had an annual mammogram had lower 10-year breast cancer mortality than corresponding women who had biennial or no/irregular mammograms.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Killelea et al found that chemotherapy, particularly neoadjuvant chemotherapy, was more frequently given to black, Hispanic, and Asian women vs white women with stage I to III breast cancer.
The American Psychosocial Oncology Society (APOS) has endorsed the “Psychosocial Standards of Care for Children with Cancer and Their Families” published in a December 2015 special supplement to <em>Pediatric Blood and Cancer.</em> The scientific, evidence-based psychosocial standards define the psychosocial care that all children with cancer and their families should receive.
The requirement for tumor tissue specimens and associated analyses in order to participate in clinical trials appears to be a significant barrier to clinical trial enrollment and may delay treatment, according to a study by Lim et al published in the <em>Journal of Thoracic Oncology</em>.
In a report published by Swahari et al in <em>Cell Reports</em>, researchers found that when they removed the Dicer enzyme from preclinical models of medulloblastoma, they found high levels of DNA damage in the cancer cells, leading to the cells’ death.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Basch et al, a trial conducted among patients receiving routine outpatient chemotherapy for advanced solid tumors indicated that patient use of tablet computers to report common symptoms was associated with better health-related quality of life compared with usual care consisting of symptom monitoring at clinician discretion.
In the phase III HELIOS trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Chanan-Khan et al found that the addition of the Bruton’s tyrosine kinase inhibitor ibrutinib to bendamustine/rituximab increased progression-free survival in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia or small lymphocytic lymphoma who relapsed after initial therapy.
A gene that is known to suppress the growth and spread of many types of cancer has the opposite effect in some forms of colorectal cancer, according to research published by Zhang et al in <em>Oncogene</em>.
A large prospective study of postmenopausal women investigating an association between periodontal disease and breast cancer risk has found that among all women in the study, the risk of breast cancer was 14% higher in women who had periodontal disease. The results of this study by Freudenheim were published in <em>Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.</em>
Long travel distances continue to be a significant obstacle to breast reconstruction after mastectomy for breast cancer, according to a study published by Abornoz et al in <em>Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery</em>.
In a phase III trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Hecht et al found that the addition of lapatinib to capecitabine-oxaliplatin in patients with previously untreated HER2-amplified advanced gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma did not improve overall survival among all patients but did so in Asian patients and in those younger than age 60.
An analysis published by Tarazi et al in the <em>Journal of Cancer Survivorship</em> found that even in the landscape before the Affordable Care Act, cancer survivors in states that had already expanded Medicaid coverage prior to passage of the Act had more access to health care than cancer survivors in states that had not expanded Medicaid.
A new analysis published by Tevaarwerk et al in <em>Cancer</em> indicated that many patients continue working after being diagnosed with metastatic cancer, but a heavy burden of symptoms may prevent them from doing so.
In a single-institution retrospective study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Wahl et al found that stereotactic body radiotherapy may provide better freedom from local tumor progression than radiofrequency ablation in patients with inoperable nonmetastatic larger hepatocellular carcinoma.
As reported in <em>The Lancet</em> and at the recent San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, Ganz et al found differences in patient-reported outcomes with adjuvant anastrozole vs tamoxifen in the phase III NSABP B-35 trial in women with ductal carcinoma in situ.
More patients with advanced nonߝsmall cell lung cancer could benefit from pembrolizumab, according to results from the KEYNOTE-010 trial presented by Herbst et al and also published in <em>The Lancet</em>.
Five percent of cancer patients and their families were pushed into poverty in Southeast Asia between March 2012 and September 2013 because of high disease-related costs, a study by Bhoo-Pathy et al showed.
Novel strategies are being explored for difficult-to-treat and advanced head and neck cancer, and encouraging results were presented in two trials by Hsu et al and Tahara et al.
Patients with epidermal growth factor receptor (<em>EGFR</em>)-activating mutations in advanced lung cancer seem to benefit more from afatinib than gefitinib as first-line treatment, Park et al reported.
On December 18, 2015, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration expanded the label for pembrolizumab (Keytruda) to include approval for the treatment of patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma. This expansion now includes the initial treatment of patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma with pembrolizumab.
In a study recently published by Tosteson et al in the <em>Journal of General Internal Medicine</em>, follow-up times after abnormal screening exams were found to be shorter for breast cancer than they were for colorectal and cervical cancers.
In a study published by Sharma et al in <em>The Journal of Urology</em>, researchers found that patients whose self-assessment of mental health was low suffered more high-grade complications in the 30 days following radical cystectomy than patients with higher self-assessments.
In a study reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em> Shain et al identified the order of occurrence of mutations in the progression of melanoma as well as characterized point mutation burden and chromosomal instability during disease evolution.
In an analysis of the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results–Medicare database reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Wang et al found that use of preoperative magnetic resonance imaging was associated with overdiagnosis of contralateral breast cancer among older women with breast cancer.
A recent study proved that multiple small doses of highly focused radiation therapy is safer and more effective than a single larger dose of radiation at destroying pituitary gland tumors. The findings on the use of fractionated stereotactic radiotherapy were published by Barber et al in <em>Neurosurgery</em>.
Researchers from New York University College of Nursing found that patients with breast cancer with a body mass index (BMI) greater than 30 kg/m<sup>2</sup> were at the greatest risk for experiencing lymphedema. Their findings were published by Fu et al in the <em>Journal of Personalized Medicine</em>.
A study by Sacher et al found that younger patients with non–small cell lung cancer are more likely than older patients to have genetic subtypes of the disease that can be treated with available targeted therapies. The findings, which underscore the need for comprehensive genotyping in younger patients with lung cancer, were published in <em>JAMA Oncology.</em>
In a Swedish study reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Grönberg et al found that a screening model including prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and other plasma protein markers, genetic polymorphisms, and clinical variables improved the accuracy of detecting prostate cancer with a Gleason score of at least 7 compared with PSA testing alone in men aged 50–69 years.
Bruce E. Johnson, MD, FASCO, has been elected President of ASCO for the term beginning in June 2017. He will take office as President-Elect during the ASCO Annual Meeting in Chicago in June 2016. Additionally, four new members were elected to the ASCO Board of Directors, as well as three new members to the ASCO Nominating Committee.
A new study led by Johns Hopkins researchers shows wide racial and economic disparities in access to minimally invasive hysterectomies for early uterine cancer in the United States. Their findings were published by Fader et al in <em>Obstetrics and Gynecology</em>.
A report published by Epstein et al in <em>European Urology</em> detailed an alternative system to the traditional Gleason scoring used to assess the likelihood of growth and spread of prostate cancer.
In the phase III HELIOS trial, reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Chanan-Khan et al found that adding ibrutinib to bendamustine/rituximab increased progression-free survival in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia or small lymphocytic lymphoma who relapsed after initial therapy.
Findings from a German phase III trial (ESPATUE), reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Eberhardt et al, indicate similar outcomes with surgery vs definitive concurrent chemoradiotherapy in patients with resectable stage III non–small cell lung cancer after induction chemotherapy and chemoradiotherapy.
Thyroid cancer survivors report poor quality of life after diagnosis and treatment compared with other patients who are diagnosed with more lethal cancers, according to new research published by Aschebrook-Kilfoy et al in the journal <em>Thyroid</em>.
Among patients undergoing major cancer operations, the preoperative use of blood-thinning drugs such as heparin does not increase rates of major bleeding or transfusions and is associated with a decreased risk of blood clots, according to new study results published by Selby et al in the <em>Journal of the American College of Surgeons</em>.
As reported by Murphy et al in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> an analysis of Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results data from patients with stage II or III colorectal cancer indicated that the use of adjuvant chemotherapy in colon cancer declined slightly between 2005 and 2010 and that the use of radiotherapy in stage II or III rectal cancer steadily increased between 1990 and 2010.
In a phase III trial assessing the validity of the Moore clinical prognostic factor scoring system as a tool to identify patients with advanced cervical cancer who may not benefit from bevacizumab, patients at intermediate and high risk of poor outcome gained survival benefit, but the benefit to low-risk patients was small. The study by Tewari et al was published in <em>Clinical Cancer Research.</em>
In a systematic genetic study reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Moriyama et al found that germline <em>ETV6</em> variations identified in a small proportion of children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia were associated with a novel syndrome predisposing carriers to disease.
As reported by Spagnolo et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> women receiving anastrozole in the International Breast Cancer Intervention Study II (IBIS-II) had a higher incidence of carpal tunnel syndrome compared with those receiving placebo.
A class of drugs used increasingly to help fight cancer may have the additional benefit of protecting the kidneys when packaged with the powerful chemotherapy agent cisplatin. These findings were published by Ranganathan et al in <em>Kidney International</em>.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has cleared the first cooling cap to reduce hair loss in female breast cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy for marketing in the United States.
University of Southern California researchers have found that colorectal cancer risk in Californian Latinos varies widely depending on the country of origin. Their study was published by Stern et al in <em>Cancer Causes & Control</em>.
In a retrospective single-center cohort study reported in <em>JAMA Dermatology,</em> Carlos et al identified cutaneous toxicities associated with the use of the BRAF inhibitors dabrafenib and vemurafenib alone or dabrafenib combined with the MEK inhibitor trametinib in patients with metastatic melanoma.
Two studies evaluating the ability of a homologous recombination deficiency test to identify patients with breast cancer who are likely to respond to platinum-containing therapies have found that the test is effective in optimizing therapy selection for patients. The data were presented in two poster sessions by Telli et al and Connolly et al.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today granted accelerated approval to alectinib (Alecensa) for the treatment of patients with anaplastic lymphoma kinase–-positive non–small cell lung cancer who have had disease progression on or are intolerant to crizotinib.
Among women with locally advanced or metastatic hormone receptor–positive breast cancer that was resistant to hormone therapy, those who had mutated <em>PIK3CA</em> detected in their blood benefited from a combination of the investigational PI3K inhibitor buparlisib and fulvestrant, according to data from the phase III BELLE-2 trial presented by Baselga et al.
Responses to tamoxifen were significantly prolonged by reducing levels of the enzyme APOBEC3B in preclinical models of estrogen receptor–positive breast cancer and significantly shortened by increasing levels of APOBEC3B, suggesting that APOBEC3B drives resistance to tamoxifen, according to data presented by Harris et al.
Among patients with HER2-positive, metastatic breast cancer that had progressed despite treatment with two or more forms of HER2-targeted therapy, median overall survival was increased for those treated with ado-trastuzumab emtansine compared with those who received treatment of physician’s choice, according to results from the phase III TH3RESA clinical trial presented by Wildiers et al.
Postmenopausal women with ductal carcinoma in situ had similar outcomes with disease recurrence whether they took tamoxifen or the aromatase inhibitor anastrozole for 5 years after surgery, but women in the two groups had different side effects, according to results from the phase III IBIS-II DCIS clinical trial presented by Cuzick et al.
In a phase II trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Ou et al found that the investigational ALK inhibitor alectinib, which is active against acquired crizotinib resistance mutations and exhibits high CNS penetration, was associated with considerable activity in patients with crizotinib-refractory <em>ALK</em>-positive non–small cell lung cancer.
A new study from The Ottawa Hospital and the University of Ottawa showed that simply repeating abnormal prostate-specific antigen tests can dramatically reduce unnecessary biopsies. It was published by Lavallée et al in <em>Mayo Clinic Proceedings</em>.
In a study reported in <em>JAMA Internal Medicine,</em> Lehman et al found no difference in the diagnostic accuracy of digital screening mammography with vs without computer-aided detection.
Analysis of patient-reported outcomes, a secondary endpoint of the phase III NSABP B-35 clinical trial, in which anastrozole and tamoxifen were compared in postmenopausal women with ductal carcinoma in situ who underwent lumpectomy plus radiotherapy, found that there were no differences in outcomes related to quality of life but some differences in outcomes related to symptoms in the two treatment groups. These findings were presented by Ganz et al.
Patients with stage II or stage III triple-negative breast cancer who had a pathologic complete response after presurgery chemotherapy had increased event-free and overall survival compared with those who had more than minimal residual invasive disease at surgery following presurgery chemotherapy, according to results from the randomized phase II CALGB/Alliance 40603 clinical trial presented by Sikov et al.
A Dutch study comparing 10-year overall survival and disease-free survival in women with early-stage breast cancer following breast-conserving surgery with radiation therapy or mastectomy has found that patients who received breast-conserving therapy were estimated to be 21% more likely to be alive after 10 years than patients who received mastectomy.
A study by Chandarlapaty et al has found that D538G and Y537S estrogen receptor–positive mutations are prevalent among patients with advanced estrogen-positive breast cancer that has progressed after treatment with an aromatase inhibitor. In addition, these patients had a significantly worse median overall survival than women who did not have these mutations.
Among the various guideline-concordant local therapy options available for women with early-stage breast cancer in the United States, mastectomy plus reconstruction had the highest complication rates and complication-related costs for both younger women with private insurance and older women on Medicare and was the most expensive option for younger women.
Premenopausal women whose invasive breast cancers were of the luminal A subtype had comparable 10-year disease-free survival rates, regardless of whether they received adjuvant chemotherapy, according to data from the phase III DBCG77B clinical trial.
Treatment with the chemotherapy agent capecitabine increased disease-free survival for women with HER2-negative breast cancer that was not eliminated by presurgery chemotherapy, according to results from the phase III CREATE-X clinical trial.
Adding denosumab to adjuvant aromatase inhibitor therapy improved disease-free survival in postmenopausal patients with early-stage, hormone receptor–positive breast cancer, according to results from the phase III ABCSG-18 clinical trial.
Systematic collection of cancer patients’ symptoms using computer surveys was linked to less frequent emergency room admissions, longer average chemotherapy adherence, greater quality-of-life improvements, and improved survival, according to a new study by Basch et al published in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
In the phase III NAPOLI-1 trial reported in <em>The Lancet,</em> Wang-Gillam et al found that the addition of nanoliposomal irinotecan to fluorouracil and leucovorin resulted in improved overall survival in patients with metastatic pancreatic ductal cancer who had received gemcitabine-based therapy.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Feldman et al, of the Global Germ Cell Cancer Group, identified prognostic factors in men with brain metastases from germ cell cancer at initial diagnosis or relapse. Overall survival was better in patients with metastases at diagnosis, a greater proportion of whom received chemotherapy.
A first-in-human phase I study of multiple myeloma patients presented by Shah et al combined expanded cord blood-derived natural killer cells with transplantation of a patient’s own stem cells and high-dose chemotherapy, with little or none of the side effects seen with current treatments.
In a phase II trial presented by DeAngelo et al, using a pediatric chemotherapy regimen to treat young adults with acute lymphoblastic leukemia significantly improved their outcomes compared to what has historically been achieved with “adult” treatment protocols.
In a phase I/II study update presented by Plesner et al, daratumumab was shown to be safe and effective in combination with lenalidomide and dexamethasone in patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma.
An experimental immunotherapy known as CTL019 showed high response rates and long-term remissions in acute lymphoblastic leukemia, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, follicular lymphoma, diffuse large B cell lymphoma, and mantle cell lymphoma. The results of two studies detailing these findings were presented by Grupp et al and Schuster et al.
In a European phase III trial (AGO-OVAR 12) reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> du Bois et al found that adding the antiangiogenic multikinase inhibitor nintedanib to carboplatin/paclitaxel in the front-line setting improved progression-free survival in patients with newly diagnosed ovarian cancer.
Depression is a significant predictor of 5-year survival and recurrence in head and neck cancer patients, according to a new study from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. These findings, published by Shinn et al in <em>Psychosomatic Medicine</em>, represent one of the largest reported impacts of depression on cancer survival.
In a nested case-control study in the Women’s Health Initiative Clinical Trial, reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute</em> by Murphy et al, endogenous estrogen levels were inversely associated with and sex hormone–binding globulin levels were positively associated with the risk of colorectal cancer in postmenopausal women.
In a study presented by Moureau et al, ixazomib significantly extended progression-free survival for patients with relapsed and/or refractory multiple myeloma.
Results of a study reported by Sulis et al at showed that prophylactic antibiotic treatment reduced the incidence of infection by approximately 60% in patients with pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia during induction chemotherapy compared to historic controls.
A phase III study presented by Tedeschi et al outlined results from a phase III study of ibrutinib vs chlorambucil in patients 65 years and older with treatment-naive chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic leukemia.
In a phase III study to be presented by Zelenetz et al, idelalisib plus bendamustine and rituximab proved superior to bendamustine/rituximab alone in patients with relapsed/refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
In a phase II study to be presented by Stilgenbauer et al, venetoclax monotherapy induced deep remissions in ultra–high-risk relapsed/refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia with 17p deletion.
In a Spanish phase III trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Martín et al found that invasive disease–free survival was improved with adjuvant epirubicin/cyclophosphamide followed by docetaxel vs epirubicin/docetaxel followed by capecitabine in patients with node-positive early breast cancer. No difference in overall survival was observed.
The rates of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening and diagnosis of early-stage prostate cancer have decreased since a 2012 U.S. Preventive Services Task Force statement recommending against routine PSA screening, according to recent data reported in <em>JAMA.</em>
In a phase III trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Rambaldi et al found that a myeloablative conditioning regimen of busulfan/fludarabine was associated with reduced nonrelapse mortality vs busulfan/cyclophosphamide in patients with acute myeloid leukemia undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.
The results of the randomized Graall-R 2005 study presented by Maury et al at the 57th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting found a new use for rituximab in acute leukemia.
A study presented by Stone et al described a phase III trial of the first targeted therapy for genetically defined subset of patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The findings suggest that midostaurin improves outcomes in younger adults with AML with the <em>FLT3</em> mutation when added to the standard chemotherapy regimen.
Researchers at the University of Iowa College of Dentistry are developing computer simulations that can help personalize cancer care by predicting how a patient will respond to a drug treatment. Their findings were presented by Brogden et al at the 57th American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting.
A study presented by Landier et al examined the common problem of children in remission from acute lymphocytic leukemia not adhering to their maintenance drug regimens, thus putting them at risk of relapse.
Two studies presented at the ASH Annual Meeting examine the common problem of cancer-associated thrombosis. One looked to validate dosing guidelines for avoiding chemotherapy-induced thrombocytopenia, a common autoimmune response to therapy; the second compared self-injection with a pill for the long-term treatment of cancer-associated thrombosis.
A study to be presented by Raetz et al at the 57th American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting examined the potential of using real-time genetic analysis to personalize chemotherapy regimens for children with B-cell lymphocytic leukemia.
Two studies presented at the 57th American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting identified genetic variants in children with acute lymphocytic leukemia that indicate higher risk for debilitating chemotherapy-associated bone damage.
A study to be presented by Abbas Ali et al at the 57th American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting demonstrated promising early outcomes of a first-in-human trial using a patient’s own genetically modified immune cells to eradicate multiple myeloma.
A study presented today by Brudno et al at the 57th American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting was the first clinical trial to use engineered donor immune cells to prevent progressive cancer after stem cell transplantation.
Findings of a systematic review of the benefits and harms of breast cancer screening commissioned by the American Cancer Society to inform its updated guideline on screening in average-risk women were reported in <em>JAMA</em> by Myers et al of the Duke Evidence Synthesis Group.
The American Society of Hematology has released a list of five hematology-related tests and procedures to question based on recommendations from other medical societies taking part in the ABIM Foundation’s Choosing Wisely campaign.
Researchers have identified a potential new approach–in preclinical models–to fertility preservation for young cancer patients that addresses concerns about beginning cancer treatment immediately and the possibility of reintroducing cancer cells during the fertility-preservation process. Results were published by Kniazeva et al in <em>Scientific Reports</em>.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Nudelman et al found that increased chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy symptoms at 1 month after completing treatment for breast cancer was associated with increased cerebral perfusion and increased gray matter density at 1 month.
Results recently published by Fizazi et al in the <em>Annals of Oncology</em> show that treatment with the androgen-lowering drug abiraterone acetate led to longer overall disease control in patients with prostate cancer, even when a very high Gleason score indicated especially aggressive cancer.
A study investigating the relationship between a history of having a false-positive screening mammogram result and the risk of developing breast cancer found that women with a false-positive result had a 39% higher risk of developing breast cancer during 10-year follow-up than women with a true-negative result. The study by Henderson et al was published in <em>Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.</em>
Women with subsolid lung nodules visible on lung cancer screening CT exams face a higher risk of lung cancer than men with similar nodules, according to a new study presented by Boiselle et al at the Annual Meeting of the Radiological Society of North America.
Researchers at the University of Michigan studied human ovarian cancer cells dividing in real time using a microfluidic device, and discovered that cellular division is both hierarchical and stochastic. Their findings were published by Choi et al in <em>PNAS</em>.
As reported by Tournigand et al in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> final analysis of the phase III GERCOR DREAM (OPTIMOX3) trial suggested a benefit of maintenance bevacizumab-erlotinib vs bevacizumab after bevacizumab-based induction therapy in patients with previously untreated metastatic colorectal cancer.
In a phase III trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Gay et al found that progression-free survival was shorter with lenalidomide plus chemotherapy vs high-dose melphalan plus autologous stem cell transplantation in transplant-eligible patients with multiple myeloma, with no significant difference noted for maintenance with lenalidomide plus prednisone vs lenalidomide alone.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Cai et al found intratumoral genetic heterogeneity of <em>ALK</em> rearrangement and coexisting <em>ALK</em> rearrangement and <em>EGFR</em> mutation in lung adenocarcinomas.
A new study by University of California, Los Angeles, researchers has found that less than 5% of men who chose to forgo aggressive prostate cancer treatment were being monitored as closely as they should be, putting them in danger of their cancer progressing or metastasizing without their knowledge. These findings were published by Chamie et al in <em>Cancer</em>.
Breast density may not be a strong independent factor for breast cancer risk, according to a study presented by Katavic et al at the Annual Meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).
Comprehensive molecular characterization of primary papillary renal cell carcinoma, reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em> by The Cancer Genome Atlas Research Network, showed that type 1 and 2 papillary renal cell carcinomas were distinct types of disease based on differences in genetic alterations and that type 2 tumors were further distinguished by subtypes associated with survival differences.
As reported by Scarisbrick et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> a Cutaneous Lymphoma International Consortium study in a large population of patients with advanced-stage mycosis fungoides and Sézary syndrome has identified independent prognostic factors for overall survival that can be used in a prognostic model to distinguish risk groups across clinical stages.
Low-income women in Medicaid expansion states in the United States are more likely to have a breast screening performed than those in nonexpansion states, according to a study by Fazeli Dehkordy et al presented at the Annual Meeting of the Radiological Society of North America.
Postmenopausal African American women who use female hormone supplements containing estrogen and progestin (“combination” therapy) are at an increased risk for estrogen receptor–positive breast cancer, according to a study published by Rosenberg et al in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute</em>.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted approval for elotuzumab (Empliciti) in combination with two other therapies to treat patients with multiple myeloma who have received one to three prior medications.
In a German phase II trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Röllig et al found that the addition of sorafenib to standard therapy improved event-free survival but increased toxicity vs placebo in patients younger than age 60 with newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia.
Additional breast cancers found with magnetic resonance imaging are sometimes larger and potentially more aggressive than those found on mammography, according to a study published by Iacconi et al in <em>Radiology</em>.
University of Southern California researchers have developed a mathematical model to forecast metastatic breast cancer survival rates using techniques usually reserved for weather prediction, financial forecasting, and surfing the Web. Their findings were published by Newton et al in <em>npj Breast Cancer</em>.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Gunter et al found that increased levels of the inflammatory marker C-reactive protein were associated with increased risk of breast cancer in postmenopausal women not using hormone therapy.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved the PD-1 inhibitor nivolumab (Opdivo) as a single agent for the treatment of patients with <em>BRAF</em> V600 wild-type unresectable or metastatic melanoma. The approval is based on data from the phase III CheckMate 066 trial comparing nivolumab with dacarbazine.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved necitumumab (Portrazza) in combination with gemcitabine and cisplatin for first-line treatment of patients with metastatic squamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Necitumumab is not indicated for treatment of nonsquamous NSCLC.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Gentles et al identified a nine-gene molecular prognostic index that improved the overall survival prognostic power of clinical factors in patients with stage I non–small cell lung cancer.
In a meta-analysis reported in </em>JAMA Oncology,</em> Magnan et al found that intermittent androgen-deprivation therapy was noninferior to continuous androgen-deprivation therapy with respect to overall survival in patients with prostate cancer.
A coalition formed by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) to increase colorectal cancer screening rates in New York resulted in a 40% increase in screening rates over 4 years. The program may serve as a foundation for other communities to boost cancer screening rates, according to results published by Itzkowitz et al in <em>Cancer</em>.
A study published by Kenfield et al in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute</em>, which tracked tens of thousands of middle-aged and older men for more than 20 years, has found that vigorous exercise and other healthy lifestyle habits may cut the chances of developing a lethal type of prostate cancer by up to 68%.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved nivolulab (Opdivo) to treat patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma who have received a prior antiangiogenic therapy. Nivolumab is a monoclonal antibody that binds to the PD-1 receptor and blocks its interaction with PD-L1 and PD-L2, releasing PD-1 pathway–mediated inhibition of the immune response.
Results from a study published by Perkins et al in <em>Women’s Health Issues</em> show that power morcellation, a surgical technique that cuts the uterus or fibroid into small pieces in order to extract them from the abdomen through a small incision, may worsen a woman's prognosis if a cancer is morcellated unintentionally.
A new, injectable “biogel” is effective in delivering anticancer agents directly into cancerous tumors and killing them in a laboratory setting. A study on this technology was published by Monette et al in <em>Biomaterials</em>.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Rosenberg et al predicted that the number of new invasive plus in situ breast cancers will increase from approximately 283,000 in 2011 to 441,000 in 2030. The proportion of estrogen receptor–negative cases is expected to decrease by approximately half over this time.
In a phase II study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Catenacci et al found no benefit of adding vismodegib to gemcitabine in patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer.
In a study reported in <em>JAMA Oncology,</em> Miglioretti et al found that diagnosis of breast cancer after biennial vs annual mammography screening was associated with a higher risk of less favorable tumor prognostic characteristics among premenopausal women. They also noted a nonsignificantly higher risk among postmenopausal women receiving hormone therapy and no difference among postmenopausal women not receiving hormone therapy.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted approval for ixazomib (Ninlaro) in combination with lenalidomide and dexamethasone to treat patients with multiple myeloma who have received at least one prior therapy.
In a prospective observational cohort study reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Efficace et al found that a self-reported fatigue score provides independent prognostic information on overall survival in patients with higher-risk myelodysplastic syndromes. Fatigue assessment should be included in routine diagnostic workups and as a stratification factor in future clinical trials in this setting, they urged.
In a retrospective analysis of data from 130 patients with pancreatic cysts, scientists at Johns Hopkins have used gene-based tests and a fixed set of clinical criteria to more accurately distinguish precancerous cysts from those less likely to do harm. A report on the findings was published by Springer et al in <em>Gastroenterology</em>.
A study published by Bradley et al in <em>Breast Cancer Research and Treatment</em> showed that patients with breast cancer whose health insurance plans included prescription drug benefits were 10% more likely to start important hormonal therapy than patients who did not have prescription drug coverage. Moreover, women with a household income below $40,000 were less than half as likely as women with annual household income greater than $70,000 to continue hormonal therapy.
A study analyzing data on biomarkers of exposure to tobacco among smokeless tobacco users compared with cigarette smokers has found that exclusive smokeless tobacco users have higher levels of exposure to nicotine and carcinogenic tobacco-specific nitrosamines than exclusive cigarette smokers. The study by Rostron et al, published in <em>Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention,</em> showed that smokeless tobacco users are at risk for adverse health effects, including cancer.
“Anemia was highly prevalent and independently associated with functional disability” among older adults with cancer, according to an analysis of data conducted by Owusu et al. “Older patients with anemia were more than twice as likely to have functional disability than those without anemia,” the investigators reported in the <em>Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network.</em>
Researchers have found a secreted protein predominantly expressed in bone inhibits prostate cancer metastasis to bone. Their research was published recently in by Hudson et al in <em>PLOS ONE</em>, and by Sebastian et al in <em>Microarrays</em>.
Researchers at UCLA have found that a drug that inhibits a receptor called the colony-stimulating factor-1 receptor, or CSF1R, reduces ascites with minimal side effects. The results of their preclinical study were published by Moughon et al in <em>Cancer Research</em>.
A phase II clinical trial investigating whether a personalized peptide cancer vaccine for patients with platinum-based chemotherapy-resistant metastatic bladder cancer can boost immunity and extend survival has found that the vaccine did result in significant improvement in overall survival, although progression-free survival was not improved. The study results suggest that personalized peptide vaccination might be an important treatment option for advanced bladder cancer after failure of platinum-based regimens. The study by Noguchi et al is published in Clinical Cancer Research.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Johung and colleagues identified factors that distinguished survival rates among patients with <em>ALK</em>-rearranged non–small cell lung cancer and brain metastasis.
Men with prostate cancer who are undergoing radiation therapy can benefit from yoga, researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania reported at the Society for Integrative Oncology’s 12th International Conference.
For patients with kidney failure, poor kidney function and immunosuppressant medications may increase their risk of developing different types of cancer. The findings, which are published by Yanik et al in the <em>Journal of the American Society of Nephrology</em>, suggest the need for persistent cancer screening and prevention in these patients.
Ten-year results of the MOSAIC trial, reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by André et al, show a continued overall survival benefit with adjuvant FOLFOX4 (fluorouracil [5-FU]-leucovorin plus oxaliplatin) vs 5-FU/leucovorin in patients with stage III colon cancer and in the entire population of patients with stage II or III disease, but no benefit in patients with stage II disease.
Patients with rheumatoid arthritis treated with methotrexate had an increased risk of a second nonmelanoma skin cancer, and adding anti–tumor necrosis factor (TNF) may increase that risk, according to results of a retrospective cohort study reported in <em>JAMA Dermatology.</em>
A healthy diet may reduce the risk of ovarian cancer in African American women, according to data presented at the Eighth American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved.
Disparities in colorectal cancer death rates take a large toll on the national economy, with poorer, less-educated communities bearing the greatest burden, according to data presented at the Eighth American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved.
The likelihood of receiving curative-intent surgery for patients with early-stage non–small cell lung cancer varies substantially from state to state, according to data presented at the Eighth American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved.
In a single-institution retrospective analysis reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Tao et al found that use of higher radiotherapy doses was associated with prolonged local control and overall survival in patients with inoperable intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma. Overall survival was markedly prolonged in patients receiving a biologic equivalent dose > 80.5 Gy.
Today the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval for daratumumab (Darzalex) to treat patients with multiple myeloma who have received at least three prior treatments, including a proteasome inhibitor and an immunomodulatory agent, or who are double-refractory to a proteasome inhibitor and an immunomodulatory agent. Daratumumab is the first monoclonal antibody approved for treating multiple myeloma.
A team at The Institute of Cancer Research and The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust developed a blood test that detects mutations to the estrogen receptor gene <em>ESR1</em>, which conveys resistance to hormone treatment, specifically in women treated with aromatase inhibitors. Their findings were published by Schiavon et al in <em>Science Translational Medicine</em>.
Backed by a growing body of research, investigators at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute are calling for all hospitals to establish bereavement programs for families of deceased patients.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved osimertinib for patients whose tumors have a specific epidermal growth factor receptor (<em>EGFR</em>) mutation (T790M) and whose disease has gotten worse after treatment with other EGFR-blocking therapy.
A study in mice suggested that suppressing a cellular plasticity process known as epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, in combination with gemcitabine, may boost the drug's effectiveness in pancreatic cancer. These study findings were published by Zheng et al in <em>Nature</em>.
Researchers suggest that some rare “missense” mutations in the HER2 gene may not be capable of causing breast cancer growth or spread. These findings were published by Zabransky et al in the <em>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</em>.
An analysis of data from 46,803 patients with stage IV non–small cell lung cancer who received palliative chest radiation therapy found that 49% received more than 15 fractions and 28% received more than 25 fractions. This treatment pattern “is inconsistent with the results of published phase III studies,” Matthew Koshy, MD, of the University of Chicago, and colleagues reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
An evaluation of national treatment trends for ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) from 1991 to 2010 and their impact on survival revealed “a substantial shift in locoregional treatment patterns for DCIS,” Mathias Worni, MD, of Duke University Medical Center, Durham North Carolina, and colleagues reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute</em>.
Patients who develop ovarian cancer appear to have better outcomes if they have a history of oral contraceptive use, according to a study by Mayo Clinic researchers published by Jatoi et al in <em>BMC Cancer</em>.
Diets high in meat may lead to an increased risk of developing renal cell carcinoma through intake of carcinogenic compounds created by certain cooking techniques, such as barbecuing and pan-frying, according to a new study published by Melkonian et al in <em>Cancer</em>.
A prediction model created for projecting absolute invasive breast cancer risk in Hispanic women provides a more accurate assessment of their risk of developing breast cancer compared with existing models that are based on data from non-Hispanic women, according to a new study by Banegas et al.
Preliminary evidence from a phase I trial of the first-in-class investigational NEDD8-activating enzyme inhibitor pevonedistat suggests potential activity in heavily pretreated patients with relapsed/refractory lymphoma. The drug was also found to be safe and tolerable. The study by Shah et al is published in <em>Clinical Cancer Research</em>.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved cobimetinib (Cotellic) to be used in combination with vemurafenib to treat metastatic or unresectable melanoma, with the BRAF V600E or V600K mutation.
Job applicants who are cancer survivors are less likely to receive callbacks from potential retail employers than those who did not disclose their health history, according to a study recently published by Martinez et al in the <em>Journal of Applied Psychology</em>.
In new guidelines agreed on by participants at the Advanced Breast Cancer Third International Consensus Conference, experts said patients with advanced breast cancer could achieve complete remission from their disease and long survival if given the most appropriate treatments.
A preclinical study investigating pediatric low-grade gliomas that are driven by CRAF fusion proteins has found that CRAF fusions are distinct from BRAF fusion proteins in terms of responsiveness to targeted therapies. The findings by Jain et al suggest the importance of molecularly stratifying patients with pediatric low-grade gliomas to identify appropriate treatment. The study was presented at the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics, November 5 to 9 in Boston.
In a study reported in <em>JAMA Oncology,</em> Prince et al found that the hospitalization rate among patients receiving systemic therapy for metastatic non–small cell lung cancer was much higher in observational studies vs clinical trials among studies reporting hospitalization rates.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Weigel et al in the Children’s Oncology Group, a strategy of dose intensification and interval compression, use of the most active agents determined in phase II window studies, and use of irinotecan as a radiation sensitizer has been found to produce a remarkable 3-year event-free survival of 69% among patients with metastatic rhabdomyosarcoma and 0 or 1 Oberlin risk factors.
In the ABOUT study reported in <em>JAMA Oncology,</em> Armstrong et al found that the majority of <em>BRCA</em>-tested women in a commercially insured population responding to a questionnaire about their experience had not received genetic counseling from a genetics clinician prior to testing.
In a phase II trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Shah et al in the U.S. Gastric Cancer Consortium found that a modified regimen of docetaxel, cisplatin, and fluorouracil (mDCF) improved toxicity and survival vs a standard DCF regimen plus growth factor support as first-line treatment of metastatic gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma.
In a study published by Murtaza et al in <em>Nature Communications</em>, researchers have reported that analyzing circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) can track how a patient’s cancer evolves and responds to treatment.
Australian scientists have identified a critical molecular “feedback loop” that helps initiate and drive neuroblastoma, as well as a possible drug that may block the very start of the cancer. These findings were published by Carter et al in <em>Science Translational Medicine</em>.
In a Canadian population-based study reported in <em>JAMA Oncology,</em> Arnaout et al found that breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is increasingly used in preoperative evaluation of women with breast cancer and that its use is associated with increased likelihood of confirmatory breast imaging, breast biopsy, imaging to assess for distant metastasis, mastectomy, contralateral prophylactic mastectomy, and longer delay to surgery.
In a phase II trial reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> Mateo et al found that the PARP inhibitor olaparib produced a high response rate in patients with previously treated metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer with tumors exhibiting defects in DNA repair genes.
Investigators at Children's Hospital Los Angeles reported in a recent study that platinum-based chemotherapy may not only impact hearing, but that the hearing loss may then contribute to long-term neurocognitive deficits. The study was published by Orgel et al in <em>Pediatric Blood & Cancer</em>.
A study recently published by Corr et al in the <em>International Journal of Gynecological Cancer</em> shows that the protein cytokeratin 5 (CK5), known to be a marker of poor prognosis in breast cancer, also marks ovarian cancers likely to be resistant to the common chemotherapy cisplatin.
Organizations that issue “damaging messages” about advanced breast cancer need to be identified and educated to change the way they talk about the disease, a patient told the Advanced Breast Cancer Third International Consensus Conference in Lisbon, Portugal, on November 5, 2015. In another presentation, a second leader from a community of American patients with metastatic breast cancer told the conference that the voices of patients needed to be included in discussions about the high costs of second- and third-line treatments for advanced cancer.
The final analysis of a European Dermatologic Cooperative Oncology Group phase III trial, reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Mohr et al, showed that adjuvant intermittent vs standard high-dose intravenous interferon alfa-2b was associated with no difference in overall survival but poorer relapse-free survival in stage III melanoma. Discontinuation of treatment was less common with the intermittent regimen.
Patients with metastatic breast cancer who have higher insulin levels than normal, but are not diabetic, have a significantly worse prognosis compared with those who have normal insulin levels, according to data presented at the Advanced Breast Cancer Third International Consensus Conference.
A phase II study investigating combination biologic therapy with lenalidomide plus rituximab as initial treatment in patients with mantle cell lymphoma has found that 92% of tumors shrank by more than half, and 64% of patients achieved complete remission. In addition, the 2-year progression-free survival rate was estimated to be 85%, and 2-year overall survival was 97%. The study by Ruan et al was published in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em>.
In a Canadian phase III trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Chow et al found that prophylactic dexamethasone reduced the incidence of radiation-induced pain flare compared with placebo in patients receiving palliative radiotherapy for bone metastases.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Renfro et al found that low but not high body mass index was associated with poorer progression-free and overall survival in patients receiving first-line treatment for metastatic colorectal cancer.
In a study reported in a research letter in <em>JAMA Internal Medicine,</em> Kim and Prasad found that few oncology drugs receiving FDA approval on the basis of surrogate endpoints currently have evidence of an overall survival benefit.
Only 1 in 5 patients with pancreatic cancer in the United States receives a widely available, inexpensive blood test at diagnosis that can help predict outcome and guide treatment accordingly, a Mayo Clinic study showed.
Researchers have described costs across the entire care process for low-risk prostate cancer. For the various available treatments, they discovered wide variations in costs that remained consistent over a 12-year period, indicating that a better method for monitoring costs could save valuable health-care dollars.
Two phase III trials, reported in <em>JAMA</em> by Fleshman et al and Stevenson et al, failed to show noninferiority of surgical outcome for laparoscopic vs open resection in patients with rectal cancer.
In a trial reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> Baron et al found that daily vitamin D and calcium supplementation did not reduce recurrence of colorectal adenomas in patients with recently diagnosed adenomas and no known polyps remaining after complete colonoscopy.
A study published by Jatoi et al in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute</em> showed that adjuvant breast cancer therapy benefits can increase and decrease over time.
A research team may have found a reason why the use of antiangiogenesis drugs fails to benefit some breast cancer patients. In a report published by Tolaney et al in <em>PNAS</em>, the investigators describe how preoperative treatment with the antiangiogenic drug bevacizumab primarily benefited patients whose tumors were highly perfused with blood vessels prior to treatment.
In the phase III BEACON trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Perez et al found that etirinotecan pegol was not associated with a significant increase in overall survival compared with physician’s choice of treatment in women with locally recurrent or metastatic breast cancer previously treated with an anthracycline, taxane, and capecitabine. Benefit was observed in some patient subgroups.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Advani et al, the cumulative incidence of cardiac events remained significantly higher at 6 years in breast cancer patients who received adjuvant trastuzumab in the NCCTG N9831/Alliance trial. However, few new congestive heart failure cases were observed since the last update at 3.75 years.
A study by Sotillo et al investigating the resistance to CD19 CAR T-cell immunotherapy in pediatric patients with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia has found that the resistance can be caused by CD19 splicing alterations, which result in the loss of certain parts of the CD19 protein that are recognized by the CAR T cells. The study is published in <em>Cancer Discovery</em>.
Researchers have discovered a gene associated with Cowden syndrome, an inherited condition that carries high risks of thyroid, breast, and other cancers, and a subset of noninherited thyroid cancers. Therese findings were published by Yehia et al in the <em>American Journal of Human Genetics</em>.
Cologuard stool DNA testing for colorectal cancer was found to be an accurate noninvasive screening option for Alaska Native people, a population with one of the world's highest rates of colorectal cancer, concluded researchers from the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium and Mayo Clinic.
In a population-based study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Corso and colleagues found that chemoradiotherapy was associated with an overall survival benefit vs chemotherapy in elderly patients with limited-stage small cell lung cancer.
Researchers investigating the role of exosomes in the development of cancer metastasis have found that an “exosomal protein signature” could identify patients at risk for metastasis and where the cancer is likely to spread. Their findings could provide a way to predict organ-specific metastasis and help oncologists tailor therapies to halt cancer spread. The study by Hoshino et al is published in <em>Nature</em>.
A new report published by the American Cancer Society finds that the incidence of breast cancer among African American women is increasing and is now on par with the incidence of breast cancer rates in white women. The increase was significantly higher in seven states, primarily located in the South. The findings are published in <em>CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians</em> and in <em>Breast Cancer Facts & Figures 2015-2016</em>.
A new study in mice by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center has found that a specialized type of immunotherapy—even when used without chemotherapy or radiation—can boost survival from pancreatic cancer by more than 75%. The study was published by Stromnes et al in <em>Cancer Cell</em>.
Regular physical activity could play a role in helping women at high risk of breast cancer delay the need for drastic preventive measures such as prophylactic mastectomy, according to new research published by Schmitz et al in <em>Breast Cancer Research and Treatment</em>.
In a UK-based phase III trial (AML17) reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Burnett et al found that a chemotherapy-free regimen of arsenic trioxide plus all-<em>trans</em> retinoic acid (ATRA) did not improve quality of life, the primary endpoint, vs ATRA plus idarubicin in patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia in all risk groups. ATRA/arsenic trioxide was associated with reduced risk of relapse, but overall survival did not differ between groups.
As reported by King et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> 29-year longitudinal experience at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center indicates an annual 2% risk of breast cancer in women with lobular carcinoma in situ. Risk was reduced with chemoprevention.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has expanded the approved use of ipilimumab (Yervoy) to include a new use as adjuvant therapy for patients who have cutaneous melanoma with pathologic involvement of regional lymph nodes of more than 1 mm and have undergone complete resection, including total lymphadenectomy.
In the phase III TELESTAR study presented at the 2015 European Cancer Congress, telotristat etiprate was shown to have clinical benefit in treating carcinoid syndrome in cancer patients not adequately controlled by long-acting somatostatin analog therapy, the current standard of care.
In a new study published by Arafeh et al in <em>Nature Genetics</em>, a Weizmann Institute of Science team has discovered that a tumor-suppressor gene, RASA2, is associated with reduced survival in a particularly deadly subset of melanomas.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the biologics license application for talimogene laherparepvec (Imlygic), a genetically modified oncolytic viral therapy indicated for the local treatment of unresectable cutaneous, subcutaneous and nodal lesions in patients with melanoma recurrent after initial surgery. This is the first oncolytic viral therapy approved by the FDA based on therapeutic benefit demonstrated in a pivotal study.
A multivariable analysis of clinical factors associated with tamoxifen use among premenopausal women with hormone receptor–positive breast cancer showed that fertility preservation was a significant factor and “the only predictor of both noninitiation and early cessation” of tamoxifen.
Estrogen-mimicking chemicals called parabens, which are commonly found in an array of personal care products, may be more dangerous at lower doses than previously thought, according to a new study. The findings, published by Pan et al in <em>Environmental Health Perspectives</em>, could have implications for the development of breast cancer and other diseases that are influenced by estrogens.
In a phase II trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Motzer et al found that the combination of the multiߝtyrosine kinase inhibitor lenvatinib plus the mTOR inhibitor everolimus significantly improved progression-free survival vs everolimus alone in patients with metastatic clear-cell renal cell carcinoma who had received VEGF-targeted therapy. A nonsignificant increase was observed with the combination vs lenvatinib alone.
In a multi-institutional phase II trial (ACOSOG Z6041) reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Garcia-Aguilar et al found that neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy and local excision was associated with an acceptable disease-free survival rate, albeit not so high as anticipated, in patients with clinical stage T2,N0 distal rectal cancer.
In a new policy statement published in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, ASCO has called for comprehensive physician payment reform to support the full scope of services required by patients with cancer, rather than jeopardizing patient outcomes by reducing the available resources in a particular cancer care setting in an effort to achieve "site neutrality" in reimbursement for oncology services.
Hypofractionated radiation therapy results in similar rates of cure and side effects compared to a longer treatment schedule for some men with low-risk prostate cancer, according to research presented by Lee et al.
For men with prostate cancer who have had a prostatectomy and salvage radiation therapy, analyzing their tumor genome provides clues as to whether their cancer will metastasize, according to research presented by Den et al.
Outcomes for pediatric patients with ependymoma who are treated with immediate postoperative radiation therapy are favorable and consistent, based upon tumor surgical resection and tumor grade, according to research presented by Merchant et al.
Prostate cancer patients who face recurrence after radical prostatectomy have better overall survival rates with a combination of salvage radiation therapy and 24 months of antiandrogen therapy than with radiation therapy alone, according to research presented by Shipley et al.
A new analysis by Zajacova et al published in <em>CANCER</em> indicates that when American adults are diagnosed with cancer, they experience significant decreases in the probability of working, in the number of hours they work, and correspondingly, in their incomes.
The National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship (NCCS) recently hosted a reception in Washington, DC, to honor Richard Pazdur, MD, and Ellen Goodman.
In a UK phase II trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Symonds et al found that the addition of the VEGFR1, -2, and -3 inhibitor cediranib to carboplatin/paclitaxel improved progression-free survival in patients with metastatic or relapsed cervical cancer. The addition of cediranib was also associated with greater toxicity.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved the chemotherapy drug trabectedin (Yondelis) for the treatment of specific soft-tissue sarcomas—liposarcoma and leiomyosarcoma—that are unresectable or metastatic. This treatment is approved for patients who previously received chemotherapy that contained an anthracycline.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Stewart-Merrill et al at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, have developed an approach to determining surveillance duration that attempts to balance risk of recurrence vs risk of non–renal cell carcinoma death after resection for renal cell carcinoma.
Margaret Foti, PhD, MD (hc), CEO of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), issued a statement regarding Vice President Joe Biden’s call for a “moon shot” to end cancer. She applauded proposed increases in funding for cancer research in order to build on recent advances in treatment.
Long-term patient-reported outcomes indicate that for some men with localized prostate cancer, hypofractionated intensity-modulated radiation therapy may be a reasonable treatment option and result in similar quality-of-life outcomes, compared to conventional radiation therapy, according to research presented by Shaikh et al.
Patients with intermediate meningiomas treated with radiation therapy after surgery experienced a 96% 3-year progression-free survival rate and had minimal adverse events, according to research presented by Rogers et al.
A long-term follow-up of RTOG 9202 indicated that for patients with locally advanced prostate cancer, an additional 24 months of long-term androgen-deprivation therapy after radiation therapy plus short-term androgen-deprivation therapy improved disease-free survival by 60%, compared to patients who only received radiation therapy plus short-term androgen-deprivation therapy, according to research presented by Lawton et al.
For patients with locally advanced esophageal cancer that has spread to the lymph nodes, radiation therapy that targets only the involved lymph node regions results in less toxicity without causing a statistically significant difference in locoregional lymph node recurrence, distant failure, and overall survival rates, according to research presented by Li et al.
A nationwide online survey of 776 primary care physicians assessing the quality of their human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine recommendations to parents has found that 27% of physicians do not strongly endorse HPV vaccination, and 26% and 39% reported that they do not provide timely recommendations for vaccinating girls and boys, respectively. These practices, according to the study, likely contribute to underimmunization among adolescents and may convey ambivalence to parents.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved irinotecan liposome injection (Onivyde), in combination with fluorouracil and leucovorin, to treat patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer who have been previously treated with gemcitabine-based chemotherapy.
For high-risk patients who receive chemoradiotherapy for head and neck cancer, frequent follow-up appointments conducted by advance practice nurses in a clinical outpatient setting allowed for more intensive symptom management, resulting in fewer post-treatment emergency room visits and hospital admissions, according to results presented by Harr et al.
For cervical cancer patients undergoing postsurgical radiation therapy, image-guided intensity-modulated radiation therapy resulted in a 14% reduction in moderate-to-severe bowel side effects when compared to conventional three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy, according to research presented by Chopra et al.
A collaborative, patient-reported outcome–based approach by palliative care and radiation oncology teams results in better outpatient symptom management and a decrease in end-of-life hospitalizations and costs for late-stage cancer patients, according to research presented by Read et al.
Patients with stage III non–small cell lung cancer who receive intensity-modulated radiation therapy have 44% fewer cases of severe pneumonitis and an improved likelihood of completing consolidative chemotherapy after radiation, compared to patients who receive three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy, according to research presented by Chun et al.
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network has unveiled its new value initiative—the NCCN Evidence Blocks, published within new versions of the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology.
In a German noninferiority phase III trial (AIO 0207) reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>, Hegewisch-Becker et al found that maintenance treatment with bevacizumab was noninferior to fluoropyrimidine/bevacizumab in time to maintenance strategy failure following first-line treatment with oxaliplatin/fluoropyrimidine/bevacizumab in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer. Progression-free survival was significantly longer with fluoropyrimidine/bevacizumab maintenance.
After commissioning a systematic evidence review of the breast cancer screening literature, the American Cancer Society (ACS) released new guidelines for breast cancer screening for women at average risk of breast cancer. The recommendations include yearly screening mammography starting at age 45 and biennial screenings for women aged 55 and older, continuing as long as their overall health is good and they have a life expectancy of 10 years or longer. The ACS is also no longer recommending clinical breast exams or self-exams.
For some early-stage breast cancer patients, accelerated partial-breast irradiation using multicatheter brachytherapy following breast-conserving surgery may be as effective as the current standard treatment—whole-breast irradiation—in terms of local control, disease-free survival, and overall survival rates, according to research presented by Strnad et al at the American Society of Radiation Oncology’s 57th Annual Meeting.
The steroid dexamethasone reduces radiation-induced pain flare in cancer patients with painful bone metastases, according to research presented by Chow et al at the American Society of Radiation Oncology’s 57th Annual Meeting.
For some patients with HPV-related cancer of the tonsils and tongue, reduced-intensity radiation therapy and chemotherapy may be as effective as standard-dose radiation and chemotherapy, and result in fewer acute side effects, according to research presented by Chera et al at the American Society of Radiation Oncology’s 57th Annual Meeting.
Immunotherapy combined with palliative radiation therapy for a subset of patients with metastatic melanoma reduces the growth and spread of the cancer, according to research presented by Hiniker et al at the American Society for Radiation Oncology’s 57th Annual Meeting.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Allegra et al, ASCO has issued a provisional clinical opinion update on extended <em>RAS</em> mutation testing in metastatic colorectal cancer to predict response to anti-EGFR monoclonal antibody treatment.
The potential risks and harms of low-dose computed tomography lung cancer screening in current 20 to 29 pack-year smokers needs to be assessed before recommending such screening to this group, according to a study published by Pinsky and Kramer in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute</em>.
In a UK phase III noninferiority trial reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Hoskin et al found similar effects of single-dose ibandronate and single-dose radiotherapy on localized metastatic bone pain in patients with prostate cancer.
Researchers at King's College London have investigated a new method that could be used by general practitioners to quickly determine the number of moles on the entire body by counting the number found on a smaller “proxy” body area. These findings were published by Ribero et al in the <em>British Journal of Dermatology</em>.
Pfizer announced that the investigational antibody-drug conjugate inotuzumab ozogamicin received Breakthrough Therapy designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
Researchers have discovered details of the abnormal molecular signals and biologic events that drive a high-risk form of the childhood cancer neuroblastoma. The study was published by Schnepp et al in <em>Cancer Cell</em>.
A study has linked the immunosuppressive drug mycophenolate mofetil to an increased risk of central nervous system lymphoma in solid organ transplant patients. But the same study also found that another class of immunosuppressive drugs, calcineurin inhibitors, given alone or in combination with mycophenolate mofetil, appears to protect transplant patients against this rare form of lymphoma. These findings were published by Crane et al in <em>Oncotarget</em>.
A survey exploring the relationship between spiritual support and end-of-life care by evaluating clergy members’ opinions and experiences related to care provided to congregants at the end of their life has found that a majority of clergy endorse religious beliefs regarding their congregants medical care. These beliefs, according to the study survey, are associated with greater ICU care in their congregants’ final days.
A study to examine racial disparities in end-of-life care among black and white patients dying of prostate cancer found that “significant racial disparities in [end-of-life] care" do exist. Diagnostic and therapeutic interventions were less frequent in black patients with end-stage disease, but the rate of high-intensity and aggressive end-of-life care was higher. Abdollah et al reported the findings in the <em>Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network</em>.
In a letter to <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> Hamadani et al described near-complete and complete responses with the Bruton’s tyrosine kinase inhibitor ibrutinib in two heavily pretreated patients with classic Hodgkin lymphoma.
Among children with intermediate-risk rhabdomyosarcoma that is negative for a fusion gene, those who had a high score for a specific gene signature called MG5 had poorer survival outcomes compared with those who had a low MG5 score, according to a study published by Hingorani et al in <em>Clinical Cancer Research</em>.
A study from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania has identified an association between two microbial signatures (one predominantly viral, the other predominantly bacterial) and triple-negative breast cancer. The work was published by Banerjee et al in <em>Scientific Reports</em>.
As reported by Falini et al in a letter to <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> dactinomycin treatment resulted in morphologic and molecular complete remission ongoing at 14 months in a patient with <em>NPM1</em>-mutant acute myeloid leukemia (AML).
An analysis of whole exome sequencing data from 538 patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) has identified 44 recurrently mutated genes and 11 recurrent somatic copy number variations, including two previously unrecognized putative cancer drivers, <em>RPS15</em> and <em>IKZF3</em>. The discovery is allowing researchers to chart the evolutionary path of CLL and may help inform prognosis and therapy. The study by Landau et al is published in <em>Nature</em>.
Badly designed preclinical studies may lead to the efficacy of cancer drugs being overestimated and money being wasted on further trials that prove fruitless, according to a study published by Henderson et al in <em>eLife</em>.
A study published by Zhang et al in <em>Cancer</em> revealed that cancer survivors are more likely to have a poorer diet according to federal nutrition guidelines than those with no history of cancer.
In a Danish-Swedish population-based study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> El-Galaly et al found that routine imaging for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma in patients in first complete remission does not improve post-treatment survival.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Ambrosone et al found that risk of estrogen receptor–negative breast cancer was reduced with later age at menarche in both parous and nulliparous African American women. Greater interval between menarche and first live birth was more clearly associated with increased risk for estrogen receptor–positive than risk for estrogen receptor–negative disease.
A new study has found that antioxidants can double the rate of melanoma metastasis in mice. The results reinforce previous findings that antioxidants hasten the progression of lung cancer. These findings were published by Le Gal et al in <em>Science Translational Medicine</em>.
Despite the availability of accelerated partial-breast irradiation, the percentage of early-stage breast cancer patients who could benefit from the radiation treatment is not increasing. The findings were published by Yao and Recht in the <em>American Journal of Surgery</em>.
In a letter to <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> Ransohoff et al describe genetic evidence of phenotype switching from basal cell to squamous cell carcinoma in a patient receiving vismodegib for basal cell carcinoma.
Results of the phase III AHT trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Eeles et al suggest that adjuvant hormone therapy may improve survival in women with epithelial ovarian cancer. The trial, started in 1990, was stopped early due to low recruitment.
New research has shown that in bone marrow transplantation, half-matched donor recipients do just as well as fully matched recipients, in the first apples-to-apples comparison of these strategies. This could be a major advance for minorities and others without access to fully matched donors, according to Gaballa et al, who published their study in <em>Biology of Blood and Marrow Transplantation</em>.
In an article published by Barth et al in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute</em>, researchers from the German Cancer Research Center have shown how immunoCRIT levels may affect cancer risk.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved nivolumab (Opdivo) to treat patients with metastatic nonsquamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose disease progressed during or after platinum-based chemotherapy. Nivolumab is a monoclonal antibody that that blocks the PD-1/PD-L1 cellular pathway.
As reported by Solin et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> 12-year results from the ECOG-ACRIN E5194 trial indicate that among women with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) with low-risk clinical and pathologic characteristics, surgical excision without radiation therapy was associated with ipsilateral breast invasive recurrence in 7.5% of those with low- or intermediate-grade DCIS and 13.4% of those with high-grade DCIS. Risk increased over time, with no plateau observed.
In a study reported in <em>The Lancet,</em> Smyth et al found that alcohol consumption was associated with increased risk of cancer at sites known to be related to alcohol consumption, with evidence of increased risk being found in both higher- and lower-income countries.
Surgical removal of melanoma that has metastasized to the abdomen appears to help patients live more than twice as long as those who receive only medical therapy, according to study results presented at the 2015 Clinical Congress of the American College of Surgeons.
As time lapses, many patients who have undergone a colonoscopy become less and less likely to recall when and where they last had the procedure performed, who the doctor was who performed it, whether polyps were found, and, if so, the number and size of those polyps, according to new study results presented at the 2015 Clinical Congress of the American College of Surgeons.
In a phase IIb trial reported in <em>The Lancet,</em> Trimble et al found that a therapeutic synthetic vaccine (VGX-3100) targeting human papillomavirus (HPV) 16 and 18 E6 and E7 proteins increased the frequency of regression of HPV-16/18–related cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 2/3 vs placebo.
In an analysis reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Ligibel et al found that body mass index (BMI) at diagnosis was independently prognostic for recurrence-free and overall survival in women with early-stage node-positive breast cancer who received doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide, and paclitaxel dosed by actual body weight in the CALGB 9741/Alliance trial.
A team of surgeons is in the nascent stages of developing a more targeted, less toxic method of treating neuroblastoma patients with chemotherapy. Their research results were presented at the 2015 Clinical Congress of the American College of Surgeons.
For younger women with early-stage, noninherited breast cancer on one side, a unilateral mastectomy leads to a slightly higher quality of life and lower costs over the next 20 years compared with contralateral prophylactic mastectomy, according to new study results presented at the 2015 Annual Clinical Congress of the American College of Surgeons.
In a systematic review and network meta-analysis reported in <em>JAMA Oncology,</em> Fujii et al found that sequential anthracycline-cyclophosphamide and taxane appears to be the most effective adjuvant regimen in early-stage breast cancer in terms of association with overall survival and toxicity.
In a noninferiority phase III trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Roa et al found no difference in overall survival, progression-free survival, or quality of life between short-course and longer-course radiotherapy in elderly or frail patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma multiforme.
As reported by Garfall et al in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em>, a patient with refractory multiple myeloma who had undergone prior autologous stem cell transplantation and multiple lines of therapy exhibited a complete response to a second autologous transplantation followed by infusion of anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor T cells. The response was observed despite the absence of CD19 expression in neoplastic cells.
All relatives of individuals with colorectal cancer are at increased risk for this cancer, regardless of the age of diagnosis of the index patient in the family, according to a study published by Samadder et al in <em>Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology</em>.
In a study by Truong et al published in <em>JAMA Pediatrics</em>, researchers from Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center found Hispanic children and children who lived in disadvantaged areas were more likely to lose an eye due to late retinoblastoma diagnosis. White children and children living in areas with a higher socioeconomic status were more likely to have been diagnosed early enough for physicians to preserve their eye and vision.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved an expanded indication for the Optune tumor treating fields device to treat patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma multiforme. It is given along with the chemotherapy drug temozolomide following standard treatments that include surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy.
ASCO and the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine released a new guidance statement that identifies services that constitute high-quality primary palliative care as delivered by medical oncology practices aimed at improving patient comfort and quality of life. Most of the recommendations pertain to symptom assessment and management, communication, shared decision-making, and advance care planning.
As reported in <em>JAMA Internal Medicine</em> by Toledo et al, a large Spanish primary prevention nutrition intervention trial in patients at high cardiovascular risk (PREDIMED) showed a large reduction in risk for invasive breast cancer among women 60 to 80 years of age who were randomly assigned to the Mediterranean diet supplemented with extra-virgin olive oil.
An innovative service model that partners radiation oncology with palliative care leads to better results for patients, according to a new analysis to be presented at the 2015 Palliative Care in Oncology Symposium.
Answering the question, “Would you be surprised if this patient died within the next year?” was a more accurate predictor of which patients with cancer may be in their final year of life than other variables such as cancer type or stage alone. Known as the “Surprise Question,” this simple tool correctly identified about 60% of patients who died within 1 year, according to a study by Vick et al. The study is being presented at the 2015 Palliative Care in Oncology Symposium.
The effectiveness of antiretroviral therapy in the treatment of patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has prolonged lives and resulted in cancer becoming increasingly common in this population, especially Kaposi sarcoma, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and lung cancer, according to a study by Silverberg et al. The study findings suggest that people with HIV may benefit from increased cancer screening and prevention efforts. The study is published in Annals of Internal Medicine.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> ASCO has endorsed the current American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP) guideline on treatment of small cell lung cancer.
In a randomized phase IIb trial reported in <em>JAMA Oncology,</em> Chawla et al found that aldoxorubicin—a novel albumin-binding prodrug of doxorubicin—produced longer progression-free survival than doxorubicin as first-line treatment for metastatic or locally advanced unresectable soft-tissue sarcoma.
In a pilot study reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> Tefferi et al found that imetelstat, which targets the RNA template of telomerase reverse transcriptase, produced responses in patients with myelofibrosis.
Almost half of patients with advanced lung cancer receive more than the recommended number of radiation treatments to reduce their pain, according to a new study published by Koshy et al in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute</em>.
In a study published by Modesitt et al in <em>Gynecologic Oncology</em>, obese women who underwent bariatric surgery experienced an elimination of precancerous uterine growths, which usually lead to the development of endometrial cancer.
On October 2, 2015, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted accelerated approval for pembrolizumab (Keytruda) to treat patients with metastatic non–small cell lung cancer whose disease has progressed after other treatments and with tumors that express programmed cell death-ligand 1 (PD-L1).
A prospective study of guideline-based, postoperative, image-guided intensity-modulated radiation therapy in patients with prostate cancer found low toxicity profiles and favorable patient-reported quality of life following treatment. The research was published by Berlin et al in <em>Practical Radiation Oncology</em>.
In a recent report of single-institution experience in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Kasamon et al found that nonmyeloablative-related HLA-haploidentical blood or marrow transplantation followed by high-dose cyclophosphamide produced good outcomes in patients aged 50 to 75 years with hematologic malignancies.
The latest results from the COMBI-v phase III trial, which tested dabrafenib and trametinib combination therapy in advanced melanoma, have shown that patients are living significantly longer on the combined therapy than those treated with vemurafenib.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Keenan et al found that African American women with breast cancer had greater intratumor genetic heterogeneity, a higher frequency of TP53 mutation, and a higher risk for basal tumors compared with white women, with the characteristics suggesting more aggressive tumor biology.
According to results from a phase Ib study presented at the Congress, the anti–PD-1 therapy pembrolizumab may be effective as monotherapy in patients with advanced unresectable nasopharyngeal carcinoma whose tumors express programmed cell death-ligand 1 (PD-L1).
Results from the phase II IMvigor 210 study, focused on atezolizumab in locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma, were presented at the Congress.
On September 30, 2015, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted accelerated approval to nivolumab (Opdivo) in combination with ipilimumab (Yervoy) for the treatment of patients with BRAF V600 wild-type, unresectable, or metastatic melanoma.
A small phase Ia clinical trial investigating whether depleting immune cells called Tregs with KW-0761, a humanized anti-CCR4 monoclonal antibody, in patients with lung or esophageal cancer has found that the therapy dramatically reduced the number of Tregs in the blood of the patients and generated a possible immune response. The study by Kurose et al is published in <em>Clinical Cancer Research</em>.
Results from the European Registration of Cancer Care (EURECCA) study, which compared the treatment patterns of 119,125 patients aged 70 and older in Belgium, Ireland, the Netherlands, Portugal, Poland, and the United Kingdom diagnosed with nonmetastatic breast cancer between 2000 and 2014, have shown substantial differences in the use of surgery, hormone therapy, and chemotherapy among European countries.
A chronic underinvestment in radiotherapy resources, and a plan to distribute them worldwide over the next 20 years, was described in a major new Commission on access to radiotherapy, published by Atun et al in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> and presented at the Congress.
Results from the NETTER-1 phase III trial of lutetium Lu-177 dotatate show a marked improvement in the length of time patients with midgut neuroendocrine tumors experience progression-free survival, researchers reported.
An international team of researchers has shown that the use of the mTOR inhibitor everolimus can delay tumor growth among both gastrointestinal and lung neuroendocrine tumors.
A new study in <em>The American Journal of Pathology</em> found patients whose primary gastric cancer lesions express high levels of miR-506 have significantly longer survival times compared to patients with low miR-506 expression and that miR-506 suppresses tumor growth, blood vessel formation, and metastasis.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute</em>, Sundström et al found that women co-infected with high-risk and low-risk human papilloma virus (HPV) had reduced risk of squamous cervical cancer, but not cancer in situ, compared with women with high-risk HPV infection alone.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Landier et al found that education tailored to personal risk of therapy-related complications improved risk awareness in survivors of childhood cancer. The level of awareness appeared to reach a maximum after several educational sessions.
A study published by Forero-Torres et al in <em>Blood</em> reported that brentuximab vedotin is an effective and safe first course of treatment for older patients with Hodgkin lymphoma who are unfit for chemotherapy.
Results from a phase I trial of the novel agent rovalpituzumab tesirine (Rova-T, or S16LD6.5) in 79 patients with small cell lung cancer who had progressed after first-line or second-line therapy were presented at the 2015 European Cancer Congress.
A study of 129 children between the ages of 1 and 3 born after prenatal exposure to cancer treatment showed normal development of their mental processes and heart function when compared with a matching group of children from the general population. These findings were presented at the 2015 European Cancer Congress.
Living in overcrowded conditions appears to protect children and young adults against developing a particular type of Hodgkin lymphoma. This protective effect seems to suggest that infections earlier in life may stimulate the immune system to deal with future infections and cancerous cells more efficiently, said researchers who presented the findings at the 2015 European Cancer Congress.
Researchers have found genetic differences in the tumors of younger and older patients with colorectal cancer, according to results presented at the 2015 European Cancer Congress.
Researchers have found that the primary cancer in a patient’s body has important differences at a genetic level from brain metastases. This insight could suggest new lines of treatment, according to research presented at the 2015 European Cancer Congress.
In the phase III RADIANT trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Kelly et al found no disease-free survival improvement with adjuvant erlotinib vs placebo in patients with EGFR-expressing stage IB to IIIA non–small cell lung cancer. However, there was evidence of erlotinib benefit among patients with activating EGFR mutations.
A study among patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer treated with carboplatin-paclitaxel or carboplatin-paclitaxel-bevacizumab found that those receiving the bevacizumab combination were more likely to experience a toxicity event but were less likely to be hospitalized within 180 days after the start of chemotherapy. The findings were reported by Carroll et al in the <em>Journal of Oncology Practice</em>.
In research presented at the 2015 European Cancer Congress and published in <em>Annals of Oncology</em>, Lambertini et al explained that the addition of a so-called luteinizing hormone–releasing hormone analog during chemotherapy may increase the chances of pregnancy after breast cancer treatment.
Over 80% of the 15 million people diagnosed with cancer worldwide in 2015 will need surgery, but less than one-quarter of them will have access to proper, safe, affordable surgical care when they need it, according to new findings published by Sullivan et al in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> and at the 2015 European Cancer Congress.
According to results from a large Netherlands-based study, aspirin improved survival in patients with tumors situated throughout the gastrointestinal tract.
A report from the European Society for Pediatric Oncology, presented at the 2015 European Cancer Congress, outlined a plan to improve both the cure rate and the quality of life for survivors of childhood cancers over the forthcoming 10 years.
Achieving universal cervical cancer screening every 3 years with cytologic testing and diagnostic follow-up yielded the greatest health gains compared with current practice, justifying the additional costs incurred, according to the findings of a population-based, cost-effective analysis by Kim et al. The study was published in <em>Annals of Internal Medicine</em>.
Patients with cancers of the mid and lower throat may have higher survival rates if their initial treatment includes surgery, according to new research presented at the 2015 European Cancer Congress.
The targeted drug nivolumab significantly prolonged survival in patients with advanced kidney cancer whose disease had progressed after their first treatment, according to the results of the CheckMate 025 trial.
Comparisons of cancer patients’ survival and care in Europe up to 2007 showed that although more patients are surviving for at least 5 years after diagnosis, there are large variations among countries, which are particularly significant in cancers of the blood.
Patients with advanced kidney cancer lived for nearly twice as long without their disease progressing if they were treated with cabozantinib, according to results of the phase III METEOR trial.
Although most patients with breast cancer are cured after treatment, in about one in five patients, cancer will recur. In a new study, researchers have discovered genetic factors differentiating breast cancers that recur from those that do not.
Researchers recently discovered the desmoplasmic melanoma may possess the highest burden of gene mutations of any cancer and that one of these mutations, never before observed in any cancer, may shield tumors from destruction by the immune system. These findings were published by Shain et al in <em>Nature Genetics</em>.
In a phase I/II study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Corcoran et al found that the combination of the BRAF inhibitor dabrafenib and the MEK inhibitor trametinib produced responses in some patients with <em>BRAF</em> V600–mutant metastatic colorectal cancer. MAPK signaling was reduced with treatment but to a smaller degree than that observed in <em>BRAF</em> V600–mutant melanoma treated with dabrafenib alone.
A phase III study by Borghaei et al evaluating the efficacy and safety of nivolumab vs docetaxel in patients with advanced nonsquamous non–small cell lung cancer after failure of platinum-based chemotherapy has found that nivolumab improved overall survival. The study was presented at the European Cancer Congress 2015 in Vienna, Austria, and was published in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em>.
In a randomized phase II trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Hurwitz et al found no significant survival benefit of adding ruxolitinib to capecitabine in patients with advanced pancreatic adenocarcinoma who had treatment failure with gemcitabine. However, a preplanned analysis indicated benefit among patients with evidence of higher systemic inflammation.
Overall survival data from a phase II study, reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Ellis et al, suggest a benefit of first-line fulvestrant vs anastrozole in postmenopausal women with estrogen receptor–positive advanced breast cancer. The study protocol was amended to include overall survival analysis only after time to progression results had been analyzed.
By conducting a large-scale search for regulators of the signaling pathway PI3K/AKT, researchers at Whitehead Institute and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center have implicated the protein RAB35 in the oncogenic process. Their findings were published by Wheeler et al in the journal <em>Science</em>.
A phase III Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) trial (E1A060) comparing melphalan, prednisone, and thalidomide with melphalan, prednisone, and lenalidomide in elderly patients with untreated multiple myeloma found that at the end of the induction period, patients receiving the lenalidomide combination had “a statistically superior” quality of life. There were no statistical or clinically relevant differences in response rates, progression-free survival, or overall survival.
Patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma treated with tyrosine kinase inhibitors in real-world clinical practice tend to be older and sicker than the patients enrolled in pivotal trials of these targeted therapies. Conversely, patients treated with the mTOR inhibitor temsirolimus in the real-world setting also were older than those in the pivotal clinical trial but more likely to have favorable disease risk factors. Applying clinical trial results to dissimilar patient populations could result in harm, according to a study in the <em>Journal of Oncology Practice</em>.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Tosoian et al, a prospective active surveillance program resulted in good intermediate/longer-term outcomes in men with favorable-risk prostate cancer.
In an interim analysis of the phase III PROLONG trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, van Oers et al found that maintenance therapy with ofatumumab prolonged progression-free survival vs observation in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia in complete or partial remission after second- or third-line treatment.
A study published by Gabitova et al in <em>Cell Reports</em> reveals that deficiency in the enzymes SC4MOL and NSDHL depletes cancer cells of cholesterol, thereby inhibiting tumor growth in a mouse model of skin cancer. Moreover, treatments that target this cholesterol pathway sensitize cancer cells to the effects of erlotinib.
A new retrospective analysis explored local recurrence rates for women with ductal carcinoma in situ treated between 1978 and 2010. In the research by Van Zee et al, to be presented at the 2015 Breast Cancer Symposium in San Francisco later this week, investigators evaluated a prospectively maintained database of 2,996 women who underwent breast-conserving surgery at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
In a study to be presented at the 2015 Breast Cancer Symposium, researchers conducted a retrospective analysis of the effect of adjuvant radiation therapy on survival of elderly women with early-stage triple-negative breast cancer who underwent lumpectomy using the SEER database.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Ligibel et al, ASCO has issued a statement providing recommendations for obesity clinical trials in cancer survivors.
In a phase III trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Demetri et al found that treatment with trabectedin significantly improved progression-free survival vs dacarbazine in patients with advanced liposarcoma or leiomyosarcoma after prior conventional chemotherapy. Interim analysis of overall survival, the primary endpoint of the trial, showed a nonsignificant improvement with trabectedin.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved trifluridine/tipiracil (Lonsurf) for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer who are no longer responding to other therapies.
Men with unfavorable-risk prostate cancer and moderate or severe comorbidities had significantly decreased overall and cardiac mortality when treated with radiotherapy alone vs radiotherapy and androgen-deprivation therapy, according to a study described in a research letter in <em>JAMA</em>.
A new study by researchers at the University of California Los Angeles questions the value of screening for <em>BRCA</em> genetic mutations in the general population—including those who do not have breast cancer or have no family history of the disease—because of the high cost.
Voriconazole, commonly used to prevent and treat fungal infections in lung transplant recipients, significantly increases the risk for squamous cell skin cancer, according to a new study by researchers at the University of California San Francisco.
In a phase III trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Lawson et al found no relapse-free or overall survival benefit with adjuvant yeast-derived granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) or peptide vaccination in patients with completely resected stage IV or high-risk stage III melanoma. An exploratory analysis suggested benefit of GM-CSF in patients with visceral metastases.
In a phase I/II trial reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> Lokhorst et al found that the CD38-targeting human IgG1κ monoclonal antibody daratumumab had an acceptable safety profile and produced durable responses in relapsed multiple myeloma.
The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) and the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network announced the opening of the 2016 Research Grants Program to support early-career investigators to focus on pancreatic cancer.
A new study by Cao et al in <em>Science Signaling</em> has revealed that a genetic mutation leading to repression of a specific protein, Cdh1, which interacts with APC/C, is present in melanoma cancer cells.
The number of men with breast cancer who undergo surgery to remove the unaffected breast has nearly doubled in recent years, according to a new report published by Jemal et al in <em>JAMA Surgery</em>.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Grisham et al identified a novel alteration in the <em>MAP2K1</em> gene encoding for MEK1 that appeared to explain a complete response ongoing for more than 5 years in a patient treated with the MEK inhibitor selumetinib for metastatic low-grade serous ovarian cancer.
Obesity increases the risk for overall and breast cancer mortality and comorbidity. As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Rock et al, the Exercise and Nutrition to Enhance Recovery and Good Health for You (ENERGY) study has shown that a group-based behavioral intervention can produce sustained weight loss in overweight/obese breast cancer survivors.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute</em>, Yoon et al found that among patients with stage III colon cancer in the Alliance N0147 trial, Asians had the lowest rate of BRAF/KRAS mutations and longer disease-free survival vs whites among patients with N2 disease and blacks had poorer disease-free survival vs whites among patients younger than age 50 and those with N1 disease independent of other factors.
In the first trial of the University of Pennsylvania's personalized cellular therapy for chronic lymphocytic leukemia, 8 of 14 patients responded to the therapy, with some complete remissions continuing past 4.5 years. These results, published by Porter et al in <em>Science Translational Medicine</em>, represent the most mature data from clinical trials of an approach known as CTL019.
A target for the pediatric eye cancer retinoblastoma was discovered by researchers in the University of Michigan Health System. Their findings were published by Khan et al in <em>Laboratory Investigation</em>.
Treating patients with metastatic melanoma with pembrolizumab caused CD8-positive T cells in the blood to express markers of reinvigoration, according to data presented at the Conference.
Changing the infusion delivery method of the monoclonal antibody ch14.18/CHO (dinutuximab-beta, the European counterpart of dinutuximab) in combination with other drugs from short-term infusion to long-term infusion in the treatment of children with high-risk neuroblastoma reduced neuropathic pain and adverse events, according to a study by Lode et al presented at the Conference.
A small phase I/IIa study of third-generation CD19 CAR T-cell therapy combined with chemotherapy pretreatment has resulted in complete responses in 6 of the 11 lymphoma and leukemia patients enrolled in the study. These results were presented at the Conference.
An engineered high-affinity PD-1 small protein was found to be a more effective anticancer immunotherapeutic and was more synergistic with other immunotherapies than conventional anti–PD-L1 antibodies, according to preclinical data presented at the Conference.
Among patients with metastatic melanoma treated with pembrolizumab, those whose cancer responded had a higher frequency of T cells that were positive for the proteins CD8, PD-1, and Bim in blood samples taken immediately before starting pembrolizumab than those who had disease progression, according to data presented at the Conference.
Among patients with clinically stage I or stage II melanoma, those treated with the immune system–boosting agent CpG-B were less likely to experience recurrence of their disease than those who received placebo, according to study results presented at the CRI-CIMT-EATI-AACR International Cancer Immunotherapy Conference.
A <em>Biophysical Journal</em> study published by Bueno Leite et al revealed how a toxin within the venom of Brazilian wasps—called MP1 (Polybia-MP1)—may selectively kill cancer cells without harming normal cells.
The American Association for Cancer Research 2015 Cancer Progress Report highlighted the accelerated pace of the number of U.S. Food and Drug Administration–approved targeted therapies over the past 5 years, the dramatic increase in the 5-year survival rate for all cancers in the United States, and the escalating cost of treating the disease. In addition, a national survey released with the report noted that 74% of voters want increased funding for cancer research.
In a study reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em>, Petersdorf et al found greater risk of acute graft-vs-host disease among hematopoietic cell transplant recipients with the high-expression rs9277534G allele linked to mismatched HLA-DPB1 who received transplants from donors with the low-expression rs9277534A allele.
In a retrospective cohort study reported in <em>JAMA Surgery</em>, Grenda et al found higher mortality and higher failure to rescue rates in patients undergoing lung resection at hospitals with high vs low mortality rates in major cancer resections.
Using information from a patient's entire genome helped to suggest personalized treatment options for nearly half of children with cancer and led to specific treatment changes in one-quarter of these patients, according to researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center and C.S. Mott Children's Hospital.
A new statistical model may help predict which patients are most likely to receive life-extending benefits from surgical treatment for malignant pleural mesothelioma, according to a report published by Leuzzi et al in <em>The Annals of Thoracic Surgery</em>.
Assessing blood plasma levels of certain microRNAs distinguished individuals with noninvasive pancreatic precancers from healthy individuals and discriminated between patients with high-risk and low-risk precancers, according to a study published by Permuth-Wey et al in <em>Cancer Prevention Research</em>.
In the phase III STORM trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Bruix et al found no benefit with adjuvant sorafenib treatment in patients who had undergone resection or ablation for hepatocellular carcinoma.
In a Japanese phase II trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Hamanishi et al found that the anti–PD-1 antibody nivolumab was active in patients with relapsed or advanced platinum-resistant ovarian cancer.
In a study reported in <em>JAMA,</em> Klco et al found that persistence of leukemia-associated mutations in ≥ 5% of bone marrow cells at remission predicted poorer outcome among patients with acute myeloid leukemia, including those with intermediate-risk disease.
In an article published by Shubert et al in the <em>Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery</em>, Mayo Clinic researchers provided a detailed comparison of patient outcomes associated with synchronous and sequential colorectal and liver resections in patients with stage IV colorectal cancer, identifying some benchmarks for surgical practice.
The 21-gene recurrence score test, which was approved for Medicare coverage in 2006, may influence how chemotherapy is used among patients with breast cancer, according to Dinan et al in <em>JAMA Oncology</em>.
In a phase II study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Atkins et al found that combined treatment with the recombinant peptide-Fc fusion protein trebananib and the vascular endothelial growth factor inhibitor sunitinib was active in metastatic renal cell cancer and appeared to increase toxicity compared with the established side effect profile of sunitinib.
In two phase II studies reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> Tiacci et al found that the BRAF inhibitor vemurafenib produced responses in nearly all patients with <em>BRAF</em> V600E–positive hairy cell leukemia that relapsed after treatment with a purine analog or who had disease refractory to purine analogs.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Masters et al, ASCO has issued a clinical practice guideline update on systemic therapy for stage IV non–small cell lung cancer. Recommendations are based on an update committee systematic review of randomized controlled trials conducted between January 2007 and February 2014.
Analysis of the phase III S0819 trial presented at the 16th World Conference on Lung Cancer suggested that adding cetuximab to chemotherapy benefits survival in patients with squamous cell non–small cell lung cancer with tumors positive for the <em>EGFR</em> gene copy number. No survival benefit was found among patients with nonsquamous histology and those with <em>EGFR</em> fluorescent in situ hybridization–negative tumors.
A research team from the National Cancer Centre Singapore and Genome Institute of Singapore undertook a study performing whole-exome and RNA sequencing to determine the genomic architecture of treatment-naive epidermal growth factor receptor–mutant lung cancers, as well as to elucidate mechanisms of resistance from analysis from a series of tyrosine kinase inhibitor–resistant biopsies.
Additional analysis of the SQUIRE trial and the relationship with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) protein and EGFR gene copy number was presented at the 16th World Conference on Lung Cancer.
According to research presented by Wakelee et al, the addition of bevacizumab to adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with early-stage surgically resected non–small cell lung cancer did not improve overall survival.
Smoking cessation among patients enrolled in a low-dose computed tomography screening program was associated with a three- to five-time reduction in mortality, according to research presented at the 16th World Conference on Lung Cancer.
A large population-based European study has found that 48.9% of all the possible factors contributing to risk for testicular germ cell tumor are inherited. Rather than being the result of one faulty gene, according to the study findings, the increased risk comes from a large number of minor variations in an individual’s DNA. Identifying more DNA mutations could increase strategies for disease prevention. The study by Litchfield et al was published in <em>Scientific Reports</em>.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted Priority Review status to the New Drug Application for the investigational oral proteasome inhibitor ixazomib for the treatment of patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma, Takeda Pharmaceuticals announced.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted Priority Review for alectinib, an oral investigational anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) inhibitor, for the treatment of people with ALK-positive, locally advanced or metastatic non–small cell lung cancer who have progressed on or are intolerant to crizotinib. The decision was based on the results from the phase II NP28761 and NP28673 studies.
In a dose-escalation phase I study reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Reid et al found that RRx-001, a representative of a new class of compounds called dinitroazetidines that act on the tumor microenvironment, had activity in advanced cancers and a promising safety profile. RRx-001 is activated by hypoxia and induces generation of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species that can epigenetically modulate DNA methylation, histone deacetylation, and lysine demethylation.
As reported by Schmoll et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> the final results of the phase III NO16968 trial showed that adjuvant therapy with XELOX (capecitabine, oxaliplatin) improved overall survival vs fluorouracil/leucovorin in patients with resected stage III colon cancer. Biomarker analysis indicated that low tumor expression of dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase was predictive of greater XELOX efficacy.
Results from the ROMANA 1 and ROMANA 2 phase III trials of anamorelin found that the medication effectively combats wasting and increases body weight and lean body mass in certain patients with lung cancer. These findings were presented at the 16th World Conference on Lung Cancer in Denver, Colorado.
The International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer issued a new statement on Tobacco Control and Smoking Cessation at the 16th World Conference on Lung Cancer, calling for higher taxes on tobacco products, comprehensive advertising and promotion bans of all tobacco products, and product regulation.
In malignant pleural mesothelioma, the addition of first-line bevacizumab to the current standard of care, pemetrexed/cisplatin, improved overall survival by almost 3 months in the phase III MAPS trial. These results were presented by Scherpereel et al at the 16th World Conference on Lung Cancer.
Every hour lost to the cancer drug regulatory process costs 29 life-years lost in the United States and 260 life-years worldwide, according to research presented at the 16th World Conference on Lung Cancer in Denver, Colorado.
In an updated analysis of the Italian phase III TRIBE trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Cremolini et al found that FOLFOXIRI (fluorouracil [5-FU], leucovorin, oxaliplatin, irinotecan) plus bevacizumab significantly prolonged overall survival in patients with unresectable metastatic colorectal cancer compared with FOLFIRI (5-FU, leucovorin, irinotecan) plus bevacizumab.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Feijen et al found that daunorubicin may be associated with reduced risk of late heart failure vs doxorubicin in survivors of childhood cancer.
In a phase II histology-independent basket study reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> Hyman et al found that the BRAF V600 kinase inhibitor vemurafenib exhibited activity in some but not all nonmelanoma cancers with <em>BRAF</em> V600 mutations.
OSUCCC–James researchers have designed an online database called the Cancer Driver Log, which helps health-care providers to identify key mutations that drive tumor growth in tissues obtained during clinical studies. Their work was published by Damodaran et al in the <em>Journal of Molecular Diagnostics</em>.
A new study from the UC San Francisco Pediatric Brain Center shows that childhood cancer survivors suffering one stroke have double the risk of suffering a second stroke when compared with noncancer stroke survivors. These findings were published by Fullerton et al in <em>Neurology</em>.
In a phase II trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Leonard et al found that the addition of rituximab to lenalidomide produced a higher response rate and longer time to progression than lenalidomide alone in patients with recurrent follicular lymphoma who had previously received rituximab.
In a study assessing placebo effects reported in <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Mao et al found that sham electroacupuncture produced a greater reduction in hot flashes than placebo pills and gabapentin, with the greatest reduction being achieved with real electroacupuncture.
A study published by Seo et al in <em>Science Translational Medicine</em> suggests that obesity changes the consistency of breast tissue in ways that predispose an individual to tumor development, suggesting a possible explanation for the link between obesity and breast cancer.
The American Psychosocial Oncology Society (APOS) will be celebrating 30 years of psychosocial oncology at the 13th Annual APOS Conference, to be held March 3 to 5, 2016, in San Diego. Please consider your colleagues, mentors, students, or someone who has made an impact on psychosocial oncology and nominate them for an APOS 2016 Award. The deadline for submitting nominations is October 15, 2015.
A preclinical study has found that a combination of decitabine and T-cell immunotherapy demonstrated antitumor activity against glioblastomas in mouse models and was about 50% effective at curing the disease. The results, reported by Everson et al in <em>Neuro-Oncology</em>, show an innovative, clinically feasible strategy in the treatment of glioblastoma.
Scientists have developed a blood test for breast cancer that may be able to identify which patients will suffer a relapse after treatment, months before tumors are visible on hospital scans. The results of the study were published by Garcia-Murillas in <em>Science Translational Medicine</em>.
A multi-institutional study has found that the AAV2 virus may play a role in some occurrences of hepatocellular carcinoma. The findings were published by Nault et al in <em>Nature Genetics</em>.
In an analysis from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Turcotte et al found that survivors of childhood cancer are at increased risk of subsequent malignant neoplasms after age 40 years.
As reported by Madenci et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> an analysis from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study showed that childhood cancer survivors are at increased risk of intestinal obstruction requiring surgery at ≥ 5 years after cancer diagnosis and poorer overall survival.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration 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 emetogenic and highly emetogenic cancer chemotherapy.
Bristol-Myers Squibb and AbbVie today announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has accepted for priority review the Biologics License Application for elotuzumab, an investigational signaling lymphocyte activation molecule (SLAMF7)-directed immunostimulatory antibody, for the treatment of multiple myeloma as combination therapy in patients who have received one or more prior therapies.
Researchers at Thomas Jefferson University performed a comprehensive review of all medications taken by senior oncology patients, and found that as many as 26% were using complementary or alternative medicine. These findings were published by Nightingale et al in the <em>Journal of Geriatric Oncology</em>.
In a pooled analysis of trials assessing novel agent–based continuous therapy vs fixed duration of therapy reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Palumbo et al found that continuous therapy prolonged progression-free survival, progression-free survival-2 (time to second progression or death), and overall survival in patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma.
The American Society of Clinical Oncology has issued an updated policy statement on genetic and genomic testing for cancer susceptibility. Published in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> the statement reviews the ways in which new technologies are transforming the assessment and identification of inherited cancer susceptibility and makes a series of recommendations for the optimal deployment of these technologies in oncology practice.
A preclinical study has found that modifying chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells to lower their affinity for EGFR made the cells preferentially recognize and eliminate tumor cells that have high levels of EGFR while sparing normal cells that have lower amounts of the protein. The study results may enable the technology to be fine-tuned to target other overexpressed cancer proteins. The study by Cooper et al is published in <em>Cancer Research</em>.
A recent study found concerns about fertility kept one-third of young women with breast cancer from taking tamoxifen altogether and led one-quarter of women who started tamoxifen to stop taking it before the recommended treatment period ended. These findings were published by Llarena et al in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute</em>.
A study by researchers at Sweden's Karolinska Institutet suggests that cells in the tumor blood vessels contribute to a local environment that protects the cancer cells from tumor-killing immune cells. The study results may contribute to the development of better immune-based cancer therapies.
In the phase III CATCH trial reported in <em>JAMA</em>, Lee et al found that the low–molecular-weight heparin tinzaparin did not significantly reduce the risk of recurrent venous thromboembolism vs warfarin in the treatment of acute symptomatic venous thromboembolism in patients with active cancer.
In a phase I study reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> Tap et al found that a newly developed inhibitor of colony-stimulating factor-1 receptor kinase showed activity in tenosynovial giant cell tumors.
In an analysis of a randomized trial of aspirin in patients with Lynch syndrome reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Movahedi et al found that obesity was associated with an increased risk of colorectal cancer, with the excess risk being restricted to those not receiving aspirin.
In a study reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Pastore et al found that the addition of mutation status of seven genes to the Follicular Lymphoma International Prognostic Index (FLIPI) and Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status produced a clinicogenetic model (m7-FLIPI) with high prognostic ability in patients receiving first-line immunotherapy for follicular lymphoma.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Vargo et al found that use of consolidative radiotherapy, which continues to decline, is associated with a survival benefit compared with multiagent chemotherapy alone in patients with early-stage diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.
In an article published by Dueck et al in <em>JAMA Oncology</em>, National Cancer Institute–sponsored researchers showed that a system they developed accurately and reliably captures the patient experience with cancer drug side effects.
Moffitt Cancer Center researchers recently conducted the largest American-based study of <em>BRCA</em> mutation frequency in young black women diagnosed with breast cancer at age 50 or younger and discovered they have a much higher <em>BRCA</em> mutation frequency than previously reported among young white women with breast cancer.
In preclinical and clinical studies reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Jeong et al found a lack of sprouting angiogenesis in the formation of lymph node metastases, suggesting a potential mechanism for resistance to antiangiogenic treatments in adjuvant settings. The study used a newly developed chronic lymph node window model to investigate growth and spread of lymph node metastases.
The phase III NSABP B-40 (NRG Oncology) trial showed that the addition of bevacizumab to docetaxel-based neoadjuvant chemotherapy improved pathologic complete response rate, the primary endpoint, in patients with early HER2-negative breast cancer. In a report of secondary outcomes in The Lancet Oncology, Bear et al found that overall survival was improved with the addition of neoadjuvant plus adjuvant bevacizumab.
A study by Bolejko et al investigating the prevalence and predictors of the psychosocial consequences of false-positive breast cancer screening has found that many women experience high levels of anxiety and a sense of dejection, as well as behavioral issues and sleep disturbances that can last for 12 months. Early recall was a major predictor for the prevalence of psychosocial consequences. The study is published in <em>Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention</em>.
MD Anderson researchers demonstrated a benefit in overall survival among epithelial ovarian cancer patients receiving generic beta-blocker heart medications. Their findings were published by Watkins et al in <em>Cancer</em>.
Research by a Veterans Affairs team based on 77,000 procedures has confirmed that colonoscopy withdrawal times of at least 6 minutes are associated with lower cancer rates. Their findings were published by Shaukat et al in <em>Gastroenterology</em>.
Long-term use of low-dose aspirin or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs reduced the risk of colorectal cancer by approximately 30%, according to a large population-based control study published by Friis et al in the <em> Annals of Internal Medicine</em>. However, the potential harms of taking these medications long term should be balanced against the chemopreventive benefits found in this study.
According to research presented at the American Academy of Dermatology’s 2015 Summer Academy Meeting, patients with fewer than 50 moles may be at risk for more aggressive forms of melanoma than patients with more than 50 moles.
An endovaginal magnetic resonance imaging technique is more accurate at detecting early-stage cervical cancer than the the best available external detection technique, according to a study published by Downey et al in <em>European Radiology</em>.
Adherence to aromatase inhibitor treatment for breast cancer declines over time. In a study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Neuner et al found that introduction of generic aromatase inhibitors resulted in a reduction in decline in adherence among patients with breast cancer enrolled in Medicare D who did not receive low-income subsidies.
In a phase III trial reported in <em>The Lancet,</em> Pless et al in the Swiss Group for Clinical Cancer Research found that adding preoperative radiation following neoadjuvant chemotherapy did not appear to improve outcomes vs neoadjuvant chemotherapy alone in patients with stage IIIA/N2 non–small cell lung cancer.
A multi-institutional study has found a new set of genes that may indicate improved survival after surgery for patients with pancreatic cancer. The study also showed that detection of circulating tumor DNA in the blood could provide an early indication of tumor recurrence. The study was published by Sausen et al in <em>Nature Communications</em>.
Confocal fluorescence microscopy and proflavine staining may speed up breast cancer diagnosis with 90% accuracy without the need for a specialist, according to research published by Dobbs et al in <em>Breast Cancer Research</em>.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Scott et al found that the digital gene expression–based Lymph2Cx assay produced concordant cell of origin assignments in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue biopsies from patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and showed high prognostic ability according to identification of activated B-cell–like vs germinal center B-cell–like diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved eltrombopag (Promacta) for the treatment of thrombocytopenia in pediatric patients aged 1 year and older with chronic immune (idiopathic) thrombocytopenia who have had an insufficient response to corticosteroids, immunoglobulins, or splenectomy.
In a study reported in <em>JAMA Oncology,</em> Narod et al found that the risk of breast cancer mortality was elevated in patients with ductal carcinoma in situ compared with the general population, with the risk being higher in younger vs older women and black vs white women. Breast cancer mortality was not reduced with prevention of ipsilateral invasive recurrence with the addition of radiotherapy to lumpectomy or with unilateral mastectomy vs lumpectomy
In two phase III trials reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Rapoport et al found that the addition of rolapitant to serotonin receptor antagonist and dexamethasone treatment significantly improved complete response rates in prevention of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting in patients receiving highly emetogenic cisplatin-based chemotherapy.
In a phase III study reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Schwartzberg et al found that the addition of rolapitant to serotonin receptor antagonist and dexamethasone treatment significantly improved complete response rates in prevention of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting in patients receiving moderately emetogenic chemotherapy or anthracycline and cyclophosphamide regimens.
In a Danish analysis reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Lauritsen et al found that patients with testicular germ cell cancer who survived after more than one line of treatment for disseminated disease had an increased risk of late toxicity and death resulting from causes other than germ cell cancer.
Non-Hispanic black women with endometrial cancer had worse outcomes than women of other racial/ethnic groups diagnosed with the same subtype of endometrial cancer and at the same stage of disease, according to a study published by Cote et al in <em> Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention</em>.
Multigene testing of women who tested negative for <em>BRCA1</em> and <em>BRCA2</em> found some of them harbored other harmful genetic mutations—most commonly, moderate-risk breast and ovarian cancer genes and Lynch syndrome genes—according to an article by Desmond et al in <em>JAMA Oncology</em>.
According to an article by McCrea et al in <em>Neurology</em>, children with high-grade gliomas have an improved chance of survival when gross total resection of the cancer is successful—and the results of the report suggest that this survival benefit is greater in girls than in boys.
In a single-center retrospective review reported in <em>JAMA Dermatology,</em> Sanlorenzo et al found that cutaneous adverse events in patients receiving the anti–PD-1 agent pembrolizumab may indicate better treatment response.
In women with breast cancer, taxane-based chemotherapy—docetaxel and paclitaxel—did not appear to increase the incidence of lymphedema, according to a study by Swaroop et al in <em>Breast Cancer Research and Treatment.</em> However, the investigators did note that adjuvant chemotherapy with docetaxel was a significant risk factor for mild arm swelling.
In an analysis from the NRG Oncology/Gynecologic Oncology Group 210 trial reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Felix et al found that tubal ligation, which should impede transtubal passage of cells, was associated with lower stage of endometrial cancer at presentation and improved overall survival.
A study published by Bradley Palmer et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> found that music therapy lessened anxiety for women undergoing surgical breast biopsies for cancer diagnosis and treatment.
In a prospective cohort study reported in <em>JAMA Oncology,</em> Rettig et al found that persistent human papillomavirus (HPV) type 16 DNA in post-treatment oral rinses was associated with a poorer prognosis in patients with HPV-related oropharyngeal cancer.
In a retrospective European study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Markar et al found that salvage esophagectomy after definitive chemoradiotherapy was associated with similar survival outcomes vs neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by planned esophagectomy in treatment of esophageal cancer. Among patients receiving salvage surgery, outcomes were better for those with recurrent vs persistent disease.
Using whole-exome sequencing on newly diagnosed patients with multiple myeloma, British researchers identified 15 genes that were significantly mutated in a subset of patients and mapped how these mutations related to long-term survival. Detecting actionable mutations in high-risk patients could improve treatment strategies to attain better patient outcome. The study by Walker et al was published in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
Organ transplant recipients are twice as likely to develop melanoma as people who do not undergo a transplant and three times more likely to die of the skin cancer, suggested new research by a multi-institutional team. The findings, reported by Robbins et al in the <em>Journal of Investigative Dermatology,</em> indicated that the immunosuppressive medications that transplant recipients receive may make them more susceptible to later-stage cancers that are more difficult to cure.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved brentuximab vedotin as post–autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation consolidation treatment for patients with classical Hodgkin lymphoma at high risk of relapse or progression, Seattle Genetics has announced.
Initial results of the Dutch phase III CROSS trial showed a significant 5-year overall survival benefit with the addition of neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy to surgery after a median 45-month follow-up in patients with squamous cell carcinoma or adenocarcinoma of the esophagus or esophagogastric junction. As reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by Shapiro et al, long-term follow-up in the trial shows continued survival benefit with neoadjuvant treatment.
Massachusetts General Hospital researchers have found that combined radiation and chemotherapy causes not only specific structural changes within patients’ brains, but also that the effect of cancer therapy on the normal brain appears to be progressive and continues even after radiation therapy has ceased.
Using a combination of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and chemical contrast solution, Case Western Reserve University researchers were able to detect small, high-risk breast cancers and micrometastases with greater accuracy. Their findings were published by Zhou et al in <em>Nature Communications</em>.
A large observational study investigating the effect of coffee consumption on advanced-stage colon cancer and survival has found that patients who drank four or more cups of coffee a day were 42% less likely to experience a recurrence than non-coffee drinkers and were 33% less likely to die from their cancer or any other cause. The findings by Guercio et al offer insight into the role diet and lifestyle may play in colon cancer patient outcome. The study is published in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
In an analysis reported in <em>JAMA Oncology,</em> Jagsi et al found that hypofractionation of whole-breast radiotherapy was associated with reduced acute toxicity compared with conventional fractionation.
In an analysis reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Park et al found that most of the improvement in breast cancer–specific mortality observed over time in the United States is not explained by tumor size or estrogen receptor status in women aged < 70 years, suggesting a major contribution of treatment to survival improvement. Tumor size and estrogen receptor status contributed more to improvements among older patients.
Researchers from the University of California Davis have found that interleukin-2 combined with imiquimod and topical retinoid therapy in patients with melanoma with so-called in-transit metastases is a promising therapeutic option.
Rockefeller University researchers found that the same enzyme that helps create antibodies that fight off the malaria parasite also causes DNA damage that can lead to Burkitt lymphoma. The research was published by Robbiani et al in <em>Cell</em>.
In a study reported in <em>JAMA Oncology,</em> Howitt et al found that polymerase e (POLE) mutant and microsatellite-unstable endometrial tumors may be candidates for anti–PD-1 (programmed cell death protein 1) immunotherapy.
Final results of the German phase III CAO/ARO/AIO-04 trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by Rödel et al showed that adding oxaliplatin to fluorouracil-based neoadjuvant chemoradiation and postoperative chemotherapy improved disease-free survival in patients with locally advanced rectal cancer.
Risk for melanoma has been found to be increased in non-Hodgkin lymphoma survivors. In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Lam et al found that T-cell–activating autoimmune diseases and fludarabine use were associated with an increased melanoma risk among patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma but not among those with other non-Hodgkin lymphoma subtypes.
Scientists at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center have identified a molecular partnership in pancreatic cancer cells that might help to explain how the disease metastasizes in some cases.
Chemotherapy prolongs life for older adults with most types of cancer, but for women with breast cancer over age 80, the chances of survival with chemotherapy alone are significantly lower than in younger patients, according to a study led by researchers from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Palumbo et al, the International Myeloma Working Group recommends the use of a revised international staging system (R-ISS) for newly diagnosed multiple myeloma that incorporates chromosomal abnormalities detected by interphase fluorescent in situ hybridization after CD138 plasma cell purification and serum lactate dehydrogenase level.
In a randomized trial reported in <em>JAMA Oncology,</em> Shaitelman et al found that hypofractionated whole-breast irradiation resulted in reduced short-term effects compared with conventional fractionation in women with stage 0 to II breast cancer undergoing breast-conserving surgery.
In a French phase II trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology, </em> Ray-Coquard et al found no apparent benefit of paclitaxel plus bevacizumab compared with weekly paclitaxel in patients with inoperable locally advanced or metastatic angiosarcoma.
Investigators at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles have discovered that medulloblastoma subgroups can be determined noninvasively, using magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Their findings were published by Margol et al in <em>Neuro-Oncology</em>.
Results of a phase I trial show that an investigational topical drug, resiquimod gel, causes regression of both treated and untreated tumor lesions and may completely remove cancerous cells from both sites in patients with early-stage cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. The results were published by Rook et al in <em>Blood</em>.
As reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> Gara et al identified a germline <em>HABP2</em> mutation as a susceptibility gene for familial nonmedullary thyroid cancer.
In an analysis reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Veluswamy et al found that limited resection was not equivalent to lobectomy in overall survival among older patients with stage IA invasive adenocarcinoma or squamous cell carcinoma of the lung. Among patients with adenocarcinoma, segmentectomy, but not wedge resection, appeared to have outcomes similar to lobectomy.
Researchers investigating a risk index for colorectal cancer and advanced precancerous polyps among average-risk people have found that patients classified as low risk had fewer advanced adenomas than patients classified as high risk. Their findings suggest that those at low risk for colorectal cancer may benefit from a less-invasive test than colonoscopy. The study by Imperiale et al was published in <em>Annals of Internal Medicine</em>.
In an individual-patient meta-analysis reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> the Collaborative Group on Epidemiological Studies on Endometrial Cancer found that oral contraceptive use was associated with long-term protection from endometrial cancer. Reduction in risk was greater for carcinomas than for sarcomas.
As reported in <em>Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report</em> by Guy et al, data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicate that there were an estimated 65,647 new cases of invasive melanoma in the United States in 2011. In the absence of intervention, the annual incidence is expected to increase to approximately 112,000 by 2030.
University of California Davis researchers have determined that almost one-third of patients with ovarian cancer survived at least 10 years after diagnosis. The findings upend the notion that women diagnosed with cancer of the ovaries always have a poor chance of survival.
Researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have identified a major genetic factor that seems to determine whether a mole will become cancerous or remain noncancerous. The study was published by McNeal et al in <em>Cancer Discovery</em>.
In a population-based study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Fung et al found a significantly increased risk of cardiovascular disease mortality during the first year after chemotherapy for testicular nonseminoma. No increased risk of cardiovascular mortality after surgery was observed.
Researchers investigating biomarkers in patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer have found that mutations in DNA repair–associated genes <em>ATM,</em> <em>RB1,</em> and <em>FANCC</em> predicted responses after cisplatin-based chemotherapy. The findings suggest that genetic testing prior to chemotherapy may help guide the selection of treatment strategies for individual patients. The study by Plimack et al is published in <em>European Urology</em>.
In the phase III E3805 trial reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> Sweeney et al found that chemohormonal therapy with docetaxel plus androgen-deprivation therapy produced a significant 13.6-month increase in median overall survival vs androgen-deprivation therapy alone in men with metastatic prostate cancer.
Duke University researchers found that packaging the widely used cancer drug paclitaxel into nanoparticles more than doubled the drug’s effectiveness in destroying tumors in preclinical models. Their findings were published by Bhattacharyya et al in <em>Nature Communications</em>.
In a recent analysis, researchers from the University of Memphis found that patients undergoing surgery for lung cancer may wait too long to receive treatment, and too many patients skip vital diagnostic steps that are needed to help determine the best possible treatment.
A study by researchers at UCLA found that pairing carboplatin with an experimental drug, birinapant, eliminates the deadly population of ovarian cancer tumor cells that don’t produce the protein CA125.
A team of researchers at Barts Cancer Institute–Queen Mary University of London have discovered that a combination of three proteins found at high levels in urine may accurately detect early-stage pancreatic cancer.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Liu et al, next-generation sequencing revealed a high frequency of actionable <em>MET</em> mutations in patients with pulmonary sarcomatoid carcinoma.
Older persons are the fastest growing segment of the U.S. population and account for the majority of cancer diagnoses and deaths and the majority of cancer survivors. However, since this population is underrepresented in clinical trials, the evidence base for treating older patients is poor. As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Hurria et al, ASCO has issued a statement designed to encourage improvement of the evidence base for treating older adults with cancer.
The 17-year follow-up in the UK Age trial, reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by Moss et al, indicated a reduction in breast cancer mortality during the first 10 years after diagnosis but not thereafter among women invited for annual mammography screening from age 40 to 49 years compared with invitation to screening at age 50 and every 3 years thereafter.
Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine and the University of Cyprus have found a marker for basal-like breast cancer that may help predict progression-free survival and metastasis in this setting.
A large-scale genetic study of the links between telomere length and risk for five common cancers found that long telomeres are associated with an increased risk of lung adenocarcinoma, according to University of Chicago researchers. Their data were reported in <em>Human Molecular Genetics.</em>
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Yamoah et al identified a biomarker signature that may predict aggressive disease in African American men with prostate cancer. The investigators speculate that these biomarkers may partially explain the biologic component of observed ethnic disparities in prostate cancer outcomes.
As reported by Eichenauer et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> an analysis of long-term outcomes suggests that involved-field radiotherapy may be the best treatment option in patients with stage IA nodular lymphocyte-predominant Hodgkin lymphoma.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Van Poznak et al, ASCO has issued a clinical practice guideline on the use of biomarkers to guide decisions on systemic therapy in women with metastatic breast cancer. The statement is based on an ASCO expert panel assessment of systematic reviews, meta-analyses, randomized controlled trials, prospective-retrospective studies, and prospective comparative observational studies reported between 2006 and September 2014.
In a BIG 1-98 trial analysis reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Metzger Filho et al found that the benefit of adjuvant letrozole vs tamoxifen was greater in patients with lobular than ductal breast carcinoma.
ASCO has issued a clinical practice guideline update on the use of hematopoietic colony-stimulating factors, as reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Smith et al. Changes to prior recommendations include the addition of tbo-filgrastim and the biosimilar filgrastim-sndz and recommendations against routine dose-dense chemotherapy in lymphoma and in favor of high-dose–intensity chemotherapy in urothelial cancer.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Patel et al found that inflammatory cytokine levels were associated with poorer memory function in women with newly diagnosed breast cancer, with higher pretreatment levels of soluble tumor necrosis factor receptor type 2 being a significant predictor of impairment.
Scientists at the University of North Carolina (UNC) School of Medicine and the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center found that a rare type of stem cell is immune to radiation damage thanks to high levels of a gene called Sox9, which could lead to new ways to protect the gastrointestinal systems of patients with cancer before they receive treatment.
A new study showed that a targeted molecular contrast agent can be used successfully to render lung adenocarcinomas fluorescent during pulmonary surgery, enabling real-time optical imaging during surgery and the identification of cancer cells. The results are reported by Okusanya et al in <em>The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery</em>.
According to a study of ovarian cancer by researchers from the University of Leeds and MD Anderson Cancer Center, cancer can be caused solely by protein imbalances within cells. Their research was published by Timsah et al in <em>Oncogene</em>.
In the phase III VALOR trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Ravandi et al found that the addition of the quinolone derivative vosaroxin to cytarabine did not significantly improve overall survival in patients with relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia. However, differences favoring vosaroxin vs placebo were observed in analysis by stratification factors, analysis censoring for subsequent allogeneic stem cell transplantation, and in patients aged ≥ 60 years and those with early relapse on prior therapy.
Pharmaceutical firms underinvest in long-term research to develop new cancer-fighting drugs due to the greater time and cost required to conduct such research, according to a study by economists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
An observational study investigating the use and effectiveness of a combination regimen of intraperitoneal and intravenous chemotherapy in the treatment of advanced-stage ovarian cancer has found that although the dual approach substantially improves survival, fewer than half of patients who could benefit from the therapy receive it. The study by Wright et al is published in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
In an analysis of Kaiser Permanente Northern California data reported in <em>JAMA,</em> Lewis et al found no significantly increased risk of bladder cancer in patients with diabetes ever using pioglitazone. Significant associations of ever use with prostate and pancreatic cancers were observed. No clear associations of risk for bladder or other cancers were found for time since initiation, duration, or cumulative dose of pioglitazone.
Lower levels of ERCC1 and thymidylate synthase expression may be predictive of longer survival in patients with metastatic colon cancer, according to a study by Choueiri et al in <em>PLOS One</em>. It was shown that patients with low levels of ERCC1 and thymidylate synthase expression responded better to FOLFOX than FOLFIRI.
Researchers from Moffitt Cancer Center published findings from a study in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute</em> that outlines how race and institutional support affect patients’ willingness to participate in pharmacogenomic clinical trials.
In a study published by Pepin et al in <em>PNAS,</em> a Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) research team described how a single injection of a modified version of Mullerian-inhibiting substance, a protein critical to sexual development, carried on a commonly used viral vector suppressed the growth of chemotherapy-resistant ovarian tumors in a mouse model.
In a patient-level meta-analysis of randomized trials reported in <em>The Lancet</em> by the Early Breast Cancer Trialists’ Collaborative Group (EBCTCG), 5 years of aromatase inhibitor treatment significantly reduced the recurrence risk vs 5 years of tamoxifen therapy during the first 4 years and reduced the 10-year breast cancer mortality vs tamoxifen. In trials in which a comparator group received tamoxifen followed by an aromatase inhibitor, recurrence rates were lower with aromatase inhibitors during the period that treatment differed between groups.
In a patient-level meta-analysis reported in <em>The Lancet</em> by the Early Breast Cancer Trialists’ Collaborative Group (EBCTCG), adjuvant bisphosphonate treatment in early breast cancer was associated with a reduced risk of bone recurrence and breast cancer mortality, with the benefit limited to women who were postmenopausal at the start of treatment.
Moffitt Cancer Center researchers have developed the first genetic test that predicts how sensitive tumors are to radiation based on expression patterns of different genes. The results of their study on primary and metastatic colon tumors using this method were published by Ahmed et al in <em>The International Journal of Radiation Oncology • Biology • Physics</em>.
A study published by Shnorhavorian et al in <em>CANCER</em> found that factors such as gender, education, and insurance status impact whether young patients and their physicians have discussions and take actions to preserve fertility during cancer treatment.
In a retrospective study reported in <em>JAMA Oncology,</em> Kalbasi and colleagues found that dose-escalated external-beam radiation therapy was associated with improved overall survival among men with intermediate- and high-risk, but not low-risk, nonmetastatic prostate cancer.
In the randomized phase II NSABP FB9 trial reported in <em>Breast Cancer Research and Treatment,</em> Abraham et al found no improvement in pathologic complete response rate with neoadjuvant eribulin vs weekly paclitaxel followed by doxorubicin/cyclophosphamide in women with locally advanced HER2-negative breast cancer.
A large, population-based prospective cohort study of about 75,000 women has found that adolescent exercise is associated with reduced risk of death due to cancer, cardiovascular disease, and all causes among middle-aged and older women. The study by Nechuta et al is published in <em>Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention</em>.
In the phase III NCIC MA.20 trial reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> Whelan et al found that the addition of regional nodal irradiation to whole-breast irradiation did not improve overall survival in women with node-positive or high-risk node-negative breast cancer treated with breast-conserving surgery and adjuvant systemic therapy.
In a phase III trial conducted by the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) Radiation Oncology and Breast Cancer Groups, the addition of regional nodal irradiation to whole-breast or thoracic-wall irradiation after surgery produced a marginal overall survival benefit and a significant disease-free survival benefit in women with early-stage breast cancer. The study was reported by Poortmans et al in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em>.
Patients with prostate cancer are now more likely to receive medical care matched to level of risk, according to a study by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco. Their findings were published by Cooperberg and Carroll in <em>JAMA</em>.
A new study by researchers at the University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine, reveals the critical role of the protein tetraspin3 (Tspan3) in the development and progression of acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The finding offers a novel target for better treating AML, and possibly other cancers, by cutting off the ability of tumors to access nearby cellular players that feed its growth. The study was published by Kwon et al in Cell Stem Cell.
The FDA has granted Orphan Drug designation to NanoSmart Pharmaceuticals’ novel formulation of dactinomycin for the treatment of Ewing sarcoma, a rare type of childhood bone cancer. The designation was granted on the basis of a plausible hypothesis that the novel formulation, which uses NanoSmart’s proprietary drug delivery platform, may be clinically superior to the original drug.
In testing multiple HDAC inhibitors in combination with the chemotherapy drug paclitaxel, researchers at Mayo Clinic’s Florida campus found that class II HDAC inhibitors signal through a newly discovered pathway to promote synergy with chemotherapy treatment.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Carvajal-Hausdorf and colleagues found that quantitative measurement of HER2 protein expression in intracellular and extracellular domains indicated improved disease-free survival with adjuvant trastuzumab in breast cancer patients with high vs low extracellular domain expression.
A multi-institutional effort using genome-wide association studies found patients with multiple myeloma with a genetic variation in the gene FOPNL die, on average, 1 to 3 years sooner than patients without it. These findings were published by Ziv et al in <em>Nature Communications</em>.
As reported by Schnipper et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> the ASCO Value in Cancer Care Task Force has released an ASCO statement detailing a conceptual framework to assess the value of cancer treatment options. The aim of ASCO in developing the framework is to encourage more patient-centered care.
The 6-year follow-up of the phase III ANZMTG 01.02/TROG 02.01 trial, reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by Henderson et al, showed that adjuvant lymph-node field radiotherapy in melanoma patients with high risk of lymph-node field recurrence reduced the rate of recurrence but did not improve overall survival compared with observation. The findings are similar to an earlier report from the trial.
In a phase III noninferiority trial reported in <em>The Lancet,</em> Pritchard-Jones et al found that omission of doxorubicin from postoperative chemotherapy for stage II to III histologic intermediate-risk Wilms tumor did not have a significant adverse impact on event-free or overall survival.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Oncology Practice,</em> Keng et al at Cleveland Clinic found that institution of an emergency department febrile neutropenia pathway for patients with cancer reduced the time to antibiotic administration compared with historical and direct admission cohorts.
In a study reported in <em>JAMA Internal Medicine,</em> Harding et al found that on the county level in the United States, mammography screening for breast cancer is associated with an increase in detection of small breast cancers but no reduction in breast cancer mortality.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted lenvatinib Breakthrough Therapy designation for investigational use in patients with advanced or metastatic renal cell carcinoma who were previously treated with a vascular endothelial growth factor–targeted therapy.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved carfilzomib in combination with lenalidomide and dexamethasone for the treatment of patients with relapsed multiple myeloma who have received one to three prior lines of therapy.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved sonidegib (Odomzo) for the treatment of patients with locally advanced basal cell carcinoma that has recurred following surgery or radiation therapy or those who are not candidates for surgery or radiation therapy.
In an analysis reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Murphy et al found that disparity in the use of adjuvant chemotherapy in white vs black patients with stage III colon cancer may have recently reemerged after a trend of increasing use in both racial groups.
A study of long-term thyroid cancer outcomes shows that moderate suppression of thyroid-stimulating hormone, which drives the disease, may be as beneficial as more extreme hormone suppression. These findings were published by Carhill et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism </em>.
Results from a phase I/II trial at Penn’s Abramson Cancer Center investigating a new T-cell receptor therapy demonstrated a clinical response in 80% of patients with multiple myeloma who had advanced disease after undergoing autologous stem cell transplants.
A study evaluating the association between chemotherapy use and quality of life near death as a function of patients’ performance status has found that the use of palliative chemotherapy did not improve quality of life for patients with a moderate or poor performance status and that it worsened quality of life for patients with a good performance status. In addition, the treatment did not extend survival. The study by Prigerson et al is published in <em>JAMA Oncology</em>.
In a phase III trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Scagliotti et al found that the addition of the MET receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor tivantinib to erlotinib did not improve overall survival in previously treated patients with locally advanced or metastatic nonsquamous non–small cell lung cancer.
In the phase II TBCRC 003 study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Lin et al found that earlier use of lapatinib plus trastuzumab was active in HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer and that early [<sup>18</sup>F]fluorodeoxyglucose positron-emission tomography (FDG-PET)/computed tomography may be used to predict lack of response.
A study investigating the extent of hereditary cancer syndromes and family history of cancer in patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer at age 35 or younger has found that 35% of the patients had an identifiable hereditary cancer syndrome. The study findings by Mork et al suggest that these patients should undergo genetic counseling to determine if their families are at an increased genetic risk for colorectal cancer. The study is published in the the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital scientists have developed new diagnostic criteria to enable clinicians to distinguish malignant cancerous chest cavity masses from those caused by fungal histoplasmosis infection. Their findings were published by Naeem et al in the <em>Journal of Pediatrics</em>.
In a recent study published in <em>Oncotarget</em>, investigators at Lawson Health Research Institute found that LKB1, a molecule that regulates the metabolism of many adult cells, plays an important role in the promotion and survival of ovarian cancer.
In a single-institution study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Momtaz and colleagues found that the rate of infusion-related reactions remained acceptably low when ipilimumab 3 mg/kg was infused over 30 minutes in patients with advanced melanoma.
In a phase II trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Garcia-Aguilar et al found that adding neoadjuvant mFOLFOX6 (modified fluorouracil, leucovorin, oxaliplatin) after chemoradiation improved the pathologic complete response rate in patients with locally advanced rectal cancer undergoing total mesorectal excision. The strategy may increase patient eligibility for less-invasive treatment.
Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have compiled a database that integrates gene expression patterns of 39 types of cancer from nearly 18,000 patients with data about how long those patients lived. An article describing the research was published by Gentles et al in <em>Nature Medicine</em>.
Patients with the activated B-cell–like subtype of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma are more likely to respond to ibrutinib than patients with the germinal center B-cell–like subtype of the disease, according to a study published by Wilson et al in <em>Nature Medicine</em>.
“A cancer diagnosis among patients with diabetes reduced adherence with evidence-based medications, particularly if patients’ life expectancy was short,” according to a study among Medicare beneficiaries reported in the <em>Journal of Oncology Practice.</em> “These findings emphasize the vulnerability of individuals faced with a new cancer diagnosis and the difficulty in maintaining ongoing therapy for comorbid conditions, which may have potentially important consequences for longer term survivorship,” the investigators concluded.
In a phase III study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Hofheinz et al found that 10% urea cream was better at preventing capecitabine-related hand-foot syndrome than a new ointment available in Germany that contains several antioxidants and exhibits high radical protection.
In a UK randomized phase II trial (ABC-03) reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Valle et al found that adding the VEGF inhibitor cediranib to first-line cisplatin/gemcitabine did not improve progression-free survival in patients with advanced biliary tract cancer.
Researchers at the University of Cambridge have developed a new technique that could help doctors detect esophageal cancer at an early stage, helping them overcome the problem of wide variation between biopsies.
A study comparing the effects of moderate-to-vigorous aerobic exercise on body fat in inactive postmenopausal women has found that 300 minutes of vigorous exercise each week was superior in reducing total fat and other adiposity measures, especially in obese women, than shorter amounts of exercise. The study findings by Friedenreich et al suggest a possible lower risk of postmenopausal breast cancer. The study is published in <em>JAMA Oncology</em>.
Researchers at Johns Hopkins conducted a survey-based study in which they found a 40% increase over a 12-year period in the number of patients with cancer who participated in one form of advance care planning, but no corresponding impact on their rates of aggressive medical care received in the last weeks of life.
In the phase III IMPRESS trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Soria et al found no progression-free survival benefit of adding gefitinib to platinum-based doublet chemotherapy in patients with advanced <em>EGFR-</em>mutant non–small cell lung cancer who had acquired resistance to first-line gefitinib.
According to a retrospective study from researchers at Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center and Kaiser Permanente Southern California, more than two-thirds of adolescents and young adults dying of cancer utilized one or more aggressive interventions in the last month of life.
UCLA researchers have found that pancreatic and prostate tumors, in addition to utilizing glucose transporters to survive and grow, also use glucose from sodium-dependent glucose transporters known as SGLTs. Their findings are published by Scafoglio et al in <em>PNAS</em>.
In a retrospective study reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Tabernero et al used commercially available BEAMing technology to assess plasma tumor DNA and protein levels in a subgroup of patients from the CORRECT trial of regorafenib in metastatic colorectal cancer and examined the association of these biomarkers with treatment outcome. Results indicated that regorafenib benefit was consistent across mutation and protein concentration status.
Delcath Systems, Inc, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Office of Orphan Products Development has granted Orphan Drug designation to melphalan for the treatment of cholangiocarcinoma. Cholangiocarcinoma is recognized by the FDA as an orphan disease, usually defined as a condition that affects fewer than 200,000 people nationwide.
In an analysis of FDA Adverse Event Reporting System data reported in<em>JAMA Oncology,</em> Jhaveri et al found that the BRAF inhibitors vemurafenib and dabrafenib were associated with nephrotoxicity. Their findings suggest a need to monitor renal function and electrolyte levels in all patients who receive these drugs.
In an analysis from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Prasad et al found evidence of impaired psychosocial and neurocognitive function among long-term cancer survivors diagnosed during adolescence and young adulthood.
In a Danish prospective observational study reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Appelt et al found that high-dose chemoradiotherapy and watchful waiting may be an alternative to abdominoperineal resection in some patients with distal rectal cancer.
A study by Bianchi et al published in <em>JAMA</em> found genetic test results, as revealed by noninvasive prenatal testing for fetal chromosomal abnormalities, may detect underlying conditions in the mother, including cancer.
University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center scientists reported a diet that starves triple-negative breast cancer cells of an essential amino acid, methionine, primes the cancer cells to be more easily killed by a targeted antibody treatment.
In the phase III LUX-Lung 8 trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Soria et al found that the irreversible ErbB-family inhibitor afatinib significantly improved progression-free and overall survival vs the EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor erlotinib as second-line treatment in patients with stage IIIB or IV squamous cell carcinoma of the lung who had disease progression after four or more cycles of platinum-based chemotherapy.
Investigators from Norris Cotton Cancer Center at Dartmouth and collaborators from Xijing Hospital in Xian, China, demonstrated that a dual breast exam using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and near-infrared spectral tomography is feasible and more accurate than MRI alone.
A new study by the American Cancer Society shows that spending more leisure time sitting was associated with a higher risk of total cancer risk in women, specifically multiple myeloma, breast, and ovarian cancers.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Oktay et al found that fertility could be preserved in women with breast cancer via embryo freezing after concurrent aromatase inhibitor treatment and ovarian stimulation.
The U.S. Food and Drug Adminsitration has granted Orphan Drug designation to Novogen Limited’s chemotherapy candidate drug Anisina for neuroblastoma. Anisina is a small molecule belonging to a family of compounds called anti-tropomyosins. It has been designed to inhibit Tpm3.1, a structural protein that is a core component of the cytoskeleton of cancer cells.
In an analysis of the German Hodgkin Study Group HD12 and HD15 trials reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Haverkamp et al found that discontinuation of bleomycin and vincristine due to drug-specific adverse effects did not affect efficacy of BEACOPP in patients with advanced Hodgkin lymphoma.
In the phase II BELIEF trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> O’Connor et al found that the pan–histone deacetylase inhibitor belinostat produced durable responses in patients with relapsed/refractory peripheral T-cell lymphoma. The study supported the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s approval of belinostat in this setting.
Researchers at Thomas Jefferson University reported finding a single molecule, DNA-PKcs, that appears to be the central regulator driving metastasis in prostate cancer. The study, published by Goodwin et al in <em>Cancer Cell,</em> offers a target for the development of a drug that could prevent metastasis in prostate cancer and possibly other cancers as well.
Researchers at Roswell Park Cancer Institute found smoking cessation provided a significant survival benefit for patients with lung cancer who quit smoking shortly before or after diagnosis, despite the severity of the disease.
A prospective study examining weight gain in breast cancer survivors compared with cancer-free women from a familial risk cohort has found that, overall, breast cancer survivors gained significantly more weight than cancer-free women of the same age and menopausal status. According to the findings, in the first 5 years post treatment, survivors gain weight at a faster rate than cancer-free women, particularly after chemotherapy and statin use but not after hormone therapy alone. The study by Gross et al is published in <em>Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention</em>.
In patients with early-stage non–small cell lung cancer treated with stereotactic body radiotherapy, outcomes were similar between patients with biopsy-proven lesions and those without histologic confirmation, according to a study by Fischer-Valuck et al in <em>Tumori Journal</em>. Thus, the investigators concluded, stereotactic body radiotherapy may be a practical treatment option for patients who are not eligible for biopsy.
In a meta-analysis reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> O’Sullivan et al found that adjuvant trastuzumab was associated with significant disease-free and overall survival benefit among patients with early HER2-positive hormone receptor–positive and hormone receptor–negative disease and tumors ≤ 2 cm, with the magnitude of benefit being smaller in patients with hormone receptor–positive disease and, at most, one positive lymph node.
Women with cervical or endometrial cancer who require treatment to the para-aortic lymph nodes can safely receive extended-field intensity-modulated radiation therapy without increased risk of duodenal toxicity, according to a study by Xu et al in <em>Practical Radiation Oncology</em>.
University of Pennsylvania researchers report that, despite findings of previous studies and published guidelines, nearly two-thirds of patients with T4a laryngeal cancer are not receiving a total laryngectomy—the recommended form of treatment—and, as a result, have significantly worse survival rates vs those treated with a total laryngectomy.
Laboratory and animal tests of the type II JAK2 inhibitor CHZ868, which stabilizes the kinase domain in an inactive conformation, are showing that the compound is highly potent against B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemias with <em>CRLF2</em> rearrangements. When combined with dexamethasone, CHZ868 induced apoptosis in JAK2-dependent B-cell ALL and further improved in vivo survival compared to CHZ868 alone. The study by Wu et al is published in <em>Cancer Cell</em>.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved gefitinib for the treatment of patients with metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose tumors have EGFR exon 19 deletions or exon 21 (L858R) substitution mutations as detected by an FDA-approved test. This approval of gefitinib is being approved concurrently with a labeling expansion of the <em>therascreen</em> EGFR RGQ PCR Kit, a companion diagnostic test for patient selection.
In a study using National Cancer Data Base data reported in <em>JAMA Surgery,</em> Lautner et al identified several factors associated with the use of breast-conserving therapy in women with early-stage breast cancer, including older age, higher education and income, private insurance, treatment at an academic center, and residence closer to a treatment center.
Researchers at Roswell Park Cancer Institute conducted a retrospective review of long-term patient outcomes for cystectomies, finding patients diagnosed with bladder cancer and treated with robot-assisted surgery experienced similar results to those who underwent a traditional open operation.
New research from scientists at the Wistar Institute shows that treatment with PI3K inhibitors alone may actually promoting more aggressive tumor cell behavior and possibly increase the cancer’s potential to metastasize. These findings were published by Caino et al in the journal <em>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</em>.
A study of screening mammography across U.S. counties found that “the clearest result of mammography screening is the diagnosis of additional small cancers” but without a “concomitant decline in the detection of larger cancers, which might explain the absence of any significant difference in the overall rate of death from the disease. Together, these findings suggest widespread overdiagnosis,” the study investigators wrote in <em>JAMA Internal Medicine.</em>
In a study focusing on glioblastoma treatment published by Lewis-Tuffin et al in <em>Molecular Oncology</em>, Mayo Clinic investigators found that dasatinib inhibits proteins that promote cancer growth (as expected) but also suppresses proteins that protect against cancer.
Johns Hopkins scientists led a proof-of-principle study that successfully identified tumor DNA shed into the blood and saliva of 93 patients with head and neck cancer. Overall, the tests correctly identified all oral cavity, larynx, and hypopharynx cancers, and 91% of oropharynx cancers. The findings were published in <em>Science Translational Medicine</em>.
In a study reported in <em>JAMA</em> by Meester et al, microsimulation modeling of data from a U.S. community-based health-care system showed that colorectal cancer incidence and mortality were reduced with increased adenoma detection rate in colonoscopy screening, with no increase in total costs.
In an analysis from the National LymphoCare Study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Casulo and colleagues found that disease progression within 2 years of diagnosis was associated with increased mortality risk after first-line R-CHOP (rituximab plus cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone) in patients with follicular lymphoma.
Final overall survival results of the phase III ICON7 trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by Oza et al indicate no significant increase with the addition of bevacizumab to standard chemotherapy in women with newly diagnosed ovarian cancer. However, overall survival benefit of bevacizumab was observed among women with high-risk disease.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Kwan et al found that women with basal-like tumors were less likely to have breastfed than those with luminal A tumors and that breastfeeding was associated with a significantly reduced risk of recurrence and breast cancer–related death among all women and among those with luminal A tumors but not other tumor subtypes.
Gains have been made in the overall reduction in the death rates of colorectal cancer in the United States. A new study by Siegel et al has identified three distinct geographic hot spots where colorectal cancer death rates remain elevated over other parts of the country. They include the lower Mississippi Delta, West Central Appalachia, and Eastern Virginia/North Carolina. The study is published in <em>Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention</em>.
In a randomized phase II KEYNOTE-002 trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Ribas et al found that treatment with the anti–PD-1 antibody pembrolizumab prolonged progression-free survival vs investigator-choice chemotherapy in patients with advanced melanoma progressing on ipilimumab and, if <em>BRAF</em> V600 mutant–positive, a BRAF or MEK inhibitor.
Melo et al reported in <em>Nature</em> that a protein encoded by the gene glypican-1 (GPC1) present on cancer exosomes may be used as part of a potential noninvasive diagnostic and screening tool to detect early pancreatic cancer.
A review of the medical records of 200 patients with breast cancer by researchers at Johns Hopkins suggests that more selective use of biomarker testing for such patients has the potential to save millions of dollars in health care spending without compromising care.
The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) issued an endorsement of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) clinical practice guideline on postoperative radiation therapy for women with endometrial (uterine) cancer. The ASTRO guideline provides clear information about how and when to use radiation therapy after surgery.
In a study in Swedish men reported in <em>JAMA,</em> Loeb et al found a statistically significant increase in risk of malignant melanoma in those using oral phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE5) inhibitors for erectile dysfunction. However, risk was not significantly elevated in men filling multiple PDE5 prescriptions.
In the U.S. community-based phase IIIB UPFRONT trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Niesvizky et al found no benefit of adding thalidomide or melphalan to first-line bortezomib-based treatment in transplant-ineligible myeloma patients.
Janssen Biotech, Inc, has announced the opening of a daratumumab expanded access program for eligible U.S. patients, taking place at up to 40 medical centers.
Researchers at The Cancer Genome Atlas have found new molecular subgroups of patients with melanoma who could potentially benefit from targeted treatments based on their tumor genetics. Their study, published in <em>Cell,</em> has helped clarify the immune system’s role in melanoma.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Lee et al found that factors associated with an increased risk of interval second breast cancers after negative surveillance mammography included grade II primary breast cancer, lumpectomy without radiation, interval primary cancer presentation, and heterogeneously dense breasts on mammography.
In a prospective cohort study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> May et al found that earlier palliative care consultation for inpatients with advanced cancer was associated with lower total direct costs.
In a National Cancer Data Base analysis reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Wang et al found that postoperative radiation therapy has been declining in use in recent years but is associated with improved overall survival in patients with incompletely resected stage II or III non–small cell lung cancer.
Findings presented at the ESMO World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer showed that patients with metastatic colorectal cancer that are free of mutations in the KRAS, NRAS, BRAF, and PIK3CA genes had a significant benefit from continuing EGFR therapy beyond progression following first-line chemotherapy and an anti-EGFR monoclonal antibody.
Two analyses of trials focusing on patients with pretreated metastatic colorectal cancer confirmed the benefit of regorafenib. These findings were presented at the ESMO World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer.
In a study reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> Eckel-Passow et al identified a molecular classification scheme for gliomas based on <em>IDH</em> mutation, codeletion of chromosome arms 1p and 19q (1p/19q codeletion), and <em>TERT</em> promoter mutation status.
In a study reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Lin et al developed a serum microRNA classifier that was more accurate than alpha-fetoprotein in detecting preclinical hepatocellular carcinoma.
Researchers from Merck presented results from a phase III study showing that single-dose fosaprepitant dimeglumine for injection provided greater protection from nausea and vomiting following administration of chemotherapy vs an active control of placebo with other antivomiting medicines.
In the phase III CALGB 40502/NCCTG N063H/Alliance trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Rugo et al found that outcomes in first-line treatment for advanced breast cancer were better with weekly paclitaxel plus bevacizumab compared with weekly nanoparticle albumin-bound (nab)-paclitaxel or ixabepilone plus bevacizumab.
Data presented at the 2015 MASCC/ISOO Annual Meeting highlighted a perceptual gap between health-care professionals and patients in terms of the incidence and impact on patients’ daily life of chemotherapy- and radiotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting.
In a Dutch phase II study reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Kordes et al found that adding metformin to gemcitabine-erlotinib did not improve overall survival in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer.
In a randomized phase II trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Oza et al found that the mTOR inhibitor ridaforolimus was active in previously treated advanced endometrial carcinoma.
In a population-based cohort study reported in <em>JAMA Surgery,</em> Sagara et al found that the breast cancer–specific survival benefit associated with surgery for low-grade ductal carcinoma in situ is lower than that associated with surgery for intermediate- or high-grade ductal carcinoma in situ.
Results of the SENRI trial, presented at the 2015 ESMO World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer, showed the possibility that NK1 antagonists may prevent emesis in patients with colorectal cancer treated with oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy.
In a study presented at the 2015 ESMO World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer, researchers found that patients with advanced colorectal cancer who has a low to healthy body weight lived an average of 2.5 months less than overweight and obese patients.
In a pooled analysis of the TEXT and SOFT trials reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Bernhard et al found no difference in global quality of life with exemestane vs tamoxifen in women with early breast cancer undergoing ovarian suppression. The two agents were associated with differences in specific patient-reported outcomes.
In a Canadian study reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> Carrier et al found that adding computed tomography (CT) of the abdomen and pelvis to basic screening did not improve detection of occult cancers in patients with a first episode of unprovoked venous thromboembolism.
A Massachusetts General Hospital research team reported finding that the growth of metastases in lymph nodes does not require new blood vessels but instead takes advantage of existing blood vessels, explaining why antiangiogenesis therapies have failed in the past to stop cancers from metastasizing.
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego, analyzed levels of the genes <em>ERCC1</em> and <em>TS</em> in 41 patients with metastatic colorectal cancer, finding varying survival rates and responses to first-line therapies corresponding with the varying levels of these genes.
In a single institution study reported in <em>JAMA Surgery,</em> Chung et al found a low axillary recurrence rate and low mortality among women with clinical T1–2N0 breast cancer aged ≥ 70 years who underwent breast-conserving surgery without sentinel node biopsy.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Turnbull et al identified a four-gene predictive model of response to aromatase inhibitor therapy that was highly predictive of response on the basis of pretreatment and 2-week on-treatment measurements. The classifier was a significant predictor of recurrence-free and breast cancer–specific survival.
In the randomized phase II BEST trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Flaherty et al found that adding the VEGFR inhibitor sorafenib or the mTOR inhibitor temsirolimus to the VEGF inhibitor bevacizumab or using sorafenib-temsirolimus in combination did not improve progression-free survival vs bevacizumab alone in advanced renal cell carcinoma.
Fox Chase Cancer Center researchers have found extra “boosts” of radiation therapy to patients with borderline resectable, locally advanced pancreatic cancers involved with abdominal blood vessels may increase the likelihood that they would be able to undergo surgical resection.
Researchers at MD Anderson have found that the immune receptor protein TLR4, until now thought of as an oncogene, can either promote or inhibit breast cancer cell growth depending on mutations in TP53.
A large population-based prospective analysis has found that the melanoma risk was 36% higher in people who consumed citrus fruit or juice at least 1.6 times daily compared with those who consumed it less than twice per week. Among individual citrus products, grapefruit and orange juice showed the most association with the risk of melanoma. The study by Wu et al is published in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
In a phase II Intergroup trial (SWOG 1108) reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Barr et al found that the aurora A kinase inhibitor alisertib produced responses in patients with relapsed/refractory peripheral T-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Aurora A kinase is upregulated in highly proliferative lymphomas.
In the phase III BOLERO-1 trial, reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Hurvitz et al found that the addition of the mTOR inhibitor everolimus to trastuzumab-paclitaxel did not significantly increase progression-free survival among patients with HER2-positive advanced breast cancer. A 7-month prolongation in progression-free survival was observed with everolimus among patients with hormone receptor–negative disease.
Researchers at MD Anderson concluded that the majority of existing treatments for hematologic cancers are currently priced too high to be considered cost-effective in the United States. Their findings were published by Chhatwal et al in the journal <em>Cancer</em>.
Vanderbilt University Medical Center researchers observed a 28% decline in prostate cancer diagnoses in the year following the draft recommendation from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force against routine prostate-specific antigen screening for men, according to a study published in <em>The Journal of Urology</em>.
Although cardio-oncology programs are considered a wanted and needed resource, many hospital training programs have no formal training or services in cardio-oncology. A lack of national guidelines and a lack of funding are frequent barriers to establishing such programs, according to a nationwide survey published by Barac et al in the <em>Journal of the American College of Cardiology</em>.
A multicenter, 10-year investigation has concluded that mutations in <em>ETV6</em> act as a predisposition for acute lymphoblastic leukemia and other blood cancers, according to a study published by Noetzli et al in <em>Nature Genetics</em>.
In the phase III REACH trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Zhu et al found that the anti-VEGFR2 monoclonal antibody ramucirumab did not significantly improve overall survival vs placebo in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma who had received first-line treatment with the multi-tyrosine kinase inhibitor sorafenib. An overall survival benefit was observed among patients with high baseline αlpha-fetoprotein levels.
A large prospective study investigating the safety and effectiveness of using annual low-dose computed tomography (CT) as a screening tool to monitor nonsolid lung nodules has found that CT was accurate in identifying nodules that were likely to become cancerous. The study by Yankelevitz et al is published in <em>Radiology</em>.
In long-term follow-up of the phase III E1199 trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Sparano et al, adjuvant weekly paclitaxel and every-3-week docetaxel were associated with significantly longer disease-free survival and numerically longer overall survival vs every-3-week paclitaxel in women with stage II or III breast cancer. A pronounced effect of weekly paclitaxel was observed in women with triple-negative disease.
In a single-institution study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Reshef et al found that high graft CD8 cell dose was associated with improved overall survival among patients with hematologic malignancy receiving allogeneic stem cell transplantation with reduced-intensity conditioning. High graft CD8 cell content was associated with younger donor age.
Researchers at Roswell Park, along with the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research, verified patient outcome data submitted by more than 150 U.S. transplant centers over an 11-year period to investigate different causes of death after allogeneic blood and marrow transplants.
Based on a multicenter, collaborative research effort, investigators believe early age at menarche could play a role in the disproportionate incidence of estrogen receptor–negative breast cancers diagnosed among African American women. The findings were published in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute</em>.
Statin use has been associated with improved outcome in prostate cancer. In a study reported in <em>JAMA Oncology,</em> Harshman et al found that statin use at the time of initiation of androgen-deprivation therapy was associated with prolonged time to progression during androgen-deprivation therapy in men with hormone-sensitive prostate cancer. The potential mechanism of this effect may be statin competitive inhibition of dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate uptake.
In a press conference today, ASCO detailed the contents of the initial version of a conceptual framework for assessing the value of new cancer treatment options based on the treatment’s clinical benefit, side effects, and cost when compared to data on standard therapy derived from randomized clinical trials. The goal of the framework is to become a tool physicians and patients can use to make better informed, shared decisions about the benefits and costs of new cancer treatment options.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Brundage et al found that the addition of radiotherapy to androgen-deprivation therapy in patients with locally advanced prostate cancer in the NCIC CTG PR3/MRC PR07 trial had a transient negative impact on health-related quality of life over long-term follow-up.
Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center researchers found that men with advanced prostate cancer and detection of AR-V7 respond to chemotherapy just as well as men who lack the variant and that it may be a better treatment for this subset of patients than hormone therapy.
New research published by Søgaard et al in <em>Blood</em> found that blood clots in an abdominal vein, splanchnic venous thrombosis, may be an indicator of undiagnosed cancer. The study also suggests that these clots predict poorer survival in patients with liver and pancreatic cancer.
Overall survival results of the phase III COMBI-d trial reported in <em>The Lancet</em> by Long et al showed that the combination of the BRAF inhibitor dabrafenib with the MEK inhibitor trametinib resulted in significantly prolonged overall survival vs dabrafenib alone in patients with <em>BRAF</em> V600–mutant melanoma. The primary analysis of the trial had shown that the combination significantly prolonged progression-free survival.
In a study reported in <em>JAMA Surgery</em>, Huang et al found that use of nephron-sparing surgery has more than doubled since 2001 among older patients with small kidney cancers. Use of nonsurgical approaches has remained stable.
In an analysis reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Liu et al found that a subset of patients with luminal A breast cancer may not need radiotherapy to prevent relapse.
In an analysis reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute</em>, Lin et al found that the addition of radiotherapy to androgen-deprivation therapy was associated with a significant improvement in overall survival in patients with clinically node-positive prostate cancer.
In a study reported in <em>JAMA Oncology</em>, Beltran et al found that whole-exome sequencing of metastatic and treatment-resistant cancers revealed biologically informative alterations in the majority of cases. Although treatment recommendations could be made in the majority of cases, treatment was guided on the basis of such information in very few.
An analysis published by Cohn et al in the <em> Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism</em>found women exposed to higher levels of the pesticide DDT in utero were nearly four times more likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer as adults than women exposed to lower levels before birth.
Houston Methodist Neurological Institute researchers presented findings at the 2015 ASCO Annual Meeting that suggest a combination of gene therapy and the traditionally used surgical resection may extend the overall survival of patients with glioblastoma.
In an analysis reported in <em>JAMA Surgery</em>, Paniccia et al identified patient and treatment characteristics that were associated with survival of at least 10 years after diagnosis of invasive pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, including lower positive lymph node ratio, receipt of adjuvant chemotherapy, and lower pathologic T stage.
In a study assessing factors in racial/ethnic survival disparities in breast cancer reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Warner et al found that black women with estrogen receptor–positive breast cancer were significantly more likely to die from the disease within the first 2 years of diagnosis compared with white women.
Researchers at Duke have found that younger patients with thyroid cancer and lymph node involvement are at increased risk of dying, contrary to current beliefs and staging prognostic tools that classify young patients as having low-risk disease.
As reported in <em>JAMA Oncology</em>, Shankar et al developed a rapid genotyping assay to detect single nucleotide variants in telomerase reverse transcriptase (<em>TERT</em>) promoter and isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 (<em>IDH1</em>) genes that may assist in intraoperative decisions to perform definitive neurosurgical resection in patients with diffuse infiltrative glioma.
One dose of bivalent human papillomavirus (HPV-16/18) vaccine is as effective in preventing certain HPV infections as the currently recommended three-dose course of vaccination, according to a study published by Kreimer et al in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>.
A pooled analysis of four clinical trials of nivolumab in advanced melanoma, reported by Larkin et al in <em>JAMA Oncology</em>, suggested similar response rates in patients with BRAF V600–mutant and BRAF wild-type disease.
In an analysis of Children’s Oncology Group (COG) trials reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Chow et al found that dexrazoxane use did not appear to be associated with poorer survival among pediatric patients with leukemia or lymphoma in long-term follow-up.
In a single-institution study reported in <em>JAMA Surgery</em>, Margonis et al found that particular KRAS codon 12 mutations were associated with significantly poorer overall survival among patients with colorectal liver metastases.
A multicenter study focused on classifying brain cancers was able to group the most common gliomas into three distinct groups, identified by genetic mutations and chromosomal alterations, concluding that molecular testing is needed in addition to histopathologic examination in diagnosis and treatment.
Researchers from Moffitt Cancer Center and the University of South Florida recently published a study about the attitudes and cultural perspectives of Latinas undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer, their cancer experiences, and the ways they manage stress associated with cancer.
In a phase III trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Bielack et al found that the addition of postoperative pegylated interferon alfa-2b to MAP (methotrexate, doxorubicin, and cisplatin) in patients with osteosarcoma showing good histologic response to preoperative MAP did not significantly improve event-free survival. A large proportion of patients randomly assigned to interferon never received the treatment or stopped it early.
At the 2015 ASCO Annual Meeting, investigators announced the first clinical findings in a platinum-resistant ovarian cancer patient population treated with a unique, folate-receptor alpha–targeting antibody-drug conjugate, mirvetuximab soravtansine.
Researchers from the University at Buffalo and Roswell Park Cancer Institute have identified beliefs and personality traits associated with higher levels of distress in patients with newly diagnosed prostate cancer and have offered suggestions as to how to help them.
A study investigating the process involved in metastatic breast cancer has found that patients with high levels of the protein activin-like receptor kinase (ALK) 1 in the blood vessels of their tumors were more likely to develop metastatic disease than patients without endothelial expression of ALK1. Inhibiting the ALK1 pathway may be a possible new target for the treatment of metastatic breast cancer, according to the research findings. The study by Cunha et al is published in <em>Cancer Research</em>.
A study by Dahlstrom et al investigating the usefulness of serum antibodies to human papillomavirus (HPV)-16 DNA antigens as predictors of survival for patients with oropharyngeal carcinoma has found that E1, NE2, and E6 antibody positivity were all strongly associated with improved overall and progression-free survival among patients with HPV-related oropharyngeal cancer. Serum antibodies to HPV-16 DNA antigens, particularly E1, NE2, and E6, have prognostic significance for patients with the cancer, according to the study findings. The study is published in <em>Clinical Cancer Research</em>.
According to a study conducted by the American Cancer Society, screening for colorectal cancer in individuals with a lower socioeconomic status increased after 2008, coinciding with the Affordable Care Act’s removal of financial barriers to screening.
In a phase III trial (ABCSG-18) reported in <em>The Lancet</em>, Gnant et al found that adjuvant denosumab reduced the risk of clinical fracture in women with breast cancer receiving aromatase inhibitor therapy.
According to a study by Perelman School of Medicine researchers, more than one-third of counties in the United States are located more than 50 miles from the nearest gynecologic oncologist, making access to specialty care difficult for nearly 15 million American women.
In an analysis reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Meric-Bernstam and colleagues at MD Anderson Cancer Center found that a small minority of patients with potentially actionable genes identified in large-scale testing were enrolled onto clinical trials targeting the alterations.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Lichtenthal et al found that parents who have lost a child to cancer report wanting and frequently using mental health services, although barriers to seeking care exist and retention in care is suboptimal.
Researchers have identified a gene in dendritic cells that disables an effective immune response against ovarian cancer tumors. In preclinical studies, the researchers found that silencing this gene, XBP1, in dendritic cells restores their function and enhances T-cell antitumor immunity and may offer a unique approach to cancer immunotherapy for ovarian cancer. The study by Cubillos-Ruiz et al was published in <em>Cell</em>.
In an analysis of multiple research studies, UNC Chapel Hill researchers found pictures illustrating the dangers of cigarette smoking were more effective at strengthening people’s intentions to quit smoking than text warnings. These findings were published by Noar et al in <em>Tobacco Control</em>.
At the 2015 ASCO Annual Meeting, researchers from Duke’s Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center presented their work on a modified poliovirus therapy, given to patients with glioblastoma at a low dosage.
In a French phase III trial (GETUG 12) reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>, Fizazi et al found that the addition of docetaxel and estramustine to androgen-deprivation therapy improved relapse-free survival among patients with high-risk localized prostate cancer.
In a study reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>, Rini et al developed a 16-gene assay and recurrence score that predicted postsurgery outcome in patients with stage I to III clear cell renal cell carcinoma.
Transplant surgeons at the Mayo Clinic Florida reported in the <em>American Journal of Transplantation</em> that patients with liver cancer undergoing liver transplant have similar beneficial outcomes whether organs are from donors suffering cardiac death or brain death.
Data presented at Digestive Disease Week 2015 demonstrated the effectiveness of a new molecular diagnostic test, BarreGen, at predicting risk of progression from Barrett’s esophagus to esophageal cancer.
In a UK study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Gale et al found that presence of <em>DNMT3A</em> mutations was associated with poorer prognosis in young adults with cytogenetic intermediate-risk acute myeloid leukemia (AML) irrespective of the presence of <em>NPM1</em> mutation. Poorer outcome was found for <em>DNMT3A</em> R882 and non-R882 missense mutants, but not for truncations.
In the phase III PALOMA 3 trial reported at the 2015 ASCO Annual Meeting and published in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> Turner et al found that the cyclin-dependent kinase 4 and 6 inhibitor palbociclib significantly improved progression-free survival in women with advanced hormone receptor–positive/HER2-negative breast cancer that had relapsed or progressed during endocrine therapy.
More than half of all cancer patients experience pain, most often associated with the malignancy type, body location, and disease progression. Pain researchers participating in a symposium at the American Pain Society Annual Scientific Meeting last month reported that the relationship between tumors and nerves drives pain and tumor progression in certain types of cancers.
In a pooled analysis of the LUX-Lung 2, 3, and 6 trials reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Yang et al found that the activity of afatinib differed according to uncommon <em>EGFR</em> mutations in advanced non–small cell lung cancer.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Cole et al found that polymorphisms in genes related to oxidative stress or neuroinflammation were associated with poorer cognitive function in survivors treated for childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Survivors of childhood ALL have been shown to be at increased risk of neurocognitive deficits.
In an interim analysis of a phase III ELOQUENT-2 trial reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> Lonial et al found that the addition of the immunostimulatory antibody elotuzumab to lenalidomide-dexamethasone significantly increased progression-free survival in patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma.
An analysis of 28 cancer groups in 188 countries published by Fitzmaurice et al in <em>JAMA Oncology</em> shows new cases of virtually all types of cancer are rising in countries globally, but the death rates from cancer are falling in many countries.
Phase III results of Radiation Therapy Oncology Group 0537 demonstrated that acupuncture-like, transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (ALTENS) may be equally effective as pilocarpine, the current standard of care, in treating radiation-induced xerostomia. These findings were published by Wong et al in <em>International Journal of Radiation Oncology • Biology • Physics</em>.
In a Swedish study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> He et al identified numerous predictors of discontinuation of adjuvant hormone therapy in patients with breast cancer.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Menon et al, findings in the United Kingdom Collaborative Trial of Ovarian Cancer Screening indicate that the number of screen-detected ovarian cancers is doubled by using the risk of ovarian cancer algorithm with serial CA-125 measurements compared with the use of single CA-125 threshold levels.
In the phase III SQUIRE trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Thatcher et al found that the addition of the second-generation EGFR antibody necitumumab to first-line gemcitabine-cisplatin improved overall survival among patients with stage IV squamous non–small cell lung cancer.
Results from an observational study led by Johns Hopkins researchers found that men with a history of asthma were less likely than those without it to develop lethal prostate cancer, whereas men with a history of hay fever seem to be at increased risk of developing it. These findings were published by Platz et al in the <em>International Journal of Cancer</em>.
A University of Michigan survey found that many women with breast cancer choose to undergo double mastectomies, though it does not meaningfully improve survival, and many do not have genetic mutations or a family history that may predispose them to cancer in the unaffected breast. These findings were presented at the 2015 ASCO Annual Meeting.
Results of the phase III RTOG 9813 trial show the IDH1 gene may be a prognostic marker for anaplastic astrocytoma and a predictive biomarker for what kind of chemotherapy these patients may receive.
In a study reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> Silvestri et al of the AEGIS study team found that use of a bronchial airway gene-expression classifier improved the diagnostic performance of bronchoscopy in patients being evaluated for suspected lung cancer.
In the phase III AVAglio trial, the addition of bevacizumab to radiotherapy and temozolomide improved progression-free survival in patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma. As reported by Taphoorn et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> bevacizumab treatment did not worsen health-related quality of life during the progression-free period in patients in the trial.
A large study evaluating the relationship of dietary patterns with prostate cancer–specific and all-cause mortality among men diagnosed with nonmetastatic prostate cancer has found that the men who ate foods rich in processed meats, red meats, and high-fat dairy products had a 153% increased risk for prostate cancer–specific death and a 67% increased risk of death from all causes. Men who maintained a diet of vegetables, fruits, fish, legumes, and whole grains had a 36% lowered risk of death from all causes. The study by Yang et al is published in <em>Cancer Prevention Research</em>.
The investigational antibody-drug conjugate IMMU-130 was found to be effective in controlling drug-resistant metastatic colon cancer in patients previously treated with irinotecan-containing chemotherapy regimens, according to the results of a recent phase I/II clinical trial presented at the 2015 ASCO Annual Meeting.
In an analysis of the NeoALTTO trial reported in <em>JAMA Oncology,</em> Salgado et al found that a higher level of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes was associated with improved pathologic compete response rate and event-free survival independent of neoadjuvant treatment received in patients with HER2-positive early breast cancer.
Seeking to identify new targets and therapeutic options for squamous cell anal carcinoma, a multi-institutional team led by researchers at Roswell Park Cancer Institute conducted a multiplatform biomarker analysis that revealed several actionable targets.
ASCO provided a demonstration of CancerLinQ, its health information technology platform, and discussed its next steps for implementation and development at the 2015 Annual Meeting in Chicago.
Results from the phase III registration study PALOMA-3 show that adding the investigational targeted agent palbociclib to the standard hormonal therapy fulvestrant more than doubled the duration of disease control, delaying disease progression by roughly 5 months in women with previously treated, hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative advanced breast cancer. This trial was stopped early based on efficacy seen in the interim analysis.
A phase III trial comparing 5 years of tamoxifen vs 5 years of the aromatase inhibitor anastrozole for postmenopausal women treated for ductal carcinoma in situ found 10-year breast cancer–free interval rates were higher in the anastrozole group than in the tamoxifen group (93.5% vs 89.2%). The benefit was primarily seen in women < 60 years old. Results were presented at the 2015 ASCO Annual Meeting in Chicago.
In the phase III BEYOND trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Zhou et al found that the addition of bevacizumab to carboplatin-paclitaxel improved progression-free and overall survival in Chinese patients with locally advanced, metastatic, or recurrent advanced nonsquamous non–small cell lung cancer.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Subbiah et al, the addition of number of brain metastases to the breast graded prognostic assessment tool improved the prediction of overall survival in breast cancer patients with brain metastases.
Researchers from Roswell Park Cancer Institute presented findings at the 2015 ASCO Annual Meeting that the Toll-like receptor 5 agonist entolimod is worthy of further investigation as treatment for some of the most common and most resilient solid-tumor cancers.
A study by the American Cancer Society shows that cancer survivors face thousands of dollars of excess medical expenses every year, as well as excess employment disability and loss of production at work, making economic loss a large burden of survivorship.
Investigators for the nationwide NCI-MATCH trial announced at the 2015 ASCO Annual Meeting in Chicago that the precision medicine trial will open to patient enrollment in July. The trial seeks to determine whether targeted therapies for people whose tumors have specific gene mutations will be effective, regardless of their cancer type.
Patients with intermediate- or high-grade liposarcoma or leiomyosarcoma who had received two or more lines of systemic therapy for advanced or metastatic disease had a 2-month increase in median overall survival if treated with eribulin rather than the standard drug dacarbazine. “For a disease where so few treatment options exist, a 2-month improvement in survival is significant,” noted <strong>Patrick Schöffski, MD, MPH,</strong> the lead author of the phase III study comparing the two agents.
In a phase III trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Andtbacka et al found that talimogene laherparepvec (T-VEC) treatment improved the durable response rate vs granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) in patients with unresectable stage IIIB to IV melanoma. T-VEC is a herpes simplex virus type 1–derived oncolytic immunotherapy designed to selectively replicate within tumors and produce GM-CSF to enhance the systemic antitumor immune response.
In a phase II Intergroup study (SWOG S0809) reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Ben-Josef et al found that adjuvant capecitabine and gemcitabine followed by concurrent radiotherapy and capecitabine produced good survival results in patients with extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma or gallbladder carcinoma.
The oral investigational ALK inhibitor alectinib shrank tumors in almost half of patients with advanced ALK-positive non–small cell lung cancer whose disease had progressed following crizotinib treatment. Positive results from two clinical studies were presented at the 2015 ASCO Annual Meeting in Chicago.
ASCO announced its first-ever clinical trial, the Plans for the Targeted Agent and Profiling Utilization Registry (TAPUR) study, which will offer patients with advanced cancer access to molecularly targeted cancer drugs and collect “real-world” data on clinical outcomes to help learn the best uses of these drugs outside of indications approved by the FDA.
For patients with melanoma and micrometastases shown by positive sentinel lymph node biopsy, complete lymph node dissection did not improve survival, according to the results of a randomized study presented at the 2015 ASCO Annual Meeting. “This is the first study that questions the general recommendation of complete lymph node dissection in patients with positive nodes,” senior study author <strong>Claus Garbe, MD,</strong> stated at a press briefing.
“For the first time, improvement in overall survival was observed with tolerable adjuvant chemotherapy for localized, high-risk prostate cancer,” <strong>Howard Sandler, MD,</strong> Professor of Radiation Oncology at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, announced at a press briefing at the 2015 ASCO Annual Meeting in Chicago. In a phase III clinical trial, patients who received docetaxel chemotherapy along with standard hormone and radiation therapy had a 4-year overall survival rate of 93% compared with 89% in the standard therapy group.
A randomized phase III study has confirmed previous evidence that maintenance lenalidomide following autologous stem cell transplantation delays the time to disease progression for patients with multiple myeloma. Updated results of the ongoing study were discussed at the 2015 ASCO Annual Meeting in Chicago.
A phase III trial found that adding whole-brain radiation therapy to radiosurgery did not significantly extend patient survival, although it did help to control the growth of brain metastases, as evidenced by imaging studies. Patients who received whole-brain radiation therapy following radiosurgery were more likely to experience cognitive decline than those who received radiosurgery alone.
A recent study by researchers at MD Anderson Cancer Center suggests that profiling normal DNA, not just tumor DNA, may provide an important opportunity to identify inherited mutations that could be critical for patients and their families.
Researchers at Fox Chase Cancer Center and Temple University presented findings at the 2015 ASCO Annual Meeting on African American cancer patients’ hesitation to enroll in clinical trials and what the next targeted step should be to increase their participation.
Survivors of childhood cancer in recent eras have shown a significant reduction in late mortality, and “for the first time, we have been able to attribute that to fewer deaths from treatment-related causes or fewer deaths from late effects of the primary therapy,” <strong>Gregory T. Armstrong, MD, MSCE,</strong> reported at a press briefing at the 2015 ASCO Annual Meeting in Chicago. Dr. Armstrong led a study analyzing data from more than 34,000 participants in the federally funded Childhood Cancer Survivor Study.
A randomized phase III study resolves long-standing questions about the optimal timing of neck lymph node surgery for patients with early-stage oral cancer by showing that elective neck dissection both improves survival and lowers recurrence rates compared to therapeutic neck dissection performed at the time of nodal occurrence. “Elective neck dissection should be the standard of care for early oral node-negative squamous cell cancers based on the findings of our trial,” the study’s lead author, <strong>Anil D’Cruz, MBBS, MS, FRCS,</strong> said at the 2015 ASCO Annual Meeting in Chicago.
At the 2015 ASCO Annual Meeting, researchers at Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia discussed how informing parents fully about their child’s cancer prognosis is more likely to produce peace of mind and hope within the family, rather than anxiety or depression.
A randomized phase III trial among patients with previously untreated melanoma found that initial therapy with nivolumab alone more than doubled the median progression-free survival compared with ipilimumab alone (6.9 vs 2.9 months). The benefit was even greater when the two agents were used together, resulting in a median progression-free survival of 11.5 months.
In a phase III head-to-head trial comparing the safety and efficacy of two EGFR-directed treatments, afatinib treatment resulted in a significant improvement in overall survival over erlotinib in patients with previously treated advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the lung. Updated results from the LUX-Lung 8 trial were reported on May 31 at the 2015 ASCO Annual Meeting in Chicago.
Researchers from Yale Cancer Center found that breast cancer patients could reduce the need for a second surgery by removing more tissue all the way around the tumor site during the initial surgery, a procedure known as cavity shave margin resection. These findings were presented in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em> and at the 2015 ASCO Annual Meeting.
Researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center found that significant clinical variations exist among patients with the most common type of liver cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma, depending on its viral cause—hepatitis C or B—and suggest hepatitis type should be considered when developing treatment plans.
Findings from the PERSIST-1 study of patients with myelofibrosis show that the JAK inhibitor pacritinib is significantly more effective than best available therapy for easing the symptoms of myelofibrosis. At a landmark analysis at 24 weeks of treatment, 19.1% of patients on the pacritinib arm experienced a ≥ 35% spleen volume reduction, compared to only 4.7% of patients on the best available therapy arm.
Adding the anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody obinutuzumab to standard bendamustine chemotherapy and then following that with single-agent obinutuzumab maintenance therapy resulted in a statistically significant and clinically meaningful increase in progression-free survival vs bendamustine alone among patients with rituximab-refractory indolent non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
First results from a randomized phase III study show that the combination of ibrutinib and bendamustine/rituximab improves outcomes for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia that progressed despite prior therapy. At a median follow-up of 17 months, patients who received ibrutinib and bendamustine/rituximab had an 80% lower risk of disease progression or death than those who received placebo and bendamustine/rituximab.
Daratumumab monotherapy produced unprecedented overall responses that deepened over time in a phase II trial among patients with heavily treated multiple myeloma, study author <strong>Saad Zafar Usmani, MD,</strong> reported at a press conference at the 2015 ASCO Annual Meeting. In a group of patients whose disease had progressed after at least three prior treamtents, the overall response rate was 29.2%, with a median duration of response of 7.4 months.
Researchers at Dana-Farber found metastatic stomach or esophageal cancers driven by a <em>HER2</em> mutation had markedly improved response rates and survival when bevacizumab was added to the standard drug combination of capecitabine, oxaliplatin chemotherapy, and trastuzumab.
The incidence of melanoma has increased by more than 250% among children, adolescents, and young adults since 1973, reported researchers from Roswell Park Cancer Institute at the 2015 ASCO Annual Meeting.
Although the overall rate of colorectal cancer is declining, colorectal cancer specifically among young patients is increasing. Previous studies have shown that colorectal cancer in patients younger than 50 years old tends to be more aggressive than in older patients. At the 2015 ASCO Annual Meeting, University of Colorado Cancer Center researchers offered evidence of genetic differences in colorectal tumors in young and old patients.
A head-to-head comparison of sunitinib and everolimus in patients with metastatic non–clear cell kidney cancers provided much-needed clarity on the preferred method of first-line treatment for this common malignancy. Results from the phase II ASPEN trial are being presented at the 2015 ASCO Annual Meeting.
Immunotherapy with pembrolizumab produced a clinically meaningful overall response rate in a study among 132 patients with recurrent or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. The overall objective response rate was 24.8%, and 57% of patients experienced some tumor shrinkage, according to results announced at a press conference at the 2015 Annual Meeting in Chicago.
Superior overall survival was experienced by patients receiving the anti–PD-1 antibody nivolumab in a randomized phase III study among patients with nonsquamous non–small cell lung cancer whose disease progressed after a platinum-based doublet chemotherapy. Study participants treated with nivolumab had overall survival of 12.2 months, compared to 9.4 months for those treated with docetaxel, reported <strong>Luis Paz-Ares, MD, PhD,</strong> at the 2015 ASCO Annual Meeting.
A phase I/II study testing the safety and antitumor activity of nivolumab in advanced hepatocellular carcinoma has revealed one of the first signs that immunotherapy with immune checkpoint inhibitors will have a role in the treatment of liver cancer. The results and potential implications of the study were described by the lead author <strong>Anthony B. El-Khoueiry, MD,</strong> at a press conference at the 2015 ASCO Annual Meeting in Chicago.
A phase II study identified the first genomic marker—mismatch repair deficiency—to predict clinical benefit of immune checkpoint blockade with the anti–PD-1 antibody pembrolizumab. Among patients with colorectal cancer, 62% of those with mismatch repair–deficient tumors responded, but no responses were seen among mismatch repair–proficient patients. An overall response rate of 60% was observed in patients with mismatch repair–deficient advanced endometrial cancer and several types of advanced gastrointestinal cancers.
Researchers reported that very overweight teens, and those with high levels of systemic inflammation, have up to a doubled risk of bowel cancer development in middle age. These findings were published by Kantor et al in <em>Gut</em>.
The current annual report of cancer statistics by the American Cancer Society, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Cancer Institute, and North American Association of Central Cancer Registries includes a focus on breast cancer incidence by subtype using new national-level data. The report is presented in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute</em> by Kohler and et al.
In a preplanned interim analysis of the international open-label STEVIE trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Basset-Seguin et al have provided safety data and efficacy outcomes with the use of vismodegib for 1 year in patients with advanced basal cell carcinoma. STEVIE was designed to assess the safety of vismodegib in situations similar to routine practice with long-term follow-up.
Researchers have found cancer patients with brain metastases who develop blood clots may safely receive blood thinners without increased risk of intracranial hemorrhage, according to a study published by Donato et al in <em>Blood</em>.
Two studies from Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center contributed to preliminary evidence that stereotactic body radiotherapy may be safe and as effective as standard radiation treatment for certain patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer. These findings were published in both <em>Cancer</em> and the <em>Annals of Surgical Oncology</em>.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Chavez-MacGregor et al found that the majority of older breast cancer patients receiving trastuzumab-based chemotherapy do not receive adequate cardiac monitoring.
In a phase II study reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Konecny et al found that the multi–tyrosine kinase inhibitor dovitinib appeared to delay progression in some patients as second-line treatment in fibroblast growth factor receptor 2 (<em>FGFR2</em>)-mutant and -nonmutant advanced or metastatic endometrial cancer.
In the UK phase III CHORUS trial reported in <em>The Lancet,</em> Kehoe et al found that a strategy of three cycles of platinum-based chemotherapy followed by delayed surgery and three additional cycles of chemotherapy was associated with overall survival noninferior to that achieved with surgery followed by six cycles of chemotherapy in patients with newly diagnosed stage III or IV ovarian cancer.
A study conducted by researchers from the American Cancer Society found a correlation between increased paternal age and the risk that his child will develop a hematologic cancer later in life, especially in only children. These findings were reported by Teras et al in the <em>American Journal of Epidemiology</em>.
UCLA Jonsson researchers discovered that women with the KRAS-variant, a relatively common genetic mutation, are at an increased risk for breast cancer if their estrogen levels are abruptly lowered, often a side effect of ovary removal or discontinuation of hormonal therapy. These findings were published by McVeigh et al in <em>Cell Cycle</em>.
Nearly 20% of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma “wait more than 3 months from presentation to diagnosis, which can contribute to interval tumor growth,” Patel et al concluded in the <em>Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network</em>. Diagnostic delays are particularly common among outpatients. These conclusions were based on a review of records of consecutive patients with cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma at Parkland Memorial Health and Hospital System, a large urban safety net hospital in Dallas, between January 2005 and July 2012.
In the phase III CONCUR trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Li et al found that the multikinase inhibitor regorafenib improved overall survival vs placebo in Asian patients with previously treated metastatic colorectal cancer.
In the phase II BOLT trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Migden et al found that the hedgehog pathway signaling inhibitor sonidegib produced responses in patients with locally advanced or metastatic basal cell carcinoma at 200-mg and 800-mg dose levels. The lower dose appeared to be associated with a better benefit-risk profile.
In men who experience biochemical disease recurrence after local therapy for prostate cancer, docetaxel, bevacizumab, and androgen-deprivation therapy may be beneficial, according to a study by McKay et al in <em>Cancer</em>. Further evaluation of this combination treatment is warranted to establish the optimal dose and to minimize toxicities.
Researchers have found that an antibody mixture named Sym004 better targets anti-EGFR antibody–resistant colorectal cancer than cetuximab or panitumumab. Their findings were published by Dienstmann et al in <em>Cancer Discovery</em>.
Patients’ preference for how they receive biopsy results “has shifted from face-to-face visit to discussion over the telephone because of a desire for rapid notification,” according to a survey of 301 patients recruited at three different melanoma clinics. A total of 67.1% of the patients preferred to speak directly with their physician by telephone to receive their skin biopsy results, with being notified in person at a clinic visit “a distant second choice,” preferred by only 19.5%, Choudry et al reported in <em>JAMA Dermatology</em>.
In a phase II study reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Phan et al found that the VEGFR-1, -2, -3 inhibitor pazopanib plus depot octreotide produced responses in patients with advanced well-differentiated neuroendocrine tumors. No responses were observed in patients with carcinoid tumors.
In an analysis of participants in the SELECT prevention trial reported in <em>JAMA Oncology,</em> Barrington et al found that obesity in African American men was associated with a greater risk of prostate cancer than in white men. African American men have the highest prostate cancer incidence and mortality in the United States.
In a Polish prospective cohort analysis reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Cybulski et al found that <em>PALB2</em> mutation carriers had increased risk of breast cancer and that those with breast cancer had significantly reduced long-term survival.
Expanding on a payment model circulated last year to improve the quality and affordability of care for patients with cancer, ASCO released a new proposal for payment reform today that would fundamentally restructure the way oncologists are paid for cancer care in the United States by providing sufficient payment to support the full range of services that patients with cancer need and removing the barriers created by the current payment system to delivering high-quality, affordable care.
Researchers from the University of Southampton published findings in the <em>British Journal of Surgery</em> that confirm women who are diagnosed with breast cancer and have a family history of the disease face no worse of a prognosis after treatment than other women with breast cancer.
In the SWOG S0927 trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Hershman et al found that both omega-3 fatty acids and placebo resulted in marked persistent reductions in aromatase inhibitor–related arthralgia among patients with early breast cancer, with no difference between treatments observed.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration had granted Fast Track designation to AG-120 for the treatment of patients with acute myeloid leukemia who harbor an isocitrate dehydrogenase-1 (IDH1) mutation. Agios Pharmaceuticals’ AG-120 is a first-in-class, oral, selective, potent inhibitor of the mutated IDH1 protein being evaluated in two phase I clinical trials, one in hematologic malignancies that recently initiated three expansion cohorts and one in advanced solid tumors, including glioma.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted Fast Track designation to Immunomedics’ lead antibody-drug conjugate sacituzumab govitecan (IMMU-132) for the treatment of patients with relapsed/refractory metastatic non–small cell lung cancer who have failed two prior lines of therapy
In an analysis reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Tsao et al found that classification by histologic subtype for invasive lung adenocarcinoma was not predictive of overall survival benefit of adjuvant therapy in patients undergoing complete resection but did appear to predict benefit of adjuvant therapy in disease-free survival and specific disease-free survival.
Active surveillance has become a viable option for many men with low-risk prostate cancer who choose not to undergo active treatment such as surgery or radiotherapy. Four studies evaluating effectiveness, trends, and other considerations for active surveillance in managing prostate cancer were presented during the 110th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Urological Association.
Four new studies presented at the 110th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Urological Association examined new ways of screening for prostate cancer. The studies demonstrated progress toward more targeted approaches to prostate cancer.
Fertility counseling for men with cancer, prior to initiating treatment, can increase the rate of sperm preservation, according to a new survey presented during the 110th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Urological Association (AUA).
In an updated patient-level meta-analysis reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Blanchard et al of the Meta-Analysis of Chemotherapy in Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma (MAC-NPC) collaborative group found that the addition of chemotherapy to radiotherapy improved overall survival in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma, with the greatest benefit being observed with concomitant administration.
In the German CONKO-004 trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Pelzer et al found that prophylactic treatment with the low-molecular-weight heparin enoxaparin reduced the risk of symptomatic venous thromboembolic events in ambulatory patients receiving first-line chemotherapy for advanced pancreatic cancer.
In the phase III ARTemis trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Earl et al found that the addition of bevacizumab to standard neoadjuvant therapy resulted in a higher pathologic complete response rate in women with HER2-negative early breast cancer.
According to a phase III trial conducted by MD Anderson researchers, patients with operable stage I NSCLC could achieve better overall survival rates if treated with stereotactic ablative radiotherapy rather than the current standard of care, invasive surgery. These findings were published by Chang et al in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>.
A new test for prostate cancer called the Mi-Prostate Score (MiPS), developed at the University of Michigan, improved prostate cancer detection—including detecting more aggressive forms of prostate cancer—compared to traditional models based on prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels. These findings were published by Tomlins et al in <em>European Urology</em>.
A large prospective study investigating the association between dense breast tissue and the risk for interval breast cancer has found that breast density alone should not be the sole criterion for recommending supplemental breast imaging. Incorporating other risk factors, such as age, first-degree relatives with a breast cancer history, history of breast biopsy, BI-RADS breast density, and race/ethnicity, can identify women at high risk for interval cancer who are more likely to benefit from alternative screening strategies. The study by Kerlikowske et al was published in <em>Annals of Internal Medicine</em>.
To provide guidance on high-value cancer care screening strategies for asymptomatic, average-risk adults, the American College of Physicians recently reviewed clinical guidelines issued by various medical organizations for screening strategies in five common cancers: breast, cervical, colorectal, ovarian, and prostate. In the study, high value was defined as the delivery of services providing benefits that make their harms and costs worthwhile; low-value screening strategies were defined as those that return disproportionately small health benefits for the harms and costs incurred. The study is published in the <em>Annals of Internal Medicine</em>.
In the Dutch PACES trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> van Waart et al found that both a moderate/high-intensity supervised exercise program and a low-intensity home-based program provided benefits vs usual care in women undergoing adjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer.
In a population-based study reported in <em>JAMA Oncology,</em> Thomas et al found significantly poorer disease-specific survival among melanoma patients with stage ≥ T2b tumors with <em>NRAS</em> or <em>BRAF</em> mutation.
Researchers from Seidman Cancer Center and Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine compared the effectiveness of stool DNA testing with colonoscopy for detecting large colon polyps and found that the noninvasive technology is a promising alternative to colonoscopy for African Americans. The findings were presented at Digestive Disease Week and in <em>Gastroenterology</em>.
The anti–PD-L1 antibody MPDL3280A yielded promising early results when used in combination with standard chemotherapy in the treatment of advanced non&x2013;small cell lung cancer. Results from the phase Ib study will be presented at the 2015 ASCO Annual Meeting.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Holter et al found that 4.6% of a large clinic population of patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma harbored pathogenic germline <em>BRCA</em> mutations.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Hwang et al, ASCO has released a provisional clinical opinion update on screening of cancer patients for hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection before cancer treatment to reduce the risk of HBV reactivation.
In a study conducted by researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Cedars-Sinai, the new nine-valent HPV vaccine was shown to protect against 80% of cervical cancers and offers an overall 13% increase in protection from all HPV-related cancers when compared with the first vaccines on the market. These findings were published by Saraiya et al in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute</em>.
Researchers at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital found that some childhood cancer treatments put pediatric patients at greater risk for adulthood obesity. These findings were published by Wilson et al in the journal <em>Cancer</em>.
In patients with recurrent/persistent uterine or ovarian/primary peritoneal/fallopian tube cancers, ixabepilone, especially with the addition of biweekly bevacizumab, appears to be safe and effective, according to a study by Roque et al in <em>Gynecologic Oncology</em>. Further evaluation of this combination treatment is warranted to establish the optimal dose and schedule.
In a Dutch study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Heemskerk-Gerritsen et al in the Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer in the Netherlands (HEBON) study group found no apparent reduction in risk for breast cancer with salpingo-oophorectomy in healthy <em>BRCA1/2</em> mutation carriers. Their analysis used risk-reducing salpingo-oophorectomy as a time-dependent variable.
Researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center found men treated for prostate cancer with androgen-deprivation therapy were 70% more likely to have cognitive impairment as a result of treatment when compared with men not treated with androgen-deprivation therapy or men who were cancer-free at 6-month follow-up. These results were published by Gonzalez et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
Researchers from Lund University found one-view digital tomosynthesis detects 40% more breast cancers than two-view digital mammography does in breast cancer screening. The results of the screening study were published by Lång et al in <em>European Radiology</em>.
A survey sent to medical and radiation oncologists to identify factors contributing to observed disparities in cancer treatment between patients infected with HIV and those not infected found that 21% of physicians would alter their treatment recommendations based on HIV status, Suneja et al reported in the <em>Journal of Oncology Practice</em>.
A large, phase III international study of the oral agent TAS-102 in patients with heavily pretreated metastatic colorectal cancer has found that the therapy significantly improved overall survival by 1.8 months and also delayed disease progression. TAS-102 had few side effects and was also effective in patients whose disease was refractory to fluorouracil. The study by Mayer et al is published in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em>.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Wolfe et al, the Pediatric Quality of Life and Evaluation of Symptoms Technology (PediQUEST) study found a high prevalence of disease symptoms in children with advanced cancer, with most symptoms being associated with high distress level.
In a meta-analysis reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Lee et al found that increased progression-free survival benefit of EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor treatment vs chemotherapy was exhibited in patients with exon 19 deletion, never-smokers, and women.
Two phase III studies found that augmenting therapy with additional drugs improved outcomes for children with a high-risk form of Wilms tumor caused by a specific chromosomal abnormality.
Results from the UK-led STAMPEDE trial showed that adding docetaxel chemotherapy to standard hormone therapy markedly improved survival for men with newly diagnosed, hormone-naive, advanced prostate cancer. These findings will be discussed at length at the 2015 ASCO Annual Meeting.
Researchers found that a form of vitamin B3 called nicotinamide significantly reduced the rates of new nonmelanoma skin cancers in people at high risk of the disease. The findings have the potential to decrease the health burden and economic cost of skin cancer.
In a phase III trial, researchers found the new monoclonal antibody elotuzumab, when added to standard lenalidomide and dexamethasone therapy, extends the duration of remissions in relapsed multiple myeloma patients. These findings will be presented at the 2015 ASCO Annual Meeting.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Advani et al, a subset analysis of the phase III North American Intergroup E2496 trial showed no significant difference in failure-free or overall survival between ABVD (doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, dacarbazine) plus radiotherapy vs the Stanford V regimen (mechlorethamine, doxorubicin, vincristine, bleomycin, vinblastine, etoposide, prednisone) in patients with stage I or II bulky mediastinal Hodgkin lymphoma.
In a single-center study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Armenian et al found that childhood cancer survivors who had received potentially pulmonary toxic treatment were at a significantly increased risk of long-term pulmonary dysfunction compared with healthy controls.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Araujo et al used targeted massively parallel sequencing to produce an in-depth molecular profile of non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in African Americans. Comparison with findings in NSCLC patients of European/white ancestry indicated a similar profile for somatic driver mutations.
In a German study reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Brämswig et al found that women treated for Hodgkin lymphoma during childhood or adolescence had a good prognosis for achieving parenthood.
Long-term and frequent use of aspirin is associated with significantly decreased risk of cervical cancer, while acetaminophen did not decrease risk, according to a study published by Friel et al in the<em>Journal of Lower Genital Tract Disease</em>.
A team of researchers led by a Stanford University neurologist found that the drug panobinostat and similar histone deacetylase inhibitors may be effective at treating diffuse intrinsic pontine gliomas. Their findings were published by Grasso et al in <em>Nature Medicine</em>.
In the phase III ENESTg1 trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Blay et al found that nilotinib was associated with poorer progression-free survival vs imatinib as first-line treatment in patients with unresectable or metastatic gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST). Trial accrual was terminated early due to futility on interim analysis.
Roche announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the cobas <em>KRAS</em> Mutation Test for diagnostic use. The real-time polymerase chain reaction test is designed to identify <em>KRAS</em> mutations in tumor samples from patients with metastatic colorectal cancer and aid clinicians in determining a therapeutic path for them.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted Fast Track designation for the development of evofosfamide (TH-302), administered in combination with gemcitabine, for previously untreated patients with metastatic or locally advanced unresectable pancreatic cancer. Evofosfamide is an investigational drug that is thought to be activated under severe tumor hypoxic conditions, a feature of many solid tumors.
A study conducted by University of Pennsylvania researchers and published in <em>Genetics in Medicine</em> shows some at-risk patients opt out of comprehensive cancer gene screening, mostly due to concern for uncertainty and potential distress. However, those who did select screening and had pretest counseling had lowered anxiety, even after test results returned.
Researchers at the Hormel Institute found EGFR overexpression and the growth of polyps, both indicators of the development of colorectal cancer, may be able to be regulated with the use of aspirin. Their findings were published by Li et al in <em>EBioMedicine</em>.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Bartlett et al found that the presence of duplication of chromosome 17 pericentromeric alpha satellite, measured by a centromere enumeration probe (CEP17), and TOP2A aberrations predicted benefit of anthracycline-based adjuvant therapy in early breast cancer.
In a phase III trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Rapp et al found that the neurotransmitter modulator donepezil may modestly improve some cognitive function domains in patients undergoing cranial irradiation for brain tumors. Improvements were greater in patients with greater baseline cognitive impairment.
In the phase III CAIRO3 trial reported in <em>The Lancet,</em> Simkens et al of the Dutch Colorectal Cancer Group found that maintenance capecitabine-bevacizumab prolonged the time to second progression vs observation in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer.
Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine reported pancreatic cancer rates are highest in countries with the least amount of sunlight. These findings were published by Garland et al in <em>The Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology</em>.
African Americans and Africans who swapped their typical diets for 2 weeks similarly exchanged their respective risks of colon cancer, as reflected by alterations of their gut bacteria, according to an international study reported by O’Keefe et al in <em>Nature Communications</em>.
In a study reported in <em>JAMA Oncology,</em> Coromilas et al found that axillary lymph node evaluation is frequently performed in women with ductal carcinoma in situ, and a number of hospital or surgeon characteristics are associated with likelihood of evaluation.
In a phase I cohort expansion trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Gettinger et al found that monotherapy with the anti–PD-1 checkpoint inhibitor antibody nivolumab produced durable responses and promising survival rates in patients with heavily pretreated non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Nivolumab is currently being evaluated in phase III trials in NSCLC.
A study by Sineshaw et al has found that black men with early-stage breast cancer who were younger than age 65 had a 76% higher risk of death than whites. However, the disparity was significantly reduced after adjusting for differences in insurance and income, suggesting the importance of improving access to care in reducing racial disparities in breast cancer mortality among men. The study is published in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
Results of a UK phase III trial (RAPID) reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em> by Radford et al suggest that prognosis is good with or without consolidation radiotherapy in early-stage Hodgkin lymphoma patients with negative positron emission tomography (PET) findings after ABVD (doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine).
Survivors of Hodgkin lymphoma treated as adolescents or adults are at increased risk of cardiovascular disease throughout their lives, according to results of a retrospective cohort study of 2,524 Dutch patients followed for a median of 20 years. The findings were reported by van Nimwegen et al in <em>JAMA Internal Medicine</em>.
In a retrospective analysis reported in <em>JAMA Oncology,</em> Metcalfe et al found that oophorectomy was associated with significantly improved breast cancer survival in women harboring a <em>BRCA1</em> mutation and in those with estrogen receptor–negative disease.
ASCO issued an endorsement of the American Society for Radiation Oncology evidence-based guideline on external-beam radiotherapy for patients with locally advanced non–small cell lung cancer. The ASCO endorsement was published by Bezjak et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted Breakthrough Therapy designation to AbbVie’s investigational agent venetoclax (ABT-199) for the treatment of relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) in patients with the 17p deletion. Venetoclax is an investigational oral inhibitor of the BCL-2 protein, which prevents apoptosis of cancer cells.
UC San Diego School of Medicine researchers found that 1 in 5.8 patients with gastrointestinal stromal tumors will develop additional malignancies before and after their diagnosis. Their findings were published by Murphy et al in <em>Cancer</em>.
Researchers at the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences recommend regular screenings for depression in brain tumor patients in order to produce better clinical outcomes and improve patients’ quality of life, according to a study published in <em>CNS Oncology</em>.
A large population-based study of newly diagnosed patients with lung cancer has found that those who had prolonged use of statins had a 19% reduction in lung cancer deaths. Among all patients, those who used statins in the year before their lung cancer diagnosis had a statistically significant 12% reduction in death from lung cancer. The study, by Cardwell et al, is published in <em>Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention</em>.
In an analysis of Women’s Health Initiative trials reported in <em>JAMA Oncology,</em> Chlebowski et al found differing patterns of breast cancer risk among women receiving menopausal hormone therapy with estrogen plus progestin or estrogen alone.
In the phase III KEYNOTE-006 trial reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> Robert et al found that the anti–PD-1 antibody pembrolizumab increased progression-free and overall survival compared with ipilimumab in patients with advanced melanoma.
For women with a family history of breast cancer, new multigene panel testing yields greater information about cancer risk while assessing deleterious <em>BRCA1/2</em> mutations as accurately as <em>BRCA</em> testing alone, according to a study presented at the American Society of Breast Surgeons Annual Meeting.
According to researchers at the University of California, Davis, the number of surgeries performed on terminally ill cancer patients has not dropped in recent years, despite more attention to the importance of less invasive care for these patients to relieve symptoms and improve quality of life. The study, published by Bateni et al in <em>Journal of Surgical Research</em>, also found that the morbidity and mortality among patients with terminal cancer have declined.
In analyses of the PREVAIL trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Loriot et al found that enzalutamide treatment was associated with improved patient-reported outcomes and increased time to first skeletal-related event vs placebo in asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic chemotherapy-naive patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.
Long-term thyroid hormone replacement was associated with a decreased risk of colorectal cancer, but hyperthyroidism and untreated hypothyroidism were associated with a modestly elevated risk, according to a study using a large population-based medical records database from the United Kingdom. The results were reported by Boursi et al in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute</em>.
Statin use was not associated with reduced mortality among patients diagnosed with primary colorectal cancer between 2003 and 2009 and followed for a median of 3.4 years in an ongoing population-based study of colorectal cancer in southwest Germany, reported by Hoffmeister et al in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute.</em>
In a phase I/II study reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> Sequist et al found that rociletinib—an EGFR inhibitor active in the presence and absence of the <em>EGFR</em> T790M mutation known to mediate resistance to available EGFR inhibitors—produced a high response rate in patients with T790M-positive non–small cell lung cancer who had progressed on prior EGFR inhibitor therapy.
Mastectomies that preserve the nipple and an envelope of breast skin are as safe as more radical breast cancer operations for qualifying patient populations, according to one of the largest meta-analyses of studies involving women treated with this increasingly popular approach. The findings were presented at the American Society of Breast Surgeons Annual Meeting.
Annual screening mammography is significantly more cost-effective than bilateral prophylactic mastectomy in managing the care of most women at high risk for breast cancer. Women with a known <em>BRCA</em> gene mutation, which carries an exceptionally high risk, are a notable exception. The findings were presented at the American Society of Breast Surgeons Annual Meeting.
Collaboration between surgeons and medical oncologists “is associated with lower mortality without increased cost among patients with stage III colon cancer,” according to a study by Hussain et al in the <em>Journal of Oncology Practice</em>. An increase from one to five in the number of patients receiving coordinated care from a surgeon and medical oncologist “translated into an approximately 20% improved survival benefit from all-cause and colon cancer–specific mortalities,” the researchers reported.
The American College of Physicians released its clinical advice for cervical cancer screening in asymptomatic, average-risk women aged 21 years or older. The guideline covers seven areas, including when to start and stop screening, which screening tests to use, and at what screening interval. The clinical guideline is published in the <em>Annals of Internal Medicine</em>.
Researchers from UC San Diego found that a decrease in the amount of time spent eating and an increase in overnight fasting reduces glucose levels and may reduce the risk of breast cancer among women. These findings were reported by Marinac et al in <em>Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention</em>.
In a single-center study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Ford et al found that autologous stem cell transplantation can be safely performed without hematopoietic support in Jehovah’s Witnesses with hematologic malignancies. Jehovah’s Witnesses traditionally refuse treatment with blood products.
Researchers from the Huntsman Cancer Institute reported that childhood cancer survivors diagnosed between 1970 and 1986 are more than five times as likely to have been enrolled on a federal Social Security disability assistance program as compared to individuals without a cancer history. Their findings were published by Kirchhoff et al in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute</em>.
In a phase II study reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> Postow et al found that dual checkpoint inhibitor therapy with the anti–CTLA-4 antibody ipilimumab and the anti–PD-1 monoclonal antibody nivolumab produced greater response rates and prolonged progression-free survival vs ipilimumab alone in patients with previously untreated advanced melanoma.
A clinical trial of the EGFR inhibitor AZD9291 in patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer who had disease progression after previous treatment with EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors has found that the drug was highly active—achieving a 95% disease control rate—in patients with the <em>EGFR</em> T790M mutation. The study by Jänne et al is published in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em>.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted for filing and review Bristol-Myers Squibb’s supplemental Biologics License Application for nivolumab for the treatment of previously untreated patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma. The FDA also granted Priority Review for this application.
In an Italian randomized phase II trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>, Pignata et al found that the addition of the antiangiogenic multikinase inhibitor pazopanib to weekly paclitaxel significantly improved progression-free survival in patients with platinum-resistant/refractory advanced ovarian cancer.
Two presentations at the 95th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Thoracic Surgery highlighted new evidence suggesting that patients with lung cancer who undergo surgery are at higher risk of developing venous thromboembolism than previously thought, with elevated risks of complications or death.
Researchers from the American Cancer Society and Massachusetts General Hospital found postsurgical radiation therapy for prostate cancer patients at risk of tumor recurrence is declining in the United States, despite recommendation and guidelines for its use. These findings were published by Sineshaw et al in <em>European Urology</em>.
Initial intensive induction chemotherapy may be of benefit in a subgroup of elderly patients with newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia, according to a study by Ross et al in <em>Oncology Research</em>. However, relapse rates remained high.
In a study reported in <em>JAMA Surgery,</em> Spolverato et al derived 3-year conditional survival estimates for patients in a multi-institutional database who underwent liver resection for intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma. Among all patients, actuarial overall survival was 16% at 8 years, whereas 3-year conditional survival was 65% in those surviving 5 years.
Research presented at The International Liver Congress 2015 showed that using genomic analyses to understand how and when carcinogenic mutations occur in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma may make it possible to identify specific molecular profiles linked to tumor aggressiveness.
In a study reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Roschewski et al found that interim monitoring of circulating tumor DNA in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma distinguished more and less rapid progression and that surveillance monitoring identified recurrence well before clinical evidence was apparent.
Research presented at the International Liver Congress 2015 showed that cancer rates in patients with the hepatitis C virus were significantly increased compared to those without the virus.
A study conducted by researchers at the Fox Chase Cancer Center shows removal of the fallopian tubes—while sparing the ovaries—may provide premenopausal women at high risk for ovarian cancer with a surgical option that may minimize cancer risk while also reducing some of the negative effects of ovary removal at a young age. This research was published by Daly et al in Cancer Prevention Research.
In the phase III COMPLEMENT 1 trial reported in <em>The Lancet,</em> Hillmen et al found that the addition of the anti-CD20 antibody ofatumumab to chlorambucil increased progression-free survival among patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia who were not considered candidates for fludarabine therapy due to older age or comorbidities.
In a randomized phase II SWOG S0925 trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Yu et al found that the addition of cixutumumab to androgen-deprivation therapy did not significantly increase the rate of undetectable prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in patients with newly diagnosed metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer. Cixutumumab inhibits the insulin-like growth factor I receptor.
In a retrospective single-center study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Rozovski and colleagues found that chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) patients with disease progression after allogeneic stem cell transplantation had a relatively good prognosis, with apparent benefit of salvage therapy. Better outcome was predicted by chronic graft-vs-host disease and initial response to allogeneic stem cell transplantation.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved ramucirumab for use in combination with FOLFIRI for the treatment of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer whose disease has progressed on a first-line bevacizumab-, oxaliplatin-, and fluoropyrimidine-containing regimen. The approval is based on the results of the phase III RAISE trial.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration released its guidance for industry document for clinical trial endpoints for the approval of non–small cell lung cancer drugs and biologics. The new guidance allows companies to use several types of clinical trial endpoints, including overall survival and progression-free survival, to support drug effectiveness claims in new drug applications.
In the phase III RAISE trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Tabernero et al found that the addition of the antiangiogenic anti-VEGFR2 antibody ramucirumab to second-line FOLFIRI (leucovorin, fluorouracil, irinotecan) improved overall survival in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer that had progressed on first-line bevacizumab, oxaliplatin, and fluoropyrimidine treatment.
A study from researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center showed that many women diagnosed with breast cancer are concerned about the genetic risk of developing other cancers themselves, or of a loved one developing cancer, but not all discuss genetic risk factors with health-care providers. These findings were published by Jagsi et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted Breakthrough Therapy designation to crizotinib for the potential treatment of patients with <em>ROS1</em>-positive non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The Breakthrough Therapy designation is based on data from an expansion cohort of a global phase I study that demonstrated marked antitumor activity with crizotinib in patients with <em>ROS1</em>-positive NSCLC.
Using genomic profiling, researchers from the Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey identified mutations in ERBB2 that are specific to pleomorphic invasive lobular carcinoma, a unique subset of abnormally aggressive lobular breast cancer. The findings were presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2015.
In a study led by researchers from Brigham & Women’s Hospital, although breast-conserving therapy was successful in more than 90% of the women who became eligible for the procedure, 31% of eligible patients instead chose to have the entire breast removed via mastectomy. These findings were reported at the American Surgical Association's 135th Annual Meeting.
In a nested case-control study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Martin et al found that higher HDL cholesterol and apolipoprotein A1 levels and lower non-HDL cholesterol and apolipoprotein B levels were associated with increased risk of breast cancer in women with extensive mammographic density. The associations were significant only when hormone replacement therapy was not used.
A population-based cohort study indicates that more extensive lymph node clearance during surgery for esophageal cancer may not improve survival, van der Schaaf et al reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute</em>. “These results challenge current clinical guidelines, and further research is needed to change clinical practice,” the researchers asserted.
Researchers at MD Anderson Cancer Center identified three subsets of lung adenocarcinoma associated with mutations of the KRAS gene. These findings were presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2015.
In the phase III LUX-Head & Neck 1 trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Machiels et al found that afatinib improved progression-free survival vs methotrexate in patients with recurrent or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck progressing after first-line platinum treatment.
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force has issued its updated draft recommendation statement on mammography screening guidelines. The revised guidelines still recommend that women aged 50 to 74 get mammography screening for breast cancer every 2 years and now state that the decision to start screening mammography in women in their 40s should be an individual one made after discussion with their physicians about the risks and benefits of the tests.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Ohri et al found that higher pretreatment metabolic tumor volume on <sup>18</sup>F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography was associated with poorer overall survival and an increased risk of locoregional failure in patients with locally advanced non–small cell lung cancer receiving definitive concurrent platinum-based chemoradiotherapy.
The phase I ComPAKT trial demonstrated that a combination of two molecularly targeted drugs, the PARP inhibitor olaparib and the investigational AKT inhibitor AZD5363, was safe and yielded responses in patients with a variety of cancer types, regardless of <em>BRCA1/2</em>-mutation status.
Combination treatment with the PARP inhibitor olaparib and the investigational PI3K inhibitor BKM120 was safe and yielded evidence of clinical benefit for women with triple-negative breast cancer and for those with high-grade serous ovarian cancer, according to findings from a phase I clinical trial.
According to the results of a large prospective study, long-term, regular aspirin use was associated with a modestly reduced overall risk for cancer, driven primarily by a reduction in the risk for colorectal cancers.
According to researchers at The Institute for Cancer Research in the United Kingdom, men with metastatic, castration-resistant prostate cancer who had mutations in genes linked to repair of damaged DNA were significantly more likely to respond to treatment with olaparib compared with patients who had the disease without these mutations.
Phase I clinical trial data presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2015 showed the dual mTOR inhibitor AZD2014, when combined with the hormonal therapy fulvestrant, was safe in patients with advanced estrogen receptor–positive breast cancer, with some experiencing clinical benefit.
A retrospective cohort study performed by researchers at Mayo Clinic Cancer Center found that metformin use did not improve survival of patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, contrary to previous reports.
According to a study by researchers from the Henry Ford Health System and Brigham & Women’s Hospital, the recent boom in the demand for robot-assisted radical prostatectomies, coupled with pay-for-performance health-care models in the United States, has left many patients seeking this procedure at low-volume institutions, at which they are more likely to experience complications. This research was published by Sammon et al in <em>BJU International</em>.
For patients with metastatic non–small cell lung cancer at the end of life, “the date of last chemotherapy treatment is not a proxy for when a decision to stop cancer treatment is made,” according to study by Pirl et al in the <em>Journal of Oncology Practice</em>. In a prospective cohort of 151 patients, less than 20% had evidence of a definitive decision to stop chemotherapy at the time their chemotherapy was discontinued.
In a study reported in <em>JAMA Oncology,</em> Yurgelun et al identified germline <em>TP53</em> mutations in multiple patients with early-onset colorectal cancer from the Colon Cancer Family Registry who did not meet clinical criteria for Li-Fraumeni syndrome. Li-Fraumeni syndrome is associated with increased risk for multiple cancers, including early-onset colorectal cancer, and is usually characterized by germline <em>TP53</em> mutations.
Researchers at the National Cancer Institute found that vaccination of women aged 18 to 25 with the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine resulted in strong protection against future infection at three anatomic sites among women without prior HPV exposure and may still offer some protection in those with evidence of prior exposure.
A phase I clinical trial found that combining the immunostimulatory anti-CD40 monoclonal antibody CP-870,893 with the immune checkpoint inhibitor tremelimumab was safe, with clinical evidence of response in patients with advanced melanoma.
Research presented by Massachusetts General investigators at the AACR Annual Meeting 2015 shows black women have higher breast density overall than white women, when measured using novel quantitative methods.
According to data presented by researchers from the National Cancer Institute at the AACR Annual Meeting 2015, the total number of breast cancer cases in the United States is forecast to be 50% greater in 2030 than it was in 2011, when invasive and in situ or screening-detected cancers are counted together.
Researchers at the AACR Annual Meeting 2015 presented data from a phase II clinical trial showing that the use of two immunotherapies—ipilimumab and nivolumab—simultaneously yielded better treatment responses than ipilimumab alone in treatment-naive advanced melanoma patients.
Data presented by researchers at the AACR Annual Meeting 2015 from a phase I clinical trial showed the investigational immunotherapy MPDL3280A was safe, tolerable, and showed early signs of durable clinical activity in patients with metastatic triple-negative breast cancer.
According to data from a phase Ib clinical trial, researchers found pembrolizumab was safe, tolerable, and yielded robust antitumor responses in patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma. These findings were reported at the AACR Annual Meeting 2015.
In a phase I/IIa trial, researchers have found a new immunotherapy, IMCgp100, produced durable responses in patients with advanced cutaneous melanoma and ocular melanoma. These findings were presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2015.
Results from a phase I clinical trial presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2015 showed patients with advanced cancers who received chimeric antigen receptor-modified T cells tolerated the treatment well and that the infused immune cells persisted in the patients’ blood circulation and successfully migrated to the patients’ tumor sites.
A study by researchers from Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the University of Washington found obesity in black men substantially increases the risk of low- and high-grade prostate cancer. However, obesity in white men moderately reduced the risk of low-grade cancer and only slightly increased the risk of high-grade cancer. These findings were published by Barrington et al in <em>JAMA Oncology</em>.
In a single-institution study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Matasar et al found that Hodgkin lymphoma patients treated during adulthood were at increased risk of all-cause and second primary malignancy mortality compared with SEER (Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Result) normative data and had high rates of late morbidity.
In a study reported in <em>JAMA Surgery,</em> Luo et al found that microscopic melanoma metastases in sentinel lymph nodes that were not the most radioactive, or "hottest," were still associated with an increased risk of progression and mortality.
More than 60% of patients with Epstein-Barr virus–associated lymphoproliferative disorder that was nonresponsive to standard rituximab treatment responded to a new type of immunotherapy called Epstein-Barr virus–specific cytotoxic T-lymphocyte therapy, according to results presented from two clinical trials at the AACR Annual Meeting 2015.
In a randomized phase III trial for first-line therapy for patients with advanced melanoma, pembrolizumab yielded significantly better treatment outcomes than ipilimumab for all endpoints studied. These findings by Ribas et al were presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2015.
The immunotherapy pembrolizumab was found to be safe and yielded durable responses in patients with advanced, non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Those with high levels of the protein PD-L1 in their tumors had better clinical outcomes, according to the results of the KEYNOTE-001 clinical trial presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2015.
In the randomized phase II EMERGE study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Yardley et al found that the anti–glycoprotein NMB (gpNMB) antibody-drug conjugate glembatumumab vedotin may improve response rate over alternative chemotherapy in patients with advanced refractory breast cancer characterized by higher expression of gpNMB in tumor cells or with triple-negative disease.
In a study reported in <em>JAMA Surgery,</em> Kneuertz et al found that the more frequent stage-specific use of adjuvant chemotherapy in younger patients with colon cancer did not appear to produce commensurate benefit in survival compared with outcomes in older patients.
A recent article published in Annals of Internal Medicine discusses the paradoxical finding that most patients are at below-average risk of disease and can expect to experience less-than-average benefits from a treatment. Yet, argue Vickers et al, too many people are being screened, diagnosed, and treated for disease because they mistakenly believe they are at higher risk than they actually are.
A subset of lung cancer patients can derive important clinical benefits from BRAF inhibitors that are more commonly used to treat melanoma, the authors of a new clinical trial in Europe have reported at the European Lung Cancer Conference in Geneva.
Almost one in four patients with advanced lung cancer in Europe, Asia, and the United States are not receiving EGFR test results before being started on treatment, researchers reported at the European Lung Cancer Conference in Geneva. This lack of test results may impact treatment effectiveness and survival.
Cancer DNA circulating in the bloodstream of lung cancer patients can provide doctors with vital mutation information that can help optimize treatment when tumor tissue is not available, an international group of researchers has reported at the European Lung Cancer Conference in Geneva.
In a pair of studies published in the <em>Journal of Cancer Survivorship</em>, researchers found walking and similar exercises, done for about 3 hours per week, improved the quality of life and limited side effects for survivors of prostate and colorectal cancers.
A large, diverse study of 16,827 adolescents and young adults with differentiated thyroid cancer has found that African Americans and Hispanics were six times and three times more likely, respectively, to die of their cancer than Caucasians. Residing in low-socioeconomic neighborhoods, insurance status, age, and gender—men were two-and-one-half times more likely to die than women—were also contributing factors. The study by Keegan et al is published in <em>Thyroid</em>.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> McGlynn et al found that statin use was associated with a reduced risk of primary liver cancer in a setting of low liver cancer prevalence.
In a study reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> Treon et al found that ibrutinib was highly active and produced durable responses in patients with previously treated Waldenström’s macroglobulinemia. Response rates were highest in patients with <em>MYD88</em> mutation and wild-type <em>CXCR4</em> and those with both <em>MYD88</em> and <em>CXCR4</em> mutations.
In the COLOR II study reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> Bonjer et al found similar rates of locoregional recurrence and disease-free and overall survival with laparoscopic vs open resection of rectal cancer.
Most patients with relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia who discontinued ibrutinib early were difficult to treat and had poor outcomes, according to a study of patients enrolled in four different clinical trials of ibrutinib, with or without rituximab, at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Among the 127 total patients, 33 patients (26%) discontinued ibrutinib. Few salvage treatment options are available for these patients, Jain et al reported in <em>Blood</em>.
In a statement today, the American Society of Clinical Oncology praised the U.S. Senate’s 92-to-8 approval of legislation to repeal the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula. President Obama’s anticipated signature on The Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (H.R. 2) effectively reverses the 21% cut in physician payments, required under the now repealed SGR formula, with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services expected to begin processing claims immediately.
In a Children’s Oncology Group study reported in <em>JAMA Oncology,</em> Bhatia et al found that < 95% adherence to mercaptopurine treatment was associated with a nearly threefold increase in the risk of relapse in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Among adherent patients, high variability in erythrocyte mercaptopurine metabolite (thioguanine nucleotide) levels was associated with an increased relapse risk.
In an analysis reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Scher et al found that circulating tumor cell count and LDH level served as an individual-level surrogate for survival among patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer receiving abiraterone acetate plus prednisone vs prednisone in the phase III COU-AA-301 trial.
In a phase III study (VANTAGE-014) reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Krug et al found that treatment with the histone deacetylase inhibitor vorinostat did not improve overall survival vs placebo in patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma who had progressed on previous chemotherapy.
Researchers at the University of North Carolina found uninsured cancer patients are paying much more than what Medicare pays for chemotherapy drugs and doctor visits. These findings were published by Dusetzina et al in <em>Health Affairs</em>.
According to a study by Li et al in the <em>British Journal of Cancer</em>, the use of muscle-building supplements leads to an increased likelihood of developing testicular germ cell cancer. Testicular cancer risk was especially high among men who started using supplements before age 25, those who used multiple supplements, and those who used them for 3 years or longer.
In a study reported in <em>JAMA Oncology,</em> Makarov et al found that hospital referral regions marked by higher rates of inappropriate imaging in patients with low-risk breast cancer also had high rates of inappropriate prostate imaging in patients with low-risk prostate cancer. Inappropriate imaging rates were high overall.
In the phase II TBCRC009 trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Isakoff et al found that platinum monotherapy was active in treatment of metastatic triple-negative breast cancer, particularly in cases with <em>BRCA1/2</em> mutation, and that an assay of genomic instability characteristic of <em>BRCA1/2</em> deficiency may predict better outcome in patients without <em>BRCA1/2</em> mutation.
In the phase II PrECOG 0105 study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Telli et al found that neoadjuvant iniparib plus gemcitabine-carboplatin was active in early-stage triple-negative and <em>BRCA1/2</em>-mutant breast cancer. Higher score on a homologous recombination deficiency–loss of heterozygosity tumor assay was associated with response.
The results of a long-term analysis conducted by researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital and the University of Miami show that women who received psychological support over a period of 10 weeks after their diagnosis of breast cancer reported higher quality of life during their first year of treatment, and even 15 years after intervention. These results were published by Stangl et al in <em>Cancer</em>.
According to a study performed by Duke mathematicians, obstetricians, and gynecologists, putting public health funds toward vaccinating more boys who have yet to complete the HPV vaccination may prove to be more effective than trying to persuade the remaining parents of unvaccinated girls. Their findings are published by Ryser et al in <em>Epidemics</em>.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Stevanovíc et al observed complete regression of metastatic cervical tumors in two patients following a single infusion of human papillomavirus–targeted tumor-infiltrating T cells.
In a phase I cohort-expansion study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> McDermott et al found that nivolumab produced durable responses in patients with previously treated advanced renal cell carcinoma. Responses continued after nivolumab discontinuation in some patients.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Ostronoff et al found that the presence of the <em>NPM1</em>-positive/<em>FLT3</em>-internal tandem duplication (ITD)–negative genotype—which is recognized as a marker of better prognosis in younger patients with acute myeloid leukemia—was not associated with significantly improved prognosis in older AML patients.
Researchers at NYU’s Langone Medical Center and Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Cancer Center have identified a particular molecular pathway that permits stem cells in pediatric bone cancers to grow rapidly and aggressively. Their findings were published by Basu-Roy et al in <em>Nature Communications</em>.
A large retrospective cohort study of Medicare beneficiaries diagnosed with melanoma has found that one in five patients experience a delay of surgery that is longer than 1.5 months. Those patients undergoing biopsy and surgery by dermatologists had the lowest risk for delay, which may provide opportunities to increase coordination of care between providers who diagnose and treat patients with melanoma. The study by Lott et al is published in <em>JAMA Dermatology</em>.
An analysis of 51 cancer drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration between 2009 and 2013 has found that cancer drug prices are rising faster than the prices in other sectors of health care and that the high cost of the drugs is not justified due to their limited efficacy. The results, reported by Mailankody et al in <em>JAMA Oncology<em>, suggest that current pricing models are not rational, but are a reflection of what the market will bear.
In patients with previously irradiated, recurrent squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck, the combination of stereotactic body radiation therapy plus cetuximab appears to be safe and effective, according to a phase II study by Vargo et al in the <em>International Journal of Radiation Oncology ● Biology ● Physics</em>. Further evaluation of this combination treatment is warranted to establish the optimal dose and schedule.
In the phase III NCIC CTG MA.31 trial, first-line treatment with lapatinib vs trastuzumab combined with a taxane was associated with poorer progression-free survival and greater toxicity in patients with advanced HER2-positive breast cancer. The final results of the trial were reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Gelmon et al.
Researchers at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center reported a gap between patient expectations and current practices for providing information about medical imaging tests that use radiation. Their findings, published by Thornton et al in <em>Radiology</em>, highlight a need for better communication as medicine enters an era of patient-centered care.
In a study involving more than 31,000 women who are carriers of disease-associated mutations in the <em>BRCA1</em> or <em>BRCA2</em> gene, researchers identified mutations that were associated with significantly different risks of breast and ovarian cancers. These findings, reported by Rebbeck et al in <em>JAMA,</em> may have implications for risk assessment and cancer prevention decision-making among carriers of these mutations.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Wright et al found a weak relationship between measures of patient satisfaction and quality and surgical oncologic perioperative outcomes at the hospital level.
In the phase III EORTC 18071 trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Eggermont et al found that adjuvant ipilimumab significantly improved recurrence-free survival vs placebo in patients with completely resected stage III melanoma at high risk of disease recurrence. Ipilimumab was associated with a high rate of immune-related adverse events.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted Breakthrough Therapy designation to Clovis Oncology’s investigational agent rucaparib as monotherapy treatment of advanced ovarian cancer in patients who have received at least two lines of prior platinum-containing therapy, with <em>BRCA</em>-mutated tumors, inclusive of both germline <em>BRCA</em> and somatic <em>BRCA</em> mutations.
In an analysis reported in the <em> Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Kelly et al found that low baseline serum vitamin D levels were associated with poorer progression-free and overall survival in patients with previously untreated follicular lymphoma.
In a phase I/II study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Ahmed et al found that infusion of T cells expressing HER2-specific chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) with a CD28.ζ signaling domain could produce persistent CAR T cell levels for ≥ 6 weeks in patients with HER2-positive recurrent/refractory sarcoma.
In a retrospective single-institution study reported in <em>JAMA Surgery,</em> Boone et al found significant improvements in blood loss, incidence of conversion to open surgery, pancreatic fistula incidence, and operative time with increased number of patients treated with robotic pancreaticoduodenectomy.
In an analysis reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Maio et al found a 5-year survival rate of 18% among treatment-naive patients with advanced melanoma who received ipilimumab plus dacarbazine in a phase III trial. The findings support other data indicating long-term survival in some patients receiving ipilimumab in this setting.
In a long-term analysis of the RTOG 9903 study, researchers found that the addition of erythropoietin did not improve local-regional control for anemic patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma who receive radiation therapy or chemoradiation. Their findings were published by Shenouda et al in the <em>International Journal of Radiation Oncology • Biology • Physics</em>.
In the phase III AETHERA trial reported in <em>The Lancet,</em> Moskowitz et al found that brentuximab vedotin consolidation therapy after autologous stem cell transplantation prolonged progression-free survival by 18 months vs placebo in patients with Hodgkin lymphoma at risk for relapse or disease progression.
Elevated nocturnal cortisol levels prior to surgery in patients with ovarian cancer were associated with shorter survival time, according to a study by Schrepf et al in <em>Psychoneuroendocrinology.</em> Thus, nocturnal cortisol levels may prove to be a noninvasive biomarker of ovarian cancer disease severity.
A new study published by Freedman et al in <em>JAMA Oncology</em> found black and Hispanic women with breast cancer were less likely to pick their surgeon and the hospital for treatment based on reputation compared with white women.
According to a study conducted by researchers at the University of Eastern Finland, very low breast density worsens a breast cancer prognosis. Their findings were published by Masarwah et al in <em>European Radiology</em>.
In a study reported in <em>JAMA,</em> Elmore et al found a substantial rate of disagreement between pathologist diagnosis based on single breast biopsy slides and the consensus-derived diagnosis of a consensus panel of pathologists. Disagreement rates were highest for ductal carcinoma in situ and atypical hyperplasia.
Researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital examined cancer patients in eight different Asian American subgroups and found their cancer-specific mortality was substantially lower than that of non-Hispanic white patients. Their findings were published by Trinh et al in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute</em>.
In a survey study reported in <em>JAMA Internal Medicine,</em> Wang et al found that a minority of responding radiation oncologists and urologists used decision aids for localized prostate cancer in clinical practice.
A study assessing whether measurement of circulating tumor DNA in blood could be used to detect disease recurrence in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma has found that surveillance circulating tumor DNA enabled detection of microscopic disease before it could be seen on CT scans. Interim circulating tumor DNA, according to the study, is a promising biomarker to identify patients at high risk of treatment failure. The study by Roschewski et al is published in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>.
In the phase III CheckMate 037 trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Weber et al found that treatment with the PD-1 inhibitor nivolumab resulted in a significantly greater response rate vs chemotherapy as second- or later-line treatment in patients with advanced melanoma progressing after anti–CTLA-4 treatment. Findings in this trial supported the accelerated approval of nivolumab in this setting in December 2014.
In a new study, researchers at UCLA developed a cognitive rehabilitation program to address post-treatment cognitive changes, sometimes known as “chemobrain,” which can affect up to 35% of post-treatment breast cancer patients. Their findings were published by Ercoli et al in <em>Psycho-Oncology</em>.
According to a study by researchers at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, cancer patients with a single liver tumor, or tumors confined to one side of the liver, benefit from a method of liver surgery called hepatic parenchymal preservation, in which less than a lobe of the liver is removed, as opposed to major hepatectomy, which removes at least a whole lobe. Their findings were published by Kingham et al in the <em>Journal of the American College of Surgeons</em>.
In a single-institution study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Bochtler et al found that presence of the t(11;14) translocation on interphase fluorescence in situ hybridization was associated with poorer hematologic event-free and overall survival in patients receiving bortezomib-dexamethasone for newly diagnosed amyloid light-chain amyloidosis.
In the ENABLE III study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Bakitas et al found that early vs delayed initiation of a palliative care intervention did not result in improved patient-reported outcomes or resource use. Early initiation was associated with better 1-year survival.
In the ENABLE III study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Dionne-Odom et al found that early vs delayed use of a palliative care intervention for family caregivers of patients with advanced cancer reduced caregiver depression scores and caregiver stress burden. No differences in caregiver quality of life were observed.
In a new study published by Zhang et al in <em>Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention<em>, researchers report that women who were overweight as children and/or adolescents have an increased risk for developing colorectal cancer, regardless of their current weight.
In a study reported in <em>JAMA,</em> Nan et al found that two single nucleotide polymorphisms were associated with a reduced risk of colorectal cancer with regular aspirin or NSAID use by persons of European descent.
An analysis of data on the prevalence of survivors of childhood cancers in the United States has found that although the number of childhood cancer survivors has increased by nearly 60,000 since 2005, the majority of those who have survived 5 or more years beyond diagnosis may have at least one chronic health condition. The study by Phillips et al is published in <em>Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention</em>.
In a study of Swedish men with prostate cancer reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> O’Farrell et al found that use of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonists and orchiectomy were associated with a significantly increased risk of incident cardiovascular disease. In patients with prior cardiovascular disease, risk for a cardiovascular event within 6 months of starting androgen-deprivation therapy was significantly increased with GnRH agonist use, antiandrogen use, and orchiectomy.
In an analysis of Gynecologic Oncology Group (GOG) studies reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Tewari et al found that intraperitoneal chemotherapy was associated with a survival advantage compared with intravenous chemotherapy in women with advanced ovarian cancer.
In a study presented at the Society of Gynecologic Oncology’s Annual Meeting on Women’s Cancer, researchers reported that experimental immunotherapy injections in stage III and IV ovarian cancer patients may extend the time between initial treatment and the cancer’s return.
In a study presented at the Society of Gynecologic Oncology’s Annual Meeting on Women’s Cancer, researchers reported that women who received standard chemotherapy treatment plus bevacizumab had an overall survival rate that was a median of 5 months longer than women who received the standard chemotherapy treatment alone.
In a study presented at the Society of Gynecologic Oncology Annual Meeting on Women’s Cancer, MD Anderson researchers reported sentinel lymph node mapping accurately identified all women with node-positive, high-risk endometrial cancer, when prospectively compared to a complete pelvic and para-aortic lymphadenectomy, the current standard of care.
In an Italian 2×2 phase III trial reported in <em>The Lancet,</em> Del Mastro et al found that dose-dense adjuvant therapy with sequential epirubicin, cyclophosphamide, and paclitaxel (EC-P) with or without fluorouracil (5-FU) increased disease-free survival vs standard-interval therapy in early-stage node-positive breast cancer. No benefit of adding 5-FU to EC-P was observed.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Rhodes et al found that only about half of screening-age women had awareness of breast density and adequate knowledge of its impact on breast cancer detection and risk.
The American Society for Clinical Pathology, the College of American Pathologists, the Association for Molecular Pathology, and the American Society of Clinical Oncology today released a draft of a clinical practice guideline on the use of molecular marker testing for patients with primary or metastatic colorectal carcinoma. The draft guidance document, “Guideline on the Evaluation of Molecular Markers for Colorectal Cancer Workgroup Draft Recommendations Summary,” is now available online for public comment through April 22, 2015.
In patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma, the combination of panobinostat and carfilzomib appears to be safe and effective, according to a phase I/II study by Berdeja et al in <em>Haematologica</em>. Further evaluation of this combination treatment is warranted to establish the optimal dose and schedule.
In a National Cancer Data Base analysis reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Zheng et al found that laparoscopic colectomy was associated with lower 30-day mortality, shorter length of stay, and, in patients with stage III disease, greater use of adjuvant chemotherapy vs open colectomy in patients with nonmetastatic colon cancer.
The American Gastroenterological Association has issued new guidelines for asymptomatic neoplastic pancreatic cysts found incidentally during computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging. The guidelines call for restrictions on aggressive follow-up and a higher threshold before using endoscopic ultrasonography and/or surgery to patients with more high-risk features. Limiting invasive evaluations could help to minimize harm to patients and reduce the costs of health-care delivery. The guidelines are published in <em>Gastroenterology</em>.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has accepted Amgen’s supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) for carfilzomib injection for the treatment of patients with relapsed multiple myeloma who have received at least one prior therapy. The sNDA is designed to support the conversion of accelerated approval to full approval and expand the current carfilzomib indication.
In a phase III trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Fassnacht et al found that linsitinib, an insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor (IGF-1R) and insulin receptor inhibitor, did not improve overall survival vs placebo in patients with previously treated locally advanced or metastatic adrenocortical carcinoma.
Researchers from the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences and Women's College Hospital have found a strong correlation between diabetes and advanced-stage breast cancer, according to a study published by Lipscombe et al in <em>Breast Cancer Research and Treatment</em>.
International researchers have found that following radical prostatectomy for high-risk prostate cancer in men under 60, both the age of the patient and the time survived since the operation have a significant impact in terms of cause of death. These findings were presented by Bianchi et al at the European Association of Urology 2015 Congress in Madrid.
In an analysis from the PR-7 trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Klotz et al found that in men with prostate cancer with biochemical failure after radiotherapy with or without surgery, a nadir serum testosterone level ≤ 0.7 nmol/L during the first year of continuous androgen-deprivation therapy was predictive of improved cause-specific survival and prolonged time to hormone resistance.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Fang et al found that an elevated C-reactive protein level was associated with poorer overall and melanoma-specific survival in patients with melanoma and that sequential increases in C-reactive protein were associated with an increased risk of disease progression.
A retrospective study of men treated with radical prostatectomy for prostate cancer found that current smokers, along with smokers who quit less than 10 years previously, are twice as likely to have a prostate cancer recurrence after surgery than men who have never smoked. The research was presented at the European Association of Urology’s 2015 Congress in Madrid.
In a new study, researchers used CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing technology to turn off all the genes in a mouse model of non–small cell lung cancer cells and then tested how the genes affect tumor growth and metastasis. The study, reported by Chen et al in <em>Cell</em> provides a better understanding of how tumors evolve over time and could result in more targeted therapies for cancer.
In a phase III trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Stone et al found that the combination of cytarabine and amonafide L-malate, a DNA intercalator and non–ATP-dependent topoisomerase II inhibitor, did not improve complete remission rate compared with cytarabine plus daunorubicin as induction therapy in secondary acute myeloid leukemia.
In a single-institution retrospective study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Pundole et al found that patients undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation are at increased risk of bone fracture later in life, with risk being particularly elevated in women and men aged 45 to 64 years.
Patients with colorectal cancer experience significantly higher rates of chemotherapy-related numbness/tingling but comparable neuropathic pain, compared with patients with breast, lung, or prostate cancer, according to a study by Lewis et al in the <em>Journal of Pain and Symptom Management</em>. In addition, numbness/tingling was more likely to be rated as one of the top three symptoms causing difficulties for patients with colorectal cancer.
According to a study by researchers at South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital, patients with head and neck cancer who currently smoke or heavily consume alcohol were more likely to require prolonged use of a gastrostomy tube during chemoradiotherapy or radiotherapy. The findings were published in <em>JAMA Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery</em>.
Specialists at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have developed a surgical algorithm for ovarian cancer, vastly improving the complete resection rate, which is the strongest independent variable predicting overall survival. Their work was published by Nick et al in <em>Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology</em>.
In a study reported in a research letter in <em>JAMA,</em> Wang et al found that the proportion of patients with lung cancer who would have met U.S. Preventive Services Task Force criteria for low-dose computed tomography lung screening decreased significantly between the periods of 1984 to 1990 and 2005 to 2011. A minority of patients with lung cancer in the latter period satisfied the screening criteria.
In a phase II study reported in<em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Moskowitz et al found that a salvage strategy involving brentuximab vedotin treatment followed by <sup>18</sup>F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron-emission tomography (PET) and augmented ifosfamide, carboplatin, and etoposide (ICE) in PET-positive patients resulted in a high rate of PET-negative status in patients with relapsed/refractory Hodgkin lymphoma.
In a European trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Peters et al found no difference in event-free survival with stem cell transplantation using matched unrelated vs sibling donors in pediatric patients with high-risk acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
Increasingly high prices for cancer drugs are affecting patient care, as well as the health-care system overall, in the United States. In a special article published in <em>Mayo Clinic Proceedings</em>, Rajkumar and Kantarjian discuss the reasoning behind the rising cost of cancer drugs in the United States and offer suggestions on how to help control and reduce their high cost.
According to a prospective study led by researchers at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, measuring the concentration of leukemia cells in patient bone marrow during the first 46 days of chemotherapy may help improve the survival of young leukemia patients by better matching patients with the right intensity of chemotherapy. The clinical trial, reported by Pui et al in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>, was the first to use measurement of minimal residual disease in bone marrow to help guide therapy.
In a retrospective study in the European EUROS1 cohort reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Mazières found that crizotinib treatment was associated with an 80% response rate in patients with stage IV lung adenocarcinoma with <em>ROS1</em> rearrangement.
In the phase III MAINSAIL trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Petrylak et al found that the addition of lenalidomide to docetaxel-prednisone in chemotherapy-naive men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer was associated with significantly worse overall survival. The trial was closed early due to futility.
In a study reported by Orlich et al in <em>JAMA Internal Medicine,</em> a vegetarian dietary pattern was associated with a reduced risk of colorectal cancer, with risk reduction appearing to be greatest in pescovegetarians.
Researchers from Johns Hopkins have identified a gene, LIN28, that is highly expressed in atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumor, an aggressive form of pediatric brain cancer. In preliminary studies published in <em>Oncotarget</em> and the <em>Journal of Neuropathology and Experimental Neurology</em>, the researchers found that blocking key proteins in the LIN28 pathway doubled the survival in mice.
Despite a dramatic increase in spending on cancer treatment, U.S. cancer mortality rates have only decreased by about 12% since 1970. A new study published by Soneji and Yang in <em>Health Affairs</em> compared U.S. and Western European spending, between 1982 and 2010, for 12 of the most common cancers and raises questions about the additional value of cancer care derived from this additional spending.
In a study reported in <em>JAMA Oncology,</em> Ross et al found potentially targetable genomic alterations in most carcinomas of unknown primary site using comprehensive genomic profiling. Adenocarcinomas of unknown primary sites frequently harbored receptor tyrosine kinase/Ras/MAPK pathway alterations.
In the phase II CheckMate 063 study reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Rizvi et al found that the PD-1 inhibitor nivolumab produced durable responses in some patients with advanced, refractory squamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who had received at least two prior treatments.
In a phase III trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Kang et al found that adding aprepitant to ondansetron with or without dexamethasone was effective in preventing chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting in pediatric patients receiving moderately or highly emetogenic chemotherapy.
In a pooled analysis reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Schadendorf et al found 3-year overall survival rates of 26% and 20% in treatment-naive and previously treated patients receiving ipilimumab-based treatment for unresectable or metastatic melanoma. A survival curve plateau was observed at around 3 years, with follow-up out to 10 years.
According to a study published by Nawaz et al in <em>Modern Pathology</em>, researchers at The Institute of Cancer Research in London have developed a new test that uses statistical software to assess immune system activity in women with breast cancer. The findings may help identify patients who need intensive treatment to combat their more aggressive disease.
Researchers have found that administering a tetanus booster before giving glioblastoma patients a dendritic cell–based immunotherapy increased dendritic cell migration to lymph nodes and had a significant effect on clinical outcomes. Their clinical studies suggest that preconditioning the vaccine site with a potent recall antigen may represent a viable strategy to improve antitumor immunotherapy. The study is published in <em>Nature</em>.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Mistry et al found that presence of <em>BRAF</em> V600E mutation and <em>CDKN2A</em> deletion defined a clinically distinct subtype of pediatric secondary high-grade glioma. <em>BRAF</em> V600E mutation was associated with a prolonged time to transformation.
In the phase III POEMS/S0230 trial reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> Moore et al found that treatment with the gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist goserelin reduced risk of ovarian failure during chemotherapy for breast cancer in premenopausal women.
According to researchers from multiple institutions, having a first-degree family member with prostate cancer increases a woman’s risk of having breast cancer. These findings were published by Beebe-Dimmer et al in <em>Cancer</em>.
The International Lymphoma Radiation Oncology Group has issued a guideline outlining the use of three-dimensional (3D) computed tomography (CT)–based radiation therapy planning and volumetric image guidance to reduce the radiation dose to healthy tissues in pediatric Hodgkin lymphoma patients. The guideline will be published in the March/April issue of <em>Practical Radiation Oncology</em>.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Wharam et al found that estimated mammography rates were lower than predicted in white, Hispanic, and Asian women since the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force changed its screening recommendations in November 2009.
In a basket trial (CUSTOM) reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Lopez-Chavez et al performed molecular profiling of tumors in patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), small cell lung cancer, or thymic malignancies and assigned those in any of five actionable mutation groups to matched targeted therapy. Enrollment and molecular profiling were rapid, but sufficient numbers of evaluable patients could not be enrolled into most treatment groups due to low frequency of target mutations.
In the randomized phase II CALGB 30504/Alliance trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Ready et al found that sunitinib vs placebo maintenance following chemotherapy improved progression-free survival in patients with previously untreated extensive-stage small cell lung cancer.
Researchers at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital–Washington University Pediatric Cancer Genome Project have found that an aggressive subtype of acute lymphoblastic leukemia most commonly found in infants has surprisingly few mutations beyond the chromosomal rearrangement that affects the <em>MLL</em> gene. These findings were reported by Andersson et al in <em>Nature Genetics</em>.
In a phase III trial reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> et al found that VR-CAP, a regimen replacing vincristine with bortezomib in R-CHOP (rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone) significantly improved progression-free survival vs R-CHOP in patients with newly diagnosed mantle cell lymphoma ineligible or not considered for stem cell transplantation. VR-CAP was associated with greater hematologic toxicity.
Using a novel polymerase chain reaction assay to “efficiently assess” <em>EGFR</em> mutations in circulating free DNA (cfDNA) from blood samples of patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer, the Spanish Lung Cancer Group has “shown that the <em>EGFR</em> L858R mutation in cfDNA is a negative prognostic biomarker.”
The U.S. cancer care system faces tremendous turbulence while dealing with growing numbers of cancer patients and survivors, mounting pressures to control rising health-care costs, and widespread oncology practice transformation. <em>The State of Cancer Care in America: 2015</em>, a new study by the American Society of Clinical Oncology, chronicles the current realities of the cancer care system and examines trends in the oncology workforce and practice environment that are affecting patient care and access.
Although blacks were diagnosed at younger ages than whites for nearly every cancer type, after adjustments for population structure shifted the comparisons toward older ages among blacks, only six statistically significant differences of 3 or more years remained, according to a study reported by Robbins et al in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute</em>.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Jang et al found that palliative care consultation was associated with decreased use of chemotherapy near death and lower risks of ICU admission, multiple emergency department visits, and multiple hospitalizations near death in patients with advanced pancreas cancer.
To meet the needs of patients who are smokers at the time of a cancer diagnosis, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) has published the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology for Smoking Cessation, which were presented on March 13 at the NCCN 20th Annual Conference. According to the new guidelines, combining pharmacologic therapy and counseling is the most effective treatment approach and leads to the best results in smoking cessation.
Researchers at Yale University School of Medicine found that patients treated with definitive concurrent chemotherapy and radiation therapy for stage III non–small cell lung cancer have longer overall survival when treated by highly experienced facilities. Wang et al reported the findings in the <em>Journal of Thoracic Oncology</em>.
A prospective, multicenter, observational study involving 992 consecutive patients with one to four asymptomatic, sonographically or cytologically benign thyroid nodules found that “the majority of nodules exhibited no significant size change during 5 years of follow-up or they actually decreased in size,” and “thyroid cancer was rare,” occurring in just 0.3% of nodules. The authors of the study, published in <em>JAMA,</em> concluded that “these findings justify reconsideration of the current guideline recommendations for follow-up of asymptomatic thyroid nodules.”
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Loupakis et al found that most treatment-naive patients with metastatic colorectal cancer had left-sided primary tumor location and that left-sided tumor location was associated with improved overall survival.
In a case report in <em>JAMA Dermatology,</em> Carrera et al described development of multiple wild-type <em>BRAF</em> melanomas and a metastasis with a different <em>BRAF</em> mutation in a patient receiving dabrafenib for <em>BRAF</em> V600E-mutant metastatic melanoma.
Researchers at Wayne State University School of Medicine found that an increased intake of lycopene, an antioxidant found in foods such as tomato, pink grapefruit, and papaya, may help to decrease the risk of kidney cancer in postmenopausal women. Their findings were published by Ho et al in <em>Cancer</em>.
A recent phase II study found that patients with low-grade gliomas have a markedly higher 3-year survival rate when treated with radiation and temozolomide vs radiation alone. These findings were published by Fisher et al in the <em>International Journal of Radiation Oncology • Biology • Physics </em>.
A study by Brohl et al investigating the case incidence of unexpected uterine sarcoma following surgery for presumed benign leiomyoma, has found that the risk of unexpected uterine sarcoma varies significantly across age groups, with a more than fivefold difference between the highest and lowest risk age groups. The age-stratified predictive model can be used to more accurately counsel patients and to assist in providing surgical guidelines for the removal of leiomyoma. The study is published in <em>The Oncologist</em>.
In a single-center study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Riedl et al found that screening with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) had greater sensitivity for detection of breast cancer in high-risk women vs mammography or ultrasound irrespective of age, mutation status, or breast density. The addition of mammography or ultrasound added little to the sensitivity of MRI.
In patients who had undergone surgery for brain metastases, the rate of recurrence at the resected site was similar between patients who received adjuvant whole-brain radiotherapy vs those who underwent adjuvant localized radiotherapy, according to a retrospective study by Hsieh et al in the journal <em>Neurosurgery</em>. However, localized radiotherapy was associated with a higher incidence of distant metastases.
In a single-center study reported in <em>JAMA Oncology,</em> Maddocks et al found that Richter’s transformation accounted for early progression-related discontinuation of ibrutinib in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and that CLL progression but not Richter’s transformation was associated with <em>BTK</em> or <em>PLCG2</em>mutation.
At a median follow-up of 3 years, ibrutinib demonstrated continued activity with durable responses that improved in quality with extended treatment, according to a study of 132 patients with symptomatic treatment-naive and relapsed/refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia or small lymphocytic leukemia. Byrd et al reported the findings in <em>Blood</em>.
Researchers at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital have mapped the genomic landscape of pediatric adrenocortical tumors, which are known to be difficult to classify as malignant. They found that a certain genetic mutation and chromosomal abnormality contribute to the development of these rare cancers. Their findings were published by Pinto et al in <em>Nature Communications</em>.
In a phase III NRG Oncology/Gynecologic Oncology Group (GOG) trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Hensley et al found no benefit of adding bevacizumab to first-line gemcitabine-docetaxel in patients with metastatic uterine leiomyosarcoma.
In a retrospective analysis reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Rhoads et al found that treatment of colorectal cancer patients in an integrated health-care system was associated with greater compliance with National Comprehensive Cancer Network guidelines, better survival, and no survival disparity between black or other minority patients vs white patients.
According to a recent large-scale database analysis, women who receive a breast cancer diagnosis also are at an increased risk for thyroid cancer, especially within 5 years of the primary breast diagnosis. These findings were presented by Kuo et al at the Endocrine Society’s 97th Annual Meeting.
In the phase III ELM-PC 5 trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Fizazi et al found that the addition of the 17,20-lyase inhibitor orteronel to prednisone in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer progressing after docetaxel therapy resulted in an overall survival comparison that crossed the prespecified futility boundary at interim analysis. Orteronel treatment was associated with improved radiographic progression-free survival, prostate-specific antigen (PSA) reduction, and time to PSA progression.
In a simulation study based on European Randomized Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer (ERSPC) trial data reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Heijnsdijk et al found that cost-effectiveness of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening was optimal when screening was limited to two to three screens between the ages of 55 and 59 years.
Researchers at the Translational Genomics Research Institute have suggested that the removal of cellular stroma, which can ‘cloak’ cancer cells within tumors, could pave the way for drug delivery models and extend patient survival even in advanced-stage cancer. The findings by Whatcott et al were published in <em>Clinical Cancer Research</em>.
The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) has announced the election of Nancy E. Davidson, MD, Director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute and UPMC CancerCenter, as its President-Elect for 2015–2016. Dr. Davidson will officially become President-Elect at the AACR Annual Meeting 2015 in Philadelphia, April 18–22, and will start her presidential term in April 2016.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved dinutuximab (Unituxin) as part of first-line therapy for pediatric patients with high-risk neuroblastoma. Dinutuximab, a chimeric monoclonal antibody that binds to the surface of neuroblastoma cells, is being approved for use as part of a multimodality regimen, including surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy for patients who have achieved at least a partial response to prior first-line multiagent, multimodality therapy.
A new study from researchers at Yale School of Medicine & Comprehensive Cancer Center found that breast cancer patients with larger tumors who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy are more likely to undergo a lumpectomy than a full mastectomy. Their findings were published by Killelea et al in the <em>Journal of the American College of Surgeons>.
Researchers at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital have discovered the first genetic variant that is associated with an increased risk and severity of peripheral neuropathy following vincristine treatment and found evidence of how to navigate these genetic variations without jeopardizing the chance for a cure in patients. The findings are published by Diouf et al in the <em>Journal of the American Medical Association</em>.
In an analysis in the Gynecologic Oncology Group (GOG 182) trial population reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Horowitz et al found that more complex surgery was not an independent predictor of progression-free or overall survival among patients with advanced epithelial ovarian or primary peritoneal cancer.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Krop et al found that ado-trastuzumab emtansine had an acceptable cardiac safety profile when used after anthracycline-based (neo)adjuvant therapy in women with early-stage HER2-positive breast cancer.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Denkert et al found that increased tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes and the presence of lymphocyte-predominant breast cancer were associated with increased rates of pathologic complete response in patients receiving neoadjuvant anthracycline-taxane treatment with or without carboplatin.
The Italian SCORE trial is among several recent large European randomized trials showing the benefit of flexible sigmoidoscopy screening on colorectal cancer incidence and mortality. In a study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Senore et al found that characteristics of individuals who responded to the SCORE recruitment questionnaire who were interested in screening had a similar risk of colorectal cancer as the remainder of the target population, suggesting that self-selection did not result in obvious bias in the trial and that outcomes in SCORE can be generalized to the broader population.
In a new study from Harvard Medical School, researchers have found that a variety of factors influence inclusion of family members in decisions about a cancer patient’s treatment, such as ethnicity, language spoken, marital status, sex, age, insurance status, and veteran status. These findings were reported in <em>Cancer</em>by Hobbs et al.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Hershman et al found that nonadherence to adjuvant hormonal therapy for early-stage breast cancer was more common among black women and patients with lower household net worth, with the latter factor partly accounting for the racial disparity.
In a Women’s Health Initiative study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Newcomb et al found that oral bisphosphonate use was associated with a reduced risk of postmenopausal endometrial cancer.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved filgrastim-sndz (Zarxio), the first biosimilar product approved in the United States. Filgrastim-sndz is biosimilar to filgrastim and can be approved for the same indications.
A recent analysis of 55 Internet websites marketing a broad range of tests and services that promise the ability to personalize cancer treatment has found that the websites often overemphasize their purported benefits and downplay their limitations. The findings also show that the majority of companies that market somatic tests online promote tests that do not have evidence of clinical utility. The study by Gray et al is published in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute</em>.
In a preclinical study, researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, the Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, and the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute found immune cells engineered to seek out and attack aggressive glioblastomas were safe and effective at controlling tumor growth in mice that were treated with these modified cells. Their findings were reported by Johnson et al in <em>Science Translational Medicine</em>, and their work has paved the way for a phase I clinical trial for glioblastoma patients at the University of Pennsylvania.
In the phase III INSPIRE trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Paz-Ares et al found that the addition of the anti-EGFR IgG1 monoclonal antibody necitumumab to first-line pemetrexed-cisplatin did not improve overall survival in patients with previously untreated stage IV nonsquamous non–small cell lung cancer. Enrollment was stopped due to excess fatal and nonfatal thromboembolic events in the necitumumab group.
<strong>Harold Varmus, MD,</strong> who has led the National Cancer Institute (NCI) at the National Institutes of Health for nearly 5 years, has announced that he will step down from his post, effective March 31, 2015. <strong>Douglas Lowy, MD,</strong> who currently serves as the Deputy Director, will become Acting Director for NCI beginning April 1, 2015. Dr. Varmus will be joining Weill Cornell Medical College's faculty as the Lewis Thomas University Professor of Medicine.
In a phase II study reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Melichar et al found that the oral aurora kinase A inhibitor alisertib was active in solid tumors, particularly breast cancer and small cell lung cancer. Aurora kinases play central roles in mitosis. Inhibition of aurora kinase A, which is overexpressed/amplified in several tumor types and associated with poorer outcome, results in abnormal spindle formation, mitotic defects, and cell death.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved the PD-1 inhibitor nivolumab (Opdivo) for the treatment of patients with metastatic squamous non–small cell lung cancer who have progressed on or after platinum-based chemotherapy. The approval was based on clinical trial results that demonstrated a 3.2-month improvement in overall survival with nivolumab compared with docetaxel.
Researchers at Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University have found that the novel taxane cabazitaxel has properties that could make it more effective than docetaxel for some prostate cancer patients. These findings were published by de Leeuw et al in <em>Clinical Cancer Research</em>.
In a study reported in <em>The Lancet,</em> the Collaborative Group on Epidemiological Studies of Ovarian Cancer found that use of menopausal hormone therapy was associated with an increased risk of ovarian cancer, with the risk being highest among current users.
In the phase III ELM-PC 4 trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Saad et al found that addition of the CYP 17,20 lyase inhibitor orteronel to prednisone did not improve overall survival in chemotherapy-naive patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. Improvement in radiographic progression-free survival was observed with orteronel-prednisone treatment, which was also associated with greater toxicity.
In a study reported in <em>The Lancet,</em> Hersch et al found that use of a decision aid containing information on overdetection in breast cancer screening was associated with an increased rate of informed choice regarding screening, a reduced rate of positive attitudes toward screening, and reduced intention to be screened.
In the Spanish phase III DART01/05 GICOR trial reported in <em>Lancet Oncology</em>, Zapatero and colleagues found that long-term androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) increased biochemical disease-free survival and overall survival vs short-term ADT when combined with high-dose radiotherapy in men with localized prostate cancer.
Researchers investigating whether tumor genotype correlates with benefit from immune therapy in melanoma has found that patients whose tumors had <em>NRAS</em> mutations had better response to immunotherapy and better outcomes than patients whose tumors had other genetic subtypes. The results suggest that immune therapies, especially immune checkpoint inhibitors, may be particularly effective treatment options for <em>NRAS</em>-mutant melanoma. The study by Johnson et al is published in <em>Cancer Immunology Research</em>.
A retrospective study by Pekar-Zlotin et al investigating FISH and immunohistochemistry for detecting EML4-ALK rearrangement in patients with lung cancer has found that FISH may miss a significant number of patients who tested positive with immunohistochemistry and who may benefit from targeted ALK therapy. The researchers concluded that screening for EML4-ALK by immunohistochemistry should be strongly considered. The study is published in <em>The Oncologist</em>.
As reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em> by Swain et al, the final prespecified overall survival analysis in the phase III CLEOPATRA study showed a significant 15.7-month increase in median overall survival over 50 months of follow-up with the addition of pertuzumab to trastuzumab and docetaxel in the first-line treatment of women with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer. An earlier report from CLEOPATRA showed significant improvement in the primary endpoint of progression-free survival with the pertuzumab-containing regimen.
According to a study by Sahgal et al in the <em>International Journal of Radiation Oncology • Biology • Physics<em>, patients with limited brain metastases who are 50 years old and younger should receive stereotactic radiosurgery without whole-brain radiation therapy. For patients who received stereotactic radiosurgery alone, survival was improved by 13%, compared with those who received both stereotactic radiosurgery and whole-brain radiotherapy.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Orphan Drug designation for Oncolytics Biotech’s proprietary formulation of the human reovirus (Reolysin) for the treatment of fallopian tube cancer. The designation was granted on the basis of the company's December 2014 application for an Orphan Drug designation encompassing ovarian, fallopian tube, and primary peritoneal cancers, which are generally treated as one indication. The reovirus received Orphan Drug designation for ovarian cancer in February 2015.
Patients who received chemotherapy after bladder cancer surgery demonstrated an approximately 30% lower risk of death than those who underwent surgery alone, according to an analysis presented by researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai at the 2015 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium, held February 26 to 28 in Orlando.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted Breakthrough Therapy designation to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Atara Biotherapeutics’ optioned cytotoxic T lymphocytes activated against Epstein-Barr virus (EBV-CTL) in the treatment of patients with rituximab-refractory, EBV-associated lymphoproliferative disease.
Researchers have developed a lab test to measure early changes in net proapoptotic signaling at the mitochondrion induced by chemotherapeutic agents in cancer cells. In cell-line and clinical experiments, the test accurately predicted chemotherapy response across many cancer types and agents, including combinations of chemotherapy. The test could be a method for quickly determining the best treatment for individual patients. The study by Montero et al is published in <em>Cell</em>.
A new study from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center demonstrated that lack of RNA editing leads to tumor growth and progression through manipulation of proteins in melanoma. Their findings were reported by Shoshan et al in <em>Nature Cell Biology</em>.
Preliminary results from the phase II STAND trial have demonstrated a robust immune response with sipuleucel-T that continues 2 years after completing treatment in men with biochemically recurrent prostate cancer. The findings, along with data from an ongoing phase IV registry related to increasing enrollment of African Americans in prostate cancer trials, were presented at the 2015 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium.
Emergency room visits and hospitalizations are common among patients with early breast cancer receiving chemotherapy, particularly among those receiving a regimen containing docetaxel, according to a report by Enright et al in the <em>Journal of Oncology Practice</em>. In this population-based study, emergency room visits and hospitalizations were significantly higher among women with early breast cancer who underwent adjuvant chemotherapy compared with both age-matched noncancer controls and with the patients themselves 2 years prior to their cancer diagnoses.
Analysis of data from 102,929 patients with stage IV lung cancer found that prior cancer did not have an adverse effect on clinical outcomes, regardless of prior cancer stage, type, or timing. Based on these findings, investigators from the Harold C. Simmons Cancer Center, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, concluded that “broader inclusion in clinical trials of advanced lung cancer patients with a history of prior cancer should be considered.”
In a U.S.-based cost-effectiveness analysis reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Goldstein et al found high costs per quality-adjusted life-year with the addition of bevacizumab to chemotherapy in first- and second-line treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer.
Improved prognosis for women with estrogen receptor–positive breast cancer who experience a large reduction in mammographic density following the initiation of tamoxifen treatment extends to premenopausal as well as postmenopausal women, researchers reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute</em>. While a previous analysis linked decline in mammographic density following initiation of tamoxifen with improved survival in postmenopausal women, this more recent evaluation of change also showed improved survival in premenopausal women.
An analysis of data on 945 patients with prostate cancer that is managed with active surveillance shows differences in outcomes depending on whether the patient was low or intermediate risk at diagnosis. Compared to patients with low-risk disease, those with intermediate-risk cancer had a nearly fourfold higher chance of dying from prostate cancer within 15 years.
Findings from a federally funded study suggest that patients with locally advanced kidney cancer should not be treated with either adjuvant sorafenib or sunitinib. The average period to disease recurrence was similar between those who received sorafenib or sunitinib after surgery (5.6 years) and those treated with placebo (5.7 years).
A case-control study of close to 180,000 men suggests that the incidence of prostate cancer is higher among men with a history of testicular cancer (12.6%) than among those without a history of testicular cancer (2.8%). Men who have had testicular cancer were also more likely to develop intermediate- or high-risk prostate cancers.
In the phase III CEREBEL study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Pivot et al compared lapatinib-capecitabine vs trastuzumab-capecitabine in the prevention of CNS metastases as first relapse site in patients with metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer. The study was terminated early on the basis of low rates of the primary endpoint, with no difference between treatments being observed.
An analysis of data on roughly 87,500 men treated for prostate cancer since 2005 found a notable increase in higher-risk cases of the disease between 2011 and 2013. The retrospective analysis of patient data found the proportion of men diagnosed with intermediate- and high-risk disease increased by nearly 6% in those years. While a rise in mortality has not yet been seen, the authors estimated this apparent trend could produce 1,400 additional prostate cancer deaths per year.
Findings from a small prospective study suggest that androgen receptor V7 (or AR-V7) status does not significantly affect response to taxane chemotherapy in men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. Treatment outcomes were largely similar for the 17 patients with AR-V7–positive prostate cancer and the 20 patients with AR-V7–negative disease included in this analysis.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved panobinostat (Farydak) in combination with bortezomib and dexamethasone for the treatment of patients with multiple myeloma. Panobinostat is the first histone deacetylase inhibitor approved to treat multiple myeloma. It is intended for patients who have received at least two prior standard therapies, including bortezomib and an immunomodulatory agent.
“In routine clinical practice, laparoscopic colectomy is associated with lower 30-day mortality, shorter length of stay, and greater likelihood of adjuvant chemotherapy initiation among stage III colon cancer patients when compared with open colectomy,” according to an analysis of data from the National Cancer Data Base. The results were reported by Zheng et al in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute</em>.
Rare and classic <em>EGFR</em> mutations, which play a role in non–small cell lung cancer, have different epidemiologic features, different impacts on disease outcome, and different responses to tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy. In a new study reported in the <em>Journal of Thoracic Oncology,</em> Lohinai et al found that each rare mutation can respond to tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy differently, thus necessitating the need for molecular screening methods to be used for all <em>EGFR</em> mutations, not just classic vs rare mutations.
Breast cancer risk prediction models have underestimated the risk for African American women, a factor that has contributed to lower rates of recruitment to prevention trials in this population. In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Boggs et al developed a risk model, derived from the Black Women’s Health Study (BWHS), which showed good agreement with observed cancer rates and indicated that a greater proportion of women are at elevated risk compared with previous models.
In the final prespecified analysis of an Intergroup trial (NCIC Clinical Trials Group PR.3/Medical Research Council PR07/Intergroup T94-0110) reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Mason et al found that overall survival and cancer-specific survival at 8 years were significantly greater with the addition of radiotherapy to androgen-deprivation therapy in patients with locally advanced prostate cancer.
In a Japanese study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Kinoshita et al found that death at home vs palliative care units or hospitals was better for terminally ill cancer patients and was not associated with an increased caregiver burden.
In a Spanish-German phase III LEA trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Martín et al found that adding bevacizumab to endocrine therapy with letrozole or fulvestrant in first-line treatment of postmenopausal women with advanced breast cancer did not improve progression-free or overall survival.
According to findings from researchers at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, the use of sensor technology during clinical breast exams may improve physicians’ technique and accuracy. Their work was published as a correspondence in <em> The New England Journal of Medicine</em>.
In the American College of Surgeons Oncology Group Z1071 trial, sentinel lymph node surgery after neoadjuvant chemotherapy was associated with a 12.6% false-negative rate in breast cancer patients with cN1 disease. In an analysis of axillary ultrasound findings in the trial, a secondary endpoint, Boughey et al found that a strategy of performing sentinel lymph node surgery in patients with normal axillary ultrasound findings could reduce the sentinel lymph node false-negative rate. The findings were reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
In a study reported in <em>JAMA Oncology,</em> Gogineni et al found that approximately 9% of patient encounters in outpatient oncology clinics included patient demands or requests for tests or treatment, that the majority of such requests were clinically appropriate, and that the majority of clinically appropriate requests were met. Clinically inappropriate demands/requests were made in approximately 1% of encounters and usually were not met.
“Risk assessment in Hodgkin lymphoma is continuously evolving and promises even greater precision and specific clinical relevance in the future,” stated <strong>Joseph M. Connors, MD,</strong> of the British Columbia Cancer Agency Centre for Lymphoid Cancer and the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, in <em>Blood</em>. Careful assessment of tumor burden, its behavior, and host-related factors such as age, coincident systemic infection, and organ dysfunction is essential to optimize treatment outcomes.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Huang et al showed that recursive portioning analysis could be used to provide TNM stage grouping with improved prediction of survival in patients with human papillomavirus–related nonmetastatic oropharyngeal carcinoma.
Researchers from University College London have found that a cancer false alarm could discourage patients from checking out cancer symptoms they develop in the future, and also lead to a false sense of security, according to findings published by Renzi et al in <em>BMJ Open</em>.
In an FDA analysis of randomized trials in advanced non–small cell lung cancer reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Blumenthal et al found a strong correlation between response rate and progression-free survival at the trial level and a significant association between response and both progression-free and overall survival at the individual patient level.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has accepted and granted Priority Review for Genentech’s New Drug Application (NDA) for cobimetinib in combination with vemurafenib for the treatment of people with <em>BRAF</em> V600 mutation–positive advanced melanoma. The NDA is based on results of the phase III coBRIM study, which found that cobimetinib plus vemurafenib reduced the risk of disease worsening or death by half in people who received the combination.
Results of clinical trials evaluating chemotherapy regimens for advanced pancreatic cancer and lung cancers “tended to correctly estimate survival for Medicare patients aged 65 to 74 years, but to overestimate survival for older Medicare patients by 6 to 8 weeks,” Lamont et al reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute</em>. “These ‘real world’ results may help inform treatment discussions between older patients with these common advanced cancers and their oncologists,” the researchers wrote.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has expanded the existing indication for lenalidomide in combination with dexamethasone to include patients newly diagnosed with multiple myeloma. Lenalidomide plus dexamethasone was previously approved in June 2006 for use in multiple myeloma patients who have received at least one prior therapy.
The phase III CRYSTAL trial showed that the addition of cetuximab to first-line FOLFIRI significantly improved overall survival, progression-free survival, and objective response rates in patients with KRAS codon 12/13 (exon 2) wild-type metastatic colorectal cancer. In a post hoc analysis in the CRYSTAL population reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Van Cutsem et al found that cetuximab was not of benefit among patients in the trial with <em>RAS</em> mutations at other loci.
A frailty score predicts mortality and the risk of toxicity in elderly patients with multiple myeloma and can be used to determine more suitable therapies for these patients, the International Myeloma Working Group reported in <em>Blood</em>. If adopted as a valid new standard to evaluate patients’ frailty, the proposed score “could be used in everyday clinical practice as well as in the context of research to ensure an adequate representation of elderly patients and to allow more precise cross-trial comparisons,” the authors wrote.
Last December, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved olaparib in the treatment of advanced ovarian cancer in women with <em>BRCA1</em> or <em>BRCA2</em> gene mutations. Now, a laboratory study by Ceccaldi et al has found that the drug may also be effective in breast and ovarian tumors that express abnormally high levels of the polymerase q enzyme (POLQ). The results suggest that POLQ may be a potential target for novel therapies. The study is published in <em>Nature</em>.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Den et al found that a 22-biomarker genomic classifier score was predictive of a greater risk of metastasis and benefit of adjuvant vs salvage radiotherapy after radical prostatectomy for prostate cancer.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Wang et al, the incidence of late toxicity among patients with extremity soft-tissue sarcoma receiving preoperative image-guided radiotherapy to a reduced target volume in the phase II RTOG 0630 trial was lower than that observed with preoperative radiotherapy without image-guided radiotherapy in the phase III National Cancer Institute of Canada SR2 trial. The latter trial showed a lower incidence of late toxicity with preoperative vs postoperative radiotherapy in this setting.
Investigators at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital have found that adult survivors of pediatric cancer who underwent cranial irradiation as children remain at risk for pituitary hormone deficiencies that may diminish their health and quality of life. Their findings are published by Chemaitilly et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
Common surgical procedures used to diagnose and treat precancerous cervical lesions do not decrease women's chances of becoming pregnant, according to a study conducted by investigators at Kaiser Permanente Northwest, which followed nearly 100,000 women for up to 12 years. The findings of the study are published by Naleway et al in <em>PLOS ONE</em>.
A phase II, open-label study evaluating the efficacy of brentuximab vedotin found that among 48 evaluable patients with CD30-positive diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, 21 had objective responses. This total included 8 patients with complete remission and 13 with partial remission. “Complete remissions were durable, with a median duration of 16.6 months,” Jacobsen et al reported in <em>Blood</em>.
In an analysis among patients in the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) E4402 trial (RESORT) reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Wagner et al found no difference in anxiety or health-related quality of life in patients with low–tumor burden non-Hodgkin lymphoma who received maintenance rituximab vs rituximab retreatment at disease progression.
In a Chinese study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Ren et al found that prophylactic use of urea-based cream reduced the incidence of sorafenib-associated hand-foot skin reactions in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma.
In an analysis from the European Prospective Investigation Into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> de Batlle et al found reduced risks of estrogen receptor–negative and progesterone receptor–negative breast cancer for highest vs lowest dietary folate intake among premenopausal women.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today granted approval to lenvatinib (Lenvima) to treat patients with progressive, differentiated thyroid cancer whose disease progressed despite receiving radioactive iodine therapy. Lenvatinib is a tyrosine kinase inhibitor that binds to multiple sites involved in angiogenesis and proliferation.
In a Children’s Oncology Group study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Wasserman et al found that germline <em>TP53</em> mutations are common in children with adrenocortical carcinoma, with mutations encoding proteins with greater loss of function being at increased risk of multiple primary malignancies or a family history of cancer.
In the Dutch phase III HYPRO trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Aluwini et al found that hypofractionated radiotherapy was not noninferior to standard fractionated radiotherapy in acute genitourinary and gastrointestinal toxicity in men with intermediate- or high-risk prostate cancer. Efficacy results are awaited.
On Thursday, February 12, 2015, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced its new Oncology Care Model, a multipayer payment and care delivery model meant to support better health-care coordination for patients with cancer. Although commending the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services for seeking new approaches to physician payment, ASCO expressed concern that the model “continues to rely on a broken fee-for-service system.”
In a study reported in <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Olszewski et al found that numerous factors affected use of combined-modality therapy vs chemotherapy alone in early-stage Hodgkin lymphoma, including sex, race, insurance, and distance to treatment facility.
According to a nutrient-wide association study, which systematically evaluated the association of dietary factors with endometrial cancer risk, women who drank about four cups of coffee per day appeared to have decreased endometrial cancer risk compared with those who drank less than a cup each day. The findings by Merritt et al were published in <em>Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention</em>.
In a phase II study reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Thomas et al found that sunitinib was active in patients with platinum-refractory thymic carcinoma.
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. The findings by Schlumberger et al are published in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em>.
In a Japanese phase III trial (Intergroup Trial JCOG0803/WJOG4307L) reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology, </em> 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 cancer. The trial was terminated early.
In a randomized trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Breitbart et al found that meaning-centered group psychotherapy significantly improved psychological well-being compared with supportive group psychotherapy in patients with advanced or terminal cancer.
Using a genome-wide associated study approach, researchers have identified inherited genetic variations in the <em>ACYP2</em> gene that were linked to as much as a fourfold greater risk of rapid hearing loss in young patients with brain tumors treated with cisplatin chemotherapy. The study findings may lead to new interventions to protect high-risk patients from cisplatin-related toxicity. The study by Xu et al is published in <em>Nature Genetics</em>.
Oncolytics Biotech, Inc, a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the development of oncolytic viruses as potential cancer therapeutics, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted Orphan Drug designation for its proprietary formulation of the human reovirus (Reolysin) for the treatment of ovarian cancer.
In a study of women with stage III/IV epithelial ovarian cancer, the addition of sorafenib to traditional paclitaxel/carboplatin therapy resulted in no greater efficacy and increased toxicity, according to a report by Hainsworth et al in <em>Cancer Medicine</em>. The investigators suggested that sorafenib is not the angiogenesis inhibitor of choice in the treatment of patients with advanced ovarian cancer.
Researchers at MD Anderson Cancer Center and Barretos Cancer Hospital have identified eight specific cognitive and physical signs of imminent death in cancer patients, according to findings published by Hui et al in <em>Cancer</em>.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, 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.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Yang et al found that current smoking was associated with increased colorectal cancer–specific and all-cause mortality among colorectal cancer patients in both the prediagnosis and postdiagnosis settings.
In a preplanned interim analysis of the phase III GADOLIN trial, obinutuzumab plus bendamustine followed by obinutuzumab alone was found to significantly improve progression-free survival compared to bendamustine alone in patients with indolent, refractory non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) has issued an endorsement of the American Cancer Society's Prostate Cancer Survivorship Care Guidelines. These guidelines provide recommendations to primary care physicians on best practices in follow-up care for men after prostate cancer treatment. The guideline endorsement was published online in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
Researchers at The University of Virginia Health System, Charlottesville, have implemented a new, multidisciplinary approach to managing patients undergoing colorectal surgery that results in shorter hospital stays, fewer complications, and lower medical costs, according a study published by Thiele et al in the <em>Journal of the American College of Surgeons</em>.
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 approval of docetaxel by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The uptake of new treatments, or diffusion, “prior to definitive evidence indicates the prevalence of off-label chemotherapy use,” Unger et al noted in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute</em>.
In a study reported in a research letter in <em>JAMA Surgery,</em> Shapiro et al found that use of radiotherapy in unresectable pancreas cancer has decreased over time and that disparities in use can be identified.
In an analysis of overall survival in the phase III LUX-Lung 3 and LUX-Lung 6 trials reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Yang et al found no significant difference between afatinib vs pemetrexed-cisplatin (LUX-Lung 3) or vs gemcitabine-cisplatin (LUX-Lung 6) in previously untreated, predominantly Asian patients with <em>EGFR</em> mutation–positive stage IIIB or IV lung adenocarcinoma. A significant difference favoring afatinib was found among patients with exon 19 deletion (del19) in both trials.
In a Swedish study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Holm et al found that interval cancers in women with low mammographic density breasts were more aggressive vs screen-detected cancers in these women and vs interval cancers in women with dense breasts. Use of hormone replacement therapy and family history of breast cancer were associated with increased risk of interval cancers.
In women who have undergone mastectomy, those who underwent delayed breast reconstruction experienced moderate or severe cancer-related distress over the long term compared with women who underwent mastectomy alone, according to a prospective study by Metcalfe et al in the <em>Journal of Surgical Oncology</em>. In addition, women who had delayed breast reconstruction had higher levels of vulnerability and body stigma.
Researchers identified a link between immunosuppressant therapy and chemotherapy treatment and a reactivation of HBV in patients who have already contracted the disease, according to a study published by Di Bisceglie et al in <em>Hepatology</em>.
The phase III Gynecologic Oncology Group (GOG) 240 trial showed that the addition of bevacizumab to chemotherapy prolonged survival in patients with advanced cervical cancer. An analysis reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by Penson et al showed no reduction in quality of life among patients receiving bevacizumab-chemotherapy vs chemotherapy in the trial.
Multiplexed genetic screening for <em>EGFR</em> and <em>ALK</em> gene rearrangements in non–small cell lung cancer before determining treatment course, as opposed to chemotherapy with no genetic testing, has been shown to be cost-effective, according to findings published by Romanus et al in the <em>Journal of Thoracic Oncology</em>.
Today the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services issued a final national coverage determination that provides for Medicare coverage of screening for lung cancer with low-dose computed tomography (CT). Effective immediately, Medicare will cover low-dose CT lung cancer screening once per year for Medicare beneficiaries aged 55 to 77 who are current smokers or have quit within the past 15 years, have a tobacco smoking history of at least 30 pack-years, and have a written order from a physician.
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 radiotherapy. The study is reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>.
According to a 10-year post-treatment analysis of the German ARO 96-02 trial, men who maintain detectable PSA following radical prostatectomy may benefit from earlier, more aggressive radiotherapy. The findings by Wiegel et al were published in the <em>International Journal of Radiation Oncology • Biology • Physics</em>.
Researchers recently conducted a comprehensive analysis of single-nucleotide polymorphisms in 11 genes involved in one-carbon metabolism and risk of breast cancer in European American and African American women. Their research revealed distinct patterns in gene variations associated with breast cancer risk that diverged significantly between the two groups, as well as the role that a folate-rich diet may play in modifying these associations, reported Gong et al in the <em>International Journal of Cancer</em>.
In a phase II study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Slomovitz et al found that the combination of the mTOR inhibitor everolimus and the aromatase inhibitor letrozole showed good activity in women with recurrent endometrial cancer.
In the phase II CONCERT-2 trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Giralt et al found that treatment with the EGFR inhibitor panitumumab plus concurrent radiotherapy was associated with poorer local-regional control vs cisplatin chemoradiation in previously untreated patients with unresected stage III to IVB head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.
In the phase II CONCERT-1 trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Mesía et al found that adding the EGFR inhibitor panitumumab to cisplatin chemoradiation provided no benefit in previously untreated patients with unresected stage III to IVB head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.
Researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center have found that inhibiting the action of a particular enzyme, PolQ, dramatically slows the growth of tumor cells tied to <em>BRCA1</em> and <em>BRCA2</em> genetic mutations, as reported by Mateos-Gomez et al in <em>Nature</em>.
In a systematic review and meta-analysis reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> 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.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Perez et al found that an immune function gene profile was associated with significantly improved relapse-free survival among patients with early-stage HER2-positive breast cancer who had trastuzumab added to adjuvant chemotherapy in the North Central Cancer Treatment Group (NCCTG) N9831 trial.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Ng and colleagues 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.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted accelerated approval to palbociclib (Ibrance) in combination with letrozole for the treatment of postmenopausal women with estrogen receptor–positive, HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer who have not yet received an endocrine-based therapy.
Biallelic mismatch repair deficiency, a pediatric cancer predisposition syndrome, can cause as many as 20,000 genetic mutations in patients in as little as 6 months, in turn producing multiple kinds of brain tumors, lymphomas, and gastrointestinal cancers. Researchers have discovered that a secondary mutation in the enzyme polymerase, found in the tumor cells, is responsible for the unique, large number of mutations, according to findings published by Shlien et al in <em>Nature Genetics</em>.
In patients with iodine-refractory papillary thyroid cancer, the addition of dabrafenib therapy was shown to stimulate radioiodine uptake in thyroid cancer cells, according to a report by Rothenberg et al in <em>Clinical Cancer Research</em>. This approach has the potential advantage of requiring only a short course of minimally toxic targeted therapy to maximize the potential long-term therapeutic effect of radioiodine therapy.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Lyman et al, an ASCO update committee recommended no changes to the 2013 clinical practice guideline for venous thromboembolism prophylaxis and treatment. The update committee was cochaired by <strong>Gary H. Lyman, MD, MPH,</strong> of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and University of Washington, Seattle, and <strong>Anna Falanga, MD,</strong> of Hospital Papa Giovanni XXIII, Bergamo, Italy.
In a retrospective analysis reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Costa and colleagues found that crizotinib treatment resulted in high systemic and intracranial disease control rates in patients with <em>ALK</em>-rearranged non–small cell lung cancer who had asymptomatic brain metastases at the start of treatment.
Pancreatic cancer can develop from pancreatic cysts known as intraductal papillary mucinous lesions. These cysts can be benign or malignant, but it is extremely difficult to differentiate between the two using standard imaging techniques and blood testing. As reported by Permuth-Wey et al in <em>PLoS One</em>, researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center have found a more promising way to identify intraductal papillary mucinous lesion type through microRNAs.
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 received prior chemotherapy including an anthracycline. Trabectedin is a novel, multimodal, synthetically produced antitumor agent, originally derived from the sea squirt <em>Ecteinascidia turbinate</em>.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administrationhas granted Breakthrough Therapy designation to Genentech’s investigational cancer immunotherapy MPDL3280A for the treatment of PD-L1–positive non–small cell lung cancer that has progressed during or after platinum-based chemotherapy.
Although a breast density notification law was enacted in California 10 months ago, many primary care physicians in the state are still unfamiliar with the law and don't feel comfortable answering breast density–related questions from patients, according to a study by Khong et al in the <em>Journal of the American College of Radiology<em>.
As reported by Stitzenberg et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> a study examining the effect of travel distance on inpatient readmission and outcome after major cancer surgery found that predictors of readmission included discharge to somewhere other than home, longer length of stay, comorbidities, higher stage at diagnosis, and longer travel distance.
In a phase III trial reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> Vannucchi et al found that the JAK1/JAK2 inhibitor ruxolitinib produced significantly better hematocrit control and reduction in spleen volume than standard treatment in patients with polycythemia vera with inadequate response to or intolerance of hydroxyurea. The trial supported the recent approval of ruxolitinib in this setting.
In a European open-label noninferiority trial reported in <em>The Lancet,</em> Behringer et al found poorer outcomes with the omission of dacarbazine or bleomycin from treatment with ABVD (doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine) in patients with early-stage favorable Hodgkin lymphoma, indicating that these agents should not be excluded from treatment in hopes of reducing toxicity.
A large retrospective cohort study of diabetic patients taking metformin, a first-line treatment for type II diabetes, has found that while metformin use was not associated with lower lung cancer risk overall, the risk was 43% lower among diabetic patients who had never smoked. In addition, the risk appeared to decrease with longer use. The study by Sakoda is published in <em>Cancer Prevention Research</em>.
A new, targeted biopsy using new fusion technology that combines MRI with ultrasound is more effective than standard biopsy in detecting high-risk prostate cancer, according to a study published by Siddiqui et al in <em>JAMA</em>.
Some data suggest that migraine is associated with reduced risk of breast cancer. In a prospective cohort study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Winter et al found no association between migraine and breast cancer risk or endogenous sex hormone levels. A meta-analysis showed a lower risk of breast cancer in women with history of migraine, with the association being limited to case-control studies included in the meta-analysis.
Researchers at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine have created the first mouse model of ovarian clear cell carcinoma and used it to pinpoint the interaction of two genes that trigger the aggressive cancer and then spur its development, according to a study published in <em>Nature Communications</em>.
In a phase II study reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Farooqui et al found that single-agent ibrutinib had good activity in patients with previously untreated or relapsed/refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia with <em>TP53</em>aberrations.
People who worry a lot about cancer are more likely to want to get screened for colon cancer, but having a more visceral negative response to thinking about cancer acted as a deterrent to actually getting screened, according to a British study by Vrinten et al. Learning more about the makeup of cancer fear might help in the design of effective public health messages. The study is published in <em>Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention</em>.
According to a new study by researchers at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital published in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, children of East Asian ancestry are more likely to have an inherited genetic variation that reduces tolerance to mercaptopurine, a drug considered the backbone of ALL chemotherapy.
Researchers from Children’s Hospital Los Angeles have developed a protein-based therapy that may prove to be effective against drug-resistant acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). In <em>The Journal of Clinical Investigation</em>, Uckun et al discuss the safety and efficacy of the fusion protein CD19L-sTRAIL in mouse models of ALL.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today expanded the approved use of ibrutinib (Imbruvica) for patients with Waldenström’s macroglobulinemia, a rare, indolent type of B-cell lymphoma. Ibrutinib, a Bruton's tyrosine kinase inhibitor, is the first therapy indicated specifically for this use.
In a Danish retrospective population-based study reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> 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.
As reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by Bradley et al, the phase III Radiation Therapy Oncology Group 0617 trial showed no survival benefit of high- vs standard-dose radiotherapy or for addition of cetuximab to concurrent paclitaxel-carboplatin chemoradiation in patients with inoperable stage IIIA or IIIB non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
Researchers at The Cancer Genome Atlas Research Network have discovered genomic differences in head and neck cancers, particularly squamous cell carcinomas caused by the human papillomavirus. The researchers also found that genetic alterations in HPV-related head and neck tumors are also associated with other smoking-related cancer subtypes.
In the final analysis of overall survival in the COU-AA-302 trial, reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by Ryan et al, the addition of abiraterone to prednisone significantly prolonged survival in chemotherapy-naive patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer.
Testosterone has been found to suppress some metastatic prostate cancers, and may also reverse resistance to testosterone-blocking drugs used to treat prostate cancer, according to a pilot study by reported by Schweizer et al in <em>Science Translational Medicine</em>.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Arem et al found that increased leisure-time physical activity prior to and increased activity after colorectal cancer diagnosis were associated with improved overall survival, as was less TV watching prior to diagnosis.
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 for carfilzomib to seek approval for the treatment of patients with relapsed multiple myeloma who have received at least one prior therapy. The sNDA is designed to support the conversion of accelerated approval to full approval and expand the current approved indication.
In a study reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> Jaiswal et al found somatic mutations associated with hematologic cancers at increasing frequency with increasing age, with presence of the mutations being associated with increased risk of hematologic cancers, all-cause mortality, incident coronary heart disease, and ischemic stroke.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by McCormick et al, the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) 9804 trial showed that radiotherapy after breast-conserving surgery reduced local failure vs observation in women with good-risk ductal carcinoma in situ.
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, with minority patients less likely than white patients to have the correct information about their cancers. Improving a patient’s understanding of her cancer may lead to better adherence to treatment and outcomes. The study by Freedman et al is published in <em>Cancer</em>.
In a study reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> Genovese et al found that clonal hematopoiesis with somatic mutations is increasingly common with greater age and is associated with increased risk of hematologic cancer. The presence of such clonal hematopoiesis in apparently healthy persons may be an early event in development of hematologic cancer.
Researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center have identified thousands of long noncoding RNAs in the human genome, many of which may serve in the future as biomarkers for cancer diagnosis and treatment, according to a new study in <em>Nature Genetics</em>.
A new breast imaging technique developed at Mayo Clinic, molecular breast imaging, has been found to nearly quadruple the rates of detection of invasive breast cancer in women with dense breast tissue, according to a new study published in the <em>American Journal of Roentgenology</em>.
In an Italian Sarcoma Group phase II study reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Grignani et al found that the combination of sorafenib and everolimus was active in unresectable high-grade osteosarcoma progressing after standard treatment, but did not produce the study goal of ≥ 50% 6-month progression-free survival.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Chubb et al found that genetic diagnosis of high-penetrance susceptibility to colorectal cancer can be achieved in a sizeable proportion of familial colorectal cancer cases via exome sequencing for germline mutations.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> 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 and tumor grade significantly stratified patients with stage I disease with respect to these outcomes.
As reported by Pisansky et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) 9910 trial showed no benefit of extending the duration of pre–radiation therapy androgen suppression on survival or disease control among patients with localized prostate cancer.
Data from 25 case-control studies and separate analyses demonstrated that head and neck cancers in young adults are more likely to occur as the result of inherited factors, rather than lifestyle factors such as cigarette smoking or alcohol consumption, according to a study by Toporcov et al in the <em>International Journal of Epidemiology</em>.
Researchers have identified a potential treatment targeting the ALT pathway, the mechanism by which several aggressive tumors maintain their ability to proliferate. The findings, reported by Flynn et al in <em>Science</em>, may provide new direction for the treatment of ALT-positive cancers, which include osteosarcoma, glioblastoma, and certain pancreatic tumors.
A new study shows women taking hormonal contraceptives for 5 years or more may be at increased risk for glioma, according to Andersen et al in the <em>British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology</em>.
In a Chinese study reported in <em>JAMA,</em> Huang and colleagues found that treatment with entecavir reduced hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related hepatitis and HBV reactivation compared with lamivudine in HBV-positive patients with untreated diffuse large B-cell lymphoma receiving R-CHOP.
In the phase III SEARCH trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Zhu et al found no overall survival benefit of adding erlotinib to sorafenib in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma.
In a genomic study of cancer patients previously treated with chemotherapy or radiation therapy, it was found that <em>TP53</em> mutations may play a role in the development of treatment-related acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and myelodysplastic syndrome, according to a report by Wong et al in <em>Nature</em>. However, the investigators noted that <em>TP53</em> mutations accumulate randomly as part of the aging process and thus are present in blood stem cells long before a patient is diagnosed with therapy-related AML and myelodysplastic syndrome.
In a study in the Childhood Cancer Survivor Cohort reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Hudson et al found that poor health status was more common in survivors than in siblings, with an age-related increase in prevalence particularly evident in female survivors.
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 reported by Simos et al in the <em>Journal of Oncology Practice</em>. “If guideline recommendations are to be implemented in practice, clearly additional knowledge translation strategies are needed beyond the simple publication of guideline documents,” the authors said.
A somatic mutation in the ATRX gene has been identified as a potential molecular marker for aggressive brain tumors and pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors, and now the same mutated gene may serve as a much-needed biomarker for the pheochromocytomas and paragangliomas that become malignant, according to a study reported by Fishbein et al in <em>Nature Communications.</em>
Among patients who had an unidentifiable lung nodule detected by a chest computed tomography scan, testing sputum for a panel of three microRNA biomarkers successfully distinguished early-stage lung cancers from nonmalignant nodules most of the time, according to a study reported by Xing et al in <em>Clinical Cancer Research.</em>
A new study characterizes the genetic makeup of a rare kind of breast tumor, phyllodes tumors, which occurs in only about 1% of all kinds of breast tumors. The study identified three genes—<em>EGFR,</em> <em>IGF1R,</em> and <em>MED12</em>—that are amplified or mutated in phyllodes tumors and that may be possible targets for therapy, reported Cani et al in <em>Molecular Cancer Research</em>.
ASCO announced today that it will use SAP HANA®, a data management and application platform, in the development of CancerLinQ, the Society’s health information technology platform that will harness Big Data to deliver high-quality care to patients with cancer. The first version of CancerLinQ is scheduled to roll out later this year in eight oncology practices around the country. Information about CancerLinQ can be found at CancerLinQ.org.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Le et al found that adding <em>Listeria monocytogenes</em>–expressing mesothelin (CRS-207) boost to GVAX pancreas vaccine priming resulted in improved overall survival in patients with metastatic pancreas adenocarcinoma.
ASCO released its report, <em>Clinical Cancer Advances 2015: An Annual Report on Progress Against Cancer,</em> today, and for the first time announced its cancer Advance of the Year: gains made in the treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). ASCO credits the improvements in CLL care with the approval of four newly approved therapies: two immunotherapy drugs for previously untreated CLL and two molecularly targeted drugs for treatment-resistant or relapsed CLL. The report is published in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> and on CancerProgress.Net.
It is estimated that approximately 2% to 7% of U.S. adult patients with cancer participate in clinical trials, and poor geographic accessibility of clinical trial sites contributes to this low participation. In a study reported in <em>JAMA Internal Medicine,</em> Galsky et al found that approximately 40% to 50% of patients with metastatic breast, prostate, colorectal, and lung cancer need to drive over 1 hour one-way to reach a trial site.
A meta-analysis of published studies evaluating sedentary behavior in adults and health outcomes independent of physical activity has found that prolonged sitting is positively associated with an increased risk for all-cause mortality, including cancer mortality and incidence, especially in breast, colon, colorectal, endometrial, and epithelial ovarian cancers. The study by Biswas et al is published in <em>Annals of Internal Medicine</em>.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration 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.
In a phase II trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Ramalingam et al found that the addition of the VEGFR and PDGFR inhibitor linifanib to carboplatin-paclitaxel increased progression-free survival in patients with advanced nonsquamous non–small cell lung cancer. The addition of linifanib resulted in greater toxicity.
In the phase II SN FNAC trial, reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Boileau et al found a sentinel node biopsy false-negative rate of 8.4% with mandatory use of immunohistochemistry and a sentinel node biopsy identification rate of 87.6% after neoadjuvant therapy in patients with biopsy-proven node-positive breast cancer.
Two studies presented at the 2015 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium explored the use of VT-122, a novel, chronomodulated combination of propranolol and etodolac, in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma and pancreatic cancer. As reported by de la Torre et al and Bhattacharyya et al, the studies supported further development of the compound in these settings.
New analyses from the global phase III NAPOLI-1 study of MM-398 (aka PEP02), a nanoliposomal encapsulation of irinotecan, in metastatic pancreatic cancer corroborate top-line data presented at last year’s ESMO GI World Congress. MM-398 in combination with 5-FU/leucovorin every 2 weeks improved overall survival in patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer previously treated with gemcitabine-based therapy. The data were presented by Chen et al in an oral session at the 2015 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium.
New data from the phase II PEAK and phase III PRIME studies support the first-line use of panitumumab in combination with FOLFOX in patients with wild-type RAS metastatic colorectal cancer. The study results were presented during a poster session at the 2015 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium.
For patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer, a modified gemcitabine and nab-paclitaxel regimen—where the drugs are given every other week rather than weekly—provides similar cancer control to the standard regimen while significantly improving quality of life and reducing cost of care. The findings were reported at the 2015 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium.
In an analysis of the Study Alliance Leukemia AML 2003 trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Röllig and colleagues found that allogeneic stem cell transplantation significantly prolonged recurrence-free survival in patients with <em>NPM1</em>-mutant acute myeloid leukemia (AML). <em>NPM1</em> mutation is associated with more favorable prognosis in AML.
After 4.5 years of taking tamoxifen for primary prevention of breast cancer, 46% of women discontinued use, according to research conducted within the Sister Study, a prospective cohort of women who had a sister who had been diagnosed with breast cancer but did not have breast cancer themselves. The findings were reported by Nichols et al in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute</em>.
Selenium supplementation of 140 μg/d or more after diagnosis of nonmetastatic prostate cancer may increase risk of prostate cancer mortality, according to a prospective study following 4,459 men initially diagnosed with nonmetastatic prostate cancer in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study from 1988 through 2010. “Caution is warranted regarding usage of such supplements among men with prostate cancer,” Kenfield et al advised in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute.</em>
Scientists investigating how dividing cancer cells sometimes produce daughter cells with different AKT protein kinase levels, leading one daughter cell to proliferate at a slower pace than the other, have identified the process by which signaling molecules regulate cell proliferation. The study findings by Dey-Guha et al may provide a better understanding of cancer biology and insight in the development and use of inhibitors that target these molecules. The study is published in <em>Molecular Cancer Research</em>.
In a phase II trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Dang et al found that the addition of weekly paclitaxel to trastuzumab/pertuzumab produced good activity in patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer.
Among nearly 375,000 U.S. women diagnosed with invasive breast cancer, the likelihood of diagnosis at an early stage, and survival after stage I diagnosis, varied by race and ethnicity, with much of the difference accounted for by biologic differences, according to a study reported by Iqbal et al in <em>JAMA</em>.
The annual rate of primary tumor removal for stage IV colorectal cancer has decreased since 1988, and the trend toward nonsurgical management of the disease noted in 2001 coincides with the availability of newer chemotherapy and biologic treatments, according to study reported by Hu et al in <em>JAMA Surgery</em>
A large population-based study of older women with and without 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 endometrial cancer. The additional risk was independent of being overweight or obese. The study by Trabert et al is published in <em>Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention</em>.
An analysis of data obtained from chart review of medical records for 4,032 patients undergoing surgery for colon and rectal cancer at National Comprehensive Cancer Network centers showed increased use of minimally invasive surgery. However, adoption of minimally invasive surgery techniques varied widely among centers, Yeo et al reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute</em>.
In an integrated analysis of two phase II trials reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> 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.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Roscoe et al found that cognitive behavioral therapy combined with placebo or the wakefulness-promoting agent armodafinil had similar beneficial effects on insomnia and sleep quality in cancer survivors.
Patients with metastatic colorectal cancer previously treated with oxaliplatin showed a continued and persistent improvement over time in overall survival when they received ziv-aflibercept in addition to FOLFIRI, according to a study reported by Ruff et al in the <em>European Journal of Cancer</em>. Survival was improved by 50% at 24 months and almost doubled at 30 months.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> 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.
Updated results from the phase III TRIBE study of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer indicate that FOLFOXIRI chemotherapy in combination with bevacizumab is superior to the standard FOLFIRI chemotherapy with bevacizumab. Compared to the FOLFIRI combination regimen with bevacizumab, the FOLFOXIRI-plus-bevacizumab regimen extended overall survival by about 4 months and doubled the 5-year overall survival rate.
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 and FOLFIRI chemotherapy provides a survival advantage over standard treatment with FOLFIRI alone.
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 pursued a “watch-and-wait” surveillance approach.
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 highest vitamin D levels was 32.6 months, compared with 24.5 months for patients with the lowest levels.
Even decades after being cured, many cancer survivors face physical and mental challenges resulting from their disease and its treatment, according to a new study reported by Burg et al in <em>Cancer</em>. The findings could help clinicians and other experts develop interventions that are tailored to the specific types of problems and concerns that cancer survivors may experience.
Patients with locally advanced rectal cancer who receive neoadjuvant radiation therapy with either irinotecan plus capecitabine or oxaliplatin plus capecitabine have a 4-year overall survival rate of 85% and 75%, respectively, according to a study reported by Wong et al in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology • Biology • Physics.
In a phase III trial reported in <em>The Lancet,</em> 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 reduced risk of progression in patients with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer who had responded to prior chemotherapy.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Stoffel et al, ASCO has endorsed the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2013 clinical practice guideline on hereditary colorectal cancer syndromes.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Palmer et al found that Asian cancer survivors reported poorer care communication and care quality compared with white patients.
Oral infection with human papillomavirus 16 (HPV16), which is the type of HPV most frequently linked to HPV-driven head and neck cancers, was more likely to persist 12 or more months in men older than 45 than in those younger than 45, according to a study reported by Pierce Campbell et al in published in <em>Cancer Prevention Research</em>.
After performing whole-genome sequencing on patients found to have <em>BRCA1</em> or <em>BRCA2</em> mutations as well as on those who were not carriers of a <em>BRCA1/2</em> mutation, researchers found cancer risk–related potentially pathogenic variants in those without <em>BRCA</em> mutations. While the study results highlight the potential for improving risk assessment in patients with a family history of cancer, they also raise concerns over how best to counsel them. The study by Foley et al is published in <em>EBioMedicine</em>.
In a population-based study of patients with thyroid cancer, 12.3% of patients with small papillary thyroid tumors experienced thyroid cancer–related deaths despite undergoing thyroidectomy according to a report by Nilubol and Kebebew in the journal <em>Cancer</em>. From the results of this study, the investigators suggested that nonoperative management of patients with small papillary thyroid tumors should be used with caution and that patients aged ≥ 45 years with papillary thyroid tumors ≤ 2 cm should undergo thyroidectomy.
In a phase II study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Edelman et al found no benefit of adding the daily COX-2 inhibitor apricoxib to second-line docetaxel or pemetrexed in patients with non–small cell lung cancer who exhibited suppressed levels of the urinary metabolite of PGE2 in response to apricoxib.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Klotz et al found that 1.5% of prostate cancer patients in a Canadian active surveillance cohort died from the disease during up to 16 years of follow-up.
Patients with new cases of cancer face a heightened risk of stroke in the months immediately following their diagnoses, with that risk escalating with the aggressiveness of their disease, according to a new study published in the <em>Annals of Neurology.</em> The findings demonstrate that cancer increases the risk of stroke independently of other established stroke risk factors, such as high blood pressure or diabetes.
Retrospective analyses of the ATAC, TEAM, and BIG 1-98 adjuvant endocrine therapy trials in breast cancer have suggested that treatment-emergent endocrine symptoms may be associated with superior survival outcomes. In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Stearns et al found no association of new or worsening vasomotor or musculoskeletal symptoms with relapse-free survival in patients receiving adjuvant aromatase inhibitor therapy with anastrozole or exemestane in the NCIC CTG MA.27 trial.
In a national retrospective cohort study reported in <em>JAMA Surgery,</em> Kummerow et al found that an increased proportion of women with breast cancer eligible for breast-conserving surgery have undergone mastectomy during recent years.
A phase II clinical study of adjuvant paclitaxel and trastuzumab in women with stage I HER2-positive breast cancer has found the 3-year rate of survival free from invasive disease was 98.7%. The findings may help establish the combination therapy as the first standard treatment approach for patients with small, node-negative, HER2-positive breast cancer. The study by Tolaney et al is published in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em>.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Greco et al updated a 2008 systematic review on cancer pain management. Improvements were seen between 2008 and 2013, but approximately one-third of patients still do not receive pain medication adequate for reported pain intensity.
In a meta-analysis of patients with breast cancer–related lymphedema, low-level laser therapy was associated with reduced limb volume and pain levels, according to a report by Smoot et al in the <em>Journal of Cancer Survivorship</em>. However, the investigators noted that regarding pain management, there was insufficient evidence that treatments utilizing low-level laser therapy provide additional benefit beyond treatments that do not include low-level laser therapy.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted Fast Track designation to Soligenix’s synthetic hypericin (SGX301) development program for the first-line treatment of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. SGX301 is a novel first-in-class photodynamic therapy utilizing safe visible light for activation.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> 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 overall survival compared with those treated at historically low-accruing centers.
In a phase II study reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Topp et al found that the bispecific CD19-directed CD3 T-cell engager (BiTE) blinatumomab was highly active in adults with relapsed or refractory B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). The study supported the recent FDA accelerated approval of blinatumomab in treating Philadelphia chromosome–negative relapsed/refractory B-cell precursor ALL.
In a Canadian study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Cossetti et al 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. Improvement in outcomes between the two periods was greatest in HER2-positive and estrogen receptor–negative/HER2-negative subgroups.
A clinical trial that combined stereotactic body radiation therapy with erlotinib chemotherapy more than doubled survival rates for certain patients with stage IV lung cancer patients, reported Iyengar et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
Adding radiation treatment to androgen-deprivation therapy saves more lives among older men with locally advanced prostate therapy than androgen-deprivation therapy alone, according to a new study reported by Bekelman et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
In the phase II PALOMA-1/TRIO-18 trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Finn et al found that the addition of palbociclib to letrozole resulted in significant improvement in progression-free survival as first-line treatment for advanced disease in postmenopausal women with estrogen receptor–positive/HER2-negative breast cancer. Palbociclib is an oral small-molecule inhibitor of cyclin-dependent kinases 4 and 6.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> 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.
In a study reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> Snyder et al found that benefit of the anti–cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen 4 (CTLA-4) antibodies ipilimumab and tremelimumab, which activate T cells, is associated with a large number of somatic tumor neoantigens in patients with melanoma.
After initiating several biophysical computational studies, researchers have identified mutations that destabilize a DNA structure that turns a gene “off.” They found that these mutations occur at four specific sites in the human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) promoter in over 75% of glioblastomas and melanomas. The finding, reported by Chaires et al in <em>PLoS One,</em> could lead to new therapeutics that target the <em>hTERT</em> gene.
The American Cancer Society’s annual cancer statistics report found that a 22% drop in cancer mortality over 2 decades led to the avoidance of more than 1.5 million cancer deaths that would have occurred if peak rates had persisted. Although cancer death rates have declined in every state, the report found substantial variation in the magnitude of these declines, generally with the states in the South showing the smallest decline and in the Northeast the largest decline.
In the HOPE study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> 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.
In a study in the Multiethnic Cohort (composed of men and women from California and Hawaii) reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Setiawan et al found that diabetes was associated with increased risk of hepatocellular carcinoma in all racial/ethnic groups, with risk being highest in Latinos.
In the SPIIN study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Boutron et al found that spin in the abstract of an article reporting results of a randomized controlled trial in cancer increased clinician rating of the benefit of the experimental treatment in the trial.
In a phase III trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> 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 treatment in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma who had not received prior systemic therapy.
In a Canadian study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> 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 reduction in risk of skeletal metastases.
The effects of <em>PMS2</em> germline mutations are less well understood than those of other Lynch syndrome–associated mismatch repair gene mutations. In a European cohort study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> ten Broeke et al found that risks of colorectal cancer and endometrial cancer in mutation carriers were elevated compared with noncarriers but were lower than those associated with other Lynch syndrome mismatch repair gene mutations.
Long-term survival rates following laparoscopic surgery for bladder cancer are comparable to those of open surgery, according to a study published in <em>BJU International</em>. The findings, which come from the largest study to date with long-term follow-up after this type of minimally invasive surgery, indicate that prospective randomized trials comparing these two bladder cancer surgeries are warranted.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today granted accelerated approval to nivolumab (Opdivo) for patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma who no longer respond to other drugs. Nivolumab, a PD-1 inhibitor, is intended for patients who have been previously treated with ipilimumab and, for melanoma patients whose tumors express the BRAF V600 mutation, for use after treatment with ipilimumab and a BRAF inhibitor.
In an analysis reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Schmoll et al found no difference in survival outcomes with adjuvant capecitabine vs fluorouracil/leucovorin with or without oxaliplatin in patients with stage III colon cancer and no adverse impact of adjuvant oxaliplatin on postrelapse survival.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Lepore et al found that patients assigned a helper role in a breast cancer Internet support group had worse anxiety/depression symptoms after completion of the intervention than those not assigned a helper role.
The American Pyschosocial Oncology Society (APOS) announced today that it is accepting nominations for its 2015 awards. The deadline for submitting nominations is December 31, 2014. These awards will be presented at the World Congress of Psycho-Oncology, to be held July 30 to August 1, 2015.
A new analysis suggests that women who use bisphosphonates have about half the risk of developing endometrial cancer as women who do not use the drugs. The findings by Alford et a, published early online in <em>CANCER</em>, supports other research that has shown an anticancer effect of this type of medication.
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 <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Borad et al found that the addition of TH-302 to gemcitabine improved progression-free survival in patients with previously untreated advanced pancreatic cancer. A phase III trial of TH-302/gemcitabine is underway.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Wei et al found that use of urinary prostate cancer antigen 3 (PCA3) measurement could improve avoidance of repeat prostate biopsy and detection of prostate cancer in biopsy-naive patients.
Today’s FDA approval of olaparib occurred concurrently with that of a companion diagnostic, BRACAnalysis CDx. This genetic test is designed to detect the presence of mutations in the BRCA genes in blood samples from patients with ovarian cancer.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today granted accelerated approval to olaparib (Lynparza) for women with advanced ovarian cancer with deleterious or suspected deleterious germline <em>BRCA</em>-mutated advanced ovarian cancer, as detected by an FDA-approved test, who have been treated with three or more prior lines of chemotherapy. The FDA concurrently approved a companion diagnostic, BRACAnalysis CDx, for the qualitative detection and classification of variants in the <em>BRCA1</em> and <em>BRCA2</em> genes.
There is evidence that the malignant Reed-Sternberg cells in Hodgkin lymphomas use the PD-1 pathway to evade immune detection, with alterations in chromosome 9p24.1 increasing levels of the PD-1 ligands PD-L1 and PD-L2 and promoting induction of the ligands through JAK-STAT signaling. In an ongoing phase I study reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> Ansell et al found that treatment with the PD-1 inhibitor nivolumab produced a high response rate in heavily pretreated patients with Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
In an Australian study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> White et al found that a telephone-based peer-support intervention reduced breast cancer distress among women with a <em>BRCA1</em> or <em>BRCA2</em> gene mutation.
Men with localized prostate cancer who walked or cycled for 20 minutes or more a day had a 30% decreased overall mortality and a 39% decreased prostate cancer–specific mortality compared with men who spent less time engaging in those activities, a large Swedish study has found. The study results strengthen previous data indicating beneficial effects of physical activity on survival among men with prostate cancer. The study by Bonn et al is published <em>Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention</em>.
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 <em>Journal of Thoracic Oncology.</em> Increased accumulation of mutations correlated with early progression of the tumor and decreased survival.
The genetic abnormality that drives the bone cancer Ewing sarcoma operates through two distinct processes, both activating genes that stimulate tumor growth and suppressing those that should keep cancer from developing. The findings by Riggi et al, published in <em>Cancer Cell,</em> may lead to new therapies targeting these aberrant mechanisms.
In a retrospective study of patients with non–small cell lung cancer of the superior sulcus, induction chemoradiotherapy followed by resection provided complete or partial response in over 50% of patients, according to a report by Truntzer et al in <em>Radiation Therapy</em>. However, the investigators reported a high risk of brain metastasis in patients with controlled disease.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Eskander et al found that rates of 30-day hospital readmission after surgery for advanced ovarian cancer are high and have increased significantly in recent years.
In the phase III PROFILE 1014 trial reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> Solomon et al found that the ALK inhibitor crizotinib improved progression-free survival vs standard chemotherapy in first-line treatment of advanced <em>ALK</em>-positive non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Crizotinib was associated with significant improvements in patient-reported outcomes. Median overall survival had not been reached in either group.
A new study led by researchers at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute describes a novel marker that might help doctors choose the least toxic, most effective treatment for many older patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The study by Garzon et al was published in <em>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</em>.
In a study of patients with nonsquamous non–small cell lung cancer, the addition of ramucirumab to pemetrexed and platinum chemotherapy did not significantly improve progression-free survival, according to a study by Doebele et al in <em>Cancer</em>. However, the investigators did suggest a possible clinical benefit of adding ramucirumab to established pemetrexed and platinum chemotherapy in patients with stage IV disease not previously treated with chemotherapy.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Kurta et al calculated conditional disease-free survival estimates among ovarian cancer patients, showing that odds of remaining disease free improve with a longer disease-free period from initial remission.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Di Narzo et al found that individual colon cancer gene-expression risk scores contributed little to the prognostic ability of traditional risk factors.
In the phase III EORTC 30994 trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Sternberg et al found no overall survival difference between immediate and delayed adjuvant chemotherapy after radical cystectomy in patients with muscle-invasive urothelial carcinoma of the bladder. Immediate treatment was associated with improved median and 5-year progression-free survival.
In an analysis of patients with T1 node-positive colon cancer who had previous surgery, adjuvant chemotherapy provided a significant survival advantage, according to a study by Ganapathi et al in <em>Diseases of the Colon and Rectum.</em> However, the investigators noted that a significant minority of this patient population still does not receive adjuvant chemotherapy.
In a study reported in <em>JAMA,</em> Bekelman et al found that approximately two-thirds of patients with early-stage breast cancer for whom hypofractionated whole-breast irradiation is endorsed receive conventional whole-breast irradiation after breast-conserving surgery. Health-care expenditures were significantly lower for patients receiving hypofractionated whole-breast irradiation.
Racial disparities in colon cancer survival rates may be explained by differences in the health of the patients at diagnosis rather than by differences in subsequent treatment, a new study has found. Focusing efforts on prevention and early detection strategies may close the gap in racial disparities in colon cancer survival. The study by Silber et al is published in the <em>Annals of Internal Medicine</em>.
In a study to identify causative mutations in patients with Gorlin syndrome without <em>PTCH1</em> mutations, Smith et al found that germline mutations in <em>SUFU</em> were associated with Gorlin syndrome and with increased likelihood of Gorlin syndrome–associated childhood medulloblastoma. The study is reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
The addition of everolimus to weekly trastuzumab plus paclitaxel did not improve outcomes in the phase III BOLERO-1/TRIO-019, but did provide a “signal” in the hormone receptor–negative subset. The study was reported at the 2014 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium by <strong>Sara A. Hurvitz, MD,</strong> of the University of California, Los Angeles.
Among patients with advanced, hormone receptor–positive breast cancer who had not been treated previously for advanced disease, those who took fulvestrant lived longer than those who took anastrozole, according to data from the phase II FIRST trial.
Onco<em>type</em> DX DCIS is a 12-panel gene test with a scoring system that categorizes cancers as low, intermediate, or high risk for local recurrence over 10 years following treatment with breast-conserving surgery alone. A large population-based study presented at the 2014 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium validated Onco<em>type</em> DX DCIS in a diverse population of women with ductal carcinoma in situ.
Among early-stage breast cancer patients who reduced their dietary fat intake for 5 years following a diagnosis, after over 15 years follow-up, death rates from all causes were significantly reduced in those who had hormone-unrelated breast cancer, according to data from the Women’s Intervention Nutrition Study (WINS).
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today approved ramucirumab for use in combination with docetaxel for the treatment of patients with metastatic non–small cell lung cancer with disease progression on or after platinum-based chemotherapy. Patients with <em>EGFR</em> or <em>ALK</em> mutations should have experienced disease progression on FDA-approved therapy for these mutations prior to receiving ramucirumab.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Couch et al found a high frequency of inherited mutations in breast cancer susceptibility genes in a cohort of women with triple-negative breast cancer unselected for family history of breast or ovarian cancer.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Shi et al found a modest correlation of progression-free survival with overall survival as first-line treatment endpoints in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer.
In elderly breast cancer patients with moderate- to high-risk early-stage disease for whom standard chemotherapy is too toxic, capecitabine, which causes fewer side effects than standard chemotherapy agents, did not improve outcomes when tested as monotherapy, according to data from the phase III ICE trial.
After a median of 16 years of following women at high risk for breast cancer, the International Breast Cancer Intervention Study-I (IBIS-I) trial found that tamoxifen significantly decreased the incidence of all breast cancers, according to data presented by <strong>Jack Cuzick, PhD</strong>.
Among women with triple-negative breast cancer, both basal-like and non–basal-like tumors were equally likely to demonstrate a pathologic complete response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy, but they responded differently to exposure to carboplatin and bevacizumab, in an analysis of the CALGB/Alliance 40603 study.
Results of the large international SOFT trial present a convincing argument for the addition of ovarian function suppression to adjuvant hormonal therapy to reduce the risk of recurrence in premenopausal women with hormone receptor–positive breast cancer at high enough risk to be treated with chemotherapy. In the cohort of premenopausal women who received chemotherapy, ovarian suppression plus exemestane achieved an even more robust reduction in risk of recurrence than ovarian suppression plus tamoxifen.
In a randomized phase II trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Motzer et al found that the PD-1 immune checkpoint inhibitor antibody nivolumab was associated with antitumor activity and manageable toxicity at three dose levels in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma who had previously received VEGF inhibitor therapy. No dose-response effect in progression-free survival, the primary outcome measure, was observed.
Results from the largest series of male breast cancer cases ever studied showed that there was significant improvement in overall survival for male breast cancer patients over the duration of the study, but the improvement was not as good as has been seen for female breast cancer patients, according to research presented the 2014 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today approved the recombinant nine-valent human papillomavirus vaccine (Gardasil 9) for the prevention of certain diseases caused by nine types of HPV. The nine-valent vaccine covers five more HPV types than the previously approved quadrivalent vaccine and has the potential to prevent approximately 90% of cervical, vulvar, vaginal, and anal cancers.
Women with HER2-positive breast cancer who had high levels of immune cells in their tumors had a decreased risk of cancer recurrence after treatment with chemotherapy alone compared with their counterparts who had low levels of tumor-infiltrating immune cells, according to data presented at the 2014 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. There was no association between tumor-infiltrating immune cell levels and recurrence-free survival among women who received chemotherapy and the HER2-targeted therapy trastuzumab.
Single-agent treatment with the immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab produced a “signal of activity” and led to some durable response, in patients with metastatic triple-negative breast cancer, <strong>Rita Nanda, MD,</strong> of the University of Chicago, reported at the 2014 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. Patients treated with pembrolizumab had a 18.5% response rate, and treatment was well tolerated.
Adding the pan-class I selective PI3K inhibitor pictilisib to fulvestrant (Faslodex) did not significantly improve progression-free survival in women with estrogen receptor–positive breast cancer, but in an exploratory analysis of the trial, progression-free survival was significantly extended in women with both estrogen receptor–positive and progesterone receptor–positive breast cancer. The findings were presented at the 2014 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.
In a phase II study, the histone deacetylase inhibitor pracinostat demonstrated significant clinical activity in combination with azacitadine in elderly patients with newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia. Interim data from 33 evaluable patients were presented at the ASH Annual Meeting.
The oral targeted agent ABT-199 has shown encouraging activity and tolerable side effects in patients with treatment-resistant or relapsed acute myelogenous leukemia (AML), a poor-prognosis group with few options, reported investigators from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
Common variations in four genes related to brain inflammation or cells′ response to damage from oxidation may contribute to the problems with memory, learning, and other cognitive functions seen in children treated for acute lymphoblastic leukemia, according to a study presented at the ASH Annual Meeting.
Using a high-throughput cellular screen of a diverse chemical library, researchers have found that small cell lung cancer is sensitive to transcription-targeting drugs, especially THZ1, a recently identified compound that inhibits cyclin-dependent kinase 7. THZ1, which caused human-like small cell lung cancer tumors in mice to shrink significantly, is being developed into a drug for testing in clinical trials. The study by Christensen et al is published in <em>Cancer Cell</em>.
As reported in a letter to <em>Nature</em> by Powles et al, the anti–PD ligand-1 (PD-L1) antibody MPDL3280A has shown good activity in patients with metastatic urothelial bladder cancer in a phase I study. Outcomes were best in patients with PD-L1 immunohistochemistry expression of 2 or 3 in tumor-infiltrating immune cells
In an analysis of the French phase III LNH 03-2B trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Molina et al found that germinal center B-cell–like vs non–germinal center B-cell–like classification of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma according to the Hans algorithm was associated with the improved survival observed with dose-intensive rituximab, doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide, vindesine, bleomycin, and prednisone (R-ACVBP) vs standard rituximab, doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide, vincristine, and prednisone (R-CHOP).
Outcomes in children with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, which has traditionally been considered a poor-prognosis cancer, are better than expected, even for the early thymic precursor phenotype, according to investigators from the Children’s Oncology Group (COG) who presented their findings at the Plenary Session of the ASH Annual Meeting.
Although the data are preliminary, single-agent AG-221 therapy targeted to the <em>IDH2</em> mutation holds great promise as a nonchemotherapy approach for the treatment of advanced hematologic malignancies, including relapsed/refractory acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) and untreated AML.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved a new indication for denosumab (Xgeva) for the treatment of hypercalcemia of malignancy refractory to bisphosphonate therapy. Hypercalcemia of malignancy is a serious complication in patients with advanced cancer, including those with hematologic malignancies, and, if untreated, can lead to renal failure, progressive mental impairment, coma, and death.
<strong>Daniel F. Hayes, MD, FASCO,</strong> has been elected President of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) for the term beginning in June 2016. He will take office as President-Elect during the ASCO Annual Meeting in Chicago in June 2015.
A phase II study investigating the potential of the drugs azacitidine and lenalidomide demonstrated that the two therapies in combination may be an effective front-line treatment regimen for patients with higher-risk forms of myelodysplastic syndrome and acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The study shed new light on effective dosage schedule and amounts for the drugs, something previously unknown. The combination therapy was well tolerated in the study of 88 patients.
As more experience is gained with the use of genetically engineered chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells in pediatric patients with relapsed/refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), the data continue to be highly encouraging. Complete remissions were achieved in 92% of pediatric ALL patients treated with CTL019, a CD19-directed CAR T-cell therapy, <strong>Stephan A. Grupp, MD, PhD,</strong>reported at the ASH Annual Meeting.
- Heavily pretreated multiple myeloma patients who received ibrutinib in combination with dexamethasone experienced a clinical benefit rate of 25%, including one partial response and four minor responses.
- An additional 25% showed sustained stable disease for more than four cycles.
- The combination treatment resulted in a median progression-free survival of 5.6 months.
Results from a large prospective study suggest that children and young adults with acute lymphocytic leukemia may respond better to a chemotherapy regimen pioneered in pediatric patients. The findings were presented at the 56th American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting and Exposition.
Results from the international phase II BLAST study show that one cycle of blinatumomab immunotherapy achieved complete minimal residual disease response in 78% of patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Complete minimal residual disease response was achieved in 80% of patients across all cycles of blinatumomab. The findings were presented at the 56th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting and Exposition.
The promise of the programmed death receptor-1 (PD-1) inhibitors seen in solid tumors, especially melanoma, may hold true for at least one hematologic malignancy, according to studies presented at 56th ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition. Treatment with single-agent nivolumab and pembrolizumab resulted in high response rates in patients with classical Hodgkin lymphoma who had shown disease progression on standard therapies.
In Hodgkin lymphoma patients at risk for disease progression following autologous stem cell transplant, early consolidation post-transplant with brentuximab vedotin significantly improved progression-free survival compared with placebo in the phase III AETHERA trial. The findings were presented at a press conference during the 56th American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting and Exposition.
Patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-related relapsed/refractory lymphoma can safely undergo autologous hematopoietic cell transplant, according to results of a phase II multicenter trial. At many centers, patients with HIV-related lymphoma are currently excluded from this potentially curative treatment due to concern of increased risk of infection in immunocompromised patients.
An investigational new class of drugs, the anti-CD38 monoclonal antibodies, could be the next blockbuster agents in multiple myeloma, experts in this malignancy predicted at the 56th ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition. Phase Ib data were highly encouraging for SAR650948 in combination with lenalidomide/dexamethasone and daratumumab in combination with four standard regimens.
The phase III global ASPIRE trial documented an “unprecedented” duration of remission in relapsed multiple myeloma patients receiving carfilzomib plus a standard-of-care doublet, according to <strong>A. Keith Stewart, MD,</strong> of the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Arizona, who presented the results at a press briefing during the 56th ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition.
A novel mechanism—similar to how normal tissue stem cells respond to wounding—might explain why bladder cancer stem cells actively contribute to chemoresistance after multiple cycles of chemotherapy drug treatment. Targeting this “wound response” of cancer stem cells can potentially provide a novel approach for therapeutic invention, reported Kurtova et al in <em>Nature</em>.
In the phase III GETUG 13 trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Fizazi et al found that treatment intensification based on early tumor marker decline resulted in a numeric and borderline statistically significant improvement in progression-free survival in patients with poor-prognosis germ cell tumors.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Shiels et al found significant changes in levels of inflammatory/immune markers in current cigarette smokers vs nonsmokers. There was a significant relationship between time since quitting and return to nonsmoker levels for several markers.
Longer telomeres have been associated with increased risk of melanoma. In a GenoMEL Consortium genome-wide association study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Iles et al found that several single-nucleotide polymorphisms previously associated with leukocyte telomere length were significantly associated with risk of melanoma.
In the phase III SWOG S0221 trial reported in the >em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Budd et al found no differences in disease-free survival among four different doxorubicin/cyclophosphamide plus paclitaxel regimens in patients with node-positive or high-risk node-negative breast cancer. A subgroup analysis suggested benefit of once-every-2-week dosing for doxorubicin/cyclophosphamide and paclitaxel among patients with hormone receptor–negative/HER2-negative disease.
In an analysis of Veterans Health Administration data reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Santana-Davila et al found that etoposide/cisplatin resulted in no overall survival difference but greater morbidity compared with carboplatin/paclitaxel used concurrently with radiotherapy in patients with stage III non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
In a population-based study reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>, Arnold et al estimated that 3.6% of all new cancers worldwide in 2012 were attributable to high body mass index. The proportions of such cases were greater in women than in men and in highly developed vs less-developed countries.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved a new use for ruxolitinib (Jakafi) to treat patients with polycythemia vera, a chronic type of bone marrow disease. Ruxolitinib, a JAK inhibitor, is the first drug approved by the FDA for this condition.
In a study reported in a research letter in <em>JAMA Internal Medicine</em>, Fenton et al found that a sizable proportion of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) diagnoses are attributable to computer-aided detection in mammography screening in the Medicare population and that use of computer-aided detection in this setting is associated with a substantial addition to the cost of screening.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted Breakthrough Therapy status to Takeda Pharmaceuticals’ investigational, oral proteasome inhibitor, ixazomib (MLN9708), for the treatment of relapsed or refractory systemic light-chain amyloidosis. This is the first proteasome inhibitor and first investigational therapy for systemic light-chain amyloidosis to receive Breakthrough Therapy designation.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Stewart et al found that 30% or more of renal cell carcinoma recurrences were missed using National Comprehensive Cancer Network and American Urological Association guidelines for surveillance after surgery for renal cell carcinoma.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today granted accelerated approval to blinatumomab (Blincyto) for the treatment of patients with Philadelphia chromosome–negative, relapsed or refractory precursor B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Blinatumomab is a bispecific CD19-directed CD3 T-cell engager that activates endogenous T cells when bound to the CD19-expressing target cell.
Two studies have found that bisphosphonates may be effective in preventing certain cancers—including lung, breast, and colon—by blocking abnormal growth signals passed through HER family receptors. The studies suggest that bisphosphonates, the most commonly prescribed medications for treating osteoporosis and skeletal metastases, can potentially be repurposed for the prevention and adjunctive therapy of HER family–driven cancers. The studies by Stachnik et al and Yuen et al are published in <em>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</em>.
In a phase I study, a DNA vaccine targeting the breast cancer–associated antigen mammaglobin-A (MAM-A) was found to be safe and effective in eliciting immune responses in women with metastatic breast cancer. Preliminary evidence also suggests that the vaccine improved progression-free survival in the women treated with the vaccine. The study by Tiriveedhi et al is published in <em>Clinical Cancer Research</em>.
In a phase II trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Jänne et al found that the pan-HER inhibitor dacomitinib was active in first-line treatment of patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with <em>EGFR</em> mutations or clinical characteristics associated with response to EGFR inhibitors.
The Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) awarded the Gold Medal, the organization’s highest honor, to three individuals at the RSNA 100th Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting: <strong>Gary J. Becker, MD,</strong> of Tucson; <strong>Allen S. Lichter, MD,</strong> of Alexandria, Virginia; and <strong>Etta D. Pisano, MD,</strong> of Charleston, South Carolina.
A study of breast cancers detected with screening mammography found that strong family history and dense breast tissue were commonly absent in women between the ages of 40 and 49 diagnosed with breast cancer. Results of the study were presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).
A new study presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America has found that digital breast tomosynthesis, also known as 3D mammography, has the potential to significantly increase the cancer detection rate in mammography screening of women with dense breasts.
As reported in <em>The Lancet</em> by Allemani et al, the CONCORD-2 study of global cancer survival indicates improvements in survival in many countries in colorectal, breast, and prostate cancers, persistent poor outcomes in lung and liver cancers, and wide variability in survival in many cancers.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Yuan et al found that pancreas cancer patients with diabetes of more than 4 years’ duration at diagnosis had significantly poorer survival compared with nondiabetic patients.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted Fast Track designation to the investigation of necuparanib as a first-line treatment in combination with paclitaxel and gemcitabine in patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer. Necuparanib is a novel oncology drug candidate engineered from unfractionated heparin to have significantly reduced anticoagulant activity while preserving relevant antitumor properties associated with heparins.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Lee et al found that oncologists responding to a survey on herb and supplement use did not discuss herb and supplement use with most of their patients. A majority of oncologists reported that they had insufficient knowledge of the topic to answer patient questions and had received no education on the topic.
In a phase II study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Topp et al found that the bispecific T-cell engager antibody blinatumomab produced a high response rate in patients with relapsed or refractory B-precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).
In the French phase II AVATAXHER trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>, Coudert et al found that <sup>18<sup>F–fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron-emission tomography (PET) predicted complete response to trastuzumab/docetaxel neoadjuvant therapy and that adding bevacizumab in FDG-PET nonresponders improved achievement of complete response.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted Breakthrough Therapy designation to JCAR015, an investigational chimeric antigen receptor therapy developed by Juno Therapeutics. The designation applies for the treatment of relapsed or refractory B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia and was filed by Juno's collaboration partner, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, where phase I clinical trials are currently underway.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Sprague and colleagues found that more than 40% of U.S. women have mammographically dense breasts, with the prevalence being inversely proportional to age and body mass index.
In a phase Ib/II study of patients with relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia, the addition of vosaroxin to cytarabine demonstrated antileukemic activity and an acceptable risk-benefit profile, according to a study by Lancet et al in <em>Haematologica</em>. Based on the findings from this study, a phase III study has been initiated.
In the phase II SMARTE-R-CHOP-14 trial of the German High-Grade Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma Study Group reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Pfreundschuh et al found that extended rituximab exposure in patients aged > 60 years with poor-prognosis diffuse large B-cell lymphoma was associated with increased event-free survival and overall survival compared with historical controls.
In a retrospective single-institution study reported in JAMA Surgery, Gangi et al found a low risk of breast cancer after diagnosis of ovarian cancer in women harboring <em>BRCA</em> mutations.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Nguyen-Tan et al, long-term follow-up in the phase III Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) 0129 trial indicates no difference in overall survival or late toxicity with use of accelerated vs standard radiation therapy plus cisplatin in patients with locally advanced head and neck cancer.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today announced that it is taking immediate steps to help reduce the risk of spreading unsuspected cancer in women being treated for uterine fibroids. In an updated safety communication, originally issued in April 2014, the FDA warned against using laparoscopic power morcellators in the removal of the uterus or fibroids in the vast majority of women.
Adult survivors of retinoblastoma, a type of eye cancer that usually develops in early childhood, have few cognitive or social problems decades following their diagnosis and treatment, according to a study by Brinkman et al published in <em>Cancer</em>. The findings offer good news for patients, but the authors note that it is important to continue to monitor for long-term effects as the brain changes throughout life.
High-dose interleukin-2 can be effective in selected metastatic renal cell cancer patients pretreated with VEGF-targeted agents, according to research presented recently at the ESMO Symposium on Immuno-Oncology in Geneva. Over 45% of metastatic renal cell cancer patients with favorable histology responded to high-dose interleukin-2, with a 23% complete remission rate.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Shiels et al found that prediagnostic smoking among survivors of stage I lung cancer or bladder, kidney, or head/neck cancer was associated with increased risk of second lung, bladder, kidney, and head and neck cancer.
In a phase III study reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> Robert et al found that the combination of the BRAF inhibitor dabrafenib plus the MEK inhibitor trametinib significantly improved overall survival compared with the BRAF inhibitor vemurafenib in patients with <em>BRAF</em>-mutant metastatic melanoma. The trial was stopped after a preplanned interim analysis of overall survival established efficacy of the combination.
In a phase III trial reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> Wagner et al found that use of two units vs one unit of umbilical cord blood in hematopoietic stem cell transplantation did not improve 1-year overall survival in children and adolescents with hematologic cancers. Use of one unit was associated with improved platelet recovery and lower rates of grade III and IV acute and extensive chronic graft-vs-host disease.
New evidence that immune checkpoint inhibitors may work in glioblastoma and brain metastases was presented today at the ESMO Symposium on Immuno-Oncology 2014 in Geneva. The novel research shows that brain metastases of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes, providing an immunoactive environment. Moreover, both primary and secondary brain cancers often exhibit high expression of PD-L1, which can be inhibited by new treatments that activate the immune system.
In the ECHOS trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Hudson et al found that the addition of two tailored telephone counseling sessions by an advanced-practice nurse to a mailed personalized survivorship care plan including cardiac screening recommendations resulted in a greater than twofold increase in recommended cardiomyopathy screening in high-risk adult survivors of pediatric cancer.
As reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Mitra et al have identified a novel genomic-based signature that improves prediction of postcystectomy recurrence in patients with high-risk bladder cancer. Use of the signature could help guide selection of patients for adjuvant therapy in this setting.
Findings from a new study show that hookah smokers and nonsmokers exposed to hookah (or waterpipe) secondhand tobacco smoke in hookah lounges and in private homes had significant increases in uptake of benzene, a leukemogen that causes lymphohematopoietic cancers, especially acute myeloid leukemia. Because there is no safe level of exposure to benzene, the researchers are calling for regulatory actions to curb hookah-related exposure to toxicants. The study by Kassem et al is published in <em>Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.</em>
In a phase III trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Pawel et al found no difference in overall survival with amrubicin vs topotecan as second-line therapy in patients with first-line sensitive or refractory small cell lung cancer. An overall survival benefit of amrubicin was observed in the subgroup of patients with refractory disease.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today approved hydrocodone bitartrate (Hysingla ER), an extended-release opioid analgesic to treat pain severe enough to require daily, around-the-clock, long-term opioid treatment and for which alternative treatment options are inadequate. The product has approved labeling describing the product’s abuse-deterrent properties consistent with the FDA’s 2013 draft guidance for industry, <em>Abuse-Deterrent Opioids – Evaluation and Labeling.</em>
Approximately 25% of patients undergoing initial breast-conservation surgery for stage 0 to II breast cancer will have a subsequent surgery, according to an analysis of data from 316,114 patients. Age was inversely associated with repeat surgery, but larger tumor size was linearly associated with a higher repeat surgery rate, reported Wilke et al in <em>JAMA Surgery</em>.
The combination of different patterns of sun exposure experienced by children and the number of freckles or moles that develop as a result may play a large role in future melanoma risk, a longitudinal study investigating gene and environmental interactions has found. Children with the blue eye-color variant and genetic variants that cause red hair color are particularly susceptible to the formation of freckles and moles. Children with specific genetic variants may benefit from targeted preventive measures to counteract their inherent risk of melanoma. The study by Barón et al is published in <em>Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention</em>.
Researchers have found a way to identify which ovarian cancer patients are likely to respond well to a new anticancer drug called rucaparib. Previous clinical trials have shown that women with platinum-sensitive tumors with <em>BRCA1/2</em> mutations respond well to rucaparib. In new findings presented today at the 26th EORTC-NCI-AACR Symposium on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics in Barcelona, researchers report that they have identified a biomarker that can predict which women with <em>BRCA</em> wild-type tumors will respond to the drug as well.
In an analysis reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Sestak et al found that the PAM50 risk of recurrence score provided independent prognostic information for late distant recurrence of breast cancer after 5 years of endocrine treatment.
In a phase III trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Robert et ak found that the PD-1 immune-checkpoint–inhibitor antibody nivolumab significantly increased overall survival, progression-free survival, and objective response rate compared with dacarbazine in patients with previously untreated metastatic melanoma without <em>BRAF</em> mutation.
Results from the ARMOR2 of the anticancer drug galeterone shows that it is successful in lowering prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels in men with a variant form castration-resistant prostate cancer. The findings, presented at the 26th EORTC-NCI-AACR Symposium on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics in Barcelona, showed that galeterone was well-tolerated and also lowered PSA levels in a subset of patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer that was refractory to enzalutamide or abiraterone acetate.
Researchers have found that patients with an advanced form of kidney cancer, for which there is no standard treatment and a very poor prognosis, respond well to a combination of two existing anticancer drugs. The combination of bevacizumab and erlotinib produced excellent response rates with tolerable side effects in patients with advanced papillary renal cell carcinoma and in those with hereditary leiomyomatosis and renal cell cancer, a highly aggressive form of the disease. The findings were presented at the 26th EORTC-NCI-AACR Symposium on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics in Barcelona.
A phase I trial of the first drug designed to inhibit the cancer-causing activity of a mutated enzyme known as isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) 1, which is involved in cell metabolism, has shown clinical activity in patients with advanced acute myeloid leukemia with the <em>IDH1</em> mutation. The findings were reported at the 26th EORTC-NCI-AACR Symposium on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics in Barcelona.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted orphan drug designation to BGB324 for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia. BGB324 is a first-in-class, highly selective small-molecule inhibitor of the Axl receptor tyrosine kinase. It blocks the epithelial-mesenchymal transition, which is a key driver in drug-resistance and metastasis.
In a pooled analysis of prospective Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) studies reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Mak et al found good long-term outcomes with bladder-preserving combined-modality therapy for muscle-invasive bladder cancer.
Current guidelines discourage tumor marker assessment in surveillance of nonmetastatic breast cancer. In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Ramsey et al found that > 40% of Medicare patients with early-stage breast cancer had at least one tumor marker assessment and that medical costs were increased by 29% in women undergoing such testing.
Scientists have found that altering members of the <em>p53</em> gene family, known as tumor suppressor genes, causes rapid regression of tumors that are deficient in or totally missing <em>p53</em>. Study results suggest existing diabetes drugs, which impact the same gene-protein pathway, might be effective for cancer treatment. The findings were reported by Venkatanarayan et al in <em>Nature</em>.
In a phase II study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Ladra et al found that proton radiotherapy was a safe and effective treatment in pediatric rhabdomyosarcoma.
In a substudy of the IBIS-II trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Sestak et al found that risedronate treatment reduced anastrozole-related bone loss over 3 years in postmenopausal women at increased risk for breast cancer.
In a phase III trial (Southwest Oncology Group Intergroup S0008) reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Flaherty et al found that a shorter course of biochemotherapy consisting of cisplatin, vinblastine, dacarbazine, interleukin-2, and interferon alfa-2b produced better relapse-free survival, but not overall survival, and was associated with greater toxicity compared with a 1-year high-dose interferon alfa-2b regimen in patients with high-risk melanoma.
ASCO issued a new Policy Statement on Medicaid Reform yesterday, which calls for major changes to the program to ensure access to high-quality cancer care for all low-income individuals. The Society’s recommendations call for Medicaid expansion in all 50 states to close coverage gaps, improve cancer screening and prevention services, and end coverage restrictions that prevent Medicaid enrollees from receiving high-quality cancer care, among others. ASCO’s Policy Statement on Medicaid Reform was reported by Polite et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
In a large retrospective study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Xing et al found that presence of the <em>BRAF</em> V600E mutation was an independent predictor of recurrence of papillary thyroid cancer.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved bevacizumab in combination with paclitaxel, pegylated liposomal doxorubicin, or topotecan for the treatment of patients with platinum-resistant, recurrent epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer.
In a cost-effectiveness analysis in the National Lung Screening Trial reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> Black et al found that low-dose computed tomography screening was associated with incremental cost-effectiveness ratios of $52,000 per life-year gained and $81,000 per quality-adjusted life-year gained compared with no screening. However, cost-effectiveness estimates varied widely in subgroup and sensitivity analyses.
In a study on use of the most common definitive therapies for non–small cell lung cancer in Medicare patients reported in <em>JAMA Surgery,</em> Shirvani et al found that lobectomy was associated with improved outcome vs sublobar resection and that stereotactic ablative radiotherapy may be of particular benefit in very old patients with multiple comorbidities.
In a phase III trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> O’Shaughnessy et al found that the addition of iniparib to gemcitabine and carboplatin did not improve overall survival or progression-free survival in patients with metastatic triple-negative breast cancer. However, an exploratory analysis showed improved overall survival and progression-free survival with the iniparib-containing regimen in patients receiving it as second- or third-line therapy.
An international collaboration has identified frequent mutations in two genes that often occur together in Ewing sarcoma and that define a subtype of the cancer associated with reduced survival. The research, conducted by the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital-Washington University Pediatric Cancer Genome Project and the Institut Curie-Inserm through the International Cancer Genome Consortium, was reported by Crompton et al in Cancer Discovery.
In a phase II study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Iyengar et al found that stereotactic body radiation therapy plus erlotinib resulted in infrequent recurrence in radiation therapy–treated sites and was associated with prolonged progression-free survival and overall survival in patients with limited but progressive metastatic non–small cell lung cancer.
A study investigating the prevalence and risk factors of oral human papillomavirus (HPV) infection among young men has found a higher prevalence of oral HPV among men who had female partners with an oral and/or genital HPV infection, suggesting that transmission may occur through oral or genital routes. Prevalence was also significantly higher among smokers, men with a high number of lifetime sex partners, or men in nonmonogamous relationships. The study by Dahlstrom et al is published in <em>Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention</em>.
In a study reported in <em>JAMA Surgery,</em> Lucas et al found wide variation in raw hospital readmission rates after colorectal cancer surgery but little variation in readmission in risk-adjusted analysis.
A recent analysis of a large clinical database indicated that postdiagnosis aspirin use was associated with a 57% reduction in prostate cancer–specific mortality among men with nonmetastatic prostate cancer. In a study in a prospective cohort reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Jacobs et al found that postdiagnosis aspirin use was associated with reduced disease-specific mortality only among men with high-risk cancers, with no obvious difference in outcome according to aspirin dose being detected in this subgroup.
The proportion of adolescent girls receiving human papillomavirus vaccines was much lower in states with higher rates of cervical cancer incidence and mortality, according to data presented at the American Association for Cancer Research conference on The Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved, held November 9 to 12 in San Antonio, Texas.
The 5- and 10-year cancer survival rates were lower among American Indians and Alaskan Natives compared with non-Hispanic whites even when they had approximately equal access to health care, according to data presented at the American Association for Cancer Research conference on The Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved, held November 9 to 12 in San Antonio, Texas.
In a recent study, use of solifenacin was associated with a statistically significant improvement in continence in patients who underwent robotic-assisted radical prostatectomy, although there was no statistically significant difference in the time to return to continence. The results of this study, presented by Bianco et al in <em>The Journal of Urology</em> provide level IB evidence regarding the use of antimuscarinic agents to reduce incontinence following radical prostatectomy.
A review of advance care planning and end-of-life communication practices among physicians by the American College of Physicians has found that implementing early discussions about goals of care with seriously ill patients results in better quality of life, reduced use of life-sustaining treatments near death, earlier hospice referrals, and care that is more consistent with patient preferences. In addition, the review found that patients who received early palliative care survived 25% longer. The article by Bernacki et al is published in <em>JAMA Internal Medicine</em>.
The 20-year follow-up of the Swedish randomized SweDCIS trial, reported by Wärnberg and colleagues in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> shows a continued benefit of radiotherapy after breast-conserving surgery for ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) in preventing ipsilateral disease. A nonsignificant increase in contralateral breast disease was observed in the radiotherapy group.
In a Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database analysis reported in <em>JAMA Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery,</em> Sperry et al found that sentinel lymph node biopsy was not associated with improved disease-specific survival in propensity score–matched patients with head and neck melanoma.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced today that there is sufficient evidence to cover lung cancer screening with low-dose computed tomography (CT) screening for individuals at high risk for lung cancer. Under the proposed decision, annual low-dose CT screening for lung cancer will be covered for individuals aged 55 to 74 who have at least a 30 pack-year history of smoking and currently smoke or have quit within the past 15 years.
In the largest series of its kind to date, researchers at Roswell Park Cancer Institute have shown that performing thoracoscopic pneumonectomy, removal of the entire lung through a minimally invasive endoscopic approach, at a high-volume center appears to be safe and may provide pain and survival advantages in the long term. The study by Battoo et al was published in <em>Chest</em>.
Adding interleukin-2 to gefitinib therapy resulted in threefold higher response rates in patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer, according to a study by Bersanelli et al in <em>Cancers</em>. The addition of interleukin-2 appeared to enhance the efficacy of gefitinib without negatively affecting adverse events.
In the phase III Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) E-3193 (Intergroup 0142) trial, reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Tevaarwerk et al, adding ovarian function suppression to tamoxifen was associated with worse patient-reported outcomes in premenopausal women with node-negative, hormone receptor–positive breast cancer.
In a phase II study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Taplin et al found that the addition of neoadjuvant abiraterone acetate to the luteinizing hormone–releasing hormone (LHRH) agonist leuprolide acetate resulted in greater suppression of intraprostatic androgens in patients with intermediate- or high-risk localized prostate cancer.
Olaparib, an experimental twice-daily oral cancer drug, produced an overall tumor response rate of 26% in several advanced cancers associated with <em>BRCA1</em> and <em>BRCA2</em> mutations, according to a phase II study reported by Kaufman et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.The positive response provides new hope for patients with ovarian, breast, pancreatic, and prostate cancers whose conditions have not responded to standard therapies.
In the next 15 years, more than 1 in 10 colon cancers and nearly 1 in 4 rectal cancers will be diagnosed in patients younger than the traditional screening age, according to a recent report in <em>JAMA Surgery</em> by Bailey et al. This growing public health problem is underscored by data trends among 20- to 34-year-olds in the United States, among whom the incidence of colorectal cancer is expected to increase by 90% and 124.2%, respectively, by 2030.
In the phase III CALGB 40302/Alliance trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Burstein et al found that the addition of the dual EGFR-HER2 inhibitor lapatinib to endocrine therapy with fulvestrant did not improve progression-free survival or overall survival and worsened toxicity in postmenopausal women with hormone receptor–positive advanced breast cancer.
In a prospective Chinese study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Seto et al found a 2-year rate of hepatitis B virus (HBV) reactivation of 41.5% in hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg)-negative and anti–hepatitis B core antigen antibody (anti-HBc)-positive patients receiving rituximab-containing chemotherapy for lymphoma.
In the noninferiority phase III EORTC 10981-22023 AMAROS trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Donker et al found that axillary radiotherapy provided comparable disease control and was associated with less morbidity compared with axillary surgery in breast cancer patients with a positive sentinel lymph node.
Patients with untreated metastatic colorectal cancer who received FOLFOXIRI plus bevacizumab had improved survival compared to patients who received FOLFIRI plus bevacizumab in a phase III randomized trial conducted at 34 Italian centers. The median progression-free survival was prolonged by 2.4 months, reaching 12.1 months, researchers reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em>.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Friedman and colleagues, the Children’s Oncology Group study AHOD0031 has shown that early response to dose-intensive chemotherapy can be used to tailor subsequent therapy in pediatric intermediate-risk Hodgkin lymphoma.
In a secondary analysis utilizing the graded prognostic assessment, patients with one to three brain metastases had no overall survival advantage when treated with whole-brain radiation therapy plus stereotactic radiosurgery compared with whole-brain radiation therapy alone, according to a study by Sperduto et al in the <em>International Journal of Radiation Oncology ● Biology ● Physics</em>. However, a survival benefit was seen with the combination in the subgroup of patients who had graded prognostic assessment scores of 3.5 to 4.0.
In a report from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study published in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Jones and colleagues found that vigorous exercise reduces the risk of major cardiovascular events in adult survivors of childhood Hodgkin lymphoma.
Integrative medicine interventions such as medical massage, acupuncture, guided imagery, or relaxation response intervention were shown to reduce pain in hospitalized cancer patients by an average of 47% and anxiety by 56% in a study by Johnson et al. The report was published in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute Monographs</em>.
A randomized clinical trial of patients with advanced metastatic melanoma treated with ipilimumab in combination with sargramostim vs ipilimumab alone has found a 1-year survival rate of 68.9% vs 52.9% in the ipilimumab-only group. In addition, patients treated with the combination therapy experienced fewer serious adverse side effects than those treated with ipilimumab alone. The study by Hodi et al is published in the <em>Journal of the American Medical Association</em>.
In a retrospective analysis utilizing both uterine serous carcinoma cell lines and patient-derived xenografts, dual therapy with lapatinib and trastuzumab demonstrated antitumor responses, according to a study by Groeneweg et al in <em>Clinical Cancer Research</em>. Also, the authors hypothesized that the addition of lapatinib to trastuzumab therapy may have had a mitigating effect on trastuzumab resistance.
In the Children’s Oncology Group ARST0331 study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Waterhouse and colleagues found that shorter-duration vincristine, dactinomycin, and cyclophosphamide therapy including lower-dose cyclophosphamide with or without radiation therapy did not reduce failure-free survival in newly diagnosed patients with low-risk rhabdomyosarcoma.
There has been a dramatic increase in the use of laparoscopic colectomy for colon cancer. In a Medicare data study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Reames and colleagues found that use of laparoscopic colectomy varied from 0% to 66.8% across hospital referral regions in the United States.
Despite evidence that cervical cancer screening saves lives, about 8 million women aged 21 to 65 years have not been screened for cervical cancer in the past 5 years, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published in <em>Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report</em>. More than half of new cervical cancer cases occur among women who have never or rarely been screened.
In a Danish population-based cohort study reported in <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Daugaard and colleagues found that surveillance for stage I nonseminoma testicular cancer after orchiectomy was associated with high cure rate and low treatment burden over long-term follow-up.
Based on evaluations of more than 80 different complementary therapies for patients with breast cancer, newly published clinical practice guidelines from the Society for Integrative Oncology report that meditation, yoga, and relaxation with imagery have the strongest evidence supporting their use. The guidelines appear online in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute Monographs</em> and were presented at the Society for Integrative Oncology’s 11th International Conference, held in Houston.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today approved ramucirumab (Cyramza) for use in combination with paclitaxel for the treatment of patients with advanced gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma. The approval was based on the demonstration of improved overall survival in the multicenter, double-blind, placebo-controlled I4T-IE-JVBE study.
Adjuvant radiotherapy may play a role in the management of ovarian clear cell adenocarcinoma, which appears to be less prone to peritoneal dissemination than other subtypes, according to the results of a small retrospective study reported by Macrie et al in the <em>International Journal of Gynecological Cancer</em>. This rare carcinoma seems to have a greater tendency to recur in the pelvis than do other subtypes of epithelial ovarian tumors, but larger prospective studies are needed to validate these findings on pelvic radiotherapy in this patient population.
In a phase III trial reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em>, Long and colleagues found that the combination of the BRAF inhibitor dabrafenib and the MEK inhibitor trametinib improved response rate and progression-free survival compared with dabrafenib alone in treatment-naive patients with <em>BRAF</em> V600–mutant advanced melanoma. An interim analysis of overall survival favored combination treatment.
In a phase III trial reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em>, Larkin and colleagues found that the combination of the BRAF inhibitor vemurafenib and the MEK inhibitor cobimetinib improved response rate and progression-free survival compared with vemurafenib alone in treatment-naive patients with <em>BRAF</em> V600–mutant advanced melanoma. An interim analysis of overall survival favored combination treatment.
Scientists investigating the molecular mechanism of the protein p16 in cisplatin-treated head and neck cancer cells have found that the drug is able to kill the malignant cells by interacting with the protein gigaxonin. The discovery may lead to an enhanced form of personalized targeted therapy for patients with head and neck cancer. The study by Veena et al is published in the <em>Journal of Biological Chemistry</em>.
In an Italian study (Cancer-DACUS) reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Napolitano et al found that patients with no residual vein thrombosis after 6 months of low–molecular weight heparin for a first episode of cancer-related deep-vein thrombosis of the lower limbs had low risk for recurrent thrombotic events in the absence of additional low–molecular weight heparin treatment. They also found that an additional 6 months of treatment in those with residual vein thrombosis did not reduce risk of recurrent thrombotic events.
The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) today issued an endorsement of the American Urological Association (AUA)/American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) guideline on the use of adjuvant and salvage radiotherapy after prostatectomy, which was based on a systematic review of medical literature. The ASCO endorsement was published today in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
In a study reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> Shaw et al found that crizotinib produced a high response rate in patients with <em>ROS1</em>-rearranged non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Chow et al developed risk scoring that can identify likelihood of heart failure among childhood cancer survivors.
In patients with ductal carcinoma in situ of the breast who underwent breast-conserving surgery, hypofractionated radiation therapy was not significantly associated with an increased risk of any local tumor recurrence when compared with conventional radiation therapy, according to the study findings presented by Lalani et al in the <em>International Journal of Radiation Oncology ● Biology ● Physics</em>. However, cumulative 10-year local tumor recurrence-free survival rates were slightly higher in women treated with hypofractionated radiation therapy than in those treated with conventional radiation therapy.
Elimination of mitochondrial pyruvate carrier may be an early and important step in the development of cancer, according to researchers at the University of Utah. Their study, published online in <em>Molecular Cell</em>, shows that colon cancer cells repress MPC and reintroducing MPC inhibits cancer growth, suggesting opportunities for the development of new targeted cancer therapies.
In the NCIC-CTG LY.12 study, a phase III international noninferiority trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Crump and colleagues found that gemcitabine, dexamethasone, and cisplatin (GDP) was associated with a noninferior response rate and similar transplantation rate compared with dexamethasone, cytarabine, and cisplatin (DHAP) in patients with relapsed or refractory aggressive lymphoma prior to autologous stem cell transplantation. GDP was less toxic and was better at preserving quality of life.
In a French analysis reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Bonastre and colleagues found that use of the 70-gene signature was unlikely to be cost-effective in deciding whether to administer adjuvant therapy in patients with node-negative breast cancer. Use of Adjuvant! Online had the greatest likelihood of being the most cost-effective strategy.
Analysis of data from an institutional patient registry on stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) indicates excellent long-term, local control in 79% of tumors for medically inoperable, early-stage lung cancer patients treated with the procedure from 2003 to 2012, according to research presented at the 2014 Chicago Multidisciplinary Symposium in Thoracic Oncology.
Patients who received postoperative radiation therapy lived an average of 4 months longer when compared to the patients who had the same disease site, tumor histology, and treatment criteria and who did not receive postoperative radiotherapy, according to research presented at the 2014 Chicago Multidisciplinary Symposium in Thoracic Oncology.
Analysis of 607 small cell lung cancer tumors and neuroendocrine tumors identified common molecular markers among both groups that could reveal new therapeutic targets for patients with similar types of lung cancer, according to research presented at the 2014 Chicago Multidisciplinary Symposium in Thoracic Oncology.
In another analysis from the NELSON trial, reported in <em>Lancet Oncology</em>, Horeweg and colleagues identified screen-detected nodule volume, diameter, and volume-doubling thresholds predictive of lung cancer among CT-screened Dutch participants.
The Dutch and Belgian NELSON trial is assessing the effect of increasing interval low-dose computed tomography (CT) screening for lung cancer on lung cancer mortality. In an analysis of screening test performance among Dutch participants reported in <em>Lancet Oncology</em>, Horeweg and colleagues found high rates of specificity and sensitivity and a low frequency of interval cancers.
A national group of health-care stakeholders called the Cancer Innovation Coalition went to Capitol Hill today to call for early legislative and regulatory action in 2015 that will reinvigorate cancer innovation in the United States. Speaking today at a Washington policy briefing, the experts said that because the effectiveness of cancer treatments depends primarily on preventing resistance, new studies are needed now to show whether alternative approaches to treatment can improve outcomes.
Lung cancer patients with minimally invasive adenocarcinoma have similar, positive 5-year disease-free survival and overall survival rates as patients with adenocarcinoma in situ, according to research presented today at the 2014 Chicago Multidisciplinary Symposium in Thoracic Oncology. The findings raise questions regarding the necessity to classify lung cancer tumors into these subtypes.
Biopsies were found to be the most costly tool prescribed in lung cancer diagnosis, according to research presented today at the 2014 Chicago Multidisciplinary Symposium in Thoracic Oncology. Of the $38.3 million total diagnostic workup cost for the study, 43.1% ($16.5 million) was attributed to biopsies for patients with ultimately negative lung cancer diagnoses.
Patients at high-risk for developing lung cancer are more likely to receive low-dose computed tomography (CT) screening when their primary care provider is familiar with guideline recommendations for low-dose CT screening for lung cancer, according to research presented today at the 2014 Chicago Multidisciplinary Symposium in Thoracic Oncology. The survey results highlight an essential need for educational interventions to increase low-dose CT screening and address provider concerns.
Antibody-drug conjugates, checkpoint inhibitors, and single-dose intraoperative radiation therapy for breast cancer were included in the Cleveland Clinic's Ninth Annual Top 10 Medical Innovations List released earlier today. The list identifies those advances likely to have a major impact on improving patient care in 2015.
The phase III ALSYMPCA trial showed that radium-223 increased overall survival vs placebo patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer and symptomatic bone metastases. In a prespecified subgroup analysis reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Hoskin et al found that overall survival was increased with radium-223 treatment in both patients with and without prior docetaxel treatment. Improvements in secondary efficacy outcomes were also observed irrespective of previous docetaxel treatment.
Compared with normal colorectal mucosae, nearly half of colorectal tumors showed medium-to-high levels of lecithin retinol acyltransferase hypermethylation, according to the results of a study presented by Cheng et al in <em>Medical Oncology</em>. This finding was noted more frequently in earlier tumor stages than in later tumor stages.
New research by the international Cancer Genomics of the Kidney consortium (CAGEKID) reveals an important connection between kidney cancer and exposure to aristolochic acid, an ingredient in some herbal remedies. The findings, published in Nature Communications, have important implications for public health.
Data suggest that cancer treatment puts patients at risk of cognitive impairment and that many patients exhibit impairment prior to treatment. In an observational cohort study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Ganz et al found that language and communication cognitive complaints were significantly worsened soon after the start of endocrine therapy in women with early-stage breast cancer.
In a UK phase II trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Tristram et al found that topical cidofovir and topical imiquimod were active in the treatment of vulval intraepithelial neoplasia, sucggesting that such treatment may constitute an alternative to surgery.
Overweight and obesity are associated with increased risk of primary colorectal cancer, as well as increased risk of breast, endometrial, esophageal, pancreatic, and kidney cancers. In a pooled analysis of prospective cohort studies reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Gibson et al found that prediagnosis overweight or obesity was associated with increased risk of second obesity-related cancers in colorectal cancer survivors.
In an analysis in the CLEOPATRA trial population reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Baselga et al found that HER2 was the only biomarker suitable for use in selecting patients for first-line pertuzumab/trastuzumab-based treatment in patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer.
Physician burnout in palliative care is higher—over 62%—than the burnout rate reported in medical oncology—45%—according to a large national survey of over 1,200 hospice and palliative care clinicians. The factors contributing to professional burnout severity included younger age, working in isolation, and working longer hours. The study by Kamal et al was presented at the 2014 Palliative Care in Oncology Symposium in Boston.
A new study has found that patients who received chest radiation for Wilms tumor, a rare childhood cancer, face an increased risk of developing breast cancer later in life due to their radiation exposure. Reported by Lange et al in <em>Cancer,</em> the findings suggest that cancer screening guidelines might be reevaluated to facilitate the early diagnosis and prompt treatment of breast cancer among Wilms tumor survivors.
In the definitive joint analysis of overall survival in the NSABP B-31 and NCCTG N9831 trials, reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Perez et al, the addition of trastuzumab to adjuvant chemotherapy was associated with a 37% reduction in mortality over long-term follow-up in women with early-stage HER2-positive breast cancer.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Backhus et al found that imaging guideline recommendations for staging of locally advanced lung cancer were often not followed in a national Veterans Affairs (VA) cohort.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Rachakonda et al found that single nucleotide polymorphisms in the <em>THBD</em> gene encoding endothelial thrombomodulin were associated with significantly increased risk of non–relapse-related mortality in patients undergoing allogeneic stem cell transplantation who developed graft-vs-host disease but did not predict risk of graft-vs-host disease.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted Breakthrough Therapy Designation to the anti–PD-1 therapy pembrolizumab (Keytruda) for the treatment of patients with EGFR mutation–negative, ALK rearrangement–negative non–small cell lung cancer that has progressed on or following platinum-based chemotherapy.
Although low mitotic count, surgery, and disease-free interval of more than 6 months were associated with improved survival in women with recurrent or persistent uterine leiomyosarcoma, only low number of mitoses was identified as an independent predictor of survival post relapse, according to study findings presented by Rauh-Hain et al in the <em>International Journal of Gynecological Cancer</em>. Further studies in a homogeneously treated group of patients are required before using these parameters to predict survival, guide treatment decisions, and craft appropriate clinical trial designs, the investigators noted.
Using genomic sequencing data on all currently known genetic alterations in breast cancer, it is possible to identify a woman’s genetic risk for the disease, and this approach can bring greater gains in disease prevention than previously estimated, according to a study reported by Sieh et al in <em>Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention</em>.
In the phase III ARCHER 1009 trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Ramalingam et al found no progression-free survival benefit of the irreversible pan-HER tyrosine kinase inhibitor dacomitinib vs erlotinib among all patients with pretreated non–small cell lung cancer or among those with <em>KRAS</em> wild-type tumors.
In a phase III trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Ellis et al found that treatment with the irreversible pan-HER tyrosine kinase inhibitor dacomitinib was not associated with an overall survival benefit compared with placebo in patients with pretreated advanced or metastatic non–small cell lung cancer.
In a retrospective cohort study reported in <em>JAMA Surgery,</em> Lau et al found that implementation of a multidisciplinary hepatopancreaticobiliary surgical program in a Veterans Affairs (VA) health-care region resulted in improved care and outcomes.
Age-related loss of the Y chromosome from blood cells, a frequent occurrence among elderly men, is associated with elevated risk of various cancers and earlier death, according to research presented at the American Society of Human Genetics 2014 Annual Meeting in San Diego.
In a study in the St. Jude Lifetime Cohort Study population reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Green et al found that increasing alkylating agent exposure was associated with impaired spermatogenesis in adult male survivors of childhood cancer who did not undergo radiation therapy as part of their treatment. Impaired spermatogenesis was, however, unlikely at a cumulative cyclophosphamide equivalent dose of < 4,000 mg/m<sup>2</sup>.
In a subgroup analysis of the pooled results of the EINSTEIN-DVT and EINSTEIN-PE trials reported in <em>The Lancet Haematology,</em> Prins et al found that the recurrence rate for venous thromboembolism in cancer patients receiving anticoagulant therapy with oral rivaroxaban was similar to that in those receiving subcutaneous enoxaparin followed by vitamin K antagonist. Rivaroxaban was associated with less major bleeding but not less clinically relevant bleeding.
A small nationwide survey finds many insured patients are changing their lifestyle and medical care in the face of treatment-related financial burdens. In fact, more than one-third adopted medical care–altering strategies, with younger and lower-income patients being more likely to alter their care. The findings were presented at a presscast in advance of the 2014 Palliative Care in Oncology Symposium.
New results from a survey of nearly 1,600 cancer survivors indicate a high prevalence of financial and work-related difficulties: 27% reported at least one financial problem, and 37% reported having to modify work plans. Women, younger survivors, racial/ethnic minorities, and uninsured survivors were all disproportionally burdened by these challenges. The findings were reported at a presscast in advance of the 2014 Palliative Care in Oncology Symposium.
Early findings from a study of 319 families suggest that use of an innovative, telephone-based symptom monitoring and coaching system during home hospice care leads to significantly decreased patient symptoms in the final weeks of life and also improves the well-being of family caregivers. The findings will be presented at the 2014 Palliative Care in Oncology Symposium in Boston.
First evaluation of a pioneering “co-rounding” partnership between medical oncologists and palliative care specialists at Duke University Medical Center shows improvements in both health system–related and patient-related outcomes. The first year of the new partnership brought statistically significant decreases in average length of hospital stay and hospital readmission rates. The findings, to be reported at the 2014 Palliative Care in Oncology Symposium in Boston, show that this new model is both feasible and beneficial.
In a phase III French Intergroup trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Guimbaud et al found that FOLFIRI (fluorouracil, leucovorin, and irinotecan) significantly prolonged time to treatment failure compared with ECX (epirubicin, cisplatin, and capecitabine) in first-line treatment of advanced gastric or esophagogastric junction adenocarcinoma. FOLFIRI was better tolerated than ECX.
A new study by researchers at the Cleveland Clinic shows that patients with stage I to III non–small cell lung cancer have different metabolite profiles in their blood than those of patients who are at risk but do not have lung cancer. The study abstract was released today in an online supplement to the journal <em>CHEST</em>.
Researchers from Finland and Norway have discovered a previously unknown molecular-level mechanism that may partly explain the increased growth of cancer cells. The study was published in the <em>British Journal of Cancer</em> by Winsel et al.
At least 14 million major medical conditions among U.S. adults aged 35 years and older were attributed to cigarette smoking by a study estimating the disease burden of cigarette smoking, which, according to the study’s authors, “remains immense.” Among current and former smokers, prevalence ratios were “particularly high” for lung cancer,” reported Rostron et al in <em>JAMA Internal Medicine</em>.
For women with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive breast cancer, combining two anti-HER2 agents with chemotherapy is the most effective treatment modality in the neoadjuvant setting, according to a meta-analysis published in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute</em>. The study by Nagayama et al found that chemotherapy with trastuzumab plus lapatinib, or with trastuzumab plus pertuzumab, resulted in a statistically significant larger number of patients achieving pathologic complete response than did chemotherapy alone, chemotherapy with a single targeted therapy, or two anti-HER agents without chemotherapy.
A large randomized, controlled trial has found that knowledge of individualized risk for colorectal cancer susceptibility was not enough to persuade previously nonadherent patients to undergo recommended colorectal cancer screening. The findings raise concern about the effectiveness of predictive assessment of genetic risk to promote favorable health-care behavior. The study by Weinberg et al is published in <em>Annals of Internal Medicine</em>.
In smokers with non–small cell lung cancer, the relationship between <em>KRAS</em> mutations and NQO1 may be of future therapeutic value, according to the study findings presented by Yilmaz et al in the <em>International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health</em>. The researchers suggested that a two-way relationship may exist between <em>KRAS</em> mutational status and oxidative stress.
Efforts at implementing survivorship care plans have met with limited success in oncology practice. In response, ASCO convened a Survivorship Care Planning Workgroup to identify essential components of a survivorship care plan and develop a revised ASCO survivorship care plan template with the aim of overcoming barriers to implementation. The resultant template and ASCO clinical expert statement was published in the <em>Journal of Oncology Practice</em> by Mayer et al.
In a study reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> Maude et al reported achieving sustained remissions in children and adults with relapsed/refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia using autologous CD19-targeted chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-modified T cells.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted Fast Track designation for Taiho Oncology’s TAS-102, a novel combination drug under investigation for the treatment of refractory metastatic colorectal cancer. TAS-102 is an oral combination investigational anticancer drug of trifluridine and tipiracil hydrochloride.
Neratinib is an irreversible pan-tyrosine kinase inhibitor with activity against HER1, HER2, and HER4. In a phase I/II trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Saura et al found that the combination of neratinib and capecitabine exhibited high activity in patients with trastuzumab- and taxane-pretreated HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer, including those with prior treatment with the dual HER1/HER2 kinase inhibitor lapatinib.
A new study shows that at least 9.1% and 15.6% of patients with prostate cancer whose PSA levels increase after 5 years and 10 years of initial treatment, respectively, may not develop metastatic disease in their lifetime. Therefore, overdetection and overtreatment for recurrence may not be beneficial to some men. Just as in the case of PSA screening, any benefits of early detection of recurrent disease must be weighed against the potential harms of overtreatment, according to the study authors. The study by Xia et al is published in <em>Clinical Cancer Research</em>.
A new population-based study of close to 5,000 patients and 1,600 oncologists found that physician participation in weekly tumor board meetings was associated with improved survival for patients with stage IV colorectal cancer and stage IV/extensive-stage small cell lung cancer, but not other cancer subtypes and stages. The findings were presented at the 2014 ASCO Quality Care Symposium.
Findings from a study of more than 23,000 women suggest that the Medicare Part D Extra Help program, which provides low-income subsidies for medications, improves adherence to hormone therapy after breast cancer surgery in all racial/ethnic groups and reduces racial/ethnic disparities. The study, reported at the 2014 ASCO Quality Care Symposium, suggests that overcoming economic barriers to medication access may ultimately help reduce breast cancer outcome disparities, especially among racial minorities.
In a study of more than 1.1 million patients who underwent surgery for the most common cancers, nearly 1 in 20 patients died within 1 month of the procedure. The risk of death was highest among patients who were not married, uninsured, non-white, male, older, less educated, poorer, or had advanced-stage cancer. The findings, reported at the 2014 ASCO Quality Care Symposium, suggest that efforts to reduce sociodemographic disparities in 1-month cancer surgery death rates may substantially improve survival among patients with cancer.
Findings from a pilot study of 42 parents with advanced cancer indicate that parental status is an important factor in treatment decision-making. When asked how having children influences their treatment decisions, the majority of parents responded that being a parent motivates them to pursue life-extending treatments, largely out of a desire to have more time with their children. The study findings were reported at the 2014 ASCO Quality Care Symposium.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted for review the New Drug Application for lenvatinib mesylate as a treatment for progressive radioactive iodine–refractory differentiated thyroid cancer and granted the application Priority Review status. Lenvatinib is an oral multiple receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor with a unique binding mode that selectively inhibits the kinase activities of vascular endothelial growth factor receptors, in addition to other proangiogenic and oncogenic pathway–related tyrosine kinases thought to be involved in tumor proliferation.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the Supplemental New Drug Application for the expanded use of technetium 99m tilmanocept (Lymphoseek Injection) for lymphatic mapping in solid tumors and for adding sentinel lymph node detection for breast cancer and melanoma to the approved indications.
More women are undergoing salpingo-oophorectomy as a cancer prevention measure, but many are unaware of the potential sexual or psychological side effects of the procedure. A new study reported by Bober et al in the <em>Journal of Sexual Medicine</em> demonstrated that a half-day educational program can help women successfully address and deal with these issues.
Regardless of age at diagnosis, type of treatment, tumor grade or size, and tumor histology, black and Hispanic women had a higher risk of second ipsilateral breast tumors than did white women after ductal carcinoma in situ, according to the results of a large registry study presented by Liu et al in <em>Breast Cancer Research and Treatment</em>. In addition, there was a significantly increased risk of second contralateral breast tumors in black and Asian women, compared with white women, after ductal carcinoma in situ.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Sudo et al found that many patients undergoing definitive chemoradiotherapy (bimodality therapy) for esophageal cancer can derive substantial survival benefit from subsequent salvage surgery, supporting a practice of intensive surveillance of such patients.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Inamura et al found that hypomethylation in long interspersed nucleotide element-1 (LINE-1) is associated with greater colorectal cancer–specific and overall mortality in high-degree microsatellite instability vs microsatellite-stable colorectal cancer.
ASCO has endorsed the recently developed joint College of American Pathologists, International Society for the Study of Lung Cancer, and Association of Molecular Pathologists guideline on molecular testing for selection of patients with lung cancer for EGFR and ALK inhibitor treatment. The endorsement was reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has accepted and granted Priority Review to Pfizer’s New Drug Application for palbociclib, in combination with letrozole, as a first-line treatment for postmenopausal women with estrogen receptor–positive, HER2-negative advanced breast cancer who have not received previous systemic treatment for their advanced disease. The submission is based on the final results of PALOMA-1, a randomized, phase II trial comparing palbociclib plus letrozole vs letrozole alone in this population of patients.
Known cancer-driving genomic aberrations in localized lung cancer appear to be so consistently present across tumors that a single biopsy of one region of the tumor is likely to identify most of them, according to a paper published by Zhang et al in <em>Science</em>.
According to a new study reported by Wilson et al in <em>Cancer, Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention</em>, colon cancer may be caused in part by the loss of one hormone, suggesting that hormone replacement therapy might stall cancer formation.
In a phase III trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Schmitt et al found that adding aprepitant to granisetron and dexamethasone significantly reduced chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting in myeloma patients undergoing high-dose melphalan conditioning and autologous stem cell transplantation.
In breast cancer patients under the age of 40, PET/CT scanning may provide accurate clinical staging, even for stages IIB and III disease, according to the study findings presented by Riedl et al in <em>The Journal of Nuclear Medicine</em>. The utilization of PET/CT in younger patients has the potential to reduce the morbidity and cost of unnecessary therapies.
In the phase III TANIA trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> von Minckwitz et al found that adding bevacizumab to chemotherapy in second-line treatment improved progression-free survival after first-line bevacizumab plus chemotherapy in patients with HER2-negative locally recurrent or metastatic breast cancer.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Sherman et al found occult cancers in 2.6% of high-risk women undergoing risk-reducing salpingo-oophorectomy.
Three studies reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> provide information on maintenance treatment with the synthetic retinoid tamibarotene in acute promyelocytic leukemia, potential implications of QT interval prolongation related to arsenic trioxide, and potential health-related quality-of-life benefits with all-<em>trans</em> retinoic acid (ATRA) plus arsenic trioxide vs ATRA/chemotherapy in low- or intermediate-risk acute promyelocytic leukemia.
Prostate cancer survivors with higher levels of total cholesterol and triglycerides had an increased risk for disease recurrence, according to a study by Allott et al. The study findings, coupled with evidence that statin use is associated with reduced recurrence risk, suggest that lipid levels should be explored as a modifiable risk factor for prostate cancer recurrence. The study is published in <em>Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention</em>.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted priority review to blinatumomab for the treatment of adults with Philadelphia chromosome–negative relapsed/refractory B-precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Blinatumomab is an investigational bispecific T-cell engager antibody construct designed to direct the body's T cells against CD19-expressing target cells.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved bortezomib injection for previously untreated patients with mantle cell lymphoma. This is the first treatment in the United States to be approved for use in this population. Bortezomib, when used in the VR-CAP regimen (bortezomib, rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, and prednisone), demonstrated a 59% relative improvement in progression-free survival.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved a fixed-combination capsule of netupitant and palonosetron (Akynzeo) to treat nausea and vomiting in patients undergoing cancer chemotherapy. Oral palonosetron prevents nausea and vomiting during the acute phase after the start of chemotherapy, and netupitant prevents the side effects during both the acute and the delayed phase.
The risk of developing cancer in a salivary gland might be higher in people with <em>BRCA1</em> or <em>BRCA2</em> mutations, which are associated with breast and ovarian cancer, according to a new study reported by Shen et al in <em>JAMA Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery</em>.
An investigative predictive model for lung cancer demonstrated greater accuracy than the more commonly used Mayo Clinic model in prescreening lung nodules prior to resection, according to the results of a study reported by Deppen et al in the <em>Journal of Thoracic Oncology</em>. The investigators suggested that this new tool may fill the diagnostic void of validated models for this high-risk population.
As reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by Gligorov et al, the phase III IMELDA trial has shown significant improvement in progression-free and overall survival with maintenance capecitabine/bevacizumab vs bevacizumab alone after first-line bevacizumab/docetaxel in patients with HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer. The bevacizumab/docetaxel combination is no longer approved for use in metastatic breast cancer, and the trial was terminated early upon approval withdrawal.
A study involving a patient with metastatic anaplastic thyroid cancer who achieved a near-complete response to everolimus that lasted for 18 months, followed by progressive disease, has revealed a previously unknown mutation in the <em>TSC2</em> gene and in the mTOR protein. The discovery illustrates the benefit of sequencing a patient’s cancer DNA prior to treatment and following disease recurrence and may help guide treatment of patients with similar mutations. The report by Wagle et al is published in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em>.
Melphalan in combination with bortezomib should be maintained as one of the standards of care for the treatment of elderly patients with multiple myeloma, according to updated results from the GEM2005 study comparing bortezomib/melphalan/prednisone with bortezomib/thalidomide/prednisone as induction therapy. The findings by Mateos et al were reported in <em>Blood</em>.
As reported in <em>The Lancet</em> by Robert et al, the anti–programmed-death receptor-1 (PD-1) antibody pembrolizumab produced durable responses in a phase I trial in patients with ipilimumab-refractory melanoma. The study provided the basis for the recent accelerated approval of pembrolizumab for treatment of patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma with disease progression following treatment with ipilimumab and, in <em>BRAF</em> V600 mutation–positive patients, treatment with a BRAF inhibitor.
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine have, for the first time, clearly defined the epidemiology of gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST), which occur primarily in the lining of the stomach and small intestine. Of note was the discovery that patients of Asian descent, who had not previously been identified as an at-risk population, are 1.5 times more likely than other patient groups to be diagnosed with this type of tumor. Results of the study were reported by Sicklick et al in <em>Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention</em>.
Researchers in Germany report that nearly one-third of more than 2,100 patients with cancer interviewed at inpatient and outpatient care centers experienced a clinically meaningful level of mental or emotional distress that meets the strict diagnostic criteria for mental disorders including anxiety, depressive, and adjustment disorders during the prior 4 weeks. The findings by Mehnert et al were reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
The molecule threonyl tRNA-synthetase may provide value as a serum diagnostic marker and a potential target of therapy for ovarian cancer, according to the results of a study reported by Wellman et al in <em>BMC Cancer</em>. In addition, the mortality risk was slightly reduced for patients with high expression of this molecule within their tumors.
In the 4-year interim follow-up of the VIVIANE study reported in <em>The Lancet</em> by Skinner et al, the human papillomavirus (HPV) 16/18 AS04-adjuvanted vaccine was found to be protective against 6-month persistent infection or cervical intraepithelial neoplasia of grade 1 or higher associated with HPV 16/18 in women aged > 25 years.
A large, prospective study involving more than 75,000 adults in western Washington has found that frequent use of fiber-based laxatives is associated with a decreased risk of colorectal cancer. The study also found that use of nonfiber laxatives is linked to a significantly increased risk of colorectal cancer. The study, reported by Citronberg et al in <em>The American Journal of Gastroenterology.</em> found no association between bowel-movement frequency/constipation and colorectal cancer risk.
In a large international population-based study reported in <em>JAMA Dermatology,</em> Thomas et al found that increased risk of melanoma-related mortality for patients with amelanotic vs pigmented melanomas was no longer evident after adjustment for tumor stage at diagnosis.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted Orphan Drug Designation to DNAtrix’s DNX-2401, a conditionally-replicative oncolytic adenovirus for malignant glioma. Glioma is the most common form of primary brain cancer, the treatment of which remains a significant unmet medical need.
In an analysis of outcomes in patients with node-positive prostate cancer reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Abdollah and colleagues found that adjuvant radiotherapy is associated with a survival benefit in patients with low-volume nodal disease in the setting of intermediate- to high-grade non–specimen-confined disease and in patients with intermediate-volume nodal disease irrespective of other tumor characteristics.
Abiraterone acetate is approved for use in combination with prednisone in the treatment of metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. As reported by Sternberg et al in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> results of an open-label, early-access protocol trial initiated prior to the drug's approval indicated no new safety signals with abiraterone acetate plus prednisone given after progression on chemotherapy.
The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet has awarded the 2014 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine to <strong>John O’Keefe, FRS,</strong> and to <strong>May-Britt Moser, PhD,</strong> and <strong>Edvard I. Moser, PhD,</strong> for their discoveries of cells that constitute a positioning system in the brain. This “inner GPS” makes it possible to orient ourselves in space and demonstrates a cellular basis for higher cognitive function.
Although positron-emission tomography (PET) combined with <sup>18</sup>F–fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) is recommended for the noninvasive diagnosis of pulmonary nodules suspicious for lung cancer, in populations with endemic infectious lung disease, FDG-PET may not accurately identify malignant lesions. Data from an analysis of 70 studies “do not support the use of FDG-PET to diagnose lung cancer in endemic regions unless an institution achieves test performance accuracy similar to that found in nonendemic regions,” Deppen et al reported in <em>JAMA</em>.
In a study reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> Antonarakis et al found that the presence of androgen receptor splice variant 7 mRNA (AR-V7) in circulating tumor cells from men with advanced prostate cancer was associated with resistance to enzalutamide and abiraterone. AR-V7–positive patients had dramatically reduced prostate-specific antigen response rates, progression-free survival, and overall survival.
In a population-based study reported the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Gupta et al found that radical cystectomy with urinary diversion for bladder cancer is associated with increased risk of bone fracture at any site in Medicare patients.
Perineal powder use has been associated with increased risk of ovarian cancer in case-control studies and with increased risk of serous invasive ovarian cancer in a cohort study. In a large cohort study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Houghton et al found no significant association between ever use or duration of use of perineal powder and ovarian cancer risk.
A retrospective study led by researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital has found an overuse of colonoscopies for colorectal cancer screening and surveillance. The study demonstrated that endoscopists commonly recommended shorter follow-up intervals than established guidelines support, and these recommendations were strongly correlated with subsequent colonoscopy overuse. The findings were reported by Kruse et al in the <em>Journal of General Internal Medicine</em>.
<em>TERT</em> promoter mutations have been found to occur at high frequency in cutaneous melanoma tumor samples, exhibit a UV-signature, and lead to increased <em>TERT</em> gene expression. In a study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Griewank et al found that <em>TERT</em> promoter mutation was independently associated with reduced survival in patients with nonacral cutaneous melanomas.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted Orphan Drug Designation to pegylated recombinant human hyaluronidase (PEGPH20) for the treatment of pancreatic cancer. Halozyme Therapeutics is currently investigating PEGPH20 in a phase II study in combination with gemcitabine and nab-paclitaxel.
In the CALGB 70103 study, comorbidity was associated with shorter overall survival among older women with early-stage breast cancer and good functional status receiving adjuvant chemotherapy. “The presence of four or more conditions appeared to be a threshold for shorter survival in this cohort,” Klepin et al reported in the <em>Journal of Oncology Practice</em>. Comorbidity was not associated with toxicity or time to relapse.
In a Swedish case-control study reported in a letter to <em>JAMA Internal Medicine,</em> Bergman et al found no increase in risk of breast cancer with continuous calcium channel blocker exposure of 5 years.
The survival benefit demonstrated in the VELOUR study for FOLFIRI plus ziv-aflibercept vs FOLFIRI plus placebo in metastatic colorectal cancer patients who had disease progression on oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy persisted beyond median survival times for some patients. This suggested that “subpopulations might have different magnitudes of survival gain,” Chau et al noted in <em>BMC Cancer</em>.
Researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have identified a biomarker adjacent to the <em>KLK3</em> gene that can predict which prostate cancer patients with a Gleason score of 7 will have a more aggressive form of cancer. The findings by He et al, published in <em>Clinical Cancer Research,</em> indicate that the <em>KLK3</em> gene is not only associated with prostate cancer aggression, but a single nucleotide polymorphism on it is more apparent in patients with a Gleason score of 7.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted Breakthrough Therapy designation to the investigational agent AP26113 for patients with ALK-positive metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who are resistant to crizotinib. This designation is based on results from an ongoing phase I/II trial showing sustained antitumor activity of AP26113 in patients with ALK-positive NSCLC, including patients with active brain metastases.
In a pooled analysis reported in <em>The Lancet Haematology,</em> Trotman et al found that 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron-emission tomography/low-dose computed tomography (PET-CT) provides improved prognostic information over conventional contrast-enhanced CT in assessment of response to first-line therapy in follicular lymphoma.
Men with higher estradiol-to-testosterone ratios had a substantially reduced risk of aggressive prostate cancer, whereas men with higher ratios of 2-hydroxyestrone to 16α-hydroxyestrone had an increased risk of such cancer, according to the study findings presented by Black et al in <em>Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention</em>. Strong estrogenic effects may offer protection against this aggressive type of cancer, and the investigators claim that a better understanding of the estrogen-androgen balance may lead to preventive and therapeutic interventions.
In a Dutch study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Boekel et al found no increase in risk of cardiovascular mortality among 5-year survivors of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) compared with the general population. Among DCIS patients, risk of cardiovascular events did not differ according to surgery vs radiotherapy or according to left- vs right-sided radiotherapy.
Increased risk of subsequent malignant neoplasms has been reported in hereditary retinoblastoma survivors after radiotherapy. In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Wong et al found that chemotherapy plus radiotherapy was associated with increased risk of subsequent malignant neoplasms vs radiotherapy alone in 5-year survivors of hereditary retinoblastoma, including increased risk of bone tumors and leiomyosarcoma.
There are no large-scale direct comparisons of outcomes with intensity-modulated radiation therapy vs conventional external-beam radiation therapy in patients with soft-tissue sarcoma of the extremity. In a single-institution experience reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Folkert et al at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center found that use of intensity-modulated radiation therapy was associated with significantly reduced risk of local recurrence in patients with nonmetastatic extremity soft-tissue sarcoma.
A final analysis of the phase III COU-AA-302 trial showed that abiraterone acetate plus prednisone significantly prolonged overall survival compared to an active control of placebo plus prednisone in men with chemotherapy-naive metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. The study, presented at the ESMO 2014 Congress in Madrid, demonstrated a 19% reduction in risk of death in this study population.
A study of a nine-valent human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine that provides protection against HPV types 6, 11, 16, 18, 31, 33, 45, 52, and 58, has found it to be highly safe and efficacious. If vaccination programs with this new-generation vaccine are effectively implemented, approximately 90% of invasive cervical cancer cases worldwide could be prevented, according to the researchers. The study by Joura et al is published in <em>Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention</em>.
A temporary rise in prostate-specific antigen (PSA) scores after radiotherapy may have an association with outcomes in patients with prostate cancer, according to the study findings presented by Naghavi et al in the International Journal of Clinical Oncology. Experiencing a PSA bounce was associated with improved biochemical disease-free survival.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Sorror et al found that a composite comorbidity-age index was better than age alone in predicting nonrelapse mortality and survival in patients undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation.
In a phase III trial, treatment with everolimus resulted in a median overall survival of over 3 and a half years in patients with well-differentiated and progressive pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors, representing a clinically meaningful although not statistically significant improvement. The findings were presented at the ESMO 2014 Congress in Madrid.
In a phase II expansion study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Smith et al found that the multikinase inhibitor cabozantinib showed activity in previously treated metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. Cabozantinib targets include VEGFR2 and MET kinases.
In a phase II study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Chawla et al found that the combination of a hypoxia-activated alkylating prodrug (TH-302) and doxorubicin was active in first-line treatment of advanced soft-tissue sarcoma. TH-302 is a prodrug of the cytotoxic alkylating agent bromo-isophosphoramide mustard.
The monoclonal antibody nivolumab achieved superior response rates and a longer duration of response than standard chemotherapy in patients whose melanoma has progressed after treatment with ipilimumab, according to preliminary data from a phase III trial presented at the ESMO 2014 Congress in Madrid.
The MAGRIT trial showed disappointing results for a developmental vaccine called MAGE-3 in patients with non–small cell lung cancer who had undergone surgical resection. This is the largest vaccine trial conducted in lung cancer, and investigators hoped that an immunotherapy approach with a vaccine would improve outcomes.
<strong>Robert S. Miller, MD, FACP, FASCO,</strong> Assistant Professor of Oncology and Oncology Medical Information Officer at the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, has been named Medical Director of the Institute for Quality of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. Dr. Miller will begin his new position on December 3, 2014.
The phase III CONCUR trial of regorafenib monotherapy in Asian patients with previously treated metastatic colorectal cancer confirmed the overall survival benefit seen in the previous CORRECT trial and in an exploratory analysis suggested the benefit is substantial in patients not previously treated with a targeted agent.
For advanced/metastatic melanoma patients with <em>BRAF<em> mutations, two pathway inhibitors are much better than one, according to studies presented at the ESMO 2014 Congress that demonstrated improved progression-free and overall survival for regimens combining a BRAF inhibitor with an inhibitor of the MEK protein.
In a recent study reported in <em>Nature Medicine</em>, scientists investigated whether pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma produces metabolic changes that can be detected before the disease is diagnosed. Mayers et al found that elevated plasma levels of branched chain amino acids are associated with a greater than twofold increased risk of a future pancreatic cancer diagnosis.
Elevated esophageal mucosa cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) levels appear to be associated with the presence of Barrett’s esophagus as well as high waist-to-hip ratios and current tobacco smoking, according to the results of a study reported by Nguyen et al in <em>Digestive Diseases & Sciences</em>. These novel mechanistic connections may help clinicians to identify patients who may benefit from chemoprevention with COX-2 inhibitors.
For patients with recurrent or metastatic cervical cancer, adding the experimental drug cediranib to standard chemotherapy improved tumor shrinkage and resulted in a modest improvement in progression-free survival, researchers reported at the ESMO 2014 Congress in Madrid.
The tyrosine kinase inhibitor afatinib was significantly superior to methotrexate as second-line therapy in patients with advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck who progressed after platinum-based chemotherapy, according to results of the LUX-Head & Neck 1 trial. The group treated with afatinib had a 20% reduction in risk of progression or death compared with methotrexate and experienced improvements in the debilitating symptoms associated with this cancer.
For the first time, studies show that a drug is effective in treating cancer-related cachexia. Oral anamorelin hydrochloride increased lean body mass, achieved weight gain, and improved quality of life in patients with cancer-related cachexia and non–small cell lung cancer in two pivotal phase III studies presented at the ESMO 2014 Congress in Madrid.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted Orphan Drug Designations to aldoxorubicin in three indications: glioblastoma multiforme, small cell lung cancer, and ovarian cancer. Aldoxorubicin combines doxorubicin with a novel single-molecule linker that binds directly and specifically to albumin, allowing greater doses of the chemotherapeutic agent to be administered while reducing its toxic side effects.
In the final overall survival analysis of the phase III CLEOPATRA trial, patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer patients lived 15.7 months longer if they received pertuzumab in addition to trastuzumab and docetaxel, investigators reported at the ESMO 2014 Congress in Madrid.
In a randomized study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Shike et al found that soy supplementation resulting in high genistein levels was associated with overexpression of the tumorigenic growth factor receptor FGFR2 and genes that drive cell cycle and proliferation pathways.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Kosturakis et al found that the majority of patients with multiple myeloma had subclinical peripheral neuropathy prior to chemotherapy and that deficits corresponded with decreased fingertip innervation density.
A new study found that the average cost to screen high-risk individuals for lung cancer with low-dose computed tomography plus the average cost of curative-intent treatment is lower than the average cost to treat advanced-stage lung cancer, which quite rarely results in a cure. The findings by Cressman et al were published in the <em>Journal of Thoracic Oncology</em>.
In the phase I portion of a phase I/II study reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Gadgeel et al found that the novel ALK inhibitor alectinib showed activity against systemic disease and brain metastases in patients with non–small cell lung cancer resistant to the ALK inhibitor crizotinib. Alectinib exhibits in vitro activity against both wild-type and mutated <em>ALK</em>, including mutations that confer resistance to crizotinib.
In a European phase III trial reported in The Lancet, Slotman et al found benefits of thoracic radiotherapy in patients with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer who had responded to chemotherapy and had received prophylactic cranial radiotherapy. Although thoracic radiotherapy did not significantly improve 1-year overall survival, the primary endpoint, significant improvements were observed in overall survival at 2 years and in progression-free survival.
In a systematic review and meta-analysis of individual patient data reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Rossi et al found no overall survival benefit with six vs fewer than six planned cycles of first-line platinum-based treatment in patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted orphan drug designation to MabVax Therapeutics’ vaccine for the treatment of relapsed or recurrent high-risk neuroblastoma in remission or with limited residual disease after best available treatment. The bivalent vaccine is intended to elicit a targeted immune response against the two most common antigens on neuroblastoma cells, GD2 and GD3.
In the phase III FIRST trial reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> Benboubker et al found that continuous lenalidomide plus dexamethasone significantly improved progression-free survival vs melphalan/prednisone/thalidomide in transplant-ineligible myeloma patients. An interim analysis suggested an overall survival benefit with continuous lenalidomide/dexamethasone.
In a population-based study reported in <em>JAMA Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery</em>, Bann et al found that the average annual percent increase in thyroid cancer incidence in Pennsylvania approaches twice that in the rest of the country.
In a cohort study reported in <em>JAMA Surgery</em>, Parsons et al found that that the initial dissemination of use of robotic minimally invasive radical prostatectomy in the United States was associated with reduced perioperative patient safety compared with open radical prostatectomy.
The availability of newer agents that have transformed treatment outcomes in multiple myeloma has naturally led to interest in studying these drugs earlier in precursor states, such as monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance and smoldering myeloma. Recent evidence suggests that this may be a worthy strategy to pursue, but at present oncologists should not treat precursor states outside of a clinical trial setting, reported <strong>C. Ola Landgren, MD, PhD,</strong> at the recent National Comprehensive Cancer Network 9th Annual Congress on Hematologic Malignancies in New York.
Using genomic profiling and next-generation sequencing of B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and Philadelphia chromosome–like ALL, researchers recently identified alterations targeting 18 kinase or cytokine receptor genes. They then determined that these alterations contribute to the development of Philadelphia chromosome–like ALL and found that tyrosine kinase inhibitors could potentially be used to treat this high-risk subtype. The study by Roberts et al was presented at the American Association for Cancer Research conference Hematologic Malignancies: Translating Discoveries to Novel Therapies.
In a phase III trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> du Bois and colleagues found that maintenance therapy with the VEGFR and PDGFR inhibitor pazopanib significantly prolonged progression-free survival vs placebo in women ovarian cancer without progression after first-line chemotherapy. A second interim analysis of overall survival showed no overall benefit of pazopanib maintenance. Exploratory analyses suggested that progression-free survival benefit was limited to non-East Asian patients and that treatment had a detrimental impact on survival in East Asian patients.
Eruptive melanocytic nevi are observed in patients receiving the multikinase inhibitor sorafenib and the selective BRAF inhibitor vemurafenib. In a case reported in <em>JAMA Dermatology,</em> Shen et al found that the addition of the MEK inhibitor cobimetinib to vemurafenib in a woman who developed eruptive melanocytic nevi during vemurafenib treatment for metastatic melanoma resulted in involution of eruptive melanocytic nevi.
Combining the molecular targeted drug ibrutinib with the investigational anticancer agent ABT-199 may improve outcomes for patients with mantle cell lymphoma and chronic lymphocytic leukemia, according to preclinical data presented at the American Association for Cancer Research conference Hematologic Malignancies: Translating Discoveries to Novel Therapies.
The combination of continuous daily-dosed sunitinib and hypofractionated stereotactic radiation therapy produced acceptable toxicity and “encouraging” 6-month progression-free survival rates in previously irradiated patients with recurrent high-grade glioma, according to the results of a pilot study reported by Wuthrick et al in the <em>International Journal of Radiation Oncology • Biology • Physics</em>. These findings suggest that a subgroup of patients with recurrent high-grade glioma may attain long-term benefits from this concurrent treatment strategy, which appeared to compare favorably with reirradiation or antiangiogenic agents alone.
A laboratory study of the investigational drug CX-5461, which blocks the inhibition of RNA polymerase I transcription, has found that it prolonged survival in mouse models of highly aggressive acute myeloid leukemia and multiple myeloma refractory to standard therapy. In addition, the drug’s effectiveness was independent of p53 status. The study by Hein et al was presented at the AACR Hematologic Malignancies: Translating Discoveries to Novel Therapies conference in Philadelphia.
In the phase III PANORAMA1 trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> San-Miguel et al found that adding the pan-deacetylase inhibitor panobinostat to bortezomib and dexamethasone improved progression-free survival in patients with relapsed or relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma.
As the U.S. population continues to age, oncologists will be faced with a growing number of elderly patients with Hodgkin lymphoma, but there is currently no consensus on how to treat this population. Regimens used to treat younger patients have too much toxicity for most older patients, and thus it is necessary to identify effective alternative treatments, explained <strong>Jane Winter, MD,</strong> at the National Comprehensive Cancer Network 9th Annual Congress on Hematologic Malignancies in New York.
In a Scottish study reported in <em>The Lancet Psychiatry,</em> Walker et al assessed the prevalence and adequacy of treatment of major depression in patients with cancer of different primary sites. The prevalence of major depression ranged from 5.6% in patients with genitourinary cancers to 13.1% in those with lung cancer. Approximately three-quarters of patients were not receiving potentially effective treatments for depression.
In the SMaRT Oncology-3 trial, reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Walker et al found that an integrated collaborative treatment program for depression (‘depression care for people with cancer’) was associated with significantly reduced severity of depression compared with usual care in lung cancer patients with major depression, as well as significant improvements in anxiety, perceived quality of care, and quality of life.
In a Scottish study (SMaRT Oncology-2) reported in The Lancet, Sharpe, Walker et al found that an integrated collaborative treatment program for depression (‘depression care for people with cancer’) was associated with significantly higher depression response and remission rates compared with usual care in cancer patients with major depression, and also resulted in significant improvements in health, functioning, and quality of life.
The addition of the monoclonal antibody VEGFR-2 antagonist ramucirumab to paclitaxel led to in a statistically significant improvement in median overall survival in patients with advanced gastric cancer or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma in a phase III trial, reported Wilke et al in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>. The trial also met its secondary endpoints of progression-free survival and objective response rate.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted Orphan Drug Designation to technetium 99m tilmanocept (Lymphoseek Injection) for use in sentinel lymph node detection in patients with cancer of the head and neck. Tilmanocept is a novel receptor-targeted lymphatic mapping agent used in the evaluation of lymphatic basins that may have cancer involvement in patients with breast cancer, melanoma, and head and neck cancer patients with oral cavity carcinoma.
Abdominal irradiation for childhood cancer has been associated with increased risk of diabetes. In a Dutch study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> van Nimwegen et al assessed the relationship between infradiaphragm radiotherapy and risk of diabetes in long-term survivors of Hodgkin lymphoma, finding an increased risk in those receiving higher doses of radiation to the para-aortic lymph nodes, para-aortic lymph nodes and spleen, and pancreatic tail.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Loibl et al found that <em>PIK3CA</em> mutation was associated with lower pathologic complete response rate in patients with HER2-positive breast cancer receiving trastuzumab, lapatinib, or both in addition to neoadjuvant anthracycline-taxane chemotherapy. There was no difference in disease-free or overall survival between patients with mutant vs wild-type <em>PIK3CA</em>.
In a prospective cohort study in the population of the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian (PLCO) Cancer Screening Trial, Zhou et al found that frontal plus moderate vertex baldness at age 45 is associated with increased risk of aggressive prostate cancer. The findings were reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
In a study reported in <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Vo et al in the International Neuroblastoma Risk Group Project found significant differences in clinical and biologic features of neuroblastoma according to primary tumor site, including poorer survival for adrenal sites of primary disease and better survival for thoracic sites of primary disease.
The oral mTOR inhibitor ridaforolimus was modestly active and reasonably tolerated in women with recurrent or metastatic endometrial cancer, according to the results of a phase II study reported in <em>Gynecologic Oncology</em>. Tsoref et al suggested that it may prove to be an effective therapeutic strategy and that the potential synergy among mTOR inhibition, angiogenesis, and hormonal pathways warrants ongoing evaluation.
In a phase III trial reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em>, Palumbo et al found that consolidation therapy with high-dose melphalan plus autologous stem cell transplantation improved progression-free survival and overall survival compared with melphalan/prednisone/lenalidomide consolidation and that lenalidomide maintenance vs no maintenance improved progression-free survival in patients ≤ 65 years newly diagnosed with multiple myeloma.
In a Korean phase II trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Hong et al found that adjuvant FOLFOX (oxaliplatin, fluorouracil [5-FU], leucovorin) prolonged progression-free survival and overall survival vs 5-FU/leucovorin in patients with locally advanced rectal cancer who had received neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy and total mesorectal excision.
There are few data available on long-term risk of colorectal cancer mortality after adenoma removal. In a Norwegian study reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> Løberg et al found that patients who had low-risk adenomas removed had lower colorectal cancer mortality risk and those who had high-risk adenomas removed had higher colorectal cancer mortality risk compared with the general population over 7.7 years of follow-up. The findings suggest that frequent colonoscopic surveillance may be unnecessary after removal of low-risk adenomas.
A large, international analysis of patients with stage IV non–small cell lung cancer indicates that a patient’s overall survival rate can be related to factors including the timing of when metastases develop and lymph node involvement, and that aggressive treatment for low-risk patients leads to a 5-year overall survival rate of 47.8%, according to research presented at the American Society for Radiation Oncology’s (ASTRO) 56th Annual Meeting.
Patients with inoperable, early-stage lung cancer who receive stereotactic body radiation therapy have a 5-year survival rate of 40%, according to long-term results presented at the American Society for Radiation Oncology’s (ASTRO) 56th Annual Meeting. Such a positive survival rate is encouraging considering that historically conventional radiation therapy resulted in poor tumor control for patients with inoperable lung cancer.
Prostate cancer patients who receive high-dose radiation therapy followed by a longer period of androgen-deprivation therapy have higher 5-year biochemical disease–free survival and overall survival rates compared to patients who receive high-dose radiation therapy and a shorter duration of androgen-deprivation therapy, according to research presented at the American Society for Radiation Oncology’s (ASTRO) 56th Annual Meeting.
The UK phase III ProtecT trial is comparing the effectiveness of active monitoring, radical prostatectomy, and radiotherapy in men with localized prostate cancer. Lane et al have provided baseline results of the trial in an article in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>.
In a recent study investigating why <em>ALK</em>-positive lung cancers become resistant to alectinib, researchers identified two novel <em>ALK</em> mutations that are sensitive to ceritinib, a next-generation ALK tyrosine kinase inhibitor. The ability of ceritinib to overcome alectinib resistance suggests a potential role for sequential therapy with multiple next-generation ALK tyrosine kinase inhibitors in the treatment of <em>ALK</em>-positive lung cancer. The research by Katayama et al is published in <em>Clinical Cancer Research</em>.
In a randomized phase II trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Liu et al found a significant improvement in progression-free survival and an increase in toxicity with the addition of the antiangiogenic agent cediranib to the PARP inhibitor olaparib in women with recurrent platinum-sensitive ovarian cancer.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Kochenderfer et al found that single infusions of autologous T cells expressing an anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) produced responses in nearly all patients with chemotherapy-refractory CD19-positive B-cell malignancies, including patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.
A secondary analysis of the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project B-32 trial indicates that radiation therapy does not increase the incidence of lymphedema in patients with node-negative breast cancer, according to research presented at the ASTRO 56th Annual Meeting.
Radiation therapy alone is as effective in decreasing swallowing complications experienced by advanced esophageal cancer patients as radiation therapy combined with chemotherapy, thus allowing patients to forgo chemotherapy, according to research presented at the ASTRO 56th Annual Meeting.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Prat et al found that there was little difference in downstream gene or protein expression according to intrinsic breast cancer subtypes among clinical HER2-positive vs -negative breast cancers and that clinical HER2 status did not add prognostic information to intrinsic subtypes in the absence of HER2-targeted therapy.
The American Association for Cancer Research released its 2014 Cancer Progress Report today, which highlights the quickening pace of drug development and approval, especially in molecularly targeted agents that are leading to increased numbers of cancer survivors. However, the report also warns that research progress is being slowed due to years of budget cuts to the National Institutes of Health and the National Cancer Institute and calls for biomedical research in cancer to be made a national priority.
Serum levels of VEGF-A and TGF-β1 may be helpful in tailoring neoadjuvant treatment regimens for patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, according to research presented at the ASTRO 56th Annual Meeting. Results of a 9-year study of patients undergoing concurrent chemotherapy and radiotherapy for esophageal cancer showed that pretreatment serum levels of the two proteins were associated with pathologic response and disease-free survival rates.
Patients with high-risk prostate cancer who received radiation therapy and an 18-month course of androgen-deprivation therapy recoverd a normal testosterone level in a shorter amount of time compared to those who receive a 36-month course of androgen-deprivation therapy. The shorter course of therapy resulted in a better quality of life without detriment to long-term outcomes, according to research presented at the ASTRO Annual Meeting.
Patients with stage I and II Hodgkin lymphoma who received consolidated radiation experienced improved 10-year survival rates, according to research presented at the American Society for Radiation Oncology’s 56th Annual Meeting. The 10-year survival rate for patients who received radiation therapy was 84% vs 76% for those who did not receive radiation therapy. Despite these findings, the data also showed that the use of radiation therapy has decreased significantly since 1998.
More than one-quarter of young adults with the most common form of acute lymphoblastic leukemia have a high-risk subtype with a poor prognosis and may benefit from drugs widely used to treat other types of leukemia that are more common in adults, according to multi-institutional research led by St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital investigators. The study by Roberts et al was published in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em>.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Mackey et al, the phase III ROSE/TRIO-12 trial found no significant improvement in investigator-assessed progression-free survival by adding the antiangiogenic VEGFR-2 inhibitor ramucirumab to first-line docetaxel in women with HER2-negative advanced breast cancer. An interim analysis suggested no difference in overall survival.
Airline pilots and cabin crew are occupationally exposed to higher levels of cosmic and ultraviolet radiation. In a meta-analysis reported in <em>JAMA Dermatology,</em> Sanlorenzo et al found that these people have a more than twofold greater risk of melanoma compared with the general population.
A modeling study reported in <em>JAMA Internal Medicine</em> by van Hees et al showed that colonoscopy screening at intervals shorter than 10 years or continuing past 75 years of age in the Medicare population is associated with a reduced net health benefit from a societal perspective.
Recurrence-free survival rates were similar for patients with cT1 renal masses who underwent partial nephrectomy or percutaneous cryoablation, according to the results of a retrospective trial reported by Thompson et al in <em>European Urology</em>. However, metastases-free survival was superior for patients who underwent partial nephrectomy and percutaneous cryoablation when compared with patients who underwent percutaneous radiofrequency ablation.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved a new indication for the use of enzalutamide capsules to treat patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. The new indication is for men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer who have not received chemotherapy. The approval follows a priority review of the supplemental New Drug Application that was based on results of the phase III PREVAIL trial.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Portschy et al found an absolute 20-year overall survival difference of < 1% with contralateral prophylactic mastectomy in women with stage I or II breast cancer without <em>BRCA</em> mutation. The authors had hypothesized that the increased use of the procedure in recent years may be fueled by an exaggerated perceived benefit.
In a study reported in <em>JAMA Surgery,</em> Morrow et al found that breast reconstruction after mastectomy for breast cancer largely reflects patient demand, with the majority of women being satisfied with the decision-making process. However, black women were significantly less likely to have reconstruction, and black and Latina women were significantly more likely to be dissatisfied with the decision process.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Van Loon et al found that baseline serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels were not associated with progression-free survival or overall survival in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer receiving gemcitabine with or without bevacizumab in the Cancer and Leukemia Group B (CALGB) 80303/Alliance trial.
Compared with mutations in <em>EGFR,</em> <em>KRAS,</em> or with patients with no known mutations, <em>ALK</em> rearrangements were independently associated with improved survival outcomes in patients with non–small cell lung cancer who received radiotherapy for brain metastases, according to the results of a study reported by Mak et al in Neuro-Oncology. Targeted tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy against <em>ALK</em> or <em>EGFR</em> after cranial radiotherapy was associated with additional survival benefit.
Use of cisplatin or cetuximab with radiotherapy improves overall survival in stage III or IV head and neck carcinoma, and adding cetuximab to platinum therapy improves overall survival in metastatic disease. In the phase III Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) 0522 trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Ang et al found no progression-free survival or overall survival benefit of adding cetuximab to radiation/cisplatin in stage III or IV disease.
A phase Ib clinical trial of the tablet form of olaparib, a PARP inhibitor, in combination with chemotherapy in heavily pretreated patients with ovarian cancer found the drug to be safe and effective, especially in those women with <em>BRCA</em> gene mutations. The study by Rivkin et al was presented at the Marsha Rivkin Center for Ovarian Cancer Research–AACR 10th Biennial Ovarian Cancer Research Symposium, September 8 to 9 in Seattle.
Radiation therapy with concurrent paclitaxel chemotherapy following surgery is an effective treatment for high-risk endometrial cancer, according to a study reported by Cho et al in the <em>International Journal of Radiation Oncology • Biology • Physics</em>.
The ASCO Clinical Practice Guidelines Committee and the Cancer Care Ontario (CCO) program in evidence-based care have released a clinical practice guideline on systemic therapy in men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. The guideline is reported by Basch et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
A secondary analysis of the National Lung Screening Trial by researchers from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services finds the lung cancer prevalence and the positive predictive value of low-dose computed tomography were higher in people 65 and older compared with those younger than 65. However, the analysis also found that the rate of false-positive screening results was higher in the older group. The study by Pinsky et al was published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
The investigational agent VT-122 appeared to benefit survival when combined with sorafenib in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma, according to data presented at the 8th Annual International Liver Cancer Association Conference in Kyoto, Japan. Researchers reported an 11-month increase in median overall survival in patients treated with VT-122 plus sorafenib, compared to those receiving sorafenib alone.
In a retrospective study reported in <em>JAMA Surgery,</em> Black et al found that the sentinel lymph node biopsy rate was lower and risk for lymphedema higher in black vs white women with early-stage breast cancer in the Medicare population.
In the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) E4402 Trial (RESORT), reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Kahl et al found no significant difference in time to treatment failure with a strategy of rituximab retreatment at progression vs rituximab maintenance in patients with previously untreated low-tumor-burden follicular lymphoma. The maintenance strategy was associated with longer time to first cytotoxic chemotherapy and the retreatment strategy required less use of rituximab.
When factoring in what is now known about breast cancer biology and heterogeneity, breast-conserving therapy may offer a greater survival benefit over mastectomy to women with early-stage, hormone receptor–positive disease, according to a retrospective, population-based study presented at the 2014 Breast Cancer Symposium. The study findings defy the conventional belief that the two treatment interventions offer equal survival, and show the need to revisit some standards of breast cancer practice in the modern era.
Research evaluating the relationship between various bra-wearing habits and breast cancer risk among postmenopausal women has found no association between the two, according to study findings by Chen et al. The study results may provide reassurance to women that wearing a bra does not appear to increase breast cancer risk. The study is published in <em>Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention</em>.
An experimental regimen of once-weekly breast irradiation following lumpectomy provides more convenience to patients at a lower cost, results in better completion rates of prescribed radiation treatment, and produces cosmetic outcomes comparable to the current standard of daily radiation. These interim results of a 5-year phase II clinical trial were presented at the 2014 Breast Cancer Symposium in San Francisco.
Despite its acceptance as standard of care for early-stage breast cancer almost 25 years ago, barriers still exist that preclude patients from receiving breast-conserving therapy, with some still opting for a mastectomy, according to research from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. The study, which was presented at the 2014 Breast Cancer Symposium, found that those barriers that still exist are socioeconomic, rather than medically influenced.
A new breast cancer vaccine candidate, GP2, provides further evidence of the potential of immunotherapy in preventing disease recurrence. This is especially the case for high-risk patients who have completed trastuzumab treatment. These findings were presented at the 2014 Breast Cancer Symposium in San Francisco.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today granted accelerated approval to the anti–PD-1 antibody pembrolizumab (Keytruda) for the treatment of patients with advanced or unresectable melanoma who are no longer responding to other drugs. Pembrolizumab is intended for use following treatment with ipilimumab. For melanoma patients with <em>BRAF</em> V600–positive tumors, pembrolizumab is intended for use after treatment with ipilimumab and a BRAF inhibitor.
Results from a study of 189,734 women diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer show the percentage undergoing bilateral mastectomy has increased substantially over the past decade even though the procedure was not associated with a lower risk of death than breast-conserving surgery plus radiation. The increase in bilateral mastectomies was greatest among women younger than age 40. The study by Kurian et al is published in <em>JAMA</em>.
The American Society of Clinical Oncology has released a new clinical practice guideline on chemotherapy and targeted therapy for women with advanced HER2-negative or unknown HER2 status breast cancer. The guideline is published in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em> Recommendations include use of endocrine therapy as first-line treatment in hormone receptor–positive disease and use of sequential single-agent chemotherapy rather than combination regimens.
A survey of 150 women newly diagnosed with breast cancer provides new insight into factors that influence women’s decisions to undergo contralateral prophylactic mastectomy. This is one of the first studies to look at women’s breast surgery preferences prospectively, before they undergo the procedure. The findings indicate that women with higher anxiety levels and less knowledge about breast cancer recurrence and survival are more likely to choose contralateral prophylactic mastectomy.
A new analysis of 30-day post-surgery complications among more than 18,000 women with breast cancer undergoing bilateral and unilateral mastectomy with breast reconstruction found that complications were generally rare for either type of surgery, with an overall rate of complications of 5.3%. Bilateral mastectomy, however, was associated with higher rates of implant loss, the need for transfusion, and longer hospital stay, compared to unilateral surgery.
A large study conducted through the BC Cancer Agency in British Columbia reports that adding family physician–signed reminder letters to the standard schedule of postcard reminders substantially improves return rates for screening among women who are overdue for such screening. In a 6-month period, 22% of women who received only postcards returned for screening, compared to 33% of those who received postcards and letters. The findings suggest that women are more likely to return for screening if they receive a personalized reminder from their family physician.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted and granted priority review to Ipsen’s supplemental New Drug Application for the somatostatin analog lanreotide (Somatuline Depot) 120 mg injection in the treatment of gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors. The regulatory submission was supported by the results of the phase III CLARINET study, which showed a significant improvement in progression-free survival with lanreotide in patients with gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors.
An analysis of data from 12 large clinical trials found that the cancer’s pathologic response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy and tumor subtype are strong predictors of locoregional breast cancer recurrence. According to the researchers, the study showed that these two predictors may be more informative than the tumor stage at diagnosis, which is commonly used in current practice, for evaluating locoregional breast cancer recurrence risk.
A retrospective review of records at an academic cancer center in Ontario, Canada, found that referrals for genetic counseling and the rates of genetic testing performed almost doubled over the 6-month period after Angelina Jolie announced she underwent a preventive double mastectomy because she was a <em>BRCA</em> mutation carrier and had a strong family history of breast and ovarian cancer. The increased testing at this center led to a twofold increase in the number of <em>BRCA1/2</em> mutation carriers identified. The findings were presented yesterday at a presscast in advance of the 2014 Breast Cancer Symposium.
Cytoreductive surgery with or without hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy extended survival over systemic therapy alone in well-selected candidates with peritoneal hepatocellular carcinoma, according to the results of a retrospective trial reported by Tabrizian et al in the <em>Journal of Surgical Oncology</em>. Although peritoneal carcinomatosis traditionally has been considered a lethal endpoint for various intra-abdominal tumors, the role of this therapeutic approach in this patient population may warrant further study.
In the phase III trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> Stupp et al found that adding the selective αvβ3 and αvβ5 integrin inhibitor cilengitide to standard temozolomide chemoradiotherapy produced no survival benefit in newly diagnosed glioblastoma with methylated <em>MGMT</em> promoter. The authors stated that development of cilengitide as an anticancer agent has been halted.
Circulating tumor cell clusters—clumps of from 2 to 50 tumor cells that break off a primary tumor and are carried through the bloodstream—appear to be much more likely to cause metastasis than are single circulating tumor cells, according to a study from investigators at the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center. The report by Aceto et al, published in <em>Cell</em>, also suggests that a cell adhesion protein binding circulating tumor cell clusters together is a potential therapeutic target.
A subset of patients with stage III colon cancer had improved survival rates when treated with irinotecan-based therapy, according to a new study in <em>Gastroenterology</em>. When added to the standard chemotherapy treatment—fluorouracil and leucovorin—adjuvant irinotecan therapy improved overall survival rates for patients with the CpG island methylator phenotype.
High mitotic rate in primary melanomas appears to be an independent predictor of poorer survival. In a single-institution study reported in <em>JAMA Dermatology,</em> Shen et al found that high mitotic rate primary melanoma is associated with male sex, older age, amelanosis and several aggressive histopathologic features.
A phase II study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>by Nowakowski et al indicates that the addition of lenalidomide to R-CHOP (rituximab plus cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone)—a regimen known as R2CHOP—overcomes the negative prognostic effect of the non–germinal B-cell subtype in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.
Past studies have shown a link between a false-positive result from mammography screening and an increased risk of breast cancer. A recent Danish study found that after excluding cases of misclassification, women with a false-positive result had a 27% increased risk of developing breast cancer. Women with false-positive results from surgical biopsies had a 30% increased risk. The reason is still unclear. The study by Euler-Chelpin et al is published in <em>Cancer Epidemiology</em>.
In the phase III REVEL trial reported in <em>The Lancet</em>, Garon et al found that the addition of the antiangiogenic VEGFR-2 inhibitor ramucirumab to docetaxel produced a statistically significant improvement in overall survival as second-line treatment in patients with non–small cell lung cancer after progression on platinum-based therapy.
Sequencing RNA, not just DNA, could help doctors predict how prostate cancer tumors will respond to treatment, according to research published in the journal <em>Genome Biology.</em> Because a tumor’s RNA shows the real-time changes a treatment is causing, the authors believe that this could be a useful tool to aid diagnosis and predict which treatment will most benefit individual cancer patients.
Researchers at Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah have identified and characterized mutated forms of the gene that encodes BCR-ABL, the unregulated enzyme driving the blood cancer chronic myeloid leukemia. The findings by Zabriskie et al were published in <em>Cancer Cell</em>.
The ACOSOG Z0011/Alliance trial showed that axillary lymph node dissection provides no benefit over sentinel lymph node biopsy in patients with breast cancer with one or two positive sentinel lymph nodes undergoing lumpectomy, radiotherapy, and systemic therapy. In an analysis reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Jagsi et al found that although the majority of patients in the trial received protocol-specified radiotherapy, there was variation in radiotherapy coverage of regional nodes in a substantial proportion.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Bittenbring et al found that vitamin D deficiency was associated with poorer outcome in older patients receiving R-CHOP (rituximab plus cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone) for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma but less so among patients receiving CHOP alone. Vitamin D substitution in deficient patients was found to increase rituximab-mediated cellular cytotoxicity.
Although chemoradiation has been increasingly used in advanced laryngeal cancer as part of an organ-preservation strategy, there is concern that this practice may have contributed to a decline in survival suggested by some data in this setting. In a population-based cohort study reported in <em>JAMA Otolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery,</em> Megwalu and Sikora found a modest but significant survival advantage with surgical vs nonsurgical treatment in advanced disease.
A team of researchers led by the University of Arizona Steele Children’s Research Center discovered that curcumin—the bioactive molecule derived from the spice turmeric—blocks the protein cortactin in colon cancer. Cortactin, a protein essential for cell movement, is frequently overexpressed in cancer, thus facilitating cancer cell metastasis. The findings by Radhakrishnan et al were published in <em>PLOS ONE</em>.
A new study reveals that the United States has experienced widespread adoption of robot-assisted prostatectomy to treat prostate cancer in recent years. The findings, reported by Chang et al in <em>BJU International,</em> also showed that although such surgeries are more expensive than traditional surgeries, their costs are decreasing over time.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Tworoger et al found that inclusion of endogenous hormone levels in the Gail and Rosner-Colditz risk scores improved prediction of postmenopausal invasive breast cancer.
In a phase II trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Burger et al found that the combination of ibrutinib and rituximab showed promising activity and an encouraging safety profile in patients with previously treated or untreated high-risk chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).
In a phase I study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Fanale et al found that brentuximab vedotin—a conjugate of antibody specific for CD30 and a microtubule-disrupting chemotherapy agent—exhibited high activity when combined sequentially with CHOP (cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, prednisone) or concurrently with CHP (CHOP without vincristine) in front-line treatment of peripheral T-cell lymphoma. Treatment had a manageable toxicity profile.
Epidermal growth factor receptor (<em>EGFR</em>) mutations found in the circulating-free tumor DNA from the plasma of advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients correlates well with the <em>EGFR</em> mutations from patient-matched tumor tissue DNA, according to new data reported by Douillard et al in the <em>Journal of Thoracic Oncology</em>.
An international, multi-institutional research group has identified a novel molecular pathway that causes an aggressive form of medulloblastoma and suggests that repurposing an antidepressant medication to target the new pathway may help combat one of the most common brain cancers in children. The laboratory findings, reported by He et al in <em>Nature Medicine,</em> could lead to a more targeted and effective molecular therapy that would also reduce the harmful side effects of current treatments.
In a phase III Australian/New Zealand trial (TROG 03.04 RADAR) reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Denham et al found no differences in prostate cancer–specific or all-cause mortality with intermediate-term androgen suppression and radiotherapy or short-term suppression plus radiotherapy with or without zoledronic acid in patients with locally advanced prostate cancer.
In a retrospective study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Kollmannsberger et al found that active surveillance for patients with clinical stage I testicular cancer is associated with very good outcomes. Most relapses occurred within 2 years of orchiectomy in patients with nonseminoma and within 3 years in those with seminoma, and late and advanced-stage relapses were infrequent.
A study reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by Wallace et al evaluated the accuracy of criteria used for predicting ovarian insufficiency and offering ovarian tissue cryopreservation in young women with cancer at the Edinburgh Children’s Cancer Centre. Ovarian tissue cryopreservation with later reimplantation remains experimental in children and adolescents.
Previous research has suggested that women with Hodgkin lymphoma who receive certain types of chemotherapy or radiotherapy are at increased risk of future infertility, but there was insufficient information to provide patients with detailed advice. In a study published in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Swerdlow et al estimated the risk of premature menopause in women being treated for Hodgkin lymphoma.
Approximately half of all patients with posterior uveal melanoma develop metastatic liver disease within 15 years. Although brachytherapy utilizing current isotopes may be hindered by associated toxicities, the isotope ruthenium-106 has been reintroduced into the U.S. market. In a study published in Practical Radiation Oncology, Takiar et al revisited the safety and efficacy of ruthenium-106–based brachytherapy in patients with uveal melanoma and found excellent tumor control and acceptable toxicity.
In a study reported in <em>JAMA Dermatology,</em> Youlden et al found that the incidence of Merkel cell carcinoma in Queensland, Australia, a known high-risk area, increased by 2.6% annually between 1993 and 2010. Five-year relative survival was 41%, with significantly better survival found in patients aged < 70 years at diagnosis, those with tumors on the face or ears, and those with stage I disease.
In a single-institution study reported in <em>JAMA Dermatology,</em> Botella-Estrada et al found that regression of primary melanomas is not associated with sentinel node status.
In a study reported in <em>JAMA Surgery,</em> Abt et al found that neoadjuvant chemotherapy is safe in women with breast cancer undergoing mastectomy with or without immediate breast reconstruction. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy was an independent predictor of reduced 30-day postoperative morbidity in women undergoing mastectomy without breast reconstruction and in those undergoing immediate tissue expander breast reconstruction.
An international scientific collaboration led by Baylor College of Medicine as part of The Cancer Genome Atlas initiative has revealed clues about genetic alterations that may contribute to a rare form of kidney cancer. The study, published in <em>Cancer Cell</em>, shows that chromophobe renal cell carcinoma represents a distinct cancer entity and reveals the biology inherent to the disease that may allow new therapies to be developed specifically for the chromophobe type of kidney cancer.
Transrectal ultrasound guided biopsy is the standard for detecting prostate cancer, but international reports have suggested that the risks associated with the procedure are increasing. In a new nationwide population-based study reported in <em>The Journal of Urology,</em> Swedish researchers found that 6% of men filled a prescription for antibiotics for a urinary tract infection within 30 days after having a prostate biopsy, with a twofold increase in hospital admissions over 5 years.
Although the majority of patients with mantle cell lymphoma respond to initial therapy, the duration of remission is typically short. Bortezomib and lenalidomide as single agents have been associated with response rates as high as 53% in patients with relapsed/refractory disease. Morrison et al reported an overall response rate of almost 40% with combination bortezomib/lenalidomide therapy in a study published in <em>Leukemia & Lymphoma</em>.
In a retrospective cohort study reported in <em>JAMA Internal Medicine,</em> Tran et al found a low rate of colorectal cancer and a relatively high rate of postprocedure hospitalization in elderly patients undergoing surveillance colonoscopy.
In an analysis in the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study population reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Ford et al found that adult woman survivors of childhood cancer have poorer psychosexual function than their siblings without childhood cancer. Risk factors for poorer function included ovarian failure, older age at assessment, ovarian failure at a younger age, treatment with cranial radiation, and cancer diagnosis during adolescence.
The oncology community mourns the loss of ASCO Past President <strong>Jesse L. Steinfeld, MD,</strong> who died on August 5, 2014, at the age of 87. A former U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. Steinfeld was a fierce advocate of building public awareness about the dangers of tobacco and smoking.
Although mortality rates associated with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma have decreased markedly due to treatment advances such as rituximab, lymphoma patients living in low-socioeconomic-status neighborhoods have a 34% greater risk of dying from their cancer and other causes than patients living in high-socioeconomic-status neighborhoods, according to new research. The study by Tao et al is published in <em>Blood</em>.
More than half of adults 65 and over with a very high mortality risk received routine cancer screenings for prostate, breast, cervical, and colorectal cancers even though the tests were unlikely to provide a benefit, according to a study. The findings suggest that overscreening is common and can lead to both patient harm and increases in health-care expenditures. The study by Royce et al is published in <em>JAMA Internal Medicine</em>.
Updated recommendations (the Lugano Classification) for initial evaluation, staging, and assessment of response in patients with Hodgkin lymphoma and non-Hodgkin lymphoma have been presented in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Cheson et al.
Barrington et al in the International Conference on Malignant Lymphomas Imaging Working Group have presented updated consensus guidelines on <sup>18</sup>F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron-emission tomography (PET)-computed tomography (CT) for staging and response assessment for FDG-avid lymphomas. The guidelines are published in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
Observational studies have suggested a potential effect of bisphosphonate treatment for osteoporosis in reducing risk of breast cancer in postmenopausal women. However, an analysis of the randomized FIT trial of alendronate and HORIZON-PFT trial of zoledronic acid reported in <em>JAMA Internal Medicine</em> by Hue et al indicates the absence of such a benefit.
In a UK population-based cohort study of associations between body mass index (BMI) and 22 specific cancers reported in <em>The Lancet</em> by Bhaskaran et al, positive associations were found for most cancers and were strongest for uterine, gallbladder, kidney, cervix, thyroid, liver, colon, ovarian, and postmenopausal breast cancers and leukemia. Inverse associations were observed for prostate and premenopausal breast cancers.
Use of panitumumab and cetuximab in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer decreased significantly after the publication of clinical trial evidence that anti-EGFR antibodies should be restricted to wild-type <em>KRAS</em> tumors, subsequent ASCO guidelines recommending <em>KRAS</em> testing before initiating anti-EGFR treatment, and a U.S. Food and Drug Administration label change. Data showing the decrease in anti-EGFR treatment for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer suggest that oncologists respond rapidly to new evidence and professional guidelines, according to a study published in the <em>Journal of Oncology Practice</em>.
BluePrint in combination with MammaPrint molecular subtyping reclassified more than 20% of breast cancer patients into a different subgroup compared with conventional assessment, according to the results of the prospective Neoadjuvant Breast Registry Symphony Trial. In the <em>Annals of Surgical Oncology,</em> Whitworth et al reported that this reclassification of patients led to an improved distribution of response rates and a more accurate picture of which patients were likely to respond to neoadjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer.
In an analysis reported in <em>JAMA Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery,</em> the International Consortium for Outcome Research (ICOR) in Head and Neck Cancer proposed modifying the current American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) staging system for oral cancer to include depth of invasion. A model incorporating depth of invasion was shown to improve prognostic performance of T staging compared with current AJCC staging.
The phase III NeoALTTO trial showed a significantly improved pathologic complete response rate with lapatinib plus trastuzumab vs either alone in women with HER2-positive early breast cancer. As reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by de Azambuja et al, the combination was not associated with any benefit in the secondary endpoints of event-free survival or overall survival, although the investigators noted that the trial was not powered to detect survival differences. Significantly better event-free survival and overall survival were observed in patients with pathologic complete response, with the association in event-free survival being significant in the combination group.
Links between a number of common respiratory diseases and an increased risk of developing lung cancer have been found in a large pooled analysis of seven studies involving more than 25,000 individuals. The findings by Denholm et al were published in the <em>American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine</em>.
The European Thoracic Oncology Platform Lungscape ALK project is investigating the prevalence and prognostic impact of ALK-positivity in resected lung adenocarcinoma in a primarily European population. As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Blackhall et al, the project has found a prevalence of 6.1% on immunohistochemistry and ≥ 2.2% on fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) in resected stage I to III disease and has confirmed that ALK-positivity on either detection method is predictive of better overall survival.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Schleiermacher et al found <em>ALK</em> mutations at relapse of neuroblastoma that were not present at diagnosis. They also found that subclonal mutations may be present at diagnosis with clonal expansion observed at relapse.
The Norwegian Colorectal Cancer Prevention Trial comparing colorectal cancer screening with flexible sigmoidoscopy vs no screening showed no reduction in colorectal cancer incidence or mortality after 7 years of follow-up. As reported by Holme et al in <em>JAMA,</em> the 11-year follow-up shows significant reductions in both incidence and mortality with screening.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the antiangiogenic agent bevacizumab (Avastin) for the treatment of persistent, recurrent, or metastatic cervical cancer. The new indication is approved for use in combination with paclitaxel and cisplatin or paclitaxel and topotecan. The FDA reviewed bevacizumab for the treatment of patients with cervical cancer under is priority review program.
Researchers at Roswell Park Cancer Institute have found that the expression pattern of a unique class of tumor-associated antigens, known as the MAGE cancer-testis antigens, correlates with clinical outcome in epithelial ovarian cancer. Based on their findings, the researchers have identified priority targets for ovarian cancer immunotherapy. The study by Daudi et al was published in <em>PLOS ONE</em>.
The 13-year follow-up of the European Randomized Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer (ERSPC), reported by Schröder et al in <em>The Lancet,</em> showed that prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening in men aged 55 to 69 years is associated with a 21% reduction in risk of prostate cancer mortality and with an increase in absolute benefit since the 9- and 11-year follow-ups. Given the potential harms associated with overdiagnosis in screening and resultant overtreatment, the authors concluded that population-based screening could not yet be recommended.
Overweight and obese women who regularly used aspirin or other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), which inhibit COX-2 expression, had a 52% lower recurrence rate of hormone-related breast cancer and a 28-month delay in time to recurrence compared with non-NSAID users, according to new data published in <em>Cancer Research</em>. The study results suggest that limiting proinflammatory mediators may be an effective way to alter the cancer-promoting effects of obesity.
In a single-center retrospective matched case-control study reported in <em>JAMA Surgery,</em> Franken et al found no significant differences in 30-day morbidity or mortality, positive margin status, major complications, hospital stay, or readmission rates for laparoscopic vs open partial hepatic resection in patients with malignant or benign disease. Intraoperative blood loss was less with laparoscopic surgery.
In a study reported in a letter to <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> Dreijerink et al in the International Breast Cancer in MEN1 Study Group identified a high risk of breast cancer in women with multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN1).
In a recent study conducted in mice, researchers discovered that the Lin28b gene may contribute to the development of several childhood cancers, including neuroblastoma, Wilms’ tumor, and hepatoblastoma. If the findings prove to be applicable to humans, the research could lead to new strategies for targeting these cancers at a molecular level. The study was published in the journal <em>Cancer Cell</em>.
Healthy men participating in the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial who actively participate in all steps of the clinical trial are most likely to undergo a biopsy, according to a study by Gritz et al published in <em>Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention</em>. Monitoring adherence behaviors in clinical trial participants can help identify participants at risk for noncompliance to a study requirement, the investigators said.
The Cancer Genome Atlas Research Network has recently reported its comprehensive molecular profiling of lung adenocarcinoma in <em>Nature</em>. Findings included a high rate of somatic mutations including alterations in tumor-suppressor genes, chromatin-modifying genes, and RNA-splicing genes and suggested novel or as-yet unidentified mechanisms in pathway activation.
In a European phase III trial (FIRE-3) reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Heinemann et al found no difference in response rate, the primary endpoint, between FOLFIRI (fluorouracil, folinic acid, and irinotecan) plus the anti-EGFR antibody cetuximab vs FOLFIRI plus the anti–VEGF-A antibody bevacizumab in first-line treatment of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer. The cetuximab-containing regimen was associated with a significant overall survival advantage.
The BRAF inhibitor vemurafenib is approved for treatment of <em>BRAF</em>-mutated metastatic melanoma. There are reports indicating that vemurafenib may be active in the treatment of intracranial neoplasms with <em>BRAF</em> mutations. As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Lee et al from Brigham and Women’s Cancer Center successfully treated a <em>BRAF</em> V600E–mutated glioma with vemurafenib monotherapy.
A new analysis confirms that U.S. lung cancer rates are declining overall, but it also uncovers previously unrecognized trends related to cancer subtype, sex, race/ethnicity, and age. Published early online in <em>Cancer,</em> the findings provide a more accurate picture of the state of lung cancer in the country and will help researchers in their ongoing efforts to monitor the population’s lung health.
In a systematic review and meta-analysis reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> de Jong et al found a dramatic improvement in overall survival among children with trilateral retinoblastoma since 1995, reflecting increased use of conventional and high-dose chemotherapy with stem cell rescue in pineal and nonpineal disease and earlier diagnosis in pineal disease.
Negative <sup>18<sup>F–fluorodeoxyglucose positron-emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) after two cycles of chemotherapy (PET2) has been shown to be associated with favorable prognosis in Hodgkin lymphoma. In a prospective study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Hutchings et al found that negative findings after the first cycle of chemotherapy (PET1) is strongly predictive of superior outcome.
In the phase III international AFFIRM trial, enzalutamide was shown to improve overall survival vs placebo in men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer after progression on docetaxel. In an analysis of secondary endpoints reported in The Lancet Oncology, Fizazi et al found that enzalutamide treatment was also associated with significantly prolonged time to first skeletal-related event and significant improvements in pain and health-related quality-of-life outcomes.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Cologuard, the first stool-based colorectal screening test that detects the presence of red blood cells and DNA mutations that may indicate the presence of certain kinds of abnormal growths that may be cancers such as colon cancer or precursors to cancer. The Centers for Medicare & Medicare Services issued a proposed national coverage determination for the screening test upon its approval.
It is unclear whether somatic mutations that are strongly associated with phenotype and prognosis in myelodysplastic syndrome are also predictive of outcome after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Bejar et al found that <em>TP53</em>, <em>TET2</em>, and <em>DNMT3A</em> mutations predict poorer survival after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved bortezomib (Velcade) for the retreatment of adult patients with multiple myeloma who had previously responded to bortezomib therapy and relapsed at least 6 months following completion of prior bortezomib treatment. The labeling update includes dosing guidelines as well as safety and efficacy findings for single-agent use or use in in combination with dexamethasone in patients previously treated with bortezomib.
Postmenopausal women who in the previous 4 years had undertaken the equivalent of at least 4 hours of walking per week had a 10% decreased risk of invasive breast cancer compared with women who were less active, according to a new study. The findings suggest that regular physical activity, even of modest intensity, has an impact on a woman’s breast cancer risk after menopause. The study by Fournier et al is published in <em>Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention</em>.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted Orphan Drug Designation to Mirati Therapeutics’ mocetinostat, a spectrum-selective HDAC inhibitor, for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. Mocetinostat is being developed as a single-agent treatment in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and bladder cancer with specific genetic mutations in histone acetyl transferases that are believed to be critically involved in the pathogenesis and progression of these tumor types.
In a phase II CALGB 40603/Alliance trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Sikov et al found that the addition of carboplatin or bevacizumab to standard neoadjuvant chemotherapy significantly improved pathologic complete response rate in patients with triple-negative breast cancer.
In a study reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> Antoniou et al identified lifetime risk of breast cancer in families with germline loss-of-function mutations in <em>PALB2</em>. Estimated cumulative risk among female mutation carriers was 14% by 50 years of age and 35% by 70 years of age. Compared with risk in the general UK population, risk was increased eight- to ninefold in mutation carriers aged < 40 years, six- to eightfold in those aged 40 to 60 years, and fivefold in those aged > 60 years.
A large DNA analysis of people with and without pancreatic cancer has identified several new genetic markers that signal increased risk of developing the highly lethal disease, reported scientists from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. The study by Wolpin et al was published in <em>Nature Genetics</em>.
Researchers from the Lester and Sue Smith Breast Center at Baylor College of Medicine have reported new information about the genetic alterations that may contribute to the development of a subtype breast cancer typically associated with more aggressive forms of the disease and higher recurrence rates. The study by Veeraraghavan et al, published in Nature Communications, found that the gene fusion <em>ESR1-CCDC170</em> was preferentially present in a subset of samples of tumors that were luminal B and estrogen receptor–positive.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Walker et al found that among nonelderly patients with the top 10 most lethal cancers, those with Medicaid or no insurance were more likely to present with advanced disease and less likely to receive cancer-directed surgery or radiation therapy and had significantly worse cancer-specific survival.
In a Children’s Oncology Group phase III trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Gamis et al found that the addition of gemtuzumab ozogamicin, an immunoconjugate targeting CD33, resulted in significantly prolonged event-free survival but not overall survival when added to standard chemotherapy in children and adolescents with de novo acute myeloid leukemia.
Risk-adjusted margin positivity rate has been suggested for use as a rectal cancer surgery quality metric. In an observational cohort study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Massarweh et al from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center identified risk-adjusted margin positivity rate status of U.S. hospitals at which rectal cancer surgery was performed and found marked differences in survival according to such status.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted Fast Track designation to pacritinib for the treatment of intermediate- and high-risk myelofibrosis, including patients with disease-related thrombocytopenia on other JAK2 therapy or patients who are intoleratnt to or whose symptoms are suboptimally managed on other JAK2 therapy. Pacritinib is an oral tyrosine kinase inhibitor with dual activity against JAK2 and FLT3.
Researchers with The Cancer Genome Atlas Research Network have completed the largest, most diverse tumor genetic analysis ever conducted, revealing a new approach to classifying cancers. The work, published in <em>Cell,</em> not only revamps traditional ideas of how cancers are diagnosed and treated, but could also have a profound impact on the future landscape of drug development.
An analysis of the gut microbiome in patients from three clinical groups representing the multistage progression in colorectal cancer has found that the composition of the gut microbiome differentiates individuals with healthy colons from those with adenomas and carcinomas. Adding gut microbiome analysis to other fecal tests may provide an improved, noninvasive tool for colorectal cancer screening. The study by Zackular et al is published in <em>Cancer Prevention Research</em>.
In a UK population-based cohort study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Cardwell et al found that statin use after diagnosis of colorectal cancer was associated with a 29% reduction in colorectal cancer–specific mortality and a 25% reduction in all-cause mortality. Improvements were greater in patients taking statins for > 1 year.
Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in men in the United States. Active surveillance offers low-risk prostate cancer patients a means to avoid the potentially harmful side effects from treatment. In a recent article in the <em>Archives of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine,</em> a multispecialty team of pathologists, radiation oncologists, surgeons, and urologists published a consensus statement with recommendations for determining patient eligibility for active surveillance.
Past exposure to immunosuppressive drugs called thiopurines has been found to increase the risk of myeloid disorders, such as acute myeloid leukemia and myelodysplastic syndrome, among patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The findings were reported by Lopez et al in <em>Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology</em>. Thiopurines are an established treatment for IBD patients, used to reduce inflammation and provide symptom relief.
Despite the fact that smoking increases the probability of cancer recurrence and reduces survival time, many cancer survivors continue to smoke. In a new study, nearly 1 in 10 cancer survivors reported being current smokers 9 years after their diagnosis, and 83% were daily smokers averaging about 15 cigarettes a day. The findings could help identify survivors most at risk for continued smoking. The study by Westmaas et al is published in <em>Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention</em>.
In a study of use of breast cancer screening modalities in the Medicare population reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Killelea et al found significant increases in use of digital image acquisition and computer-aided detection and cost of screening, but no increase in rate of detection of early-stage tumors between 2001–2002 and 2008�.
In a trial reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> Bochner et al found no difference in complication rates or length of hospital stay with robot-assisted laparoscopic radical cystectomy vs open surgery in patients with bladder cancer. Blood loss was greater and procedure time shorter with open surgery.
Mammography-detected breast cancer is associated with a shift to earlier stage diagnosis in older women, subsequently reducing the rate of more advanced, difficult-to-treat cases, according to a new study by Malmgren et al published in the journal Radiology. The findings lend support to regular mammography screening in women ages 75 and older, the researchers said.
Cancer research lost a pioneer on August 3, 2014, with the passing of <strong>Emmanuel Farber, MD, PhD,</strong> a renowned pathologist who made fundamental contributions to our understanding of chemical carcinogenesis. Dr. Farber’s studies in experimental pathology demonstrated that chemical carcinogens are capable of binding to nucleic acids, in turn generating specific DNA adducts.
Standardizing prescribing practices for single-fraction radiation therapy for palliation of bone metastases could lead to cost savings and improvement in patients’ quality of life, according to a study published in the August issue of the <em>International Journal of Radiation Oncology • Biology • Physics</em>.
An analysis in the population of the National Patient Navigation Research Program reported by Ko et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> indicates that patient navigation significantly improves the likelihood of receiving antiestrogen treatment among hormone receptor–positive breast cancer patients eligible for such treatment. No significant improvement was seen with navigation in rates of receipt of radiation therapy following lumpectomy.
In a Taiwanese retrospective cohort study reported in <em>JAMA Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery,</em> Tseng et al found that diabetes was associated with increased risk of head and neck cancer, including increased risk of oral cavity, oropharyngeal, and nasopharyngeal cancers.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has accepted for filing and granted Priority Review to the supplemental New Drug Application for ruxolitinib as a potential treatment of patients with polycythemia vera who have had an inadequate response to or are intolerant of hydroxyurea. Polycythemia vera is a myeloproliferative neoplasm characterized by an overproduction of normal red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets that leads to an increased risk of thrombosis.
Physicians at Johns Hopkins have developed blood and saliva tests that help accurately predict recurrences of HPV-linked oral cancers in a substantial number of patients. The tests screen for DNA fragments of the human papillomavirus (HPV) shed from cancer cells lingering in the mouth or other parts of the body. A description of the development was published recently in <em>JAMA Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery</em>.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted orphan drug designation to AbbVie’s investigational compound ABT-414, an anti-EGFR monoclonal antibody drug conjugate, which is being evaluated for safety and efficacy in patients with glioblastoma multiforme.
The activating mutation <em>MYD88</em> L265P has been reported in approximately two-thirds of cases of primary cutaneous diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, leg-type. In a French retrospective analysis reported in <em>JAMA Dermatology,</em> Pham-Ledard et al confirmed the high prevalence of the mutation and documented poorer survival in disease with the mutation.
In an analysis of patients with operable triple-negative breast cancer in two Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group adjuvant trials published in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Adams et al found that higher stromal compartment tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte levels were associated with significantly improved disease-free survival, distant recurrence–free interval, and overall survival.
In a European analysis reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Davies et al found that pathologic tumor downstaging after neoadjuvant chemotherapy was the strongest independent predictor of overall survival in patients undergoing surgery for esophageal and esophagogastric junction adenocarcinoma.
Women who recently used birth control pills containing high-dose estrogen and a few other formulations had an increased risk for breast cancer, whereas women using some other formulations did not, according to data published in <em>Cancer Research</em>. The investigators noted that the results should be interpreted with caution, and that prior studies have suggested that the increased risk declines after stopping oral contraceptives.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Sabine et al found that <em>PIK3CA</em> mutation was not an independent predictor of distant relapse-free survival among postmenopausal women with estrogen receptor–positive breast cancer receiving endocrine therapy in the TEAM (Exemestane Versus Tamoxifen-Exemestane) trial.
A study reported by Gragert et al in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em> indicates that most candidates for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in the United States will have a suitable adult donor on the basis of HLA matching, although many will not have optimal donors. Few will have optimal cord blood matching, but most will have units with one or two HLA mismatches.
In a letter to the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Richter et al describe a potential tyrosine kinase inhibitor withdrawal syndrome characterized by musculoskeletal pain after stopping tyrosine kinase inhibitor treatment for chronic myeloid leukemia.
In a phase II Gynecologic Oncology Group (GOG) trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Miller et al found that the combination of pemetrexed and cisplatin produced responses in the treatment of advanced, persistent, or recurrent cervical cancer.
Of the many subgroups of cells vying for control within a cancerous tumor, the most dangerous may not be those that can proliferate the fastest, a new study in <em>Nature<em> suggests. The findings have important implications for the treatment of cancer with precision medicines, the study authors explained, as doctors need to determine which cell subgroups are truly driving the tumor’s growth and metastasis and select drugs that target the critical genes within those cells.
Genomic sequencing of tumor and healthy tissue from patients with mantle cell lymphoma who failed to respond to treatment with the Bruton tyrosine kinase inhibitor ibrutinib or initially responded but then progressed, is providing an explanation for these two types of drug resistance. The analyses suggest new approaches for treating mantle cell lymphoma as well as other B-cell lymphomas. The study by Chiron et al is published in <em>Cancer Discovery</em>.
In a retrospective analysis reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Roberts et al found that risk-directed therapy based on minimal residual disease during remission induction produced similar outcomes in children with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia with vs without the <em>BCR-ABL1</em>–like subtype.
Nearly half of adult patients with lung-only metastases from Ewing sarcoma who received whole-lung irradiation were free of pulmonary relapse at 3 years, according to the results of a retrospective study in the <em>International Journal of Radiation Oncology • Biology • Physics</em>. With few acute or late complications reported with this treatment approach and a potential therapeutic effect, Casey et al suggested that whole-lung radiotherapy be considered for this adult population, as it is for pediatric patients with Ewing sarcoma that has spread to the lungs.
Multicentric Castleman's disease is characterized by overproduction of interleukin-6 (IL-6). In a trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> van Rhee et al found that the anti–IL-6 antibody siltuximab produced a significantly better response rate vs placebo in patients with the disorder receiving best supportive care.
Research conducted at The Scripps Research Institute has discovered links between a set of genes known to promote tumor growth and mucoepidermoid carcinoma, an oral cancer that affects the salivary glands. The discovery could help physicians develop new treatments that target the cancer’s underlying genetic causes.
Use of electroacupuncture—a form of acupuncture where a small electric current is passed between pairs of acupuncture needles—produces significant improvements in fatigue, anxiety, and depression in as little as 8 weeks for early-stage breast cancer patients experiencing joint pain related to the use of aromatase inhibitors to treat breast cancer. The results of a randomized, placebo-controlled trial examining the intervention led by researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania were published in <em>Cancer</em>.
A study reported by Meghani et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> showed that African American patients with cancer pain are more likely than white patients to receive morphine, with its known 3- and 6-glucuronide neurotoxic metabolites, despite their higher reported risk for chronic kidney disease and associated risk of toxic metabolite accumulation.
Compared with intravenous followed by consolidation intraperitoneal chemotherapy, primary intravenous/intraperitoneal chemotherapy was associated with a statistically significant improvement in overall survival—but not progression-free survival—in patients with advanced epithelial ovarian cancer who underwent optimal primary cytoreduction, according to the results of a study by Suidan et al in <em>Gynecologic Oncology</em>.
In a phase Ib trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Younes et al identified no maximum tolerated dose of ibrutinib when combined with R-CHOP (rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone) in first-line treatment in patients with CD20-positve B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma. A dose of 560 mg/d is being moved forward to phase II evaluation.
A new study published in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute</em> by researchers at Northwestern Medicine shed new light on the risks associated with the growing popularity of endoscopic resection in the treatment of localized, early-stage esophageal cancer. Merkow et al found that the more traditional surgical resection, while more invasive, provided significantly better 5-year conditional survival outcomes than endoscopic resection.
Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have discovered a molecule that selectively and irreversibly interferes with the activity of a mutated cancer gene common in 30% of tumors. The molecule, SML-8-73-1, interferes with the <em>KRAS</em> gene, whose proteins influence when cells divide. <em>KRAS</em> mutations are found in cancers of the lung, pancreas, and colon, and mutation carriers are less responsive to therapy. The study by Hunter et al was published in <em>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</em>.
A phase Ib study has found that a combination of the EGFR-targeted agents afatinib and cetuximab produced clinical responses in patients with <em>EGFR</em>-mutant lung cancer that had stopped responding to the EGFR inhibitors erlotinib and gefitinib. The combination benefited patients regardless of whether their cancer had acquired resistance to erlotinib or gefitinib due to T790M mutations. The study by Janjigian et al is published in <em>Cancer Discovery</em>.
In a phase Ib study reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Ribas et al found that the combination of the BRAF inhibitor vemurafenib and the MEK inhibitor cobimetinib was safe and active in the treatment of advanced BRAF V600–mutant melanoma.
There is considerable concern that uterine morcellation as part of minimally invasive hysterectomy may result in the spread of undetected malignancies. In a study reported in <em>JAMA,</em> Wright et al identified a prevalence of 27 cases of uterine cancer and 7 cases of other gynecologic malignancies per 10,000 women undergoing morcellation.
A St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital study found that 73% of adult survivors of childhood cancer more than doubled their risk of developing metabolic syndrome and related health problems by failing to follow a heart-healthy lifestyle. The results were published online in the journal <em>Cancer</em>.
Early surveillance imaging (< 6 months) after stereotactic body radiation therapy for early-stage non‒small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) seems to be of limited benefit, resulting in definitive intervention in only 3% of patients, according to the findings of a study in <em>Practical Radiation Oncology</em>. Daly et al concluded that a first surveillance scan at 6 months after treatment of early-stage NSCLC should be adequate for most patients, although larger-scale prospective studies may help to identify those few who might benefit from more aggressive surveillance.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today expanded the approved use of ibrutinib to treat patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) who carry 17p deletions, which are associated with poor responses to standard treatment for CLL. The FDA has also granted ibrutinib full approval for the treatment of patients with CLL who have received at least one prior therapy.
As reported by Motzer et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> the randomized phase II RECORD-3 trial showed that first-line use of everolimus did not achieve noninferiority in progression-free survival vs sunitinib in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma receiving sequential therapy.
In a phase III trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Cohen and et al found that induction chemotherapy before chemoradiotherapy did not improve overall survival vs chemoradiotherapy alone in patients with N2 or N3 locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.
Statin use was associated with a significantly reduced risk of developing Barrett’s esophagus, according to a new study by Nguyen et al in <em>Gastroenterology</em>. Obese patients experienced the greatest level of risk reduction with statin use. While statins have been associated with a reduced risk of esophageal cancer, this is one of the first studies to look at their effect on development of Barrett's esophagus.
The routine use of a molecular testing panel developed at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center greatly increases the likelihood of performing the correct initial surgery for patients with thyroid nodules and cancer, reported Yip et al in the <em>Annals of Surgery</em>.The test improved the chances of patients getting the correct initial surgery by 30%, according to the study.
A novel, dosimetry-triggered, adaptive intensity-modulated radiation therapy strategy for patients with cervical cancer may minimize the risk of target underdosing in the setting of very small margins and substantial interfractional motion, according to a study by Lim et al in the <em>International Journal of Radiation Oncology • Biology • Physics</em>.This finding may help drive a paradigm shift leading to improved clinical outcomes.
Bevacizumab is frequently used in patients with recurrent glioblastoma, although it is unclear whether responses observed with such treatment result in improved overall survival. In the phase II Dutch BELOB study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Taal et al found that overall survival results supported phase III evaluation of the combination of bevacizumab and lomustine but not bevacizumab monotherapy.
In a Scottish study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Zgaga et al found strong associations between plasma levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25-OHD) after a diagnosis of colorectal cancer and colorectal cancer–specific and all-cause mortality. Significant interactions of vitamin D receptor genotype/haplotype and 25-OHD levels were also observed for colorectal cancer–specific and all-cause mortality.
Mouse models of human oral cancer treated with capsazepine showed dramatic tumor shrinkage without damage to surrounding tissues, researchers from the School of Dentistry and School of Medicine at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio found. The findings by Gonzales et al were reported in <em>Oral Oncology</em>.
In a study reported in <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Xing et al found that the combined presence of <em>BRAF</em> V600E and <em>TERT</em> C228T mutations was associated with increased risk of recurrence and poor disease-free survival in patients with papillary thyroid cancer.
Investigators of The Cancer Genome Atlas project have developed a molecular classification system that divides gastric cancer into four major genomic subtypes: EBV-infected tumors, microsatellite unstable tumors, genomically stable tumors, and chromosomally unstable tumors. The classification could hasten the development of targeted therapies. The study is published in <em>Nature</em>.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today approved idelalisib (Zydelig) to treat patients with three types of blood cancers. The FDA has granted traditional approval to idelalisib in combination with rituximab for patients with relapsed chronic lymphocytic leukemia and accelerated approval for patients with relapsed follicular B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma and relapsed small lymphocytic lymphoma who have received at least two prior therapies.
Primary androgen-deprivation therapy has been widely used in localized prostate cancer, despite absence of definitive evidence of benefit in early-stage disease. In a large population-based cohort study reported in <em>JAMA Internal Medicine,</em> Lu-Yao et al found that primary androgen-deprivation therapy was not associated with improved 15-year prostate cancer–specific survival or overall survival following diagnosis of localized prostate cancer in Medicare patients aged ≥ 66 years.
In an analysis of metabolites in human kidney tissue, a research team from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania identified an enzyme key to applying the brakes on tumor growth. The metabolism-regulating enzyme, FBP1, was missing from all kidney tumors analyzed, reported Simon et al in <em>Nature</em>.
In a small Norwegian study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Paulsen et al found that methylprednisolone treatment improved fatigue, appetite loss, and patient satisfaction but not pain in patients with advanced cancer receiving opioid treatment for pain.
In a population-based cohort study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Prasad et al found that men with depressive disorder prior to prostate cancer diagnosis were significantly less likely to undergo definitive therapy and had worse overall survival across all risk strata compared with their nondepressed counterparts.
As reported in <em>The Lancet</em> by Robert et al, the anti–programmed death receptor-1 (PD-1) antibody pembrolizumab produced responses and was well-tolerated at two dose levels in an expansion cohort of a phase I trial in patients with ipilimumab-refractory advanced melanoma.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has accepted Genentech’s supplemental Biologics License Application and granted Priority Review for bevacizumab plus chemotherapy for the treatment of women with recurrent platinum-resistant ovarian cancer.
In the open-label phase III AZURE trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Coleman et al found that adjuvant zoledronic acid treatment in patients with high-risk early-stage breast cancer provided no overall disease-free survival benefit. A reduction in bone metastases was observed, and women who were > 5 years postmenopause appeared to derive a disease-free survival benefit.
Noninvasive quantitative computed tomography–based texture analysis can accurately differentiate the presence of a <em>KRAS</em> mutation from pan–wild-type non–small cell lung cancer, based on the results of a study in <em>PLOS ONE</em>. Weiss et al reported that this tumor heterogeneity information may be associated with patient survival, thus possibly helping to identify appropriate molecularly defined targeted therapy for patients with this type of lung cancer.
A study by the National Institutes of Health of more than 1 million woman has found that a negative test for human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is a more reliable predictor of the risk of developing cervical cancer than a negative Pap test. The findings suggest that primary HPV testing merits consideration as another alternative for cervical cancer screening. The study is published in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute</em>.
The antibody-drug conjugate ado-trastuzumab emtansine is currently indicated in the United States for treatment of patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer who previously received trastuzumab and a taxane and who have either received prior therapy for metastatic disease or developed disease recurrence during or within 6 months of completing adjuvant therapy. As presented in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Diéras et al have performed an integrated safety analysis of use of single-agent ado-trastuzumab emtansine in patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Waller et al found that higher marrow graft, but not peripheral blood graft, levels of plasmacytoid dendritic cells and naive CD4-positive and CD8-positive T cells in unrelated donors were associated with increased overall survival in patients with hematologic malignancy receiving hematopoietic stem cell transplants.
As reported by Sant et al in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> the population-based EUROCARE-5 study has shown significantly improved survival in hematologic malignancies in Europe between 1997 and 2008. Although improved, survival was poorer in Eastern Europe compared with other regions.
Two common gene variants that lead to longer telomere length may increase the risk of glioma, according to the results of a study presented by Walsh et al in <em>Nature Genetics.</em> This finding suggests that telomere length may prove to be a promising epidemiologic risk factor for cancer.
Most older men with low-risk prostate cancer receive upfront treatment, despite absence of clear survival benefit and potential for morbidity. In a retrospective cohort study reported in <em>JAMA Internal Medicine,</em> Hoffman et al found that use of observation as management in this setting varied widely among urologists and radiation oncologists. Patients diagnosed by urologists who treat prostate cancer were more likely to receive upfront treatment, which was also likely to be a treatment that the urologist performed.
In a retrospective analysis in the HF-ACTION trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Jones et al found that a program of aerobic training did not reduce the rate of all-cause mortality or hospitalization in cancer patients with heart failure. Some evidence suggested that patients who were able to adhere to the program had improved outcomes.
In a phase II IFM trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Roussel et al, induction and consolidation treatment with lenalidomide, bortezomib, and dexamethasone followed by lenalidomide maintenance was associated with a high response rate and favorable tolerability in patients with multiple myeloma.
Robot-assisted surgery to remove cancerous prostate glands is effective in controlling the disease for 10 years, according to a new study led by researchers at Henry Ford Hospital. The study by Diaz et al, published in <em>European Urology,</em> also suggested that traditional methods of measuring the severity and possible spread of the cancer together with molecular techniques have the potential to help create personalized, cost-effective treatment regimens for patients who undergo the procedure.
Although somatostatin analogs are commonly used to treat symptoms associated with hormone hypersecretion in neuroendocrine tumors, data on their antitumor effects are limited. In the phase III CLARINET trial reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> Caplin et al found that somatostatin analog lanreotide injection significantly prolonged progression-free survival over placebo in patients with metastatic gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors.
In a European study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Maurichi et al identified lymphovascular invasion and regression as important prognostic factors in thin melanoma. They developed a nomogram including age, mitotic rate, ulceration, lymphovascular invasion, regression, and sentinel node status that accurately predicted 12-year overall survival.
Nasal cavity and paranasal sinus tumors are rare and comprise multiple histologic types, making comparative therapeutic trials difficult. In a systematic review and meta-analysis reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Patel et al found that that charged-particle therapy appeared to be associated with better outcomes than photon therapy in this setting.
Lieu et al recently analyzed the effect of age on outcome in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer using the ARCAD (Aide et Recherche en Cancérologie Digestive) database. The findings, reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> indicate a U-shaped risk of death and death or progression characterized by greatest risk among the youngest and oldest patients.
Researchers at UC Davis, University of Massachusetts, and Harvard Medical School have developed a combination drug that controls both tumor growth and metastasis. By combining a COX-2 inhibitor, similar to celecoxib, and an epoxide hydrolase inhibitor, the drug controls angiogenesis and limits a tumor’s ability to grow and spread. The study by Zhang et al was published in the <em>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</em>.
In a study reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Noreen et al found that aspirin and hormone-replacement therapy reduced age-related gene promoter DNA methylation, and smoking and high body mass index increased methylation in the colonic mucosa in women. Similar relationships were observed between these factors and methylation of colorectal cancer-related genes.
Histologic grade, age, margin status, and use of endocrine therapy may identify a subset of women aged ≥ 50 with stage I breast cancer, who are at very low risk of disease recurrence after breast-conserving surgery plus whole-breast radiotherapy, according to a study by Smith et al in the <em>International Journal of Radiation Oncology ● Biology ● Physics</em>.The finding suggests that these women may safely forgo radiotherapy, although further study is needed to support this approach.
In a case report in <em>JAMA Dermatology,</em> Grieshaber et al describe finding cutaneous embolization of doxorubicin-eluting microspheres following transarterial chemoembolization in a woman with unresectable liver metastasis from breast cancer.
In the phase II RTOG-0234 trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Harari et al found that adjuvant chemoradiation with docetaxel or cisplatin plus cetuximab in patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck and high-risk pathologic features produced outcomes that compare favorably with historical controls not receiving cetuximab. Outcomes were better in patients in the docetaxel group, and the chemoradiation regimen with docetaxel plus cetuximab has been advanced to phase II/III study.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted Genentech’s supplemental Biologics License Application and granted Priority Review for bevacizumab plus chemotherapy in the treatment of women with persistent, recurrent, or metastatic cervical cancer.
ODM-201 is a novel androgen receptor inhibitor, structurally distinct from enzalutamide, that acts via high-affinity binding to the androgen receptor and inhibition of receptor nuclear translocation. In a phase I/II trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Fizazi et al identified no maximum tolerated dose and observed prostate-specific antigen responses in men with progressive metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.
A novel approach using ChIP-seq and RNA-seq analysis in combination with RNA expression data has identified a gene called <em>USP9X</em> that may predict which patients with estrogen receptor–positive breast cancer will benefit from tamoxifen therapy after surgery. The study by Oosterkamp et al is published in <em>Cancer Research</em>.
A randomized phase II study has found that a gel formulation of tamoxifen applied to the breasts of women with ductal carcinoma in situ was as effective in reducing cell proliferation as oral tamoxifen. In addition, the gel therapy had fewer side effects compared with oral tamoxifen. The study by Lee et al is published in <em>Clinical Cancer Research</em>.
An analysis of data from the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study reported by Siddiqui et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> indicates that vasectomy is associated with a modestly but significantly increased risk of high-grade and lethal prostate cancer.
New research raises the prospect of more effective treatments for cachexia, a profound wasting of fat and muscle occurring in about half of all cancer patients, raising their risk of death, according to scientists from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. In a study reported in <em>Nature,</em> Spiegelman et al demonstrated that symptoms of cachexia improved or were prevented in mice bearing lung tumors when they were given an antibody that blocked the effects of the parathyroid hormone–related protein, which is secreted by many types of cancer cells.
A new analysis has found that rates of testicular cancer have been rising dramatically in recent years among young Hispanic American men, but not among their non-Hispanic counterparts. Published early online in <em>Cancer,</em> the findings indicate that greater awareness is needed concerning the increasing risk of testicular cancer in Hispanic adolescents and young adults, and that research efforts are needed to determine the cause of this trend.
Using a multidimensional integrated platform that included microRNA, gene, and protein expression, researchers were able to accurately predict tumor behavior in patients with colorectal cancer. The findings have the potential to determine more effective treatments based on the unique molecular characteristics of patients’ tumors. The study by Mariani et al is published in <em>PLOS ONE</em>.
The phase II Southwest Oncology Group (SWOG) S0802 trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Allen et al showed that adding ziv-aflibercept to topotecan improved 3-month progression-free survival but increased toxicity and had no effect on overall survival, in patients with platinum-treated small cell lung cancer.
In a study intended to help define optimal screening in individuals at high risk of melanoma, Moloney et al evaluated use of full-body examinations every 6 months along with dermoscopy and total-body photography for all patients and sequential digital dermoscopy imaging as indicated. The study, reported in <em>JAMA Dermatology,</em> showed a high diagnostic yield for new primary melanomas, particularly during the first 2 years of follow-up.
Key genetic variants may affect how cancer patients respond to radiation treatments, according to a study recently published in <em>Nature Genetics</em>. The research team found that variations in the <em>TANC1</em> gene are associated with a greater risk for radiation-driven side effects in prostate cancer patients, which include incontinence, impotence, and diarrhea.
Researchers from the Cancer Genome Atlas Research Network have identified novel mutations in a well-known cancer-causing pathway in lung adenocarcinoma, the most common subtype of lung cancer. Knowledge of these mutations could potentially identify a greater number of patients with treatable mutations because many potent cancer drugs that target these mutations already exist. In addition, these findings, published online in <em>Nature,</em> may expand the number of possible new therapeutic targets for this disease.
Risk of severe irinotecan-associated neutropenia is related in part to presence of the <em>UGT1A1*28 variant,</em> which is linked to reduced elimination of the irinotecan active metabolite SN-38. In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Innocenti et al identified appropriate irinotecan dosing levels according to <em>UGT1A1*28</em> genotype.
- Long-term central venous catheter use was associated with significantly increased risk of infection in patients with breast cancer, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, head and neck cancer, colorectal cancer, lung cancer, and pancreatic cancer.
- Outcomes were similar in analysis restricted to patients at high risk of infection.
In a UK phase III trial (NCRI Myeloma X Relapse [Intensive] Trial) reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Cook et al found that high-dose melphalan plus salvage autologous stem cell transplantation significantly prolonged time to progression vs cyclophosphamide in patients with relapsed multiple myeloma who had previously received autologous stem cell transplantation and were eligible for intensive therapy.
Invading glioblastoma cells may hijack cerebral blood vessels during early stages of disease progression and damage the brain’s protective barrier, a preclinical study published in <em>Nature Communications</em> suggests. The finding by Watkins et al could ultimately lead to new ways to bring about the death of the tumor, as therapies may be able to reach these deadly cells at an earlier time point than was previously thought possible.
Invasive breast cancers with skin involvement, regardless of size or lymph node involvement, are automatically classified as stage III locally advanced tumors, which suggests that they are a relatively serious form of cancer with poor survival. In a study published in the <em>Journal of the American College of Surgeons,</em> researchers at Fox Chase Cancer Center cast doubt on that standard classification, showing that women with breast cancers with skin involvement have widely varied survival rates that differ by tumor size and nodal involvement.
In a European phase III noninferiority trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Le Deley et al found that cyclophosphamide was noninferior in event-free survival vs ifosfamide in combination with vincristine/dactinomycin as consolidation therapy in patients with standard-risk Ewing sarcoma. The investigators, however, stated that some uncertainty regarding noninferiority remained, due to the wide noninferiority margin in the trial, outcome in the per-protocol population, and potential sex differences in treatment effect.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Freund et al found that a patient navigation intervention improved diagnostic resolution and timely treatment initiation in a clinical population comprising predominantly racial/ethnic minorities and publicly insured or uninsured patients.
In the phase III FFCD 9901 trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Mariette et al found that neoadjuvant chemoradiation including fluorouracil and cisplatin did not improve R0 resection rate or overall survival and increased postoperative mortality compared with surgery alone in patients with stage I or II esophageal cancer.
In a study in the population of the North Central Cancer Treatment Group (NCCTG)/Alliance N0147 adjuvant trial reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Gonsalves et al identified patient and tumor characteristics that are associated with <em>KRAS</em> and <em>BRAF</em> V600E mutations in colon cancer. Further study is needed to define the involved causal mechanisms.
A heparin derivative differentiated cancer cells and caused neuroblastomas to regress without causing severe bleeding, according to the findings of a preclinical study presented in <em>The Journal of Clinical Investigation</em>. Knelson et al identified novel roles for heparan sulfate proteoglycans in neuroblastoma pathogenesis and stromal biology, which ultimately may include the use of heparin derivatives as prognostic and therapeutic biomarkers for this and potentially other cancers.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Sheppard et al found that frailty was a significant predictor of not starting adjuvant hormonal therapy in breast cancer patients aged ≥ 65 years, but was not predictive of discontinuation of treatment.
The multikinase inhibitor sorafenib is the only effective systemic treatment available in advanced hepatocellular carcinoma. In the phase III EVOLVE-1 trial reported in <em>JAMA,</em> Zhu et al found no survival benefit from treatment with the mTOR inhibitor everolimus after sorafenib failure in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma. There was some evidence of benefit among patients with hepatitis B virus etiology.
In the phase III CALGB 40101/Alliance trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Shulman et al found that noninferiority of adjuvant single-agent paclitaxel was not established vs doxorubicin/cyclophosphamide for relapse-free survival in women with operable breast cancer with 0 to 3 positive nodes. Paclitaxel was less toxic than doxorubicin/cyclophosphamide.
According to a new study, a cascade of molecular events in the bone marrow produces high levels of inflammation that disrupt normal blood formation and lead to potentially deadly disorders including leukemia. The discovery, published by the journal <em>Cell Stem Cell,</em> points the way to potential new strategies to treat the blood disorders and further illuminates the relationship between inflammation and cancer.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted Breakthrough Therapy status to CTL019, an investigational chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) therapy for the treatment of pediatric and adult patients with relapsed/refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia. CTL019 uses CAR technology to reprogram a patient´s own T cells to target CD19-expressing cancer cells.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Hedditch et al found that expression of ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter genes of the A subfamily (<em>ABCA</em>) had a significant impact on outcome in epithelial ovarian cancer.
CASI Pharmaceuticals, Inc, announced that its investigational agent ENMD-2076, has received orphan drug designation from the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma.
In the German phase III CONKO-003 trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,<em> Oettle et al found that second-line oxaliplatin, leucovorin, and fluorouracil (5-FU) significantly increased overall survival and time to progression vs leucovorin/5-FU in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer progressing on gemcitabine monotherapy.
In light of nonrandomized studies suggesting benefit of video-assisted thoracoscopic partial pleurectomy (VAT-PP) in symptom control and survival, Rintoul et al performed a randomized trial (MesoVATS) of VAT-PP vs talc pleurodesis in malignant pleural mesothelioma. As reported in <em>The Lancet,</em> this UK study showed no survival improvement, more frequent complications, and longer hospital stay with VAT-PP.
In a Danish study reported in <em>JAMA,</em> Andersen et al found no increased risk of cancer in patients receiving tumor necrosis factor–alpha antagonists for inflammatory bowel disease over a median follow-up of 3.7 years. However, a nonsignificantly increased risk was associated with receipt of a greater number of doses and longer time from first dose.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today granted accelerated approval to belinostat (Beleodaq), a histone deacetylase inhibitor, for the treatment of patients with relapsed or refractory peripheral T-cell lymphoma, a rare and fast-growing type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Recent retrospective, single-institution analyses have suggested that anatomic segmentectomy results in freedom from recurrence and survival rates similar to those achieved by lobectomy in lung cancer. In a large propensity-matched analysis reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Landreneau et al found no significant differences between segmentectomy and lobectomy in recurrence rates or overall survival in patients with clinical stage I non–small cell lung cancer, although outcomes tended to favor lobectomy.
In a systematic review and meta-analysis reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Friebel et al attempted to identify factors that appear to modulate risk of breast and ovarian cancer in women who have inherited <em>BRCA1</em> or <em>BRCA2</em> mutations. The findings indicated potential effects of age at first live birth and smoking for breast cancer and of breast-feeding, tubal ligation, and oral contraceptive use for ovarian cancer.
In the phase III ACOSOG Z4032/Alliance trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Fernando et al found that adjuvant brachytherapy did not improve risk for local recurrence after sublobar resection in patients with high-risk stage I operable non–small cell lung cancer.
A research collaboration between Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women’s Hospital has utilized nanomedicine technologies to develop a drug-delivery system that can precisely target and attack cancer cells in the bone, as well as increase bone strength and volume to prevent the progression of bone cancer. The study is published in <em>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</em>.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Kuhl et al found that an abbreviated breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) screening protocol, consisting of one pre- and one postcontrast acquisition and the derived first postcontrast–subtracted and maximum-intensity projection images, was accurate in detecting breast cancer in high-risk women.
The Ontario Breast Screening Program expanded in July 2011 to include screening of high-risk women aged 30 to 69 years with annual magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and digital mammography. As reported by Chiarelli et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> results of the initial screen in the program indicate that combined screening and MRI alone detected more cancers than mammography alone, combined screening had the highest positive predictive value, and the cancer detection rate was highest among women who were known risk mutation carriers.
Colorectal cancer screening rates are low among Latinos and poor people. In a study reported in <em>JAMA Internal Medicine,</em> Baker et al found that a multifaceted intervention more than doubled adherence to screening with fecal occult blood testing in a largely Latino and uninsured community health center population.
In an updated analysis of the European phase II EXPERT-C trial reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Sclafani et al found that adding cetuximab to neoadjuvant capecitabine plus oxaliplatin (CAPOX) followed by chemoradiotherapy, surgery, and adjuvant CAPOX produced no progression-free survival or overall survival benefit in the total population of patients with high-risk locally advanced rectal cancer. However, a retrospective biomarker analysis showed significant progression-free survival and overall survival benefits in the subgroup of patients with wild-type <em>TP53</em. disease.
HIV-infected people diagnosed with cancer are two to four times more likely to go untreated for their cancer compared to uninfected cancer patients, according to a large retrospective study from researchers in Penn Medicine’s Abramson Cancer Center and the National Cancer Institute. The study by Suneja et al was published in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
According to a new study, a novel screening approach called tandem minigene library screening may facilitate the antigen repertoire analysis of tumor-reactive T cells in metastatic melanoma and may lead to the development of new adoptive T-cell therapies. The new approach demonstrated that the recognition of unique cancer mutations appeared to be responsible for complete cancer regressions in two patients with metastatic melanoma who were treated with adoptive T-cell therapy. The study by Lu et al is published in <em>Clinical Cancer Research</em>.
Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and its receptor MET have been found to promote the proliferation, migration, and survival of tumor cells and to play a role in gastric cancer. In a phase II study reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Iveson et al found evidence of benefit from adding the anti-HGF monoclonal antibody rilotumumab to epirubicin, cisplatin, and capecitabine in first-line treatment of advanced gastric or esophagogastric junction cancer.
After a systematic review of 52 studies showing little evidence to support routine pelvic exams for average-risk women with no gynecologic symptoms, the American College of Physicians is recommending against performing screening pelvic examination in asymptomatic, nonpregnant women. The guideline does not apply to Pap smear screening. The guideline is published in the <em>Annals of Internal Medicine</em>.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted Breakthrough Therapy designation to blinatumomab for adults with Philadelphia chromosome–negative relapsed/refractory B-precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Blinatumomab is an investigational bispecific T-cell engager antibody designed to direct the body's cell-destroying T cells against target cells expressing CD19, a protein found on the surface of B-cell–derived leukemias and lymphomas.
Higher intakes of calcium, vitamin D, and dairy product are associated with lower risk of colorectal cancer, but the effect of such intake on survival in colorectal cancer is unclear. In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Yang et al found that higher postdiagnosis intake of calcium and milk were associated with improved overall survival.
In a study of survivors of childhood standard-risk acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Essig et al found a small but quantifiable excess risk of chronic health effects in those diagnosed between 1970 and 1986. The investigators estimated that 107 patients would need to be followed for 1 year to find one excess chronic health condition.
Surgical resection markedly improved survival among metastatic melanoma patients whose disease is isolated to a few areas in the liver, according to new study findings published in the <em>Journal of the American College of Surgeons.</em> These results mark a departure for melanoma, which is most often considered fatal once it has spread to the liver.
The new combination agent TAS-102 can improve overall survival compared to placebo in patients whose metastatic colorectal cancer is refractory to standard therapies, researchers reported at the ESMO 16th World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer in Barcelona.
Obesity is associated with poorer outcome in women with operable breast cancer. In the LISA study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Goodwin et al found that a 24-month telephone-based intervention was effective in reducing body weight in postmenopausal breast cancer patients receiving adjuvant letrozole.
Oncogenic mutations in <em>GNAQ</em> and <em>GNA11,</em> resulting in MAPK pathway activation, are observed in > 80% of uveal melanomas. In a phase II trial reported in <em>JAMA,</em> Carvajal et al found that treatment with the MEK1/MEK2 inhibitor selumetinib significantly prolonged progression-free survival vs chemotherapy in metastatic uveal melanoma, but was associated with substantial excess toxicity.
Researchers found that three-dimensional (3D) mammography, or digital breast tomosynthesis, detected significantly more invasive cancers than a traditional mammogram alone and reduced call-backs for additional imaging. Published in <em>JAMA</em>, this is the largest study reported to date—with nearly a half a million women—measuring the effectiveness of the technology, and could potentially lead to a change in the standard of care for breast screening.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Zhong et al assessed factors associated with use of immediate breast reconstruction after treatment or prophylaxis for breast cancer among women in the Canadian universal health-care system. Immediate breast reconstruction was more likely in women who were better off financially, traveled longer distances for treatment, and were treated at teaching hospitals or hospitals with multiple available plastic surgeons.
In a UK phase III TeloVac trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Middleton et al found that the sequential or concurrent addition of the telomerase peptide vaccine GV1001 to gemcitabine/capecitabine did not improve survival in patients with locally advanced or metastatic pancreatic cancer.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is likely to improve insurance coverage for young adults. In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Aizer et al examined the association between insurance status and cancer outcomes among young adults, finding that the uninsured have higher rates of presentation with metastatic disease and all-cause mortality and lower rates of definitive treatment.
Patients with human papillomavirus (HPV)-positive oropharyngeal cancer have reduced risk of progression compared with those with HPV-negative disease, but the effect of HPV status on overall survival after progression is not clear. In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Fakhry et al found that p16-positive disease was associated with improved overall survival vs p16-negative disease after progression of stage III or IV oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma.
The addition of the novel agent MM-398 to fluorouracil/leucovorin improved survival in patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer who have already received gemcitabine, according to a phase III trial reported at the ESMO 16th World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer in Barcelona. Treatment with the combination regimen resulted in significant improvements in overall survival, progression-free survival, overall response rates, and biochemical response.
A new study has found that taking low-dose aspirin on a regular basis was associated with a 48% reduced risk of developing pancreatic cancer. The earlier a person started regularly taking low-dose aspirin, the greater the pancreatic cancer risk reduction. The study by Streicher et al is published in <em>Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention</em>.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee voted 11 to 2 that current evidence from clinical studies does not support an accelerated approval for use of olaparib as a maintenance treatment for women with platinum-sensitive relapsed ovarian cancer who have the germline <em>BRCA</em> mutation, and who are in complete or partial response to platinum-based chemotherapy.
In an interim analysis of a European phase III trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Taieb et al found no disease-free survival or overall survival benefit with the addition of cetuximab to standard adjuvant FOLFOX4 therapy in patients with <em>KRAS</em> exon 2 wild-type resected stage III colon cancer. Differences in outcome in some subgroups suggest the need for additional study of cetuximab and FOLFOX adjuvant therapy in this setting.
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital announced the appointment of <strong>James R. Downing, MD,</strong> as its new CEO, effective July 15, 2014. Dr. Downing most recently has served as the Deputy Director, Executive Vice President and Scientific Director of the hospital. Dr. Downing’s primary focus immediately upon assuming the CEO office will be to oversee a new era of clinical, research, and infrastructure expansion throughout the St. Jude global network.
In a systematic review and meta-analysis reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Templeton et al found that high neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, a marker of inflammation, is associated with significantly poorer overall survival in solid tumors overall and by individual category. High neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio was also associated with significantly poorer cancer-specific survival, progression-free survival, and disease-free survival.
Researchers from Case Western Reserve and Dartmouth have shown that a class of small antioxidant molecules carries promise for suppressing colon cancer associated with colitis. These preclinical findings, published in the <em>Journal of Clinical Investigation,</em> offer hope that physicians ultimately will be able to dramatically reduce the number of patients with inflammatory bowel disease who go on to develop colon cancer.
A new imaging technique called multiparametric <sup>18</sup>FDG PET-MRI, which uses four imaging approaches, was found to be more accurate in differentiating between benign and malignant breast tumors than currently used dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI alone in a prospective study. The combination approach may lead to a reduction in unnecessary breast biopsies. The study by Pinker et al is published in <em>Clinical Cancer Research</em>.
In a UK phase III trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Vora et al found that augmented postremission therapy provided an event-free survival benefit at the cost of increased toxicity in children and young adults with clinical standard- or intermediate-risk but minimal residual disease–defined high-risk acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
The oral fluoropyrimidine S-1 is standard treatment for locally advanced gastric cancer in Japan. In a Japanese phase III trial in locally advanced disease reported in The Lancet Oncology, Tsuburaya et al found that sequential paclitaxel plus tegafur and uracil or S-1 did not improve disease-free survival over monotherapy with uracil or S-1 alone and that S-1 was associated with improved disease-free survival and overall survival compared with uracil.
In what may be the first randomized trial of systemic therapy in this setting, Dutton et al evaluated gefitinib vs placebo in patients with esophageal cancer progressing after chemotherapy. As reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> the COG trial showed no survival benefit with gefitinib but provided evidence of palliative benefit of gefitinib treatment in some patient-reported outcomes.
Bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical commonly used in plastics, appears to increase the proliferation of breast cancer cells, according to a study presented at the annual joint meeting of the International Society of Endocrinology and the Endocrine Society in Chicago. The investigators found that BPA, at levels typically found in human blood, could also affect growth of inflammatory breast cancer and diminish the effectiveness of treatments for the disease.
In a Japanese study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Fujimori et al found that an oncologist communication skills training program based on patient preferences in receiving bad news was of benefit to both oncologists and patients.
Tumor microenvironment of metastasis (TMEM) consists of direct contact between a macrophage, an endothelial cell, and a tumor cell. In a case-control study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Rohan et al found that TMEM score was an independent predictor of distant metastasis in patients with estrogen receptor–positive/HER2-negative breast cancer.
Trebananib inhibits angiogenesis by blocking the binding of angiopoietins 1 and 2 to the Tie2 receptor expressed on endothelial cells, a mechanism that differs from VEGF inhibitors and that involves a different signaling pathway. In a phase III TRINOVA-1 trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Monk et al found that adding trebananib to paclitaxel significantly prolonged progression-free survival in patients with recurrent epithelial ovarian cancer and exhibited a toxicity profile different from VEGF inhibitors.
A study by Hoppe et al from the University of Florida Proton Therapy Institute reported that the use of proton therapy following chemotherapy in patients with Hodgkin lymphoma has a success rate similar to conventional treatments with a reduction of radiation outside of the target area, potentially reducing the risk of late effects caused by radiation.
In an online report in the journal <em>Cancer</em>, de Souza et al at the University of Chicago have described the first tool to measure a patient’s risk for, and ability to tolerate, financial stress. The researchers refer to the expense, anxiety, and loss of confidence confronting cancer patients who face large, unpredictable costs, often compounded by decreased ability to work, as “financial toxicity,” and they have named their patient-reported outcome measure COST (COmprehensive Score for financial Toxicity).
Extended colectomy in patients with sporadic colorectal cancer who were younger than age 50, in comparison with segmental resection, did not improve the risk of tumor recurrence or disease-free survival, according to the results of a retrospective study presented by Klos et al in the <em>Journal of Surgical Oncology</em>. This finding comparing extended vs segmental resection in younger patients further affirmed the use of segmental resection in this patient population.
In a study reported in <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Azambuja et al found low rates of trastuzumab-related cardiac dysfunction over a median of 8 years of follow-up in the HERA trial. The majority of patients with cardiac dysfunction achieved acute recovery.
In a study of the association of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), thyroglobulin, and thyroid hormones with risk of differentiated thyroid cancer reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute</em>, Rinaldi et al found that high thyroglobulin levels can precede thyroid cancer by many years and that low TSH may be associated with thyroid cancer risk. Neither marker had sufficient accuracy to be suitable for use in screening.
Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited announced today that it has voluntarily decided to end the development program for orteronel, an investigational oral, nonsteroidal, selective inhibitor of 17,20-lyase, for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer following failure to achieve a primary endpoint of overall survival in two phase III studies.
A study from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center found that the use of sentinel lymph node biopsy to stage early breast cancer increased in both black and white women from 2002 to 2007, but the rates remained lower in black than in white patients, a disparity that contributed to disparities in the risk for lymphedema. The study was published in <em>JAMA Surgery.</em>
New research published online in <em>Blood</em> suggests that the diversity of bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract of patients receiving stem cell transplants may be an important predictor of their post-transplant survival.
A “reasonable” delay prior to surgery for colon cancer may not result in worse outcomes, according to the results of a retrospective study presented by Amri et al in the <em>Annals of Surgical Oncology.</em> Flexibility in scheduling surgery may lead to an improvement in the quality and safety of resection and treatment.
Used as a conditioning regimen for allogeneic transplantation in patients with acute leukemia, reduced-intensity total-body irradiation yielded similar overall and relapse-free survival rates to those seen with myeloablative total-body irradiation but with shorter hospital stays and fewer intensive care unit admissions, according to the results of a retrospective study presented in the <em>International Journal of Radiation Oncology • Biology • Physics.</em> Mikell et al suggested that their favorable results with this less toxic treatment approach may offer a strong basis for extending its use in the future to younger, more fit patients.
New research has found that pretreatment of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas with the vaccine GVAX and low doses of cyclosphosphamide caused the aggregation of immune cells inside patients’ tumors, and many of these immune cells expressed proteins that may make these cancers amenable to immunotherapies. The study by Lutz et al is reported in <em>Cancer Immunology Research.</em>
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine have completed the first comprehensive survey of e-cigarettes for sale online, and the results, they believe, underscore the complexity in regulating the rapidly growing market for the electronic nicotine delivery devices. The survey findings were published in a special supplement of the journal <em>Tobacco Control</em>.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Pollack et al found antigen-specific immune responses and evidence of clinical activity with glioma-associated antigen (GAA) peptide vaccination in children with newly diagnosed malignant brainstem and nonbrainstem gliomas.
In a European study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Moreau et al developed and validated a combined index for prognosis in patients with multiple myeloma treated with front-line autologous stem cell transplantation. The index, consisting of high lactate dehydrogenase level, International Staging System stage III disease, and adverse cytogenetics, identified a group of patients at high risk of early multiple myeloma progression-related death and overall mortality.
Prone accelerated intensity-modulated radiation therapy with a concomitant boost produced excellent local tumor control and cosmesis while sparing normal tissues in women with early-stage breast cancer, according to the 5-year study results reported by Osa et al in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology • Biology • Physics. An ongoing phase III randomized trial evaluating a dose and technique similar to those in this study may provide conclusive data about the future role of hypofractionation in women with breast cancer.
A study by Mariani et al and reported in <em>Oncotarget</em> shows that high levels of expression of two proteins, HGF and c-Met, are present in women with ovarian cancer who did not benefit from undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy to shrink their tumor before having surgery. Using HGF and c-Met inhibitors may improve the efficacy of neoadjuvant chemotherapy in this setting.
A unique public-private collaboration among the National Cancer Institute, SWOG Cancer Research, Friends of Cancer Research, the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health, five pharmaceutical companies, and Foundation Medicine today announced the initiation of the Lung Cancer Master Protocol (Lung-MAP) trial, a multidrug, multiarm, biomarker-driven clinical trial for patients with advanced squamous cell lung cancer.
A study of patients with breast cancer has found a relationship between longitudinal changes in cognitive complaints and changes in brain activation after chemotherapy. The study by Deprez et al is published in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology.</em>
A study by VanderWalde et al reported in JAMA Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery finds that the increased use of positron-emission tomography for diagnosis and staging of head and neck cancer has resulted in considerable stage migration characterized by dilution of higher stages with patients who have better prognosis.
A study of 18 patients with anorectal melanoma finds that the cancer tends to be diagnosed at stage II or later and is prone to misdiagnosis. Although disease-specific survival appears to be better with wide local excision vs abdominoperineal resection, larger studies assessing optimal medical and surgical management of this rare cancer are needed to improve outcomes. The study by Hicks et al is reported in JAMA Surgery.
Women who begin menstruation at an older age have a significantly increased risk of developing a brain tumor, according to a Moffitt Cancer Center study published in the Journal of Neuro-Oncology.
In a study of data from an integrated health-care delivery system reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Fehrenbacher et al found that patients with T1b node-negative localized breast cancer have a higher risk of distant invasive recurrence than those with T1a disease. Risk was highest among patients with T1b tumors reported at 1.0 cm.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved a new use for technetium 99m tilmanocept (Lymphoseek Injection), a radioactive diagnostic imaging agent used to help doctors determine the extent to which squamous cell carcinoma has spread in the body’s head and neck region.
In a Danish cohort study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Rugbjerg et al found that survivors of adolescent and young adult cancer are at increased risk of cardiovascular disease throughout life, with cardiovascular disease profiles differing according to cancer type.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Eberth et al found that needle biopsy is underused in diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer, with a number of surgeon factors contributing to underuse. The study involved Medicare data from 89,712 patients with breast cancer seen between 2003 and 2007 and 12,405 surgeons. Factors analyzed included surgeon consultation before vs after biopsy, use of needle biopsy, and number of surgeries for cancer treatment.
New study findings published in <em>Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention</em> show that childhood cancer survivors face frequent hospitalizations and longer lengths of hospital stays because of blood disorders and other problems, many years following the completion of their cancer treatment. Better strategies are needed to prevent, manage, and treat conditions in young survivors before they become severe enough to require hospitalization, according to the study.
In the first phase III trial assessing the combination of an insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor inhibitor with chemotherapy as first-line treatment for advanced nonadenocarcinoma non–small cell lung cancer, the addition of the fully human immunoglobulin G2 monoclonal antibody figitumumab to paclitaxel/carboplatin did not improve overall survival over chemotherapy alone. The study, reported by Langer et al in <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> was stopped early due to futility and an increased frequency of serious adverse events, including treatment-related death, in patients receiving figitumumab.
Palliative resection of the primary tumor was associated with a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in overall survival in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer, according to the results of a study reported in the <em>Annals of Surgical Oncology</em>. Gresham et al noted that these improved outcomes occurred regardless of the receipt of systemic therapy and the extent of metastases.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Tammemägi et al assessed smoking cessation rates among participants undergoing chest x-ray or computed tomography screening for lung cancer in the National Lung Screening Trial. Among patients without a subsequent diagnosis of lung cancer, they found that screening abnormalities were significantly associated with smoking cessation. This finding suggests that lung cancer screening programs may provide opportunities to reduce smoking rates.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved a new indication for gadobutrol (Gadavist) injection for intravenous use with magnetic resonance imaging of the breast to assess the presence and extent of malignant breast disease. The approval is based on priority review of two multicenter phase III studies (GEMMA-1 and GEMMA-2).
Barbara L. McAneny, MD, has been re-elected to the Board of Trustees of the American Medical Association (AMA) and will assume the position of Board Chair when the trustees gather for their first postelection meeting. Dr. McAneny, who has been a Board member since 2010, has been Chair-Elect of the Board for the past year. Her re-election to the AMA Board affirms her transition to Board Chair.
In the past 30 years, since mammography was introduced, late-stage breast cancer incidence has decreased by 37%, a new study published in <em>Cancer</em> has found. The analysis by Helvie et al took into account an observed underlying trend of increased breast cancer incidence present since the 1940s.
Weekly paclitaxel is used as second-line treatment in advanced gastric cancer, including HER2-positive disease, in Asian countries. In the phase III TyTAN trial in Asian patients reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Satoh et al assessed the addition of the anti-HER2 agent lapatinib to paclitaxel in this setting. Although overall response rate was improved with the combination, no significant improvements were observed in overall survival or progression-free survival.
A study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute</em> by Stout et al suggests that the switch from film to digital mammography screening in the United States has produced a small health benefit at increased cost and with an increased false-positive rate. Biennial digital screening beginning at age 40 vs 50 years is cost-effective but associated with a high false-positive rate. Annual digital screening does not appear to be cost-effective.
Stopping statin therapy is safe for patients with cancer who have a life expectancy of less than 1 year, according to a randomized study reported at the 2014 ASCO Annual Meeting. Discontinuing statins did not shorten survival and provided a number of important benefits, including reduced pill and symptom burden and improved overall quality of life.
Adding goserelin to standard chemotherapy may be an effective method of preserving fertility among women with early-stage hormone receptor–negative breast cancer, according to findings from a federally funded phase III clinical trial. Women who received goserelin along with chemotherapy were less likely to develop premature ovarian failure compared to women who received chemotherapy alone, and more likely to have successful pregnancies, as well as higher 4-year survival.
Introducing a palliative care support program for caregivers of patients with advanced cancer at or near the time patients are diagnosed provides greater benefits than delayed palliative care services, according to results of a randomized trial. The results demonstrated that family caregivers’ quality of life, mood, and stress burden were improved in the groups that received the intervention closest to the time of diagnosis.
There may be significant genomic differences between patients with invasive lobular breast cancer and those with invasive ductal breast cancer, according to the results of a study presented by Sawyer et al in <em>PLOS Genetics</em>. This finding leads to further insights into the biology of lobular breast tumors, a difficult-to-diagnose subtype that accounts for 10% to 15% of all breast cancer cases.
The use of radiotherapy for the index ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) may affect subsequent treatment of tumor recurrences and complications after breast-conserving surgery, reported Greenberg et al in the <em>Annals of Surgical Oncology</em>. Based on the results of this retrospective cohort study, the long-term clinical implications of initial treatment decisions for women with [DCIS] warrant serious consideration.
Findings from a phase III randomized study suggest that women with breast cancer and bone metastasis who have received at least nine doses of zoledronic acid over the previous year can safely scale back dosing from every 4 weeks to every 12 weeks without compromising the effectiveness of the bisphosphonate in reducing skeletal-related events. Lower doses also may decrease the risk of adverse events associated with zoledronic acid.
According to a phase II study, customizing radiation doses based on response to induction chemotherapy and other prognostic factors may allow lower doses of radiation therapy to be administered to some patients with human papillomavirus (HPV)-positive oropharyngeal cancer without compromising outcomes. This approach may potentially result in significant reductions in toxicity while maintaining high rates of progression-free and overall survival.
As reported in <em>JAMA Ophthalmology,</em> McCannel et al identified three cases of subfoveal neurosensory retinal detachment among patients receiving MEK inhibitor therapy for metastatic cancer in clinical trials requiring ophthalmologic examination at their institution. In all cases, the toxic effect occurred within a short time after starting therapy, was associated with mild symptoms, and was self-limiting.
In a phase III trial reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine and presented at the 2014 ASCO Annual Meeting, Beer et al found that enzalutamide treatment prior to chemotherapy was associated with significantly prolonged progression-free survival, overall survival, and time to chemotherapy compared with placebo in patients with metastatic disease progressing despite androgen-deprivation therapy.
A recently reported phase II trial indicated that maintenance therapy with the PARP inhibitor olaparib significantly improved progression-free survival vs placebo in patients with platinum-sensitive serous ovarian cancer. As reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by Ledermann et al, a preplanned retrospective analysis of outcomes according to <em>BRCA</em> status indicated better progression-free survival outcome in patients with vs without <em>BRCA</em> mutation. A second interim overall survival analysis showed no improvement with olaparib in all patients or in those with <em>BRCA</em> mutation.
The combination of lenalidomide and rituximab has shown synergistic activity in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) preclinical models. In a CLL Research Consortium phase II study of the combination in treatment-naive patients reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> James et al found that intrapatient dose-escalation of lenalidomide was safe and that the majority of older and younger patients reached the maximum lenalidomide dose and responded to combination treatment.
Concurrent treatment with ipilimumab and nivolumab resulted in a 2-year survival rate of 79% for patients with advanced melanoma in a phase I trial. Tumor reduction of more than 80% was observed in 42% of the initial patients treated, and responses were durable.
Findings from a large phase I study of 411 patients with advanced melanoma show that the PD-1–targeting antibody pembrolizumab (MK-3475) produced responses in 34% of patients, including 28% of patients whose disease progressed on prior treatment with ipilimumab. Among those who responded to pembrolizumab, 88% had ongoing responses at a median follow-up of 12 months.
Adjuvant therapy with ipilimumab for patients with high-risk stage III melanoma significantly improved recurrence-free survival, the primary endpoint of the phase III EORTC 18071/CA 184-029 study. Patients randomly assigned to receive ipilimumab had a 9-month absolute improvement in recurrence-free survival, 26.1 months vs 17.1 months for patients receiving placebo.
In a phase III trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Smerage et al assessed whether changing chemotherapy after one cycle of first-line treatment in patients with persistent circulating tumor cell elevation could improve overall survival. They found that change in cytotoxic chemotherapy did not prolong overall survival, and their findings confirmed the strong prognostic effect of circulating tumor cells level in this setting.
Around a quarter of smokers who carry a mutation in the <em>BRCA2</em> gene will develop lung cancer at some point in their lifetime, a large-scale, international study reveals. Scientists described a previously unknown link between lung cancer and a particular <em>BRCA2</em> mutation, which occurs in around 2% of the population, in new research published in <em>Nature Genetics</em>. The defect in <em>BRCA2</em> increases the risk of developing lung cancer by about 1.8 times.
In a Dutch population-based study reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> de Glas et al found that the Adjuvant! Online prediction tool performed poorly in older patients with early-stage breast cancer, significantly overestimating or underestimating overall survival depending on comorbidity modeling.
A small proportion of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) have been observed to relapse during ibrutinib treatment, but mechanisms of resistance to irreversible kinase inhibitors and resistance associated with Bruton’s tyrosine kinase inhibition have not been elucidated. As reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> Woyach et al have identified mutations conferring resistance to ibrutinib in CLL.
The combination of two investigational oral drugs, the PARP inhibitor olaparib and the antiangiogenic drug cediranib, significantly extended progression-free survival and increased the overall response rate compared to olaparib alone in a phase II study among women with recurrent, platinum-sensitive ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer. Toxicities were higher with the combination, but could be controlled with aggressive symptom management and dose reductions.
A phase III study presented at the 2014 ASCO Annual Meeting found that the oral targeted drug lenvatinib is highly effective among patients with differentiated thyroid cancer resistant to standard radioiodine therapy. Patients experienced rapid, high response rates and an improvement in progression-free survival of more than 14 months after being treated with lenvatinib.
The large phase III ALTTO study found no statistically significant differences in 4-year disease-free survival among women with early HER2-positive breast cancer who received adjuvant treatment that combined the HER2-targeted drugs trastuzumab and lapatinib and those who received standard treatment with trastuzumab alone.
Bevacizumab plus chemotherapy and cetuximab plus chemotherapy produced equal survival benefits for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer and no <em>KRAS</em> mutations, according to results from a large federally funded phase III study. There were no significant differences between the two treatment groups in either overall survival (29 and 29.9 months for bevacizumab and cetuximab, respectively) or progression-free survival (10.8 and 10.4 months).
In a phase I study, ceritinib was found to shrink tumors in patients with anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)-positive non–small cell lung cancer, regardless of whether patients had received previous treatment with an ALK inhibitor. The study was presented at the 2014 ASCO Annual Meeting.
The addition of docetaxel to androgen-deprivation therapy extended survival for men with newly diagnosed hormone-sensitive prostate cancer by more than 13 months in the National Cancer Institute–led phase III E3805 study. The survival benefit was even greater for men with high-volume disease.
A joint analysis of two phase III trials (TEXT and SOFT) demonstrated that the aromatase inhibitor exemestane more effectively prevents breast cancer recurrences than tamoxifen, when either was given with ovarian function suppression to premenopausal women with hormone-sensitive cancers. Exemestane plus ovarian function suppression reduced the relative risk of women developing a subsequent invasive cancer by 28% and the relative risk of breast cancer recurrence by 34% compared with tamoxifen plus ovarian function suppression.
Early findings from the phase III RESONATE study indicate that ibrutinib produces durable tumor responses and marked improvement in survival over standard ofatumumab for patients with relapsed chronic lymphocytic leukemia. At a median follow-up of 9.4 months, response rates were dramatically higher in the ibrutinib arm compared to the ofatumumab arm (42% vs 4%). Ibrutinib was associated with an 80% lower risk of disease progression and a 57% reduced risk of mortality compared to ofatumumab.
In a long-term follow-up analysis of RTOG 9802, the addition of PCV (procarbazine, lomustine, and vincristine) to radiotherapy prolonged both progression-free survival and overall survival in adult patients with low-grade glioma. The findings were reported at the 2014 ASCO Annual Meeting in Chicago.
Patients with stage IV non–small cell lung cancer who relapsed after initial platinum-based therapy had extended overall survival with a combination of the antiangiogenic agent ramucirumab and standard chemotherapy with docetaxel, compared to patients receiving docetaxel plus placebo in the phase III REVEL study. The findings were presented at the 2014 ASCO Annual Meeting in Chicago.
In a phase I open-label study, the investigational anti–programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) monoclonal antibody MPDL3280A demonstrated promising overall response rates in patients with previously treated metastatic urothelial bladder cancer whose tumors were characterized as PD-L1–positive. The results of the study were presented at the 2014 ASCO Annual Meeting in Chicago.
An international, randomized phase III study found that replacing vincristine with bortezomib in R-CHOP significantly improved outcomes in newly diagnosed patients with mantle cell lymphoma who were ineligible for bone marrow transplant treatment. The bortezomib-based combination (VR-CAP) demonstrated a 59% relative improvement in progression-free survival, reported investigators at the 2014 ASCO Annual Meeting in Chicago.
- Partial responses or stable disease with combination vemurafenib, cetuximab, and irinotecan was seen in all eight patients with colorectal cancer who underwent restaging scans following the beginning of their treatment.
- The response rate for the eight colorectal patients receiving combination therapy was 50% vs less than 10% in patients treated with single-agent vemurafenib.
- A phase II trial of this combination in BRAF-mutated colorectal cancer will begin later this year.
The majority of women with <em>BRCA1</em> and <em>BRCA2</em> mutations experience sexual dysfunction, menopausal symptoms, cognitive and stress issues, and poor sleep following risk-reducing salpingo-oophorectomy, according to results of a new study presented at the 2014 ASCO Annual Meeting in Chicago. The findings reaffirm the need for a better understanding of how to manage long-term effects of the risk-reducing procedure.
Men with prostate cancer generally have an excellent prognosis, but questions remain about the risk of second primary malignancies after initial therapy for localized disease. According to a new study presented at the 2014 ASCO Annual Meeting in Chicago, although the overall risk of second malignancies is low, men who received radiation therapy were more likely to develop bladder or rectal cancer.
Oncologists now have a new understanding of the toxicity levels of specific chemotherapy regimens used for women with early-stage breast cancer, according to research from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. The retrospective study, reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Barcenas et al, used large population-based data to compare the risk of hospitalization for six common chemotherapy regimens.
A large study of Caucasian women has found that those who had at least five blistering sunburns when they were 15 to 20 years old had a 68% increased risk for basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma of the skin, and an 80% increased risk for melanoma. Study participants who were exposed to the highest amounts of cumulative ultraviolet radiation in adulthood had no increased risk for melanoma, but had a 2.35-fold increased risk for developing basal cell carcinoma and a 2.53-fold increased risk for developing squamous cell carcinoma. The study by Wu et al is published in <em>Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention</em>.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Mandelblatt et al attempted to determine whether cognitive impairment is present in older patients with breast cancer prior to systemic therapy. They found that although there were no global differences in cognitive function between patients and controls, subgroups of patients had impaired function in association with greater comorbidity and tumor burden.
The availability of cross-sectional imaging has resulted in increased diagnosis of low-grade pancreatic neoplasms and use of central pancreatectomy as an alternative to standard resection for such lesions. In a French single-center experience reported in <em>JAMA Surgery,</em> Goudard et al found that central pancreatectomy for benign and low-grade pancreatic neoplasms produced excellent long-term pancreatic function but was associated with substantial morbidity and higher-than-expected mortality.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by O’Connell et al, the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP) Trial R-04 is assessing four chemotherapy regimens given concurrently with preoperative radiotherapy in order to help identify optimal treatment in patients with stage II or III rectal cancer. The findings for surgical outcomes show no differences in pathologic complete response, sphincter-sparing surgery, or downstaging to sphincter-sparing surgery for continuous intravenous fluorouracil vs capecitabine or for regimens with vs without oxaliplatin, but indicate an increased frequency of severe diarrhea with oxaliplatin.
The American Society of Clinical Oncology issued an update to its clinical practice guideline on the use of adjuvant endocrine therapy for women with stage I to III hormone receptor–positive breast cancer. The guideline was published in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
In the noninferiority COREAN trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Jeong et al found that laparoscopic surgery was associated with disease-free survival similar to that with open surgery for mid- or low-rectal cancer.
A content analysis of clinical advertisements by cancer centers featured in top U.S. consumer magazines and on television networks has found that the ads often promote cancer therapy with emotional appeals that are focused on survival or cure, but rarely provide information about risks. This may lead to unrealistic expectations and inappropriate treatments. The study was published in <em>Annals of Internal Medicine</em>.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved palonosetron hydrochloride (Aloxi) injection for the prevention of acute nausea and vomiting associated with initial and repeat courses of emetogenic cancer chemotherapy, including highly emetogenic cancer chemotherapy, in children aged 1 month to less than 17 years. This is the first approval of a product for acute chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting prevention in patients aged 1 month to 6 months.
In a study reported in <em>JAMA Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery,</em> Rocke et al compared hypothetical resource allocation by otolaryngology&endash;head and neck surgery physicians and patients with that by advanced cancer patients or their caregivers. They found significant differences in resource allocation between the two groups, with allocation being affected by patient/caregiver but not physician baseline health attitudes.
In the phase II open-label noncomparative BINGO trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Malka et al found no apparent benefit of adding the EGFR inhibitor cetuximab to gemcitabine/oxaliplatin in first-line treatment of advanced biliary tract cancer.
Researchers have identified a mutated gene common to adenosquamous carcinoma tumors, the first known unique molecular signature for this rare, but particularly virulent, form of pancreatic cancer. The findings by Liu et al are published in <em>Nature Medicine</em>.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved panitumumab for use in combination with FOLFOX as first-line treatment in patients with wild-type <em>KRAS</em> (exon 2) metastatic colorectal cancer. The FDA also approved the therascreen <em>KRAS</em> test as a companion diagnostic to guide use of panitumumab in the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer.
In an open-label phase II trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Glass et al examined the strategy of adding rituximab to standard prophylaxis for graft-vs-host disease after allogeneic stem cell transplantation in relapsed or refractory aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Rituximab did not appear to reduce graft-vs-host disease or improve survival.
A patient-centered educational and behavioral program focusing on self-care strategies appears to be an effective way to reduce the risk of lymphedema in survivors of breast cancer, according to the results of a prospective study by Fu et al at New York University. These findings, reported in the <em>Annals of Surgical Oncology,</em> offer initial evidence in support of a shift in the focus of lymphedema care away from treatment and toward proactive risk reduction.
In the Japanese phase III DELTA trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Kawaguchi et al found that erlotinib was associated with no progression-free survival or overall survival advantage as second- or third-line therapy in <em>EGFR</em>-unselected patents with non–small cell lung cancer.
Although presence of circulating tumor cells has been shown to predict reduced survival in metastatic breast cancer, data on their predictive performance in earlier breast cancer are lacking. In a study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Rack et al found that presence of circulating tumor cells was associated with reduced disease-free survival and overall survival in patients with early average- to high-risk breast cancer who participated in the SUCCESS trial.
The addition of sorafenib to yttrium-90 radioembolization was associated with higher rates of biliary complications and potentially more acute rejections prior to transplantation in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma, according to the results of a prospective randomized pilot study. These findings, reported by Kulik et al in the <em>Journal of Hepatology,</em> support the continued use of locoregional therapies in the bridge to transplantation, although ongoing sorafenib research may be of clinical interest earlier in the course of liver disease.
In a meta-analysis reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Pettersson et al found that percentage dense area on breast mammography is a stronger predictor of breast cancer than absolute dense area. An inverse association of absolute nondense area and risk was also observed.
Current treatment options for relapsed/refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML), which carries a very poor prognosis, are generally ineffective. In a phase III trial (CLAVELA) reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Roboz et al found that elacytarabine, a novel elaidic acid ester of cytarabine, provided no overall survival or relapse-free survival benefit compared with investigator’s choice in this setting.
Patients deciding to undergo contralateral prophylactic mastectomy as part of initial treatment for breast cancer is a growing challenge in the management of the disease. Removing the unaffected breast has not been shown to increase survival, and the more aggressive procedure is associated with more complications and a difficult recovery. In a recent study published in <em>JAMA Surgery,</em> Hawley et al found that the majority of patients who chose to undergo contralateral prophylactic mastectomy had no major risk factors for developing cancer in both breasts.
In a European phase II trial (REAL07) reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Vitolo et al examined the addition of lenalidomide to rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisolone every 21 days (R-CHOP21) in elderly patients with untreated diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. The regimen produced a high response rate and was safe in this population.
Fibrous tissue long suspected of making pancreatic cancer worse actually supports an immune attack that slows tumor progression but cannot overcome it, scientists at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center reported in the journal <em>Cancer Cell</em>. The team’s findings point to a potential new avenue for guiding treatment, including immunotherapy, and offer an explanation for the failure of a promising combination drug approach in clinical trials.
Patient advocate <strong>Selma Schimmel</strong> died at age 59 on May 21, 2014, from complications of ovarian cancer at Providence Tarzana Medical Center near her home in Los Angeles, California. Ms. Schimmel was a 31-year cancer survivor and founder of Vital Options International, an organization dedicated to supporting people touched by cancer.
In a letter to <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> Zhu et al described identification of resistance mutations in acute promyelocytic leukemia patients receiving arsenic trioxide and all-<em>trans</em> retinoic acid therapy.
In a phase III trial (PROSE) reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Gregorc et al assessed the predictive value of a proteomic signature serum protein test for likely outcome of EGFR inhibitor therapy in non–small cell lung cancer patients receiving second-line therapy with the EGFR inhibitor erlotinib vs chemotherapy. They found that the test was predictive of differential survival benefit for erlotinib vs chemotherapy, with patients classified by the test as likely to have poor outcome on EGFR inhibitor therapy having better outcome on chemotherapy.
In a recent study by the Lung Cancer Mutation Consortium, investigators incorporated tumor genotyping into therapeutic decision-making for patients with lung adenocarcinomas. An oncogenic driver was detected in 64% of tumors from patients in this study. According to data from this study published in the <em>Journal of the American Medical Association,</em> matching drugs to the oncogenic drivers identified through this program may improve patients’ survival.
According to a new study by researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, selection of men for active surveillance for prostate cancer should be based not on conventional biopsy, but on a new, imaging-guided targeted prostate biopsy. The new biopsy method is now a routine part of the UCLA active surveillance program. The study findings were published in <em>The Journal of Urology</em>.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Kaseb et al developed a plasma insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1)-based score for hepatic reserve in hepatocellular carcinoma and compared its predictive ability with that of the Child-Turcotte-Pugh (CTP) score in two cohorts of patients. They found that the IGF-1-based scoring system provided better risk stratification than CTP score.
Epithelial-mesenchymal transition plays a key role in tumor cell invasion, metastasis, and drug resistance, and the transcription factor brachyury has recently been identified as a driver of this process. In a study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Palena et al found that a high level of brachyury mRNA expression in breast tumors was associated with markedly increased risks of recurrence and distant metastasis in patients who had received adjuvant tamoxifen.
In a phase III trial (CA184-043) reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Kwon et al assessed the effects of adding ipilimumab after radiotherapy in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer progressing after docetaxel chemotherapy. The investigators found no improvement in overall survival vs placebo but did see significant improvement in progression-free survival. Moreover, the hazard ratio for overall survival for ipilimumab vs placebo decreased over time and was significant in favor of ipilimumab at later time points.
One of the first studies to analyze the effectiveness of screening survivors of childhood cancer for early signs of impending congestive heart failure found improved health outcomes but suggested that less frequent screening than currently recommended may yield similar clinical benefit. Researchers used a simulation-based model to estimate the long-term benefits associated with routine screening. The findings by Yeh et al, published in the <em>Annals of Internal Medicine,</em> suggest that the current congestive heart failure screening guidelines for survivors of pediatric cancer should be reexamined.
A proposed metric of quality of cancer care is whether chemotherapy is administered in the last 14 days of life. In a retrospective study of patients at MD Anderson Cancer Center reported in <em>JAMA Internal Medicine,</em> Rodriguez et al found an overall rate of chemotherapy use in the last 14 days of life of 7.4%, including rates of 3.7% in patients with solid tumors and 24.8% in patients with hematologic malignant neoplasms.
In an article in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Sartor et al report symptomatic skeletal event outcomes in the phase III ALSYMPCA trial, the trial supporting the May 2013 approval of radium-233 dichloride in patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer and bone metastases. They found that compared with placebo, radium-223 treatment was associated with significantly prolonged time to first symptomatic skeletal event, reduced risk of the need for external-beam radiation therapy for bone pain, and reduced risk of spinal cord compression.
Preclinical studies of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor cells and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma cells found elevated levels of the protein CD47. Blocking CD47 expression using a monoclonal antibody produced antitumor activity and may offer a new approach for treating patients with pancreatic cancer.
A randomized phase Ib study of a radioimmunotherapy, fractionated <sup>90</sup>Y-clivatuzumab tetraxetan, in combination with the chemotherapy agent gemcitabine has found a significant survival advantage compared with radioimmunotherapy alone in patients with metastatic pancreatic ductal cancer. The combination therapy was also found to be safe, with few side effects.
A series of studies evaluating the cost-effectiveness, risks, and outcomes associated with detecting, diagnosing, and treating testicular cancer were presented at a press conference during the 2014 Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Urological Association in Orlando, Florida.
According to the results from three studies published in <em>European Urology,</em> the 17-gene Onco</em>type</em> DX Genomic Prostate Score is a significant predictor of disease aggressiveness at the time of diagnosis before intervention with radiation or surgery. The test provides more precise and individualized risk assessment than currently available tools and may help physicians choose the most appropriate treatment for their patients.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Hung et al assessed the ability of the 2011 International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer/American Thoracic Society/European Respiratory Society (IASLC/ATS/ERS) adenocarcinoma classification system to predict disease recurrence and survival in completely resected stage I to III lung cancer. The classification system had significant predictive value, with micropapillary- and solid-predominant tumors being associated with poorer outcome.
In a phase II trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Plimack et al evaluated whether a neoadjuvant three-cycle/6-week course of accelerated methotrexate, vinblastine, doxorubicin, and cisplatin with pegfilgrastim could safely shorten time to surgery without reducing achievement of pathologic complete response (pT0) in patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer. The accelerated regimen was found to be well tolerated and to produce pT0 rates comparable to those achieved with standard 12-week methotrexate, vinblastine, doxorubicin, and cisplatin treatment in historical controls.
In a phase II trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Choueiri et al found that a neoadjuvant four-cycle/8-week regimen of dose-dense methotrexate, vinblastine, doxorubicin, and cisplatin was well tolerated and effective in patients with muscle-invasive urothelial cancer.
Cervical cancer rates in the United States are higher than previously believed, particularly among 65- to 69-year-old women and African American women, according to a study by Rositch et al published in Cancer. Current U.S. cervical cancer screening guidelines do not recommend routine Pap smears for women over 65 if their prior test results have been normal.
A recent comprehensive analysis of lung cancer rates for women around the world found that lung cancer rates are dropping in young women in many regions of the globe, pointing to the success of tobacco control efforts. However, rates continue to increase among older women in many countries, indicating a need for more concentrated efforts to initiate or expand comprehensive tobacco control programs across the globe to curtail future tobacco-related lung cancer deaths. The study by Torre et al is published in <em>Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention</em>.
A study investigating the health impact of water pipe smoking on young adults has found elevated levels of nicotine, cotinine, tobacco-related carcinogens, and volatile organic compounds, such as benzene and acrolein, in their urine. The significant intake of nicotine and carcinogens may place users at increased risk for cancer and other chronic diseases. The study by St. Helen et al is published in <em>Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention</em>.
Results from a phase III study investigating necitumumab (IMC-11F8) in combination with gemcitabine and cisplatin as first-line treatment for advanced squamous non–small cell lung cancer show a statistically significant improvement in overall survival of patients with stage IV disease. The results provide a potential new treatment option for patients.
Retrospective studies have shown that pharmacologic thromboprophylaxis is underutilized in hospitalized patients with cancer, who are believed to be at high risk of venous thromboembolism. In a prospective cross-sectional study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Zwicker et al found that although pharmacologic thromboprophylaxis is frequently administered to hospitalized patients with cancer, it is commonly used without regard to presence or absence of concomitant risk for venous thromboembolism.
A new study of 80,000 women with early breast cancer in 70 clinical trials finds that obesity is associated with a 34% higher risk of breast cancer–related death only among the 20,000 premenopausal women who had estrogen receptor–positive disease. Obesity had little effect in postmenopausal estrogen receptor–positive disease or in estrogen receptor–negative disease.
A new model projects 5-year outcomes of implementing the recent U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommendations for annual low-dose computed tomography lung cancer screening in a high-risk Medicare population. The model estimates that gradual implementation of the screening program would result in roughly 54,900 more lung cancer cases detected over a 5-year period, a large majority of which would be early-stage disease.
According to early results from a phase I study, a new targeted drug, PLX3397, appears remarkably active against a rare neoplastic joint disorder known as pigmented villonodular synovitis. The study evaluated patients whose disease had progressed despite all other available therapies. More than three-quarters (79%) of the evaluable patients responded to the treatment, having a mean 61% reduction in tumor volume and rapid and substantial improvements in symptoms.
Findings from a phase I study of a new mutant-selective EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor, AZD9291, point to a promising new treatment option for patients with advanced, <em>EGFR</em>-mutant, non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) that is resistant to standard EGFR inhibitors. Roughly 50% of patients experienced tumor shrinkage, and the drug worked particularly well in patients with the <em>T790M</em> mutation (detected in 60% of patients), which causes the most common form of EGFR therapy resistance.
According to a large, population-based observational study of men who had a prostate-specific antigen–only based relapse after prostate surgery or radiation therapy, delaying androgen deprivation therapy until the onset of symptoms or appearance of cancer on a scan does not substantially compromise long-term survival. The findings suggest that it may be safe to postpone androgen deprivation therapy, reducing and/or delaying treatment-related side effects and costs. The study results were presented today at a presscast in advance of the 2014 ASCO Annual Meeting.
Researchers at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles have discovered that by targeting the B-cell activating receptor, chemotherapy-resistant precursor B acute lymphoblastic leukemia cells can be selectively killed in vivo and in vitro. The findings by Parameswaran et al are published in <em>Molecular Cancer Therapeutics</em>
As reported in a research letter in <em>JAMA Dermatology,</em> Watanabe et al found that diffuse erythema at presentation in patients with leukemic T-cell lymphoma was associated with better response to low-dose alemtuzumab compared with patients presenting with preexisting plaques or tumors.
Treating cord blood cells that express CD34 with histone deacetylase inhibitors increases the number of multipotent cells of functional cord blood stem cells for use as transplantation grafts, according to a study by Chaurasia et al. The findings, published in <em>The Journal of Clinical Investigation,</em> may lead to a clinical benefit for adult patients with blood cancers.
In a phase II feasibility study (MRC FOCUS3) reported in <em>British Journal of Cancer,</em> Maughan et al used <em>KRAS</em> and <em>BRAF</em> mutation status and topoisomerase-1 expression status to randomly assign patients with advanced colorectal cancer to molecular hypothesis–driven treatment or control treatment. They found that patient samples can be collected and analyzed in a timely fashion with reproducible mutation results and that the complex design was acceptable to patients provided with good information regarding study conduct and treatments.
In a report in <em>JAMA Dermatology,</em> Zhu et al discuss two cases in which clinically significant squamous cell carcinoma was found within the tumor bed of locally advanced basal cell carcinoma during vismodegib treatment for basal cell carcinoma. In one, basal cell carcinoma tumor shrinkage in response to vismodegib revealed the squamous cell carcinoma; in another, biopsy prompted by tumor progression during vismodegib treatment revealed the squamous cell carcinoma. These cases underline the importance of repeat biopsy in such circumstances.
A phase I study of an experimental immunotherapy, hu14.18K322A, in children with refractory or recurrent neuroblastoma has found that the therapy shrank tumors, caused them to disappear completely, or stabilized the disease in some patients. The study by Navid et al is published in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
A new study by researchers at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center–Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute provides evidence that genetically modifying immune cells might effectively treat multiple myeloma. The findings by Chu et al were published in <em>Clinical Cancer Research</em>.
Positive positron-emission tomography (PET) scans have low positive predictive value after chemotherapy in patients with Hodgkin lymphoma. In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Kobe et al assessed whether use of pretreatment and post-treatment computed tomography (CT) could improve outcome prediction. They found that the combination of PET and relative tumor size reduction as determined by CT identifies patients at high risk for progression and early relapse.
In a study reported in <em>British Journal of Cancer,</em> Shaw et al assessed the accuracy of several reported criteria for identifying insignificant prostate cancer for active surveillance in a population of unscreened men. None of the examined tools provided sufficient discrimination of insignificant cases.
Cowden syndrome, an autosomal-dominant disorder characterized by the development multiple hamartomas, is associated with increased risk of breast, thyroid, endometrial, and renal cancers in patients with underlying germline <em>PTEN</em> mutations. In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Ngeow et al identified high risks of second malignant neoplasms in these patients.
In patients with non–small cell lung cancer, preoperative positron-emission tomography (PET) has been shown to limit the number of unnecessary surgeries, according to the results of a study reported by Zeliadt et al in the <em>Journal of Nuclear Medicine</em>. Besides its value in the accurate staging of non–small cell lung cancer, preoperative PET may assist in clarifying regional lymph node status.
A new method for using immunotherapy to specifically attack tumor cells that have mutations unique to a patient’s cancer has been developed by scientists at the National Cancer Institute. The researchers demonstrated that the human immune system can mount a response against mutant proteins expressed by cancers that arise in epithelial cells. The study, published by Tran et al in <em>Science</em> provides evidence that this immune response can be harnessed for therapeutic benefit in patients.
In a UK trial (EnROL) reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Kennedy et al compared outcomes with open vs laparoscopic resection of colorectal cancer within a multimodality enhanced recovery program. Such programs are intended to improve all aspects of perioperative care and have been shown to reduce postoperative complications. The trial showed no difference between the surgical approaches in the primary outcome measure of physical fatigue. Laparoscopy was associated with a shorter hospital stay.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Howlader et al identified U.S. incidence rates for breast cancer by joint hormone receptor (estrogen and progesterone receptor) status and HER2 status using Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) data. They found differences in the incidence of these subtypes by race/ethnicity, age, and other tumor factors.
There are limited data on outcomes after surgery for intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma. In a systematic review and meta-analysis reported in <em>JAMA Surgery,</em> Mavros et al found that tumor characteristics are the primary predictors of survival after curative intent surgery, indicating the need for earlier diagnosis and effective adjuvant therapy.
In a study reported in <em>JAMA Internal Medicine,</em> Tosteson et al assessed responses to false-positive screening mammograms. According to the authors, their findings indicate that “false-positive mammograms are associated with a measurable, small, and transient effect on personal anxiety.” False-positive mammograms did not result in reduced intention to undergo subsequent mammography.
A new study investigating the silencing of RGS10 transcript expression in ovarian cancer has identified two epigenetic regulators, HDAC1 and DNMT1, that are highly associated with the RGS10 promoter in chemoresistant ovarian cancer cells. The findings by Cacan et al suggest that inhibiting these regulators could be a new approach to overcoming chemoresistance in ovarian cancer. The study is published in <em>PLOS ONE</em>.
Few options are available to treat pain from bone metastases in patients refractory to drug and radiation therapy. In a phase III study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Hurwitz et al found significant pain relief using magnetic resonance–guided focused ultrasound surgery--a noninvasive method of thermal tissue ablation--in patients in whom other treatments had failed.
In a randomized phase II trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> von Minckwitz et al found that adding neoadjuvant carboplatin to regimens consisting of a taxane, an anthracycline, and a targeted therapy improved pathologic complete response rate in patients with triple-negative or HER2-positive breast cancer, with the benefit appearing to be limited to patients with triple-negative disease.
Geographic proximity to services has been identified as a potential barrier to cancer screening, and there is evidence of disparity in colorectal cancer outcomes between urban and rural U.S. residents. In a study reported in <em>JAMA Surgery,</em> Aboagye et al identified a significantly greater density of gastroenterologists, general surgeons, and radiation oncologists per 100,000 population in urban vs rural U.S. counties, a finding that may in part explain disparity in colorectal cancer outcomes.
An analysis of the metabolic profiles of hundreds of ovarian tumors has revealed a new test to determine whether ovarian cancer cells have the potential to metastasize. The study, which was published in <em>Molecular Systems Biology,</em> also suggests how ovarian cancer treatments can be tailored based on the metabolic profile of a particular tumor.
Men who begin taking statins after prostate cancer surgery are less likely to have a recurrence of their cancer, according to a retrospective analysis led by researchers at Duke Medicine. However, a secondary analysis revealed that this protective association was only significant among nonblack men. The study by Allott et al was published in <em>BJU International</em>.
In a Spanish trial (PETHEMA ALL-AR-03) reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Ribera et al found high disease-free and overall survival rates with delayed consolidation and maintenance chemotherapy in high-risk Philadelphia chromosome–negative acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) patients with early cytologic response and low levels of minimal residual disease as assessed by flow cytometry after early consolidation.
In a Chinese study reported in <em>JAMA Surgery,</em> Huang et al found that preoperative elevated hepatitis B virus (HBV) surface antigen level is an independent risk factor for hepatocellular carcinoma recurrence and mortality in patients with low HBV DNA levels undergoing hepatic resection.
In the open-label phase III TH3RESA trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by Krop et al, ado-trastuzumab emtansine significantly prolonged progression-free survival compared with physician’s choice of therapy in patients with progressive HER2-positive advanced breast cancer who had received two or more HER2-directed regimens in the advanced setting, including trastuzumab and lapatinib, and previous taxane therapy in any setting. Interim analysis showed an overall survival benefit of ado-trastuzumab emtansine that did not meet the stopping boundary.
A surgical method combining two techniques for removing precancerous polyps during colonoscopies can substantially reduce the recovery time and the length of hospital stays, which may translate into significant cost savings, according to research presented this week at Digestive Disease Week in Chicago.
A retrospective study published online ahead of print in <em>Urology</em> by researchers at Roswell Park Cancer Institute found that patients with metastatic kidney cancer—even those with chronic renal insufficiency—can tolerate and benefit from high-dose interleukin-2 immunotherapy.
Of 53 National Cancer Institute cancer centers, only 43% report implementing survivorship care plans for at least some of their cancer survivors. In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Blanch-Hartigan et al found that a minority of a nationally representative sample of oncologists and primary care physicians routinely discuss all aspects of survivorship care or furnish survivorship care plans for cancer survivors.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> D’Souza et al found that while human papillomavirus (HPV)-positive patients with oropharyngeal cancer had high prevelances of oncogenic oral HPV DNA and oral HPV16 DNA, their sexual partners did not appear to have increased risk of oncogenic oral HPV infection.
Approximately 15% of patients with breast cancer have tumors that overexpress the HER2 protein, and these patients can benefit from HER2-targeted therapies. The American Society of Clinical Oncology recently released a clinical practice guideline on systemic therapy for patients with advanced HER2-positive breast cancer.
The American Society of Clinical Oncology has recently released a clinical practice guideline on disease management for patients with advanced HER2-positive breast cancer and brain metastases. A companion ASCO clinical practice guideline on systemic therapy for patients with advanced HER2-positive breast cancer has also been published in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved omacetaxine mepesuccinate for injection, for subcutaneous use, to include home administration. With this approval, physicians who treat adults with chronic- or accelerated-phase chronic myeloid leukemia who are no longer responding to, or who could not tolerate, two or more tyrosine kinase inhibitors will have the option to allow their patients to administer omacetaxine mepesuccinate therapy at home.
In a trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Spathis et al found that that the central nervous system stimulant modafinil had no effect on fatigue compared with placebo in patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer. Fatigue improved in both groups during the 28-day study.
In a study reported in <em>JAMA Otolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery,</em> Davies and Gilbert found that the incidence of thyroid cancer has nearly tripled since 1975. However, the increase appears to represent an “epidemic of diagnosis” and to almost exclusively represent increased diagnosis of papillary thyroid cancer.
A phase III trial reported in 2013 showed noninferiority of pazopanib vs sunitinib for progression-free survival in first-line treatment of clear cell metastatic renal cell carcinoma. In a letter to the editor in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> Motzer et al provided the final analysis of overall survival in the trial. As with the progression-free survival findings, overall survival results were similar in the two groups.
Researchers have developed a computational model that simulates different cell types involved in bone metastasis of prostate cancer. The new model has the potential to rapidly assess experimental therapy outcomes and determine personalized medicine for patients with prostate cancer. The study by Araujo et al is published in <em>Cancer Research</em>.
Patients with locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck treated with hyperfractionated radiation therapy experienced improved local-regional control and, with patients censored at 5 years, improved overall survival with no increase in late toxicity, according to a study published by Beitler et al the <em>International Journal of Radiation Oncology • Biology • Physics</em>.
Surgery for metastatic breast cancer conveys a significantly increased risk for morbidity and mortality at 30 days vs surgery for earlier-stage disease, according to researchers from the University of Toronto who presented their findings at the American Society of Breast Surgeons Annual Meeting in Las Vegas.
Radiation therapy, an emerging treatment modality for breast cancer in the lymph nodes, is associated with significantly fewer postoperative complications than axillary lymph node dissection, according to a detailed analysis of morbidity from the AMAROS trial presented at the American Society of Breast Surgeons Annual Meeting in Las Vegas.
Cryoablation of breast tumors, which destroys lesions by exposing them to extremely low temperatures, may be a promising alternative to surgery in carefully selected women with early-stage disease, according to a study presented at the American Society of Breast Surgeons Annual Meeting in Las Vegas. In the multicenter phase II ACOSOG (Alliance) Z1072 trial of 99 patients with early-stage invasive ductal carcinoma, cryoablation resulted in complete ablation of tumor in 69% of patients overall and in 94% of patients with tumors < 1 cm.
Vitamin D deficiency was an indicator of aggressive prostate cancer and disease spread among European American and African American men who underwent their first prostate biopsy because of an elevated or abnormal prostate-specific antigen and/or abnormal digital rectal examination, according to research by Murphy et al. The study is published in <em>Clinical Cancer Research</em>.
Preliminary data indicate that a noninvasive breath analysis tool offers similiar sensitivity as PET scanning and almost twice the specificity of PET for distinguishing patients with benign lung disease from those with early-stage cancer. The results of the study were presented at the American Association for Thoracic Surgery 2014 Conference.
In a retrospective study of salivary gland cancer survival reported in <em>JAMA Otolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery,</em> Russell et al found black patients with mucoepidermoid or squamous cell carcinoma have poorer disease-specific survival than white patients, with no difference being observed between white and Hispanic patients in any histologic subtype.
Expression of the inflammatory cytokine interleukin (IL)-1 alpha is a very early step in the inflammatory response that characterizes the malignant phenotype and that is associated with angiogenesis, tumor invasiveness, metastasis, and cachexia. In a phase I dose-escalation study reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Hong et al found that the true human anti–IL-1 alpha antibody MABp1 was well tolerated, safe, and associated with disease control in patients with refractory cancers. No dose-limiting toxicity or immunogenicity was observed.
In a single-blind phase III trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Zhu et al compared the use of <sup>125</sup>iodine seed–loaded vs conventional covered stents along with single high-dose brachytherapy as palliative treatment in patients with unresectable esophageal cancer. Use of the irradiated stents was associated with a small but statistically significant improvement in overall survival and reduced dysphagia during follow-up.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted accelerated approval to ceritinib (Zykadia) for patients with a metastatic anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)-positive non–small cell lung cancer who were previously treated with crizotinib. Ceritinib is an ALK tyrosine kinase inhibitor that works by blocking proteins that promote the development of cancerous cells.
Prior studies have suggested that low baseline quality-of-life scores predict worse survival in patients with high-risk, operable lung cancer. However, according to the results of a multicenter, longitudinal study of high-risk lung cancer patients presented today at the 94th American Association for Thoracic Surgery Annual Meeting, low global quality-of-life scores were not associated with lower survival, recurrence-free survival, or higher risk of adverse events following sublobar resection.
In a retrospective single-institution study reported in <em>JAMA Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery,</em> Hess et al identified differences in lifestyle habits, comorbidities, and adherence to radiation therapy between human papillomavirus (HPV)-positive and HPV-negative patients with oropharyngeal carcinoma that are likely to contribute to disparities in outcome.
The incidence of breast cancer in women treated with chest radiation therapy for childhood cancer previously has been estimated at 5% to 14% by age 40 years and is among the highest reported for any population. In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Moskowitz et al found that the cumulative incidence of breast cancer by age 50 was 30% among childhood cancer survivors overall and 35% among those treated for Hodgkin lymphoma. Risk was highest in patients who had received lower doses of radiation to the whole-lung field or high doses of radiation to the mantle field.
In a retrospective population-based study reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology, Castinetti et al found no difference in disease-free survival and less steroid dependence with adrenal-sparing surgery vs total adrenalectomy in patients with multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2–associated pheochromocytoma.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved a 20 mg/mL oral suspension of mercaptopurine (Purixan) indicated for the treatment of patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia as part of a combination regimen. The approval was based on a clinical pharmacology study that assessed the bioequivalence of mercaptopurine tablets with that of mercaptopurine oral suspension in a healthy adult population.
Researchers from the Abramson Cancer Center and the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have employed a novel DNA vaccine that indirectly kills cancer cells by targeting a protein found in the tumor vasculature. The vaccine also indirectly creates an immune response to the tumor itself, amplifying the effect by a phenomenon called epitope spreading. The results of the study were published this month in the <em>Journal of Clinical Investigation</em>.
A new study has found that loss of paid employment after a diagnosis of early-stage breast cancer may be common and potentially related to the type of treatment patients received. Published early online in <em>Cancer,</em> the findings by Jagsi et al support efforts to reduce the side effects and burden of treatments for breast cancer and to identify patients who may forego certain treatments, particularly when the expected benefit is low.
Patients with radioactive iodine–refractory locally advanced or metastatic differentiated thyroid cancer have a poor prognosis. In a double-blind phase III trial (DECISION) reported in <em>The Lancet,</em> Brose et al found that sorafenib increased progression-free survival in this setting.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Fokas et al found that prospectively evaluated tumor regression grading was a significant prognostic factor for distant metastasis and disease-free survival after 132 months of follow-up in patients with locally advanced rectal carcinoma treated with preoperative chemoradiotherapy in the German Cancer Society CAO/ARO/AIO-94 trial.
In a meta-analysis reported in <em>JAMA,</em> Lee et al found that use of first-generation EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors in patients with advanced wild-type <em>EGFR</em> non–small cell lung cancer was associated with poorer progression-free survival compared with chemotherapy, although no difference in overall survival was observed.
The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) has issued a new guideline, “The Role of Postoperative Radiation Therapy for Endometrial Cancer: An ASTRO Evidence-Based Guideline,” that details the use of adjuvant radiation therapy in the treatment of endometrial cancer. The guideline’s executive summary is published in the May-June 2014 issue of <em>Practical Radiation Oncology</em>.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved the first human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA test that can be used as a primary cervical cancer screening test for women aged 25 years and older. Using a sample of cervical cells, the cobas HPV Test detects DNA from 14 high-risk HPV types. The test specifically identifies HPV 16 and HPV 18, while concurrently detecting 12 other types of high-risk HPV.
A study of HIV-infected women in the United States, Brazil, and South Africa has found that the quadrivalent human papillomavrius vaccine was safe and immunogenic against HPV types 6, 11, 16, and 18, even if the women had had HIV for years. The study by Kojic et al is published in <em>Clinical Infectious Diseases</em>.
As part of its implementation of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act signed by the President in 2009, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today proposed a new rule that would extend the agency’s tobacco authority to cover additional tobacco products. Products that would be subject to the proposed FDA regulation include electronic cigarettes, cigars, pipe tobacco, nicotine gels, waterpipe tobacco, and dissolvables not already under the FDA’s authority.
In a phase III double-blind crossover trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Leenstra et al found that oral doxepin hydrochloride rinse significantly reduced radiotherapy-associated acute oral mucositis pain compared with placebo in patients receiving radiation therapy for head and neck malignancies. More patients also preferred to continue doxepin rinse treatment.
In a phase IIa trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Miller et al assessed combined HER2-targeted therapy with the antibody-drug conjugate ado-trastuzumab emtansine and pertuzumab in women with HER2-positive locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer. The combination showed activity in both first-line and second- or later-line metastatic settings and was not associated with any new safety signals.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today approved siltuximab (Sylvant injection) for the treatment of patients with multicentric Castleman’s disease who are human immunodeficiency virus–negative and human herpes virus-8–negative. This is the first FDA-approved drug to treat multicentric Castleman’s disease, a rare disorder similar to lymphoma that causes an abnormal overgrowth of immune cells in lymph nodes and related tissues in the body.
Nationwide data on mortality and morbidity from colorectal cancer resections in the aging population are lacking. In a study reported in <em>JAMA Surgery,</em> Jafari et al found that there has been an overall decrease in numbers of resections and improved in-hospital mortality in older patients, although risk-adjusted mortality and morbidity continue to be markedly higher than in younger patients.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted Orphan Drug designation to alvocidib, a potent cyclin-dependent kinase small-molecule inhibitor, for the treatment of patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The agent is being tested in patients with intermediate- or high-risk AML, who typically have a poor prognosis due to limited treatment options.
OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals, Inc, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Fast Track designation to the investigation of custirsen (OGX-011) when administered in combination with cabazitaxel/prednisone for the treatment of men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer following prior treatment with a docetaxel-containing regimen.
In the double-blind phase III BOLERO-3 trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> André and colleagues assessed the addition of the mTOR inhibitor everolimus to trastuzumab plus vinorelbine in women with HER2-positive trastuzumab-resistant advanced breast cancer who had previously received taxane therapy. The addition of everolimus to the combination significantly prolonged progression-free survival but also resulted in higher rates of hematologic and nonhematologic toxicities.
In female patients undergoing breast cancer lumpectomies, intraoperative frozen section margin assessment has been shown to decrease overall reoperation rates, according to the results of a study presented by Boughey et al in the journal <em>Surgery</em>. This finding may lead to lower health-care costs, a reduction in future surgeries, and improved cancer outcomes.
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine have discovered a biomarker called CD61 on the surface of drug-resistant tumors that may be responsible for inducing tumor metastasis by enhancing the stem cell–like properties of cancer cells. The findings, published online in <em>Nature Cell Biology,</em> may point to new therapeutic opportunities for reversing drug resistance in a range of cancers, including those in the lung, pancreas, and breast.
In a population-based study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Eriksson et al found that Swedish men with cutaneous malignant melanoma have more advanced stage at diagnosis and worse disease-specific survival if they live alone. Women living alone did not have worse disease-specific survival.
In an open-label trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Bucaneve et al found that the combination of piperacillin/tazobactam plus tigecycline was more effective as empiric therapy vs piperacillin/tazobactam alone in febrile neutropenic high-risk patients with hematologic malignancies.
In a prospective cohort study reported in <em>JAMA Internal Medicine,</em> Li et al found that recent and ever use of sildenafil for erectile dysfunction was associated with increased risk of subsequent melanoma, but not squamous cell or basal cell carcinoma.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved ramucirumab (Cyramza) to treat patients with advanced or metastatic gastric cancer or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma with disease progression on or after prior treatment with fluoropyrimidine- or platinum-containing chemotherapy. Ramucirumab is a recombinant monoclonal antibody of the IgG1 class that blocks activation of the vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-2.
A common genetic variant that affects one in three people appears to significantly increase the risk of colorectal cancer from the consumption of processed meat, according to a study published today in <em>PLOS Genetics</em> by Figueiredo et al. The study of over 18,000 people from the United States, Canada, Australia, and Europe represents the first large-scale genome-wide analysis of genetic variants and dietary patterns that may help explain more of the risk factors for colorectal cancer.
Although doctors have long known that people with Down syndrome have a heightened risk of developing acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) during childhood, they haven’t been able to explain why. In a new study published online in <em>Nature Genetics</em>, Lane et al tracked the genetic chain of events that links a chromosomal abnormality in Down syndrome to the cellular havoc that occurs in ALL.
In an analysis from the EPIC study reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Sieri and colleagues found that high dietary intake of total fat and saturated fat were associated with increased risk of estrogen receptor–positive/progesterone receptor–positive breast cancer and that high saturated fat intake was associated with significantly increased risk of HER2-negative disease.
In an interim analysis of the open-label phase III AVAST-M trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>, Corrie et al found that adjuvant bevacizumab in patients with resected melanoma at high risk of recurrence has thus far produced no overall survival benefit but was well tolerated. Five-year overall survival results are awaited.
As reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Riester et al have identified gene-expression signatures predictive of survival and debulking status in late-stage ovarian cancer.
A study by Gurel et al has found a link between the presence of chronic inflammation in benign prostate tissue and high-grade prostate cancer. The association was found even in men with low prostate-specific antigen levels. The study is published in <em>Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention</em>.
As reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by Tombal et al, a single-arm phase II trial of the androgen receptor inhibitor enzalutamide has shown that the agent is active in suppressing disease and well tolerated in men with hormone-naive prostate cancer.
In a safety communication notice issued yesterday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration discouraged the use of laparoscopic power morcellation for the removal of the uterus or uterine fibroids in women. Based on an analysis of currently available data, the procedure poses a risk of spreading unsuspected cancerous tissue, notably uterine sarcomas, beyond the uterus.
Pulmonary nodules are common and many more will be found with implementation of lung cancer screening. In a retrospective cohort study reported in <em>JAMA Internal Medicine,</em> Wiener et al found that patients with pulmonary nodules were at high risk of both underevaluation and overevaluation for cancer, with the latter including unneeded procedures with potential for harm.
In a study of health-care organization data reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> Corley et al assessed the relationship between proportion of colonoscopies performed by a gastroenterologist that detect an adenoma and risk of subsequent interval colorectal cancer and colorectal cancer mortality. They found that adenoma detection rate is inversely proportional to risk of interval cancer and death from colorectal cancer.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved ofatumumab injection in combination with chlorambucil for the treatment of previously untreated patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, for whom fludarabine-based therapy is considered inappropriate.
The optimal extent of surgical resection is unclear in patients with parotid superficial lobe lymph node metastasis from cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma and malignant melanoma. In a single-institution retrospective review reported in <em>JAMA Otolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery</em>, Thom et al found that total parotidectomy may benefit such patients, since metastasis to the deep lobe is common.
In the open-label noninferiority phase III ASPECCT trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Price et al found that anti-EGFR monoclonal antibody treatment with panitumumab produced a noninferior overall survival outcome vs cetuximab in patients with chemotherapy-refractory wild-type <em>KRAS</em>exon 2 metastatic colorectal cancer.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Orphan Drug Designation to volasertib for acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Volasertib is currently being evaluated in a phase III clinical trial for the treatment of patients aged 65 or older, with previously untreated AML, who are ineligible for intensive remission induction therapy. The agent has not been approved by the FDA regulatory authorities, and its safety and efficacy have not been established.
Cytogenetically normal acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is the largest and most heterogeneous cytogenetic AML subgroup. As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Pastore et al have developed a widely applicable prognostic model for cytogenetically normal AML that combines established patient and disease characteristics.
A new noninvasive blood-based assay called cMethDNA was found to be highly sensitive in detecting advanced breast cancer and monitoring tumor burden and treatment response in women with metastatic breast cancer. The study by Fackler et al is published in <em>Cancer Research</em>.
In a phase I dose-escalation study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Chien et al examined whether intermittent dosing of lapatinib could allow delivery of higher doses and achievement of higher plasma concentrations in women with HER2-overexpressing breast cancer in order to overcome HER2/HER3 signal buffering capacity.
Scientists have identified two unlikely partners in a type of immune cell called a macrophage that work together in response to cancer drugs to increase inflammation in a way that may alter tumor growth. The study by Lowe et al was published in <em>Cancer Research</em>.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Park et al examined single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with other cancers for potential associations with lung cancer. They found that the breast cancer SNP <em>LSP1</em> rs3817198 was associated with significant risk of lung cancer, and particularly adenocarcinoma, in women.
The National Cancer Institute of Canada Clinical Trials Group MAP.3 trial showed that daily exemestane treatment reduced invasive breast cancer risk by 65% among postmenopausal women. In a quality-of-life study in the MAP.3 population reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Maunsell et al found that exemestane was associated with small negative effects on vasomotor symptoms, sexual symptoms, and bodily pain, reflecting clinically important worsening in a small excess of subjects compared with placebo.
Noncompliance appears to be a major challenge for active surveillance, according to the results of long-term follow-up of patients with prostate cancer presented at the European Association of Urology 29th Annual Congress in Stockholm. Over a quarter of men dropped out of the active surveillance program during the course of the 13-year study.
A majority of cancer patients experience some level of fatigue during their course of treatment, and approximately 30% contend with persistent fatigue for years after treatment. ASCO has adapted a pan-Canadian guideline on screening, assessment, and care of cancer-related fatigue in adults with cancer, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Guideline for Cancer-Related Fatigue, and the NCCN Guidelines for Survivorship for use in the screening, assessment, and management of fatigue in adult survivors of cancer.
ASCO has adapted the Pan-Canadian Practice Guideline on Screening, Assessment, and Care of Psychosocial Distress (Depression, Anxiety) in Adults With Cancer for use in the screening, assessment, and care of anxiety and depressive symptoms in adults with cancer.
ASCO has released a clinical practice guideline on prevention and treatment of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy in adult cancer patients, published in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>. No specific treatments are recommended for use in chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy prevention, and there are recommendations against use for many. Duloxetine is recommended for chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy treatment. Although their routine use is not recommended, due to insufficient evidence, tricyclic antidepressants, gabapentin, and a topical gel containing baclofen, amitriptyline, and ketamine may be tried in treatment.
A recent study published in <em>Cancer</em> found that, contrary to treatment guidelines for high-risk bladder cancer, neoadjuvant chemotherapy is not commonly used in routine clinical practice. Utilization of adjuvant chemotherapy was found to be increasing over time and was associated with a substantial survival benefit in patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer. However, only 23% of patients with resected muscle-invasive bladder cancer received any form of perioperative chemotherapy.
The St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital–Washington University Pediatric Cancer Genome Project has identified new mutations in pediatric high-grade gliomas. The findings by Wu et al were published in <em>Nature Genetics</em> and may lead to improved outcomes for children with these brain tumors, particular the youngest patients.
A quartet of proteins that play critical roles in cell replication, cell death, and DNA repair could lead to better targets for therapy against treatment-resistant head and neck squamous cell cancers. In a study presented this week at the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2014, researchers showed a correlation between the expression levels of these proteins in human papillomavirus (HPV)-negative head and neck cancers, which have a poorer prognosis than HPV-positive tumors.
The activity of four transcription factors appears to distinguish the small proportion of glioblastoma cells responsible for the aggressiveness and treatment resistance of the deadly brain tumor. The findings by Suvà et al, published online in <em>Cell,</em> support the importance of epigenetics in cancer pathology and identify molecular circuits that may be targeted by new therapeutic approaches.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Russell et al found that immunoglobulin heavy chain (<em>IGH@</em>) translocations were present in a substantial proportion of younger patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), including those with B-cell precursor ALL. However, <em>IGH@</em> translocation was not found to be an independent prognostic factor in younger patients.
In the New EPOC trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Primrose et al found that the addition of cetuximab to standard chemotherapy in patients with <em>KRAS</em> exon 2 wild-type resectable colorectal liver metastasis resulted in shorter progression-free survival. The investigators stated that further study is needed to identify the molecular basis for the unexpected interaction.
Older people who are starting to have memory and thinking problems, but do not yet have dementia, may have a lower risk of dying from cancer than people who have no memory and thinking problems, according to a study by Benito-León et al published online in <em>Neurology</em>.
In women with non‒small cell lung cancer, long-term hormone therapy, particularly estrogen plus progesterone, is associated with improved survival, according to the results of a retrospective study presented by Katcoff et al in the <em>Journal of Thoracic Oncology</em>. This finding may lead to further research to determine the relationship between exogenous hormones and lung cancer outcomes.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved ethiodized oil injection for selective hepatic intra-arterial use for imaging tumors in adults with known hepatocellular carcinoma. The agent received orphan drug designation for management of patients with known hepatocellular carcinoma in October 2013.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Buchholz et al, ASCO has endorsed the recently published Society of Surgical Oncology (SSO) and American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) consensus guideline on margins for breast-conserving surgery with whole-breast irradiation in stage I and II invasive breast cancer. The endorsement, with minor qualifications, was made after ASCO Clinical Practice Guidelines Committee staff reviewed the SSO/ASTRO guideline for developmental rigor and an ad hoc review panel reviewed the guideline content.
In a phase II study (COIN-B) reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Wasan et al examined the addition of continuous or intermittent cetuximab to intermittent chemotherapy in previously untreated advanced KRAS wild-type colorectal cancer. Continuous cetuximab appeared to be associated with advantages over intermittent administration.
The investigational, oral drug BGJ398, which blocks the activity of fibroblast growth factor receptors (FGFRs), showed promising anticancer activity in patients with various types of cancer driven by <em>FGFR</em> genetic alterations, according to the results of a phase I clinical trial presented at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2014 in San Diego.
In a report in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> Maynard et al discuss identification of consumptive hypothyroidism due to overexpression of thyroid hormone–inactivating enzyme type 3 iodothyronine deiodinase (D3) in a patient with gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) and subsequent investigations showing that high D3 activity is common in GIST and may be associated with hypothyroidism. Tyrosine kinase inhibitor treatment in GIST is associated with hypothyroidism and may increase risk of the condition by increasing tumor D3 expression.
Using comprehensive genomic analysis, researchers have sorted low-grade brain tumors into three categories, one of which has the molecular hallmarks and shortened survival of glioblastoma multiforme, the most lethal of brain tumors. The findings were reported at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2014 in San Diego.
Loss of the tumor suppressor <em>PTEN</em> was a frequent cause of resistance to the investigational drug BYL719, which blocks the activity of the PI3K-alpha protein, in a small sample of women with breast cancer that progressed after initially responding to BYL719 treatment, according to results presented at the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2014 in San Diego.
A large prospective study of patients with invasive colorectal cancer has found that higher body mass index 2 years before diagnosis increased risk of all-cause mortality after diagnosis, even in patients whose tumors harbored the microsatellite instability marker, which is usually associated with better prognosis.
A crossover trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Escudier et al found that patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma preferred pazopanib vs sunitinib treatment.
Men with localized prostate cancer that is at risk of growing and spreading have a lower risk of disease progression and recurrence if they are treated with radiotherapy combined with androgen-deprivation therapy, according to new research. The findings, which were presented at the 33rd Conference of the European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology in Vienna, may change clinical practice.
A new investigational epigenetic therapy called OTX015, which blocks the activity of bromodomain and extraterminal (BET)-bromodomain proteins, is showing clinical activity in some blood cancers, including leukemia and lymphoma.
Research in mice and human cell lines has identified an experimental compound dubbed TTT-3002 as potentially one of the most potent drugs available to block genetic mutations in cancer cells blamed for some forms of treatment-resistant leukemia. The study by Ma et al, published in <em>Blood,</em> found that two doses a day of TTT-3002 eliminated leukemia cells in a group of mice within 10 days. The treatment performed as well as or better than similar drugs in head-to-head comparisons.
Resistance to a combination of HER2-targeted therapies, trastuzumab and lapatinib, was associated with elevated activation of a group of proteins called fibroblast growth factor receptors, which are the target of a number of drugs currently being developed, according to preclinical results presented at the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2014 in San Diego.
Among patients with non–small cell lung cancer treated with the investigational immune checkpoint inhibitor MK-3475, those whose tumors had high levels of the protein PD-L1 had significantly better outcomes, according to results of a phase I clinical trial presented at the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2014 in San Diego.
A small clinical study of a new investigational antibody-drug conjugate called DEDN6526A in patients with metastatic or unresectable cutaneous, mucosal, or ocular melanoma has found the drug to be safe and tolerable and demonstrated early evidence of antitumor activity. The findings were presented at the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2014 in San Diego.
In a phase II trial (PEAK) reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Schwartzberg et al compared the EGFR inhibitor panitumumab vs the VEGF-A inhibitor bevacizumab combined with modified fluorouracil, leucovorin, and oxaliplatin (FOLFOX6) in patients with previously untreated wild-type KRAS exon 2 (codons 12 and 13) metastatic colorectal cancer. There was no significant difference between regimens in progression-free survival, the primary endpoint, although the panitumumab regimen was associated with better overall survival.
Patients with cancer of the throat and who are positive for the human papillomavirus (HPV) have a good prognosis, but until now the effect of being HPV-positive on the prognosis of tumors located elsewhere in the head and neck was unknown. A new study presented at the 33rd Conference of the European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology has shown that HPV status appears to have no prognostic effect on the outcome of primary radiotherapy in head and neck cancer outside the oropharynx.
A new genetic signature to identify prostate cancer patients who are at high risk of their cancer recurring after surgery or radiotherapy has been developed by researchers in Canada, according to a study presented at the 33rd Conference of the European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology in Vienna.
Findings from the I-SPY 2 randomized phase II trial for women with newly diagnosed stage II breast cancer show that a neoadjuvant regimen containing the investigational drug neratinib and standard chemotherapy is beneficial for patients with hormone receptor–negative, HER2–positive primary breast cancer. The study was presented today at the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2014 in San Diego.
The novel oral drug LY2835219, an inhibitor of cyclin-dependent kinases (CDK) 4 and 6, showed early promise as monotherapy for patients with metastatic breast cancer, particularly for those with hormone receptor–positive disease, according to results of a phase I study presented at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2014 in San Diego.
Among melanoma patients treated with the PD-1 inhibitor MK-3475, those whose tumors had the protein PD-L1 had better immune responses and higher survival rates, according to results presented at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2014 in San Diego.
The t(14;18) translocation is a hallmark and critical event in development of follicular lymphoma but is also detectable in otherwise healthy persons, and its relationship to progression to disease is unclear. In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Roulland et al found that the frequency of t(14;18)-positive cells in blood from healthy individuals has predictive power for development of follicular lymphoma for up to 15 years after measurement.
First-line treatment with the combination of palbociclib plus letrozole extended progression-free survival by approximately 50% in patients with metastatic estrogen receptor–positive, HER2-negative breast cancer, according to final results of a randomized phase II study presented at the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2014 in San Diego.
The St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital–Washington University Pediatric Cancer Genome Project found mutations in the tumor suppressor gene <em>TP53</em> in 90% of osteosarcomas, suggesting the alteration plays a key role early in development of the bone cancer. The study a by Chen et al was published online in the journal <em>Cell Reports</em>.
A new study by Andrew et al published in <em>BJU International</em> suggests that certain inherited DNA sequences may affect the prognosis of patients with bladder cancer. The findings may help physicians identify subgroups of patients with high-risk bladder cancer who should receive more frequent screenings and aggressive treatment and monitoring.
According to a new study, mutations in the <em>SMARCA4</em> remodeling gene play a key role in the development of small cell carcinoma of the ovary, hypercalcemic type. The findings by Ramos et al were published in <em>Nature Genetics</em> and suggest that loss of SMARCA4 expression may serve as a biomarker for diagnosis and treatment determinations.
The Mantle Cell Lymphoma International Prognostic Index (MIPI) was developed in 2008 as the first prognostic stratification system specific for mantle cell lymphoma. In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Hoster et al confirmed the validity of MIPI in a cohort of two recently completed randomized trials of the European Mantle Cell Lymphoma Network.
In a cohort study reported in <em>JAMA Internal Medicine,</em> Reimers et al found that aspirin use was associated with a significant 47% reduction in mortality risk after diagnosis of colon cancer expressing HLA class I antigen. There was no difference in aspirin benefit according to strong or weak prostaglandin endoperoxide synthase 2 expression.
Dose-escalated intensity-modulated radiotherapy with use of a moderate hypofractionation regimen can safely treat patients with localized prostate cancer with limited grade 2 or 3 late toxicity, according to a study by Hoffman et al published in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology • Biology • Physics.
A large study of over 12,000 women who took clomiphene citrate or gonadotropins for the treatment of infertility has found no increase in breast cancer risk over 30 years of follow-up, compared with women who were not treated with these medications. The study by Brinton et al is published in <em>Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention</em>.
In an editorial in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, <strong>Joyce F. Liu, MD, MPH,</strong> and <strong>Stephen A. Cannistra, MD,</strong> discussed the AURELIA trial’s findings in the context of other trials adding bevacizumab to chemotherapy in ovarian cancer, examined study limitations, pointed out the potential benefit of improved patient-reported outcomes in the palliative setting, and voiced support for consideration of the bevacizumab/chemotherapy regimen in selected patients with platinum-resistant disease.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Stockler et al, analysis of patient-reported outcomes in the AURELIA trial showed significant improvement in abdominal/gastrointestinal symptoms in women with recurrent platinum-resistant ovarian cancer treated with bevacizumab/chemotherapy, as well as significant improvement in other symptoms and global health/quality-of-life measures.
Single-agent chemotherapy is standard in platinum-resistant ovarian cancer. In the open-label phase III AURELIA trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Pujade-Lauraine et al found that the addition of bevacizumab to chemotherapy resulted in significant improvement in progression-free survival, the primary study endpoint, in patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer. The combination was also associated with improved objective response rate. However, no significant difference in overall survival was observed.
Doctors should focus on life expectancy when deciding whether to order mammograms for their oldest female patients, since the harms of screening likely outweigh the benefits unless women are expected to live at least another decade, according to a review published online in <em>JAMA</em> by Walter and Schonberg.
The majority of current and former smokers would welcome screenings for lung cancer if their insurance covered the spiral CT scans, according to research from Roswell Park Cancer Institute and the Medical University of South Carolina. The study by Delmerico et al was published online in <em>Lung Cancer</em>.
Results from the BRIGHT study combined with the long-term safety data from other studies suggest that bendamustine plus rituximab “may be an important alternative treatment option” for the initial therapy of patients with low-grade non-Hodgkin lymphoma and mantle cell lymphoma, Flinn et al reported in <em>Blood</em>.
In a study reported in <em>Clinical Cancer Research,</em> Schwarzenberg et al found 3,4-dihydroxy-6-[18F]-fluoro-L-phenylalanine (18F-FDOPA) positron emission tomography (PET) metabolic tumor volume values at 2 weeks after the start of bevacizumab were highly predictive of outcome in patients with recurrent high-grade gliomas. 18F-FDOPA PET response differentiated poorer and better prognosis better than magnetic resonance imaging response.
A recent phase II study showed progression-free and overall survival benefits with the addition of onartuzumab (an antibody directed against MET, a receptor kinase that binds hepatocyte growth factor) to erlotinib in the subset of patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who were MET-positive on immunohistochemistry analysis. In a study reported in <em>Clinical Cancer Research,</em> Koeppen et al found that a standardized MET immunohistochemistry assay performed better than other biomarkers in predicting patient benefit from onartuzumab in the phase II study population.
Population-based screening with full-field digital mammography is associated with lower recall and biopsy rates than screen-film mammography, suggesting that full-field digital mammography may reduce the number of diagnostic workups and biopsies that do not lead to diagnosis of breast cancer, according to a new study by Hofvind et al published online in the journal <em>Radiology</em>.
Obesity, rather than diet, causes changes in the colon that may lead to colorectal cancer, according to a study in mice by the National Institutes of Health. The finding bolsters the recommendation that calorie control and frequent exercise are not only key to a healthy lifestyle, but a strategy to lower the risk for colon cancer, the second leading cause of cancer-related death in the United States. The study by Li et al was published in <em>Cell Metabolism</em>.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> van de Water et al found that Dutch women with hormone receptor–positive breast cancer aged ≥ 65 years at diagnosis who were treated in a clinical trial had significantly fewer comorbid diseases, higher socioeconomic status, smaller tumors, and lower histologic grade compared with counterparts in the general population. The investigators also found that survival was significantly poorer among general population patients aged ≥ 75 years.
A DNA methylation marker test performed on patients with noninvasive urothelial carcinoma can predict tumor recurrence with high sensitivity and specificity, according to a study by Su et al. The findings may help eliminate costly and unnecessary invasive exams and reveals the importance of DNA methylation in bladder tumorigenesis. The study is published in <em>Clinical Cancer Research</em>.
Barrett’s esophagus with low-grade dysplasia increases risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma. In a European study reported in <em>JAMA,</em> Phoa et al assessed whether endoscopic radiofrequency ablation reduced the rate of neoplastic progression compared with endoscopic surveillance in patients with Barrett’s esophagus and low-grade dysplasia. Ablation was associated with significantly reduced risk of progression to high-grade dysplasia or adenocarcinoma and of progression to adenocarcinoma.
In a series of studies involving 140 American men and women with liver tumors, researchers have used specialized three-dimensional MRI scans to precisely measure living and dying tumor tissue to quickly show whether highly toxic chemotherapy is working. The investigators said their findings, presented in San Diego at the Society of Interventional Radiology Annual Scientific Meeting, are the first “proof of principle” that this technology can show tumors in three dimensions and accurately measure tumor viability and death.
Physicians have long suspected that chemotherapy can accelerate the aging process in patients treated for cancer. Using a test developed at UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center to determine molecular aging, oncologists have directly measured the impact of anticancer chemotherapy drugs on biological aging. The study by Sanoff et al was published in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute</em>.
As reported in a research letter in <em>JAMA Internal Medicine,</em> Sun et al studied the frequency with which women lead clinical trial publications from organized collaborative groups in oncology. They found that women are very infrequently lead or corresponding authors, with the percentages not changing significantly between 2001 and 2011, and that they are more frequently lead and corresponding authors on government sponsored vs non-government-sponsored publications.
In the phase II TASTE trial, reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Wislez et al examined the feasibility of customized adjuvant treatment based on EGFR mutation status and expression of ERCC1 (excision repair cross-complementation group 1), a predictor of cisplatin response, in patients with non–small cell lung cancer. Although the trial met its primary endpoint of ≥ 80% of patients being able to start adjuvant chemotherapy within 2 months of surgery, a phase III trial of the customized approach was cancelled due to unreliability of ERCC1 immunohistochemical readouts.
In the phase III IBIS-II trial, reported in <em>The Lancet,</em> Cuzick et al found that aromatase inhibitor therapy with anastrozole reduced risk of breast cancer in postmenopausal women at high risk of the disease.
Researchers have estimated that sexual dysfunction affects between 40% and 100% of patients who undergo cancer treatment and often persists as time passes. At a special session on sexuality and cancer at the 4th European Lung Cancer Conference, <strong>Stéphane Droupy, MD, PhD,</strong> and <strong>Luca Incrocci, MD, PhD,</strong> discussed how to evaluate sexual function and how to treat sexual side effects after therapy of lung cancer.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s committee of genetic experts has determined that Cologuard, a noninvasive, stool-based DNA screening test for colorectal cancer, has demonstrated safety, effectiveness, and a favorable risk-benefit profile. The FDA is now considering the panel’s recommendation for approval of the test.
Patients with chronic myeloid leukemia in the chronic phase who are resistant or intolerant to imatinib can experience long-term benefit with dasatinib, according to results of a randomized phase III study. Early molecular and cytogenetic responses (at 3 and 6 months) were associated with improved progression-free and overall survival.
Non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) harboring <em>ALK</em> rearrangement is sensitive to the ALK inhibitor crizotinib, but resistance ultimately occurs. In a phase I study reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> Shaw et al found that the more-potent ALK inhibitor ceritinib was capable of producing responses in advanced <em>ALK</em>-rearranged NSCLC, including in patients with prior crizotinib treatment and irrespective of the presence of <em>ALK</em> resistance mutations.
The pattern of metastatic spread is not incorporated into current risk-stratification systems for neuroblastoma. In a retrospective study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Morgenstern et al found that patients with neuroblastoma with metastatic disease limited to distant lymph nodes (stage IV-N disease) have better outcomes than other stage IV patients.
Scientists from Weill Cornell Medical College and Houston Methodist have found that a gene previously unassociated with breast cancer plays a pivotal role in the growth and progression of the triple-negative form of the disease. The research by Chen et al, published in <em>Nature,</em> suggests that targeting the <em>XBP1</em> gene may be a new approach to treating the disease.
In a phase II study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Prebet et al found that prolonged administration of lower-dose azacitidine produced a high response rate in patients with myelodysplastic syndrome or acute myeloid leukemia with myelodysplastic syndrome–related changes. The response rate was lower in patients receiving azacitidine in combination with the HDAC inhibitor entinostat, and there was evidence of antagonism between the two agents.
“Use of e-cigarettes does not discourage, and may encourage, conventional cigarette use among US adolescents,” according to an analysis of survey data from a representative sample of middle and high school students who completed the National Youth Tobacco Survey in 2011 and 2012. Ever having used an e-cigarette was associated with higher odds of ever smoking cigarettes and being a current smoker.
The quest to improve survival of children with a high-risk brain tumor has led investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital to two drugs already used to treat adults with breast, pancreatic, lung, and other cancers. The study by Morfouace at al was published today in <em>Cancer Cell</em>. Researchers demonstrated that combination pemetrexed and gemcitabine was effective against mouse and human group 3 medulloblastoma cells.
The ACOSOG Z9001 (Alliance) study showed that 1 year of adjuvant imatinib prolonged recurrence-free survival after resection of primary gastrointestinal stromal tumors. As reported by Corless et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> a study evaluating correlation of pathologic and molecular features with long-term outcome in the trial showed that tumor size, location, and mitotic rate, but not tumor genotype, were associated with recurrence-free survival.
As reported by Gianni et al in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> long-term follow-up of women with HER2-positive locally advanced breast cancer receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy alone vs neoadjuvant and adjuvant trastuzumab in the phase III NOAH trial has shown continued event-free survival benefit of trastuzumab treatment and a strong association of event-free survival with pathologic complete response rate in trastuzumab recipients.
A new era of lung cancer therapy is dawning, using drugs that can prevent tumor cells from evading the immune system, experts reported at the 4th European Lung Cancer Congress. For decades, scientists and doctors thought immunotherapy was of marginal benefit in lung cancer, but a new class of drugs known as immune checkpoint regulators have shown huge potential. New data on several of these drugs will be presented at the conference, held March 26 to 29 in Geneva, Switzerland.
The EORTC/LYSA/FIL Intergroup H10 trial assessed whether omitting involved-node radiotherapy would affect progression-free survival in patients with negative early positron-emission tomography (PET) scans after two cycles of ABVD compared with standard combined-modality treatment. As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Raemaekers et al, an interim futility analysis showing a significant excess of progression events in patients not receiving radiotherapy resulted in stopping randomization of patients with negative early PET scans.
A retrospective study has shown that two targeted therapy drugs, erlotinib and gefitinib, achieved similar outcomes among people with metastatic or recurrent non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) harboring an <em>EGFR</em> mutation. These EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors have previously been reported to offer benefit over standard chemotherapy as first-line treatment of <em>EGFR</em>-positive advanced NSCLC. The study findings by Lim et al are published in the <em>Journal of Thoracic Oncology</em>.
In the phase III PROFILE 1014 study, the anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) inhibitor crizotinib was found to significantly prolong progression-free survival in previously untreated patients with ALK-positive advanced nonsquamous non–small cell lung cancer compared with standard platinum-based chemotherapy.
In a study reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Höckel et al demonstrated that locoregional progression of cervical cancer follows the reverse sequence of establishment of adult tissues in ontogeny. Ontogenetic staging was a better predictor of survival than pathologic staging. Previous work by these investigators suggested that early cervical cancer is locally confined to the Müllerian compartment developing in women from the embryonic paramesonephric-mesonephric complex.
In a UK phase II study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Hillmen et al assessed the safety and activity of adding rituximab to chlorambucil in first-line treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Such a regimen may be an alternative to fludarabine-based treatment or chlorambucil monotherapy in elderly patients and those with comorbidities.
Preliminary research suggests that a targeted oral agent may improve outcomes while minimizing side effects in women with gynecologic cancers who carry a <em>BRCA</em> mutation and whose disease is not responding to other therapies. According to a phase II study presented at the Society of Gynecologic Oncology Annual Meeting on Women’s Cancer, gynecologic cancer cells that have a <em>BRCA</em> mutation appear to be sensitive to the PARP inhibitor veliparib.
The antiseizure medication and mood stabilizer valproic acid was associated with a significant reduction in head and neck cancer risk, according to a study recently published in <em>Cancer</em>. The large retrospective cohort study by Kang et al was conducted to evaluate the effects of the drug, a histone deacetylase inhibitor, on the risk of developing cancers of the lung, head and neck, prostate, bladder, and colon.
Patients with early-stage breast cancer who underwent sentinel lymph node dissection experienced lymphedema more frequently than clinically suspected and with increasing incidence over time, according to a presentation at the 2014 Society of Surgical Oncology Cancer Symposium in Phoenix. However, women who had only sentinel lymph node dissection fared better than those who also required axillary lymph node dissection.
Adjuvant radiation following surgery for soft-tissue sarcoma of the extremities did not lead to a survival benefit and seemed to be associated with some degree of long-term limb complications, according to a presentation at the 2014 Society of Surgical Oncology Cancer Symposium in Phoenix. Long-term complications included pathologic fracture requiring surgical correction, hospitalization for limb edema, and amputation.
In a study reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> Imperiale et al found that a multitarget stool DNA test--including assays for <em>KRAS</em> mutations, aberrant <em>NDRG4</em> and <em>BMP3</em> methylation, β-actin, and hemoglobin--was significantly more sensitive but significantly less specific than fecal immunochemical testing in detecting colorectal cancer in persons at average risk for the disease.
A review by ASCO’s Update Committee of new data from randomized clinical trials has led to a change in recommendations for the use of sentinel lymph node biopsy in patients with early-stage breast cancer. The updated guideline will enable more women with early-stage breast cancer to avoid the more invasive axillary lymph node dissection, reducing their chances for complications. The new guideline is published in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
While many cancer researchers believe that predictive somatic genomic testing holds the potential to usher in the era of precision medicine for patients with cancer, research by Gray et al suggests that not all physicians are eager to embrace the technology. The variation in attitudes was in part determined by the physicians’ level of confidence in their ability to use and explain genomic findings to their patients. The study is published in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Burger et al assessed risk factors for gastrointestinal adverse events in women with advanced ovarian cancer receiving first-line bevacizumab/chemotherapy with or without bevacizumab maintenance or chemotherapy alone in the phase III Gynecologic Oncology Group 0218 trial. Bevacizumab treatment, history of treatment for inflammatory bowel disease, and receipt of large bowel resection at primary surgery were associated with increased risk. Risk did not appear to be increased by bevacizumab maintenance.
Women with ovarian and other gynecologic cancers live significantly longer when they receive care at hospitals that treat a large number of patients with these conditions, according to research on more than 850,000 women. The findings, based on information from the nation’s largest cancer database, were presented at the Society of Gynecologic Oncology (SGO) Annual Meeting on Women’s Cancer, held in Tampa, Florida, from March 22 to 25.
Women with BRCA1 mutations may have an increased risk for developing rare types of aggressive uterine cancer despite having their ovaries and fallopian tubes removed, suggest preliminary findings presented at the Society of Gynecologic Oncology (SGO) Annual Meeting on Women’s Cancer held in Tampa, Florida, March 22 to 25.
Women who had bariatric surgery to lose weight had a 70% lower risk of uterine cancer and an even lower risk if they kept the weight off, according to findings presented at the Society of Gynecologic Oncology Annual Meeting on Women’s Cancer, held in Tampa, Florida, from March 22 to 25. The benefit of bariatric surgery was even more pronounced among women who were able to keep the weight off.
Analysis of data from the UK NHS Breast Screening Programme has shown significant variations in the outcomes of treatment for women with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) between UK hospitals. Although the majority of women with DCIS received the correct surgery for their disease, large numbers of women were undergoing mastectomy for DCIS either as a result of failed breast-conservation surgery or for tumors that turned out to be smaller than 20 mm in diameter.
Extending national breast cancer screening programs to women over the age of 70 does not result in a decrease in the number of cancers detected at advanced stages, according to new research from The Netherlands. Instead, researchers told attendees at the 9th European Breast Cancer Conference that their findings suggest extending screening programs to older women results in a large proportion of women being overtreated and at risk from the harmful effects of such treatment; these women were more likely to die from other causes than from any tumors detected in early stages of growth.
Researchers at UC Davis have found that the investigational cancer vaccine tecemotide, when administered with the chemotherapeutic agent cisplatin, boosted immune response and reduced the number of tumors in mice with lung cancer. The study also found that radiation treatments did not significantly impair the immune response. The study by Kao et al was published in <em>Cancer Immunology Research</em>.
Both obesity and diabetes have adverse effects on outcomes in breast cancer patients who receive neoadjuvant chemotherapy, according to research to be presented at the 9th European Breast Cancer Conference. Although a high body mass index (BMI) is known to have a negative impact on cancer development and prognosis, until now there has been uncertainty as to whether having a high BMI had an equal effect on patients with different types of breast tumors.
Although it has been found that lower socioeconomic status is associated with higher operative mortality, the factors explaining this disparity have not been clearly defined. In a study of major cancer surgery reported in <em>JAMA Surgery,</em> Reames et al found that hospitals with the highest proportion of patients with low socioeconomic status have higher failure-to-rescue rates among all socioeconomic status strata.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> McCullough et al used an orthotopic rat model of prostate cancer to assess the effects of exercise on tumor hemodynamics and tissue hypoxia. Their findings of enhanced tumor perfusion and diminished tumor hypoxia suggest that exercise may improve drug delivery to the tumor and, by reducing hypoxia, help convert disease to a less aggressive form.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Unger et al evaluated whether cancer patients from SWOG clinical trials were similar to nontrial patients in baseline characteristics and survival. They found that, overall, trial participation in standard treatment arms did not influence overall survival after 1 year, suggesting both that findings in clinical trials can be generalized to the wider population and that eligibility requirements might be relaxed to encourage greater clinical trial participation.
Participating in athletic activities for more than an hour a day reduces the risk of contracting breast cancer, and this applies to women of any age and any weight, regardless of geographic location, according to research presented at the 9th European Breast Cancer Conference in Glasgow. Compared with the least active women, those with the highest level of physical activity reduced their risk of breast cancer by 12%, researchers said.
Genetic analyses of results from 1,125 postmenopausal women being treated for estrogen-responsive breast cancer have shown that some of them are more likely than others to have a late recurrence of their cancer and might benefit from 10 years of hormone therapy rather than 5 years. Women who had HER2-negative, estrogen receptor–positive tumors had more than double the risk of their cancer recurring between 5 and 10 years after surgery and after 5 years of adjuvant hormone therapy, reported <strong>Mitch Dowsett, FMedSci, PhD, BSc,</strong> at the European Breast Cancer Conference in Glasgow.
Women whose breast cancer has spread to just a few lymph nodes under their arm are less likely to have their disease recur or to die from it if they have radiotherapy after mastectomy, according to new research presented today at the European Breast Cancer Conference in Glasgow and published in <em>The Lancet</em>.
In a study reported in <em>JAMA Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery,</em> Oakley et al found that papillary thyroid cancer increases the risk of cutaneous malignant melanoma and vice versa, and that patients with both have a high frequency of <em>BRAF</em> V600E mutation.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Stattin and colleagues found that rates of prostate cancer mortality, excess mortality in men with prostate cancer, and metastatic prostate cancer were lower in counties in Sweden with higher vs lower incidence of prostate cancer that reflected earlier vs later uptake of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing. The findings support the contention that more-intense opportunistic PSA testing is associated with survival benefits.
In a pooled analysis of individual patient data reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Bidard et al found that baseline circulating tumor cell counts and increases in counts during treatment were highly prognostic in patients with metastatic breast cancer beginning new treatment. The addition of circulating tumor cell count improved the predictive strength of established clinicopathologic models.
Adult survivors of childhood cancer face significant health problems as they age and are five times more likely than their siblings to develop new cancers, heart disease, and other serious health conditions beyond the age of 35, according to the latest findings from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study. The results by Armstrong et al were published in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
A large retrospective cohort study by Potosky et al of 15,170 men with early-stage prostate cancer has found that patients who received androgen deprivation as their primary treatment instead of surgery or radiation did not live any longer than those who received no curative-intent treatment. Men with higher-risk disease may derive a modest clinical benefit from the therapy. The study is published in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
Short telomeres are associated with increased risk of cancer, but data on telomere length and mortality in breast cancer survivors are inconsistent. In a study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute</em>, Duggan et al found that decreases in telomere length between baseline and 30 months after diagnosis were associated with significantly increased all-cause and breast cancer–specific mortality. No association with mortality was found for baseline or 30-month telomere length.
In a companion study (MA.27B) to the open-label phase III National Cancer Institute of Canada Clinical Trials Group MA.27 trial in women with early breast cancer reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>, Goss et al found that adjuvant aromatase inhibitor treatment with exemestane, a mildly androgenic steroid, was not associated with less loss of bone mineral density than treatment with the nonsteroidal aromatase inhibitor anastrozole in patients with baseline T-scores ≥ −2. No significant differences in bone mineral density changes were observed in patients with T-scores < −2.
<strong>José Baselga, MD, PhD,</strong> Physician-in-Chief at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, has been elected as President-Elect of the American Association for Cancer Research for 2014-2015. Dr. Baselga is an internationally recognized physician-scientist whose research focuses on the clinical development of novel molecularly targeted agents for the treatment of cancer, particularly breast cancer.
In a Special Article published in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, the American Society of Clinical Oncology called on cancer researchers, clinical trial sponsors, and drug developers to employ clinical trial designs that aim to significantly extend the lives of people with cancer. The report outlined overall survival goals for cancer clinical trials in several diseases that researchers should aim for and that patients should expect.
Findings from an American Cancer Society report by Siegel et al show that the rate at which people are diagnosed with colorectal cancer in the United States has dropped by 30% in the last 10 years among people aged 50 years and older. The researchers say the decline in incidence is due to more people getting recommended screening tests. The report is published in <em>CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians</em>.
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) has expanded its Survivorship Guidelines to include a section on cancer-associated cognitive impairment, and to include chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy as a component of the Adult Cancer Pain section. The inaugural guidelines for cognitive impairment were presented at the NCCN 19th Annual Conference by <strong>Elizabeth Kvale, MD,</strong> while <strong>Susan G. Urba, MD,</strong> described the new section on peripheral neuropathy.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Goldkorn et al assessed the prognostic value of circulating tumor cell counts in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer receiving standard first-line docetaxel plus prednisone with or without atrasentan in the SWOG S0421 trial. They found that baseline circulating tumor cell counts were prognostic for treatment response and survival and that rising circulating tumor cell count at 3 weeks was significantly associated with poorer survival. The findings could affect early treatment decisions.
In the open-label, phase III EORTC 62012 trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Judson et al found that doxorubicin plus ifosfamide was not associated with any overall survival advantage compared with doxorubicin alone in patients with advanced or metastatic soft-tissue sarcoma. Progression-free survival and objective response rate were improved with the intensified regimen, suggesting a role in cases where tumor shrinkage is the goal of treatment.
Despite the benefits of surgery for early-stage pancreatic cancer, it remains underutilized for patients with this deadly disease, according to a new national analysis of trends and outcomes. Physician-scientists at University Hospitals (UH) Case Medical Center and Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine presented their findings and strategies to increase the use of surgery on March 13 at the Society of Surgical Oncology Cancer Symposium in Phoenix.
The overexpression of Hedgehog family proteins contributes to the development of many cancers. Research by Konitsiotis et al has found that blocking the function of the Hedgehog acyltransferase (Hhat) enzyme slows the growth and spread of pancreatic cancer. Targeting inhibition of the Hedgehog signaling pathway may be effective in the treatment and prevention of many cancers. The study is published in <em>PLOS ONE</em>.
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) is recommending that newly diagnosed colorectal cancer patients be screened for Lynch syndrome, previously called hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer. The NCCN’s proactive position should greatly help identify individuals and their relatives at high risk for a primary or secondary cancer, said <strong>Heather Hampel, MS,</strong> a genetics counselor who spoke on genetic and familial colorectal cancer risk at the NCCN 19th Annual Conference held March 13-15, 2014, in Hollywood, Florida.
In a pilot trial (PediQUEST) reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Wolfe et al assessed the effects of use of the PediQUEST electronic patient-reported feedback survey on health-related quality of life in children with advanced cancer. Although few significant improvements were observed, changes in health-related quality of life were all in the positive direction, and children, parents, and providers reported valuing the information provided by the PediQUEST reports.
In a retrospective Medicare-based study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Yu et al found that although stereotactic body radiation therapy is associated with lower treatment costs than intensity-modulated radiation therapy in treatment of prostate cancer, it is also associated with significantly higher rates of genitourinary toxicity.
A phase I study by Wagle et al of a combination of everolimus and pazopanib in patients with advanced solid tumors has identified a patient with bladder cancer who had a 14-month complete response. The patient had two concurrent mutations in mTOR, the target of everolimus, which may have caused this exceptional response. The study is published in <em>Cancer Discovery</em>.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Microbiology Devices Panel of the Medical Devices Advisory Committee has recommended unanimously that the benefits of the cobas human papillomavirus (HPV) test outweigh the risks as a first-line primary screening tool to assess the risk of cervical cancer in women aged 25 years and older. The panel also voted unanimously that the test is safe and effective for the proposed indication for use.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Rosmarin et al assessed the association of reported fluorouracil (5-FU) toxicity genetic markers with occurrence of capecitabine toxicity of grade ≥ 3 in the QUASAR2 trial in colorectal cancer and with occurrence of capecitabine and 5-FU toxicity in meta-analyses of other trials of capecitabine or 5-FU. Of all polymorphisms examined, only four variants were found to be associated with capecitabine monotherapy toxicity in this analysis, and there was less evidence of strong effects of examined variants on bolus or infusional 5-FU monotherapy.
The American Society of Clinical Oncology conducted a survey of U.S. oncologists between October 2012 and March 2013, evaluating satisfaction with work-life balance and career plans. The findings, reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Shanafelt et al, indicate that most are not satisfied with their work-life balance.
- Transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) is a protein that promotes tumor growth metastases and suppresses host antitumor immunity in advanced cancers.
- GC1008, a human antibody that that targets TGF-β, was shown to have an acceptable safety profile in patients with advanced melanoma and renal cell carcinoma when administered at up to 15 mg/kg every 2 weeks.
- One patient with malignant melanoma experienced a partial positive response to treatment, and six had stable disease with a progression-free survival of 24 weeks.
In an open-label phase III trial reported by Ardeshna et al in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> rituximab induction plus maintenance was found to delay the need for subsequent therapy and improve elements of quality of life vs watchful waiting in patients with advanced asymptomatic nonbulky follicular lymphoma.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute</em>, Théberge et al evaluated the association between radiologist interpretive volume and breast cancer screening accuracy in the Quebec Breast Cancer Screening Program. They found that accuracy increased with increasing volume, with the improvement reflecting reduced rates of false-positive results.
<em>The State of Cancer Care in America: 2014</em>, a landmark report released today by the American Society of Clinical Oncology, examines how oncologists are trying to adapt to a growing demand for services, changes in health-care delivery systems, and to the economic pressures of maintaining small practices. The report also recommends specific steps to preserve patient access, while improving the quality of care and slowing a projected rise in costs.
Computed tomography scans routinely taken to guide the treatment of pancreatic cancer may provide an important secondary benefit. According to new research published in the <em>Journal of Clinical Investigation</em> by Koay et al, the scans also reflect how well chemotherapy will penetrate the tumor, predicting the effectiveness of treatment. This is the first human study to address the issue of chemotherapy delivery to pancreatic tumors, a problem previously shown in animal studies.
Seemingly healthy cells may in fact hide clues that lung cancer will later develop, according to a study led by researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. The research is published online in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute</em>. Examination of gene expression in patients with non–small cell lung cancer showed that the area adjacent to tumors is rich with cancer markers. In addition, researchers discovered the previously unknown role of a cancer-promoting gene in the airways of smokers with lung cancer.
Although it is recommended that women aged ≥ 75 years be informed of the benefits and risks of mammography before being screened, it appears that this is not common practice. As reported in <em>JAMA Internal Medicine</em> by Schonberg et al, a decision aid developed by the investigators helped improved women’s decision-making about screening.
Exposure to ionizing radiation has been associated with increased risk of myelodysplastic syndrome, and it remains unclear whether radiation doses used in prostate cancer treatment result in increased risk. In a retrospective cohort study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute</em>, Mukherjee et al found no significantly increased risk of myelodysplastic syndrome over relatively short-term follow-up.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute</em>, Mehta et al evaluated the association of the novel plasma inflammatory biomarker macrophage inhibitory cytokine-1 (MIC-1) with risk for colorectal cancer. They found that elevated circulating MIC-1 levels were associated with increased risk and that aspirin and NSAID use was associated with lower risk of prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase 2 (PTGS2)-positive cancers, particularly in subjects with higher MIC-1 levels.
A new clinical study has found that erlotinib has promising potential to improve treatment for cervical cancer. Published in <em>Cancer</em>, the findings by Nogueira-Rodrigues et al indicate that larger trials are warranted to determine whether the drug should become part of standard therapy for women with the disease.
IDH1 mutation in patients with malignant astrocytomas may have the potential to be a predictive molecular biomarker to guide aggressive surgical resection, according to the results of a study reported by Beiko et al in Neuro-Oncology. Maximal surgical resection may contribute to a survival benefit in those who have malignant gliomas with this type of gene mutation.
As reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em> by Bill-Axelson et al, additional long-term follow-up in the Scandinavian Prostate Cancer Group-4 trial continues to show significant benefits of radical prostatectomy vs watchful waiting in early prostate cancer, including reduced risk of all-cause mortality, prostate cancer–specific mortality, and distant metastases and reduced need for androgen-deprivation therapy. Survival benefits have increased over time.
In an ongoing multicohort study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Ruddy et al found that most young women with breast cancer discussed fertility issues before starting therapy, that such issues affect treatment decisions in a substantial proportion, and that few women pursue available fertility preservation strategies.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Lara et al evaluated the relationship of bone biomarkers with outcome in patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer with skeletal metastases receiving docetaxel with or without the bone targeted endothelin-A receptor antagonist atrasentan in the phase III SWOG S0421 trial. They found that bone turnover markers have independent prognostic value and that a small group of patients characterized by elevated markers have a preferential survival benefit from atrasentan.
A simple questionnaire that rates breathing difficulties on a scale of 0 to 3 may be able to predict survival in patients with chronic graft-vs-host disease, according to a study by Palmer et al published in <em>Biology of Blood and Marrow Transplantation</em>. The study found that as a screening test, the NIH symptom-based lung score outperformed other lung function tests.
A study by Ong et al has found that people who had nonmelanoma skin cancer were at an increased risk for subsequently developing melanoma and a spectrum of 29 other cancer types. The risk was especially high among people who developed nonmelanoma skin cancer before the age of 25. The findings are published <em>Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention</em>.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Smith et al, the double-blind phase III Cancer and Leukemia Group B (CALGB) 9020/Alliance trial assessed the effect of early initiation of zoledronic acid in reducing risk of skeletal-related events in men with castration-sensitive prostate cancer. There was no reduction in time to first skeletal-related event for zoledronic acid vs placebo.
In a phase IIB study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Guarneri et al compared neoadjuvant letrozole plus lapatinib or placebo in postmenopausal women with hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative breast cancer. Response rates were similar in the two groups, but a significantly higher response rate was observed in letrozole/lapatinib patients with vs without <em>PIK3CA</em> mutation.
In a dose-escalation, cohort expansion study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Topalian et al found that treatment with the PD-1 immune checkpoint inhibitor nivolumab produced durable responses in patients with advanced melanoma. Long-term follow-up also showed promising survival rates and acceptable toxicity.
Many breast cancer survivors experience fatigue and other debilitating symptoms that persist months to years after their course of treatment has ended. According to new findings by Smith et al in <em>Brain, Behavior, and Immunity,</em> chemotherapy can leave a long-lasting epigenetic imprint in the DNA of breast cancer patients’ blood cells that is associated with biologic signs of inflammation up to 6 months after the completion of treatment.
A novel approach to cancer immunotherapy may provide a new and cost-effective strategy against ovarian cancer and mesothelioma. In a study published in the <em>Journal of Hematology & Oncology</em>, Yuan et al reported that a fusion protein engineered to combine a molecule targeting a tumor-cell-surface antigen with another protein that stimulates several immune functions prolonged survival in animal models of both tumors.
Patients with terminal cancer who receive chemotherapy during the last months of their lives are less likely to die where they want and more likely to endure invasive medical procedures than those who do not receive chemotherapy, according to a study by Wright et al published in <em>BMJ</em>. The findings highlight the need for clearer discussions of palliative chemotherapy by physicians, patients, and family members.
In a study published in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Sacher et al identified trends in reporting of phase III trials in advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) that include reduced use of overall survival as the primary endpoint and an increase in claims of positive results despite absence of statistical significance in the primary outcome.
In an open-label phase III trial (MITO-7) reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Pignata et al found that while a lower-dose weekly carboplatin/paclitaxel regimen did not improve progression-free-survival compared with standard every-3-week carboplatin/paclitaxel as first-line treatment of advanced ovarian cancer, it appeared to be associated with better quality of life outcomes and less severe toxicity.
Immunotherapy for ovarian, breast, and colorectal cancer has so far had limited success, primarily because the immune system often can’t destroy the cancer cells. According to a report published in <em>Oncotarget,</em> researchers at Johns Hopkins have identified genes that have been repressed through epigenetic changes, thereby helping the cells to evade the immune system. Using azacitidine, the researchers were able to reverse these epigenetic changes, potentially making the cells better targets for the same immunotherapy that in the past may have failed.
In a population-based cohort study reported in <em>The Lancet,</em> de Fine Licht et al assessed the lifetime risk of endocrine disorders in Scandinavian long-term survivors of childhood cancer. They found a nearly fivefold increased risk of hospital contact for endocrine disorders among survivors and a cumulative risk of endocrine disorders of > 40% by age 60 years in those diagnosed with cancer at ages 5 to 9 years.
Research by Viprey et al has found that the detection of neuroblastoma mRNAs in peripheral blood and bone marrow aspirates from children diagnosed with stage IV neuroblastoma is an independent predictor of event-free survival and overall survival. Their findings could help identify children with ultra high–risk disease who may benefit from novel treatment approaches. The study is published in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
Cervical cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in women in India, a nation where large-scale Pap smear screening is not feasible. As reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute</em>, Shastri et al have performed a large cluster-randomized study of education and screening of Indian women by primary health workers using visual inspection of the cervix following application of 4% acetic acid. The screening strategy was associated with a significant 31% reduction in cervical cancer mortality.
As reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by Larkin et al, interim results of a safety study designed to reflect the spectrum of patients encountered in routine practice suggest that vemurafenib has a safety profile in patients with <em>BRAF</em> V600–mutated metastatic melanoma similar to that observed in the more select patient population included in registration trials. The study included patients with limited treatment options and sizable proportions with brain metastases, elevated lactate dehydrogenase, poor performance status, and age ≥ 75 years.
A new study suggests that levels of bisphenola A (BPA) in men’s urine may be a marker of prostate cancer and that low levels of BPA exposure can cause cellular changes in both nonmalignant and malignant prostate cells. The research, published in <em>PLOS ONE,</em> provides the first evidence that urinary BPA levels may help predict prostate cancer and that disruption of a cell duplication cycle through exposure to low-dose BPA may cause cancer development in the prostate.
For women with breast cancer undergoing radiation therapy, yoga offers unique benefits beyond fighting fatigue, according to a study by Chandwani et al published in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>. While simple stretching activities counteracted fatigue, patients who participated in yoga exercises that incorporated controlled breathing, meditation, and relaxation techniques into their treatment plan experienced improved ability to engage in their daily activities, better general health, and better regulation of cortisol.
Researchers have identified a potential new gene mutation that may drive lung cancer development and growth. In a study in the <em>Journal of Clinical Investigation</em> by Imielinski et al, a patient with advanced lung cancer who was found to have the <em>ARAF</em> S214C somatic gene mutation achieved nearly a complete response within 2 months of being treated with sorafenib and remained progression-free for 5 years while remaining on the drug.
In a single-center experience reported in <em>JAMA Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery,</em> Lohia et al found that intensity-modulated radiation therapy for oropharyngeal cancer reduces percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy tube dependence and severe skin and mucous membrane toxicity compared with conventional three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy. No differences in weight loss, change in performance status, rates of treatment failure, or overall or disease-free survival were observed.
In a systematic review and individual patient meta-analysis reported in <em>The Lancet</em>, the NSCLC Meta-analysis Collaborative Group found that neoadjuvant therapy for non–small cell lung cancer was associated with a significant 13% reduction in risk of death. Significant benefits in recurrence-free survival and time to distant recurrence were also observed.
A molecule in cells that shuts down the expression of genes might be a promising target for new drugs designed to treat the most frequent and lethal form of brain cancer, according to a new study by Yan et al published in <em>Cancer Research</em>. The findings show that high levels of the enzyme PRMT5 are associated with aggressive growth of glioblastoma multiforme.
As reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by Dearnaley et al, the 10-year follow-up of the phase III open-label MRC RT01 trial showed continued benefit of escalated-dose vs control-dose conformal radiotherapy in biochemical progression-free survival in patients with prostate cancer but no overall survival advantage.
A large population-based study by Landgren et al has found that African Americans are more likely to have a higher prevalence of monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS), a precursor to the development of multiple myeloma, compared with whites or Hispanics. The study is published in <em>Leukemia</em>.
In a study published in <em>The Lancet,</em> Zimmermann et al compared quality of life, symptom severity, and care satisfaction with early initiation of palliative care vs standard cancer care in patients with advanced cancer. Although early palliative care was not associated with improved quality of life at 3 months (the primary outcome measure), improvement was observed at 4 months, and other patient-reported outcomes were improved at 3 and 4 months.
Follicular lymphoma has been found to respond to radiotherapy doses as low as 4 Gy. In the phase III FORT trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Hoskin et al compared radiotherapy with 4 Gy in two fractions vs 24 Gy in 12 fractions in patients with indolent lymphoma, finding that the 24-Gy regimen was more effective.
An observational study from UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center comparing robotic-assisted surgery to traditional surgery for prostate cancer found that patients who had robotic surgery had fewer instances of cancer cells remaining after surgery and less need of additional cancer treatments than patients who had traditional surgery. The study by Hu et al was published in <em>European Urology</em>.
Patients with the most common type of esophageal cancer are less likely to respond to chemotherapy when their tumors are high in a protein called leptin, according to a study by Bain et al published in the British Journal of Cancer.
In a study reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Gralnek et al found that full-spectrum endoscopic colonoscopy had a lower adenoma miss rate compared with standard forward-viewing colonoscopy.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Brinton et al assessed the role of anthropometric, medical history, and hormone-related factors in male breast cancer in the Male Breast Cancer Pooling Project. Factors found to be associated with risk included greater height, weight, and body mass index, as well as Klinefelter syndrome, gynecomastia, diabetes, and fractures.
In a cohort study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Baldur-Felskov et al found that there has been a significant reduction in cervical lesions among Danish girls and women receiving the quadrivalent human papillomavirus vaccine during the first 6 years of its availability.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Maurer et al found that patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) treated with immunochemotherapy who achieve event-free survival at 24 months have overall survival that does not differ significantly from that in the general population. The findings suggest that event-free survival at 24 months can serve as an endpoint in clinical trials in newly diagnosed DLBCL.
In a recent study published in <em>Science Translational Medicine,</em> Davila et al found that 88% of patients with relapsed or refractory B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) who were treated with genetically modified versions of their own immune cells achieved complete response. Most patients were able to transition to allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant, the current standard of care.
In a 2×2 factorial phase III trial reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em>, Tewari et al compared cisplatin/paclitaxel vs nonplatinum chemotherapy with topotecan/paclitaxel, both with and without bevacizumab, in patients with advanced cervical cancer. Although there was no advantage for the topotecan/paclitaxel combination, the addition of bevacizumab to chemotherapy was associated with significantly prolonged overall survival.
In the second of two phase III trials of bevacizumab plus radiotherapy/temozolomide in newly diagnosed glioblastoma reported in the same issue of <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> the addition of bevacizumab was associated with prolongation of progression-free survival but not overall survival.
A multicenter study led by Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center has found that high-dose supplementation with both the trace element selenium and vitamin E may increase the risk of high-grade prostate cancer. This risk is dependent upon a man’s selenium status prior to taking the supplements. The findings by Kristal et al, published in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> are based on data from the randomized, placebo-controlled SELECT trial, which sought to determine whether taking high-dose vitamin E and/or selenium supplements could protect men against prostate cancer.
The findings of a large international prospective study published in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Finch et al suggest for the first time that women with <em>BRCA1</em> mutations should have prophylactic oophorectomy by age 35, as waiting until a later age appears to increase the risk of ovarian cancer before or at the time of the preventive surgery. Women with a <em>BRCA2</em> mutation, however, do not appear to be at an increased risk by age 35, suggesting they may delay this procedure until later.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Bhojwani et al from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital assessed clinical, pharmacokinetic, and genetic risk factors for methotrexate-related clinical neurotoxicity and asymptomatic leukoencephalopathy in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. They found that such toxicity is transient, with most patients being able to receive subsequent methotrexate treatment, and that polymorphisms in genes related to neurogenesis may contribute to susceptibility to neurotoxicity.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Jagsi et al found that use of breast reconstruction in breast cancer patients undergoing mastectomy has increased over time but varies according to a number of treatment and demographic characteristics.
In a double-blind phase III trial reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> Gilbert et al assessed adding bevacizumab, which is currently approved in recurrent glioblastoma, to radiotherapy and temozolomide in patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma. The addition of bevacizumab did not improve overall survival, and although it improved progression-free survival, the improvement did not meet the prespecified improvement threshold.
Spurred by uncertainty about the optimal clinical management of DCIS, researchers have identified and ranked knowledge gaps that should be addressed by future studies. The prioritized gaps include the incorporation of patient-centered outcomes, development of better methods to predict risk of invasive cancer, evaluation of a strategy of active surveillance, and testing of decision-making tools. The article is published in <em>Annals of Internal Medicine</em>.
Survival among people with lung cancer has been better for women than men, and the findings of a recent study indicate that female hormones may be a factor in this difference. The combination of estrogen plus progesterone and the use of long-term hormone therapy were associated with the most significant improvements in survival. The findings were published in the <em>Journal of Thoracic Oncology</em>.
A common compound known to fight lymphoma and skin conditions actually has a second method of action that makes it particularly deadly against certain aggressive breast tumors, according to a study reported by Xia et al in <em>PLOS ONE</em>. The compound, psoralen, is a natural component found in foods such as figs and celery, and researchers have long understood that it works by disrupting DNA replication and causing cell death when activated by an energy source such as ultraviolet light.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Ryu et al found that presence of minimal pleural effusion is associated with worsened survival in patients with non–small cell lung cancer compared with no effusion, particularly among patients with early-stage disease.
The 10-year follow-up of the Multicenter Selective Lymphadenectomy Trial (MSLT), reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em> by Morton et al in the MSLT Group, provides support for use of sentinel-node biopsy for thick melanomas, as well as for intermediate-thickness melanomas.
In a phase III trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Motzer et al compared the VEGF and fibroblast growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor dovitinib vs sorafenib in third-line targeted treatment of metastatic renal cell carcinoma. There was no difference in progression-free survival between the two treatments. Biomarker analysis showed survival differences in both groups.
The St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital–Washington University Pediatric Cancer Genome Project has identified the most common genetic alteration ever reported in the brain tumor ependymoma and evidence that the alteration drives tumor development. The findings were published online in <em>Nature</em>.
For head and neck cancer patients undergoing radiation therapy, a reduction in the amount of radiation treatment volume to the submandibular (level IB) lymph nodes resulted in better patient-reported salivary function, according to research presented today at the 2014 Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancer Symposium. The study results also found significant reductions in radiation dose to the salivary organs, and good local-regional control.
Patients with oropharyngeal cancer treated with combined chemotherapy and radiation therapy reported a decrease in their voice and speech quality for up to 1 year after the completion of treatment, according to research presented today at the 2014 Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancer Symposium. The study further showed that limiting the dose of radiation to the glottic larynx to less than 20 Gy resulted in a decrease in post-treatment voice and speech quality problems. In addition, patient-reported voice and speech quality indicated more adverse effects from treatment compared to independent physician assessment.
New research suggests that it is safe to limit radiation therapy to lymph nodes on only one side of the neck for lateralized tonsil cancer. In addition, the study findings show that primary tumor location, rather than the amount of lymph node involvement on the tumor side of the neck, drives the risk of cancer spread to the opposite side of the neck. The study by Hwang et al was presented at the 2014 Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancer Symposium.
New research is showing that sparing the contralateral submandibular gland during radiation therapy in the treatment of locally advanced head and neck cancer is technically feasible and safe even in advanced-stage, node-positive disease and base-of-tongue lesions. Limiting radiation to these major salivary glands was also found to improve patients’ quality of life. The study by Robin et al was presented at the 2014 Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancer Symposium.
The FDA established the international Collaborative Trials in Neoadjuvant Breast Cancer working group to perform a pooled analysis of neoadjuvant trials in breast cancer to assess correlation of different definitions of pathologic complete response with event-free survival and overall survival. As reported by Cortazar et al in <em>The Lancet</em>, response defined as absence of invasive cancer and in situ cancer in the breast and axillary nodes or absence of invasive cancer in the breast and axillary nodes was associated with improved long-term outcome, with prognostic value being greatest in aggressive tumor subtypes. However, a trial-level analysis did not support use of pathologic complete response as a surrogate endpoint for improved event-free survival and overall survival.
Pancreatic cystic lesions are frequently detected radiologic incidentalomas, a considerable proportion of which are pancreatic cancer precursors. In a study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute</em>, Jabbar et al found that proteomic mucin profiling of cyst fluid was more accurate than cytology and cyst fluid carcinoembryonic antigen level in detecting malignant potential and predicting malignant transformation of pancreatic cystic lesions.
Using next-generation sequencing and the clinical data of patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, researchers found that combining mutant-allele tumor heterogeneity as a biomarker with patients’ HPV status provides a reliable predictor of patient survival. The study by Rocco et al was presented at the 2014 Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancer Symposium.
Patients with human papillomavirus (HPV)-positive squamous cell carcinoma of the oropharynx had a longer time to development of distant metastasis after initial treatment, and had more metastatic sites in more atypical locations compared to HPV-negative patients, according to research presented today at the 2014 Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancer Symposium.
A retrospective analysis of patients with oropharyngeal cancer with recurrence of disease after primary therapy in RTOG studies 0129 and 0522 found that human papillomavirus (HPV)-positive patients had a higher overall survival rate than HPV-negative patients, according to research presented today at the 2014 Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancer Symposium. At 2 years post-treatment, overall survival was 54.6% for HPV-positive patients vs 27.6% for HPV-negative patients.
Asparaginase treatment, standard in pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) regimens, is excluded or used for shorter durations in treatment of adults with ALL due to risk of toxicity. In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Douer et al evaluated a pegaspargase dosing strategy based on pharmacokinetic characteristics in adults. They found that nearly half of patients could receive a full course of treatment and that treatment had to be discontinued due to toxicity in 20%.
Study findings show patients with head and neck cancer receiving daily humidification of the mouth and throat during radiation therapy had reduced symptoms of muscositis and spent nearly 50% fewer days in the hospital to manage their treatment side effects. The study by Macann et al was presented at the 2014 Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancer Symposium.
Using whole-genome mRNA-expression profiling, researchers have identified three molecular subtypes of muscle-invasive bladder cancers that shared molecular features with basal and luminal breast cancers. The findings have important implications for prognostication, the future clinical development of targeted drugs, and disease management with conventional chemotherapy. The study by Choi et al is published in <em>Cancer Cell</em>.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Bulian et al found that CD49d-positive chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) patients have significantly poorer overall survival and treatment-free survival and that CD49d status is the strongest flow cytometry–based predictor of overall survival in CLL.
New research from the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center and Georgia Regents University has found that the protein SOCS3, which regulates an inflammatory pathway, does not turn off in breast cancer, resulting in an increase in cancer stem cells. This finding may provide a potential target for treating triple-negative breast cancer, the most aggressive form of the disease. The study by Kim et al was published online in <em>Oncogene</em>.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Pasquali et al assessed the prognostic utility of nonsentinel lymph node status in patients with cutaneous melanoma. They found that nonsentinel lymph node status was a significant independent predictor of melanoma-specific survival in patients with two or three positive nodes.
Researchers have identified a microRNA, miR-146a, that accelerates in the presence of <em>BRAF</em> and <em>NRAS</em> genetic mutations—which occur in 70% of melanoma cases—by activating the Notch signaling pathway. The finding could provide a new drug development target for patients with melanoma. The study by Forloni et al is published in <em>eLife</em>.
In a population-based study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Vaz-Luis et al assessed duration and toxicity of adjuvant trastuzumab in older patients with early-stage breast cancer. They found that age and comorbidity affected treatment completion rates and that significant cardiac events were more common in those not completing therapy, suggesting that cardiac toxicity is a significant factor in failure to complete therapy in such patients.
Mature results of a phase II study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Advani et al indicate that rituximab is active in nodular lymphocyte–predominant Hodgkin lymphoma, which is characterized by expression of CD20 by malignant cells. Most patients relapsed, but durable response was observed in a substantial minority.
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society has issued a statement applauding the FDA’s approval earlier this week of ibrutinib to treat patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia who have received at least one prior therapy.
While new and better treatments have improved the odds of survival for patients diagnosed with late-stage colorectal cancer, that progress has been largely confined to non-Hispanic whites and Asians and those under age 65, according to a new study published in <em>Cancer Causes and Control</em>. The findings by Sineshaw et al underscore the need for concerted efforts to increase access to new treatments for minority groups and older patients, as well as a better understanding of the factors contributing to the disparities in survival.
Lenalidomide has been associated with risk for second primary malignancies in patients with myeloma. In a meta-analysis of individual patient data reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>, Palumbo et al found that lenalidomide was associated with a significantly increased risk of second primary malignancies, reflecting an increased risk of second hematologic malignancies that was driven mainly by use of lenalidomide in combination with oral melphalan.
Researchers have discovered a preleukemic stem cell that may be the first step in initiating disease and also the culprit that evades therapy and triggers relapse in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The research, published online in Nature, is a significant step forward in understanding the steps that a normal cell has to go through as it turns into AML and has the potential to advance personalized cancer medicine.
Using high-throughput screening of already FDA-approved chemotherapeutic agents in gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) cell lines, researchers have discovered that GIST cells display a high sensitivity to transcriptional and topoisomerase II inhibitors. The finding could bring new treatments to the clinic quickly. The research was conducted by Boichuk et al and is published in <em>Cancer Research</em>.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute</em>, Trabert et al in the Ovarian Cancer Association Consortium found that aspirin and high-dose nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug use were associated with significant reductions in risk for ovarian cancer, with the greatest magnitude of risk reduction occurring with daily low-dose aspirin use.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted full approval of omacetaxine mepesuccinate for injection. The full approval was based on the final analysis of two phase II trials that evaluated the efficacy and tolerability data of omacetaxine. The agent received an accelerated approval in October 2012 for adult patients with chronic-phase or accelerated-phase chronic myeloid leukemia with resistance or intolerance to two or more tyrosine kinase inhibitors.
Findings from a study by Puissant et al suggest that the wild-type form of enzyme SYK pairs with FLT3, the most commonly mutated enzyme found in acute myeloid leukemia (AML), to promote progression of the cancer. The molecular partnership also promotes AML cells’ resistance to treatment with FLT3 inhibitors, possibly explaining the disappointing results of these agents in clinical trials. The study is published in <em>Cancer Cell</em>.
The 20-year follow-up of the Swedish Uppsala/Örebro trial, reported by Wickberg et al in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> shows that improved control of recurrence over 5 years with radiotherapy after sector resection in patients with stage I breast cancer is followed by similar recurrence rates with or without radiotherapy.
In the SAFIR01/UNICANCER study reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>, André et al used comparative genomic hybridization and Sanger sequencing on metastatic breast cancer biopsy samples to determine the proportion of cases in which targeted therapy could be offered. They found that screening procedures could be completed in most patients, resulting in the ability to select targeted therapy in many, including those with infrequently observed genomic alterations.
As reported in <em>BMJ</em> by Miller et al, the 25-year follow-up of the Canadian National Breast Screening Study has shown no mortality benefit of annual mammography screening for breast cancer compared with physical examination or usual care. Mammography screening was associated with substantial overdiagnosis.
Scientists from the Translational Genomics Research Institute have uncovered the possible genetic origins of breast cancers that metastasize to the brain. The compendium of new genetic targets may be used to identify potential methods of diagnosis and novel therapeutics for patients with breast cancer brain metastases. The study by Salhia et al is published in <em>PLOS ONE</em>.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today expanded the approved use of ibrutinib for the treatment of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia who have received at least one previous therapy. The FDA’s accelerated approval of ibrutinib, an oral Bruton’s tyrosine kinase inhibitor, was based on the results of a clinical study demonstrating an overall response rate of 58%, with the duration of response ranging from 5.6 to 24.2 months.
Among the four major molecular subgroups of medulloblastoma, WNT tumors are associated with excellent prognosis, whereas SHH and Group 4 tumors are associated with intermediate and Group 3 tumors with poor prognosis. In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Shih et al identified a small panel of biomarkers that distinguishes very high risk and very low risk within the SHH, Group 3, and Group 4 molecular subgroups.
The just-released SSO-ASTRO guideline on margins for breast-conserving surgery with whole-breast irradiation in stage I or II invasive breast cancer reflects the consensus finding that surgical margins wider than "no ink on tumor" do not provide additional reduction in risk of ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence. It is hoped that the expert panel recommendations will spare many patients unnecessary surgery and encourage patients to select lumpectomy rather than mastectomy when medically appropriate.
In the BRIM-3 trial, vemurafenib was associated with improved progression-free and overall survival vs dacarbazine in patients with advanced <em>BRAF</em> V600 mutation–positive melanoma. In an extended follow-up reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> McArthur et al found that superior survival outcomes were maintained and were present in both the <em>BRAF</em> V600E and <em>BRAF</em> V600K mutation subgroups.
In an open-label exploratory phase II trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Kim et al found that the antifungal agent itraconazole, which inhibits the Hedgehog signaling pathway, reduced tumor cell proliferation, Hedgehog pathway activity, and tumor area in patients with basal cell carcinoma. The Hedgehog pathway is a central driver in basal cell cancer tumorigenesis.
Researchers at the Indiana University School of Medicine have discovered a highly accurate, noninvasive test to identify benign pancreatic cysts, which could spare patients the cost and risk of surveillance or potentially dangerous surgical intervention. The findings are reported in the <em>Journal of the American College of Surgeons</em>.
As mammography screening has shifted to digital technology, a range of computed radiography and direct radiography systems have emerged. Digital mammography screening with a new photon-counting technique offers high diagnostic performance, according to a study reported by Weigel et al in <em>Radiology</em>. The photon-counting technique is a direct radiography approach that uses a unique detector to decrease scattered radiation and noise, enabling dose reduction and making it a promising tool for screening.
In an analysis reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Held et al studied elderly patients with aggressive B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma and bulky disease in the most effective treatment arm of the RICOVER-60 trial, which included R-CHOP plus radiotherapy. The investigators compared outcomes in this group with those in patients with bulky disease from a treatment arm not receiving radiotherapy that was added as a trial amendment. They found that the addition of radiotherapy for bulky disease was associated with better outcomes.
In patients with late-stage epithelial ovarian cancer, high levels of microRNA-181a may be predictive of chemotherapy resistance and disease progression, according to the results of a study reported by Parikh et al in <em>Nature Communications</em>. Thus, microRNA-181a may serve as a biomarker for prognosis and treatment determination.
Using data from the whole-genome sequencing of a pair of 3-year-old female monozygotic twins, one healthy and one with the multilineage form of acute myeloid leukemia, a team of scientists from China and the United States have identified a novel molecular target that could offer a new opportunity in the treatment of both hematologic and solid tumor cancers. The study is published in <em>Nature Genetics</em>.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> van Ryn et al assessed patient-reported quality of care among patients with colorectal cancer in the Veterans Affairs health-care system. The found significant gaps in patient-centered quality of supportive care, but also found that coordination of care predicted receipt of wanted help for all symptoms independent of patient demographics or clinical characteristics.
In studies reported in <em>Science Translational Medicine,</em> Ma et al investigated the anticancer effects of millimolar concentrations of ascorbate and found benefits of high-dose intravenous ascorbate treatment in mouse models of ovarian cancer and in a phase I/IIB study in patients with ovarian cancer.
In a brief communication in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Passerini et al describe compassionate use experience with the ALK inhibitor crizotinib in a group of patients with chemoresistant advanced ALK-positive lymphoma. Response was observed in 10 of 11 patients, and treatment was well tolerated.
In a study reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> Cunha et al found that receipt of a stem cell transplant from donors with a homozygous haplotype (h2/h2, G-A/G-A) in <em>PTX3,</em> the gene encoding the soluble pattern-recognition receptor pentraxin 3 (PTX3), is associated with significantly increased risk of invasive aspergillosis.
When comparing treatments designed to enable long-term breast preservation for older women with invasive breast cancer, researchers found those treated with brachytherapy were at higher risk for a later mastectomy, compared to women treated with standard radiation therapy. The findings, published in the <em>International Journal of Radiation Oncology,</em> are the first to provide a direct comparison of breast brachytherapy against a lumpectomy alone control group and an external-beam radiation therapy control group.
Cancer experts from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Weill Cornell Medical College are collaborating to understand the link between obesity and cancer. Most recently, their research has yielded an interesting association: Obesity prior to diagnosis is associated with a fivefold increase in the risk of death from early-stage squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue. Their findings—the first to link obesity and diminished survival in any head and neck cancer—were published in <em>Cancer</em>.
The pan-Canadian Prostate Cancer Risk Stratification database was created to report on the patient, tumor, and treatment factors that were predictive of biochemical and clinical outcomes in patients who underwent radiotherapy for prostate cancer. According to the findings of a study by Rodrigues et al in the <em>Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network</em>, risk stratification in the management of those with prostate cancer plays a key role in directing appropriate therapy based on prognosis.
In a population-based cohort study reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Nam et al assessed the frequency of complications other than urinary incontinence or erectile dysfunction associated with radical prostatectomy or radiotherapy for prostate cancer. They found high rates of hospitalization, urologic procedures, anal/rectal procedures, open surgeries, and, in those receiving radiotherapy, secondary malignancies after such treatment. Radiotherapy was associated with higher rates of hospitalization, anal/rectal procedures, open surgical procedures, and secondary malignancy and a lower rate of urologic procedures vs surgery.
In a meta-analysis reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Flaherty et al found that progression-free survival is a reliable surrogate for overall survival in clinical trials in metastatic melanoma that include dacarbazine as control treatment.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Wang et al in the Children’s Oncology Group identified a common single nucleotide polymorphism, rs2232228, in the hyaluronan synthase 3 (<em>HAS3</em>) gene that is associated with anthracycline dose–related risk of cardiomyopathy in pediatric cancer patients. They found that the AA genotype is associated with increased risk at higher cumulative anthracycline dose and that there is a gene-environment interaction in patients of all ages, with patients who have the AA genotype being significantly more likely to have received higher cumulative doses.
An altered radiation treatment schedule for glioblastoma extended the survival period of mice with the disease, according to a new study published in <em>Cell</em>. Because the research involved mice, the study does not recommend a specific new schedule for human patients, but the findings demonstrate that modifying the standard administration schedule of radiotherapy may make the treatment more effective.
In a trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Milbury et al compared cancer symptoms, physical and mental function, depressive symptoms, fatigue, and sleep outcomes after sessions of expressive writing about cancer vs writing about neutral topics in patients with renal cell carcinoma. They found that expressive writing was associated with reduced cancer-related symptoms and improved physical functioning; the improvement in symptoms appeared to be mediated by an early reduction in intrusive thoughts and avoidance behaviors.
A long-term follow-up study by Hartmann et al of patients with two types of breast tissue abnormalities—atypical ductal hyperplasia and atypical lobular hyperplasia—suggests that both abnormalities have the same potential to advance to breast cancer. The findings could help improve clinical management of patients with these breast tissue abnormalities. The study is published in <em>Cancer Prevention Research</em>.
Anomalies in the cytoplasmic expression of estrogen receptor beta 2 appear to be associated with poorer outcomes in patients with advanced serous ovarian cancer, according to the results of a study reported by Ciucci et al in <em>Gynecologic Oncology</em>. This isoform may represent an independent unfavorable prognostic marker and/or a marker predicting chemoresistance in women with this type of ovarian cancer.
In the CALOR trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Aebi et a; found that adjuvant chemotherapy after complete resection of isolated locoregional recurrence of breast cancer is associated with improved disease-free survival compared with no chemotherapy, especially in patients with estrogen receptor–negative recurrence. Chemotherapy was also associated with improved overall survival.
Among patients with advanced melanoma, presence of higher levels of the protein vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in blood was associated with poor response to treatment with the immunotherapy ipilimumab, according to a study by Yuan et al published in <em>Cancer Immunology Research</em>. The study suggests combining immunotherapy with VEGF inhibitors may be a potential option for these patients.
In patients with sporadic vestibular schwannoma, aspirin may be of benefit in minimizing tumor growth, according to the results of a retrospective study reported by Kandathil et al in <em>Otology and Neurotology.<.em> This finding may eliminate the need for invasive therapy and may complement existing modalities.
Investigators with The Cancer Genome Atlas Research Network have identified new potential therapeutic targets for urothelial carcinoma of the bladder, a common cancer that causes about 150,000 deaths worldwide each year. The researchers also found molecular similarities to some subtypes of breast, head and neck, and lung cancers, suggesting similar routes of development. The study is published in <em>Nature</em>.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Kiecolt-Glaser et al found that yoga reduced levels of inflammatory cytokines and fatigue and increased vitality in breast cancer survivors.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Zu et al found that higher dietary lycopene intake was associated with reduced risk of lethal prostate cancer and reduced tumor angiogenesis.
According to new recommendations published by the American Society of Clinical Oncology, oncologists should emphasize careful documentation of first- and second-degree cancer family history when seeing new patients. Published in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> these recommendations aim to help oncologists more effectively identify patients with a predisposition to hereditary cancer and determine individualized short- and long-term management and treatment strategies based on their specific genetic status.
Prior to the advent of targeted therapy, cytoreductive nephrectomy was associated with a 6-month improvement in overall survival in metastatic renal cell carcinoma. With the development of new and better targeted therapies for metastatic renal cell carcinoma, the appropriate use of cytoreductive nephrectomy has been questioned. A new study provides some guidance as to which patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma can expect to have a survival benefit from cytoreductive nephrectomy in the targeted therapy era.
BRAF inhibition has been thought to result in leukemic cell death by inhibiting the phosphorylation of ERK and MEK resulting from BRAF activation. In a letter to <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> Samuel et al describe studies in a patient with hairy cell leukemia that suggest an alternative mechanism of vemurafenib activity.
Bladder-sparing approaches are typically reserved for patients with bladder cancer who have a complete response to combined-modality induction therapy (radiation plus chemotherapy). A new phase II study suggests that patients with near-complete response should also be considered for bladder-sparing approaches, thereby expanding the pool of patients who can retain their natural bladder.
A large retrospective population-based study shows that potentially fatal penile cancers are surgically undertreated in the United States and more benign penile cancers are surgically overtreated. Even though penile cancer is rare in the United States, accounting for about 1,570 new cases in 2013 and 310 deaths, the study has implications for health-care delivery, according to the investigators.
Although controversial, reducing mammography screening frequency from annually to biennially for women ages 50 to 74 could save the health-care system billions of dollars annually and screen 15% more women compared with the current practice, according to a cost analysis by O’Donoghue et al. The findings are published in <em>Annals of Internal Medicine</em>.
A simple tool called “phi” appears to be able to identify which patients assigned to active surveillance for prostate cancer are more likely to require treatment. <em>Phi,</em> or the prostate health index, is calculated from three serum measurements: PSA, free/total PSA, and a new measurement, [-2]proPSA, using the Beckman Coulter assay kit. In the study, <em>phi</em> gave a more accurate estimate of patients’ course of illness than either PSA alone or free/total PSA.
A new study presented at the 2014 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium found that over a 15-year period, the odds of developing diabetes and/or cardiovascular disease were greater in older men treated with more than 2 years of androgen deprivation therapy, especially in men with comorbidities, while younger men had no increased risk of developing diabetes or cardiovascular disease even with prolonged androgen deprivation therapy.
In the randomized, phase III CA184-043 trial, ipilimumab improved progression-free survival and prostate-specific antigen response compared with placebo, but failed to improve overall survival significantly in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer who had received prior docetaxel therapy. Prespecified subset analyses suggested that ipilimumab improves survival in patients with more favorable prognostic factors. The findings were presented at the 2014 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium in San Francisco.
The Advanced Practitioner Society for Hematology and Oncology (APSHO) announced its launch as a new organization focused on meeting the unique educational and professional needs of the advanced practitioner in hematology and oncology. The formation of the Society was made public January 26, 2014, at the First Annual JADPRO LIVE meeting in St. Petersburg, Florida. JADPRO is the <em>Journal of the Advanced Practitioner in Oncology,</em> published by Harborside Press.
In an updated analysis of an Italian phase III trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Palumbo et al found that bortezomib/melphalan/prednisone/thalidomide induction followed by bortezomib/thalidomide maintenance significantly improved progression-free and overall survival vs bortezomib/melphalan/prednisone without maintenance as first-line treatment in patients with multiple myeloma ineligible for stem cell transplantation.
The most common genetic subtype of lung cancer, which has long defied treatment with targeted therapies, has had its growth halted by a combination of two already-in-use drugs in laboratory and animal studies, setting the stage for clinical trials of the drugs in patients. The study, published in <em>Cancer Discovery,</em> describes a new strategy in the treatment of lung adenocarcinomas with <em>KRAS</em> mutations.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Phipps et al found no evidence of increased post-traumatic stress disorder or symptoms in children with cancer and observed a heightened sense of perceived growth related to cancer events in these children. The investigators noted, “Although childhood cancer remains a significant and challenging event, these findings highlight the capacity of children to adjust, and even thrive, in the face of such challenge.”
An analysis of 7,776 adult cancer clinical trials registered on Clinicaltrials.gov showed that approximately 20% of trials failed to be completed for reasons unrelated to the efficacy or side effects of the intervention. In 2010, a report from the Institute of Medicine indicated that about 40% of the clinical trials initiated by the NCI Cooperative Groups are never finished. However, the scope of this problem within the larger clinical trials enterprise had not previously been comprehensively examined, providing the rationale for the current analysis.
According to a retrospective study, the use of angiotensin system inhibitors, such as lisinopril, captopril, and losartan, improved the survival of patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma by 9 months, compared with patients who were not receiving these types of agents. Survival was even higher in patients receiving angiotensin system inhibitors along with treatment targeting the VEGF pathway. This is the largest analysis to date evaluating the role of angiotensin system inhibitors on outcomes in patients with cancer.
The addition of radiation to lifelong hormone therapy with oral antiandrogens vs antiandrogens alone reduced the prostate cancer–specific death rate by more than 50% at 10 and 15 years in men with locally advanced prostate cancer, according to an updated analysis of the Scandinavian Prostate Cancer Group’s Study VII. Results were presented at a press briefing in advance of the 2014 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium.
Enzalutamide improved survival by 29% in men with chemotherapy-naive metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer and reduced the risk of radiographic progression by 81%, according to results of the randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multinational, phase III PREVAIL trial. These findings were presented at a press briefing in advance of the 2014 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium in San Francisco.
In laboratory experiments conducted on human cell lines at the Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center, scientists have shown that people carrying certain mutations in two hereditary cancer genes, <em>BRCA2</em> and <em>PALB2</em>, may have a higher than usual susceptibility to DNA damage caused by acetaldehyde, a byproduct of alcohol. The findings by Ghosh et al were published in <em>The American Journal of Pathology</em>.
An early-stage study shows melatonin may have the potential to help slow the growth of certain breast cancer tumors, according to a study published in <em>PLoS One</em>. According to the findings by Jardim-Perassi et al, melatonin may inhibit tumor growth and cell production, as well as block the formation of new blood vessels in estrogen receptor–negative breast cancer models.
A study by Almendro et al, analyzed breast cancer tumors before and after treatment for important characteristics, including chromosome copy number, the presence or absence of certain protein markers, and their proliferative capacity. The scientists then used the data to develop computational models to predict how each tumor is likely to change during treatment. The study is published in Cell Reports.
In a noninferiority study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Schwartz et al compared genetic counseling for <em>BRCA1/2</em> mutation testing via telephone vs in person. They found that telephone counseling was noninferior in the primary measures of knowledge, satisfaction, decision conflict, distress, and quality of life, but did not achieve equivalence with in-person counseling in test uptake.
Individuals at increased familial risk of colorectal cancer have poor adherence to colonoscopy screening recommendations, especially those in rural and other geographically underserved populations. In a study (Family CARE trial) reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, Kinney et al found that a telephone-based strategy was effective in improving the colonoscopy screening rate in at-risk relatives of patients with colorectal cancer.
Researchers from the National Cancer Institute have found two distinct genotypes in rhabdomyosarcoma tumors: those characterized by the <em>PAX3</em> or <em>PAX7</em> fusion and those that lack these fusions but harbor mutations in key signaling pathways. The discovery could lead to the development of targeted diagnostic tools and treatments for children with the cancer. The study is published in <em>Cancer Discovery</em>.
A survey of oncologists by Shanafelt al has found that approximately 45% had at least one symptom of burnout, with risk being greatest among younger oncologists and those spending more hours per week devoted to direct patient care. However, overall career satisfaction remains high, especially for oncologists in academic practice. The study is reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
In a phase II study reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> Gopal et al found that the PI3K-delta inhibitor idelalisib produced a high response rate with acceptable toxicity in patients with relapsed/refractory indolent non-Hodgkin lymphomas.
Use of standard chemotherapy is difficult in patients with relapsed chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) who have significant coexisting medical conditions. In a phase III trial reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> Furman et al found that the combination of idelalisib, an oral inhibitor of the delta isoform of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K), and rituximab was associated with significantly improved progression-free and overall survival compared with rituximab alone in this setting.
In a study (FACS trial) reported in <em>JAMA</em>, Primrose et al compared outcomes with intensive follow-up with carcinoembryonic antigen measurement, computed tomography, both, or minimum follow-up after curative surgery for primary colorectal cancer. Intensive strategies resulted in a significantly greater proportion of patients undergoing surgical treatment of recurrence with curative intent, but there was no apparent benefit of these strategies over minimum follow-up in overall survival or colorectal cancer–specific survival.
A large-scale genetic analysis of women with ovarian cancer with no known family histories of breast or ovarian cancer found that one-fifth of them had inherited alterations in genes known to be associated with these cancers. The findings could lead to the development of better screening strategies for ovarian cancer and improved earlier detection. The study is published in <em>Nature Communications</em>.
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Bosset et al, long-term results of the EORTC trial 22921 indicate that adjuvant fluorouracil-based chemotherapy after preoperative radiotherapy with or without chemotherapy does not affect disease-free survival or overall survival in patients with rectal cancer.
In a case series reported in <em>JAMA Dermatology,</em> Chernoff et al found that dermoscopic identification of vascular structures in cutaneous nodules in patients with known visceral cancer diagnosis should raise suspicion for cutaneous metastasis.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Montgomery et al found that an intervention consisting of cognitive-behavioral therapy plus hypnosis produced better control of fatigue than supportive meetings with trained interventionists for women undergoing radiotherapy for breast cancer.
In a study reported in <em>JAMA Dermatology,</em> Velez et al attempted to determine whether progression of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) indicated by advanced Rai stage is associated with worse skin cancer outcomes. They found that risk of death from skin cancer is equivalent to risk from CLL and that advanced Rai stage is a significant predictor of poor skin cancer outcome.
Patients with cancers of the head and neck who received intensity-modulated radiation therapy experienced improved outcomes, as well as reduced toxicities, compared to patients receiving conventional radiation therapy, according to findings published online in <em>Cancer</em> by Beadle et al. The study is the first to document this finding in a large population-based group, as well as the first to suggest intensity-modulated radiation therapy could improve outcomes in head and neck cancer patients.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Gulati et al used a computer microsimulation model of prostate cancer natural history including information on age, Gleason score, and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level to predict likelihood of overdiagnosis. They found that risk of overdiagnosis is 2.9% to 88.1%, varying considerably according to age and PSA level.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Liu et al performed global proteomic profiling in samples from patients with triple-negative breast cancer in an attempt to identify a risk signature. They identified a novel 11-protein signature that independently predicts distant metastasis and breast cancer mortality and that may help to avoid unnecessary adjuvant systemic therapy in this setting.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Brooks et al found that oncology clinicians considered 19% of hospitalizations for patients with gastrointestinal cancers to be avoidable.
In the phase III LUX-Lung 6 trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Wu et al compared afatinib with gemcitabine/cisplatin, a regimen widely used in Asian countries, in first-line treatment of Asian patients with advanced <em>EGFR</em>-mutant non–small cell lung cancer. They found that afatinib significantly improved progression-free survival and objective response rate.
In a pilot study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Schrag et al assessed outcomes with neoadjuvant FOLFOX (fluorouracil, leucovorin, oxaliplatin)/bevacizumab with selective use of chemoradiotherapy. They found that this strategy, which is now being assessed in a phase III trial, does not appear to compromise outcome.
The drug metformin, which is approved for the treatment of type 2 diabetes, has been tested in clinical trials as a tumor suppressor in different cancers due to its role in activating the AMPK signaling pathway. However, a new study by Liu et al published in <em>Proceedings of the National Academy of Science</em> suggests that metformin may suppress tumor cell proliferation through an AMPK-independent mechanism and that activation of the AMPK pathway may instead fuel malignant cell proliferation.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Makar et al assessed whether use of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor or angiotensin receptor blocker treatment for hypertension was associated with reduced risk for colorectal cancer. They found that long-term and long-term/high-dose treatment with these agents appears to reduce colorectal cancer risk.
In the phase III trial (LUME-Lung 1) reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Reck et al assessed the addition of nintedanib to docetaxel in second-line treatment of non–small cell lung cancer. The combination significantly improved progression-free survival in all patients and improved overall survival in patients with adenocarcinoma.
In a prospective study reported as a research letter in <em>JAMA,</em> Meretoja et al found that 50% of patients had mild pain and 16% moderate or severe pain at 12 months after surgery for breast cancer. Factors predictive of pain were chronic preoperative pain, preoperative pain in the area of surgery, preoperative depression, axillary lymph node dissection, receipt of chemotherapy, and receipt of radiotherapy.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Landier et al in the Children’s Oncology Group assessed platinum-related hearing loss in a large group of pediatric patients with high-risk neuroblastoma using several audiometry scales. They found that hearing loss is common, with greater risk of severe hearing loss in patients receiving cisplatin combined with myeloablative carboplatin, and that there are differences among scales in detecting severe hearing loss.
According to the final results of the phase III CAIRO3 trial by the Dutch Colorectal Cancer Group, maintenance treatment with capecitabine plus bevacizumab significantly delayed progression compared to observation in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer, and in a subset of patients, also conveyed an overall survival benefit. The findings were reported by <strong>Miriam Koopman, MD,</strong> at the 2014 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium in San Francisco.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Prabhu et al found that the addition of PCV (procarbazine, lomustine, vincristine) chemotherapy to radiotherapy had no apparent effect on cognitive function in patients with grade 2 glioma, with few patients in either group experiencing marked declines and function improving overall in both groups over 5-year follow-up.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Marcucci et al assessed whether including epigenetic changes--ie, DNA methylation--as molecular risk factors could improve risk stratification in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). They found that a seven-gene score integrating DNA methylation and genetic information identified new risk subsets in patients with cytogenetically normal AML.
In a study reported in <em>JAMA Surgery,</em> Agarwal et al compared breast cancer–specific survival rates of patients with early-stage invasive ductal carcinoma undergoing breast-conservation therapy (lumpectomy followed by radiation), mastectomy alone, or mastectomy with radiation using the SEER database. They found that breast-conservation therapy was associated with significantly better disease-specific survival.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Sozzi et al evaluated a plasma microRNA signature classifier in detection of lung cancer in smokers. They found that use of low-dose computed tomography (CT) and the classifier together resulted in a fivefold reduction in CT false-positives.
Irinotecan drug-eluting beads given simultaneously with FOLFOX and bevacizumab in patients with unresectable liver metastasis from colorectal cancer improved response rates, increased resectability and prolonged hepatic progression-free survival in a study reported by <strong>Robert C. Martin, MD,</strong> of the University of Louisville in Kentucky, at the 2014 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium in San Francisco.
In a study reported in <em>JAMA Surgery,</em> Yen et al assessed the impact of a surgeon's volume and percentage of cases involving breast cancer on the use of sentinel lymph node biopsy in older women with invasive breast cancer. They found that younger patients and those who are treated by surgeons with higher volume and greater concentration of breast cancer cases are more likely to receive sentinel lymph node biopsy.
More data have emerged that discount the potential for benefit with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitors in esophageal cancer. The latest comes from the RTOG 0436 randomized phase III trial in patients with nonoperable esophageal cancer, the results of which were presented at the 2014 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium.
In a noninferiority trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Garland et al compared the effects of mindfulness-based stress reduction vs cognitive-behavioral therapy for treatment of insomnia in patients with cancer. They found that both techniques improved insomnia, with mindfulness-based stress reduction not being noninferior immediately after the program but achieving noninferiority at 3-month follow-up.
A detailed study of tissue samples from more than 200 patients with multiple myeloma has found that an individual patient’s tumor can harbor populations of cancer cells equipped with different mutations. The result could have therapeutic ramifications for future patients, according to study investigators. The study is published in Cancer Cell.
Overall survival was improved in patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer through an innovative immunotherapy strategy in a multicenter study reported at the 2014 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium. Patients who received a combination of GVAX Pancreas and CRS-207 had a median overall survival of 6.1 months, compared with 3.9 for those receiving only GVAX. The results were announced at a press briefing prior to the meeting.
In the global phase III RAINBOW trial of patients with metastatic gastric cancer, the monoclonal antibody ramucirumab significantly improved both progression-free and overall survival when given as second-line therapy, investigators reported at a press briefing in advance of the 2014 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium. Median overall survival was 9.6 months with the ramucirumab/paclitaxel combination vs 7.4 months with paclitaxel alone, a 19% reduction in risk.
In patients undergoing gastric resection for gastric/gastroesophageal junction cancers, high levels of angiogenic and growth factors are associated with poorer overall survival, according to the results of a retrospective study presented by Park et al in the <em>Annals of Surgical Oncology</em>. Thus, these factors may delineate tumor biology and help to stratify patient prognosis.
New data from a phase III clinical trial show that patients with metastatic colorectal cancer tumors that contain <em>RAS</em> mutations beyond <em>KRAS</em> exon 2 are unlikely to benefit from the addition of panitumumab to second-line FOLFIRI chemotherapy. Doctors routinely test metastatic colorectal tumors for mutations in the <em>KRAS</em> gene at exon 2, which was previously shown to predict response to panitumumab treatment; however, the results of this study confirm the need to test for additional <em>RAS</em> mutations prior to administering panitumumab.
New findings from a four-arm phase III clinical trial in patients with stage II or stage III rectal cancer indicate that combining preoperative radiation with either capecitabine or fluorouracil (5-FU) results in equivalent outcomes. This study provides strong clinical evidence that using either 5-FU or capecitabine is acceptable in this setting. The researchers also found that the addition of oxaliplatin to either of these regimens did not provide further benefit but increased overall treatment toxicity.
Interim results from an ongoing phase II clinical trial in patients with advanced neuroendocrine tumors show that a new chemotherapy combination of capecitabine and temozolomide either stalled disease progression or shrank tumors in 95% of patients whose disease worsened after standard high-dose octreotide. The responses were long-lasting and most patients experienced only mild side effects. The findings were reported at a press conference in advance of the 2014 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium.
In a study reported in <em>JAMA Surgery,</em> Gangi et al from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles assessed outcomes in a large cohort of women undergoing breast-conserving surgery at their institution. They found that patients with triple-negative breast cancer were not at greater risk of local recurrence compared with patients with luminal A, luminal B, or ERBB2-enriched subtypes. Triple-negative disease was associated with significantly poorer overall survival compared with luminal A and luminal B subtypes.
In an open-label phase III trial reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> Goede et compared obinutuzumab/chlorambucil and rituximab/chlorambucil vs chlorambucil alone and vs each other in patients with previously untreated chronic lymphocytic leukemia and coexisting medical conditions. Progression-free survival was significantly greater with the antibody/chlorambucil combinations vs chlorambucil alone and with obinutuzumab/chlorambucil vs rituximab/chlorambucil.
In a study reported as a research letter in <em>JAMA,</em> Sarna et al found that the prevalence of smoking among U.S. health-care professionals was 8.3% in 2010/2011, representing decreases of 23.4% since 2003 and 19.3% since 2006/2007.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted Breakthrough Therapy designation for dabrafenib for the treatment of patients with metastatic BRAF V600E mutation–positive non–small cell lung cancer who have received at least one prior line of platinum-containing chemotherapy.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has accepted the New Drug Application for idelalisib, a targeted, oral inhibitor of PI3K-delta, for the treatment of refractory indolent non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The application was supported by a single-arm phase II study evaluating idelalisib in patients with indolent NHL that is refractory to rituximab and alkylating agent–containing chemotherapy.
<em>ALK</em> and <em>ROS1</em> gene rearrangements, which are known to drive subsets of lung cancer, appear to be present in some colorectal cancers as well, according to the results of a study reported by Aisner et al in <em>Molecular Cancer Research</em>. The findings suggest that therapies used to target these two oncogenes in lung cancer also may have potential applications in treating colorectal cancers that share the same mutations.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Mahmud et al evaluated the effectiveness of the quadrivalent human papillomavirus vaccine against cervical dysplasia using population-based individual level data routinely collected in Manitoba. They found that a high proportion of vaccinated women may not be protected against high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions and lesser dysplasia, particularly those vaccinated at age ≥ 18 years and those with abnormal cytology before vaccination.
In a phase IB/II study reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> O’Brien et al assessed the use of the Bruton's tyrosine kinase inhibitor ibrutinib in previously untreated patients aged ≥ 65 years with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Treatment was associated with a high response rate and low rates of severe infection and myelosuppression.
In an analysis reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Zhao et al assessed factors associated with pain severity changes in ambulatory patients with solid tumors in the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group E2Z02 (Symptom Outcomes and Practice Patterns) trial. They found that approximately one-third of patients with pain at baseline had pain improvement and one-fifth had worsened pain during 4 or 5 weeks of follow-up, whereas pain developed in 28% of patients without pain at baseline.
In a study reported in The Lancet, Andreyev et al compared outcomes with usual care, gastroenterologist-led algorithm-based management, and nurse-led algorithm-based management for patients with chronic gastrointestinal symptoms following pelvic radiotherapy for cancer. The findings indicated that outcomes are improved with algorithm-based care and that there is no significant difference between outcomes with nurse-led care or gastroenterologist-led care.
In an individual patient data meta-analysis reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Houssami et al found that preoperative magnetic resonance imaging was not associated with differences in local recurrence or distant recurrence compared with conventional imaging in women with breast cancer.
Over the past several years, there have been recurring shortages of widely used generic chemotherapy agents in the United States. In a letter to <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> Gogineni et al described a survey of U.S. oncologists regarding types and frequency of chemotherapy shortages and consequences for patient care. The survey showed that more than three-quarters of oncologists could not prescribe preferred treatment due to shortages within the previous 6 months and that more than one-third had to delay treatment due to shortages.
In the ESRA-CII trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Berry et al, patient use of a Web-based self-care program featuring tailored education and communication coaching resulted in significantly reduced symptom distress compared with symptom/quality-of-life tracking alone in patients with a variety of cancers receiving standard education. Benefit was particularly evident in patients aged at least 50 years.
In a Children’s Oncology Group study (AGCT0132) reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,<em> Billmire et al found that overall survival can be preserved in patients with stage I pediatric malignant ovarian germ cell tumor with a strategy of initial surveillance after surgical resection.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved trametinib (Mekinist) for use in combination with dabrafenib (Tafinlar) for the treatment of patients with unresectable melanoma or metastatic melanoma with <em>BRAF</em> V600E or V600K mutations detected by an FDA-approved test. The approval of the combination is based on the demonstration of response rate and median duration of response in a phase I/II study.
ASCO President <strong>Clifford A. Hudis, MD, FACP,</strong> released a statement in response to today’s report from the CDC that demonstrated a dramatic decrease in the number of young adults with lung cancer. He emphasized that we must continue to expand tobacco control programs in the United States and overseas, where tobacco use is a growing problem.
Tobacco control efforts are having a major impact on Americans’ health, a new analysis of lung cancer data suggests. The rate of new lung cancer cases decreased among men and women in the United States from 2005 to 2009, according to a report in this week’s <em>Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report</em>.
In patients with Merkel cell carcinoma, sentinel lymph node biopsy was shown to be associated with improved disease-specific survival, according to the results of a retrospective study presented by Kachare et al in the <em>Annals of Surgical Oncology</em>. Thus, sentinel lymph node biopsy offers prognostic information that may be of value in selecting appropriate adjuvant therapy.
In a French multicenter observational study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Rousselot et al assessed the effects of imatinib discontinuation on major molecular response persistence in chronic-phase chronic myelogenous leukemia patients in durable complete molecular response. The investigators also evaluated the effects of using loss of major molecular response as a criterion for resuming tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy. They found that cumulative loss of major molecular response was 36% at 2 years and that complete molecular response was achieved in most patients after resuming treatment.
In a phase III intergroup trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, DiSilvestro et al in the Gynecologic Oncology Group and National Cancer Institute of Canada Clinical Trials Group evaluated the addition of the hypoxic cell sensitizer tirapazamine to standard cisplatin chemoradiotherapy in patients with locally advanced cervical cancer. Due to a shortage of tirapazamine, the study did not reach its initial target accrual goal. The addition of tirapazamine did not improve progression-free or overall survival.
A National Cancer Institute-funded survey of general internists asking about their attitudes and knowledge about the care of adult survivors of childhood cancers has found that few internists are comfortable caring for these patients. Moreover, many are unfamiliar with the Children’s Oncology Group surveillance guidelines and would prefer to follow patients in collaboration with a cancer center. The survey results are published in the <em>Annals of Internal Medicine</em>.
A study of human bronchial epithelial cells carrying mutations in the <em>TP53</em> and <em>KRAS</em> genes has found that e-cigarette vapors enhanced the cells’ cancerous behaviors. The study suggests that e-cigarette exposure may contribute to lung cancer in individuals at high risk for the disease. The preliminary results were presented at the AACR-IASLC Joint Conference on the Molecular Origins of Lung Cancer, held in San Diego.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Dusetzina et al evaluated trends in imatinib expenditures from 2002 to 2011 and the association between copayment requirements for imatinib and tyrosine kinase inhibitor treatment adherence in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia. They found that patients with higher copayments are more likely to be nonadherent to or discontinue tyrosine kinase inhibitor treatment.
In a phase III EORTC-Gynaecological Cancer Group and Gynecologic Cancer Intergroup study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Vergote et al assessed the effects of the EGFR inhibitor erlotinib vs observation in patients with ovarian carcinoma with no evidence of progression after first-line platinum-based therapy. No progression-free or overall survival benefit was observed with erlotinib treatment.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Shuch et al from the National Cancer Institute assessed whether age at onset of renal cell carcinoma could indicate the need for germline mutation testing for detection of inherited forms of kidney cancer. They found that age ≤ 46 years at onset could serve as a marker for genetic testing.
Today the American Cancer Society issued a report showing a 20% decline in cancer death rates between 1991 and 2010, and estimating that 1.3 million deaths have been averted as a result of the decline. In response to this encouraging news, ASCO President <strong>Clifford A. Hudis, MD, FACP,</strong> has issued a statement calling for a $32 billion budget for the NIH to sustain and enhance the search for new cancer cures.
In a research letter published in <em>JAMA Internal Medicine,</em> Chinn et al surveyed physicians’ attitudes towards hospice treatment if they were terminally ill with cancer and assessed how physician preferences might affect timing of hospice discussions with their terminally ill patients. They found that most physicians reported that they would enroll in hospice, particularly women, primary care physicians, those with more patients in managed care, and those with more terminally ill patients. Physicians with a strong preference for hospice were more likely to have earlier hospice discussions with their patients.
In a prospective matched-pairs analysis reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Stelljes et al in the German AML Cooperative Group compared outcomes with allogeneic stem cell transplantation vs conventional postremission chemotherapy in patients aged < 60 years with acute myeloid leukemia in first complete remission. They found that stem cell transplantation was associated with significantly better overall survival, including in patients with abnormal karyotype and those aged 45 to 69 years.
The addition of Imprime PGG, a type of immunotherapy, to chemoimmunotherapy with carboplatin, paclitaxel, and cetuximab resulted in improved response rates and overall survival rates in patients with late-stage, non–small cell lung cancer, according to the results of a phase II study by <strong>Richard D. Huhn, MD,</strong> and colleagues. The study results were presented at the AACR-IASLC Joint Conference on the Molecular Origins of Lung Cancer, in San Diego.
Optimal dose fractionation for radiation therapy of painful bone metastases from multiple primary sites remains undefined. In a phase III noninferiority trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Chow et al compared 8 Gy in a single fraction vs 20 Gy in multiple fractions in patients with painful bone metastases who had received prior radiation treatment. The 8-Gy regimen was noninferior to the 20-Gy regimen in pain response in intent-to-treat analysis but not in per-protocol analysis and was associated with lower frequency of some acute toxicities.
In an analysis reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Fenske et al compared outcomes with early or late autologous vs reduced-intensity conditioning allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in a population of patients with chemotherapy-sensitive mantle cell lymphoma. They found no significant overall survival differences between procedures. Survival was significantly better for both procedures when transplantation occurred earlier in the disease course.
Treatment with the drug decitabine prior to administration of chemotherapy and a cancer vaccine yielded clinical benefit for women with recurrent ovarian cancer, suggesting that this combinatorial chemoimmunotherapy may provide a new treatment option for patients with this disease, according to a study by Odunsi et al in <em>Cancer Immunology Research</em>.
Dasatinib resulted in “faster and deeper responses” compared to imatinib among patients with newly diagnosed chronic-phase chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), according to a 3-year follow-up of the randomized phase III DASISION trial. Deeper responses at 3, 6, and 12 months were associated with better 3-year progression-free and overall survival, Jabbour et al reported in <em>Blood</em>.
In a phase II pilot trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Payne et al compared a high-dose 4-week intravenous interferon alfa-2b regimen with the same regimen followed by 48 weeks of subcutaneous maintenance therapy in patients with resected melanoma. The longer regimen was associated with nonsignificantly better relapse-free survival and a significant overall survival advantage. The investigators stated that the outcome does not support examination of the shorter regimen in a phase III trial.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Traeger et al evaluated risk of depression symptoms and psychosocial service use by race and sex among patients with newly diagnosed lung cancer. The investigators found that black men have the highest prevalence of depressive symptoms, white women are at greater risk for depression than white men and black women on analysis adjusting for covariates, and black women more frequently access psychosocial support.
In a phase III study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Roila et al compared aprepitant vs dexamethasone in prevention of delayed emesis in breast cancer patients treated with anthracycline/cyclophosphamide who had received palonosetron/aprepitant/dexamethasone prophylaxis for acute emesis. They found that the two agents had similar efficacy and toxicity.
In a noninferiority trial (SINS) reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Bath-Hextall et al compared imiquimod 5% cream vs surgical excision for nodular and superficial basal cell carcinomas. Imiquimod cream was found to be inferior to surgical excision, but it may have a role in treatment of low-risk disease.
According to the findings of a meta-analysis by Sun et al published in <em>Diabetes, Obesity, and Metabolism,</em> patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus who are on certain therapies, such as insulin secretagogues, may be at higher risk for cancer. Compared to women taking insulin secretagogues, those taking insulin sensitizers had a 21% reduced risk of cancer. Oral diabetes therapy did not appear to affect risk of cancer in men.
In the phase III Neo-tAnGo trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Earl et al compared neoadjuvant therapy with epirubicin/cyclophosphamide followed by paclitaxel with or without gemcitabine vs paclitaxel with or without gemcitabine followed by epirubicin/cyclophosphamide in newly diagnosed breast cancer. Paclitaxel-first treatment was associated with a significantly better pathologic complete response rate, and no difference in response rate was observed between treatment with vs without gemcitabine.
While acknowledging that the full potential of cancer immunotherapy remains unclear, the editors of the journal <em>Science</em> said that the approach of using the immune system to attack tumors marks a turning point in the treatment of cancer. The successes of cancer immunotherapy in clinical trials in 2013--decades in the making--displayed such promise as a treatment strategy, it rose to the top of the journal’s list of the year’s 10 most important scientific breakthroughs.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved revised prescribing information and a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy for ponatinib that allows immediate resumption of its marketing and commercial distribution. The prescribing information includes a revised indication statement and boxed warning, updated safety information, and recommendations regarding dosing considerations for prescribers.
Wider surgical margins did not reduce the rate of local recurrence in women with triple-negative breast cancer treated with breast-conserving therapy, according to the results of a study published in the <em>Annals of Surgical Oncology.</em> Pilewskie et al reported that their data support the definition of a negative surgical margin as no ink on tumor, even in this high-risk group of patients.
In a phase III noninferiority trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Barrett-Lee et al compared oral ibandronic acid vs intravenous zoledronic acid in treatment of bone metastases from breast cancer. The study showed that ibandronic acid was not noninferior to zoledronic acid in preventing skeletal-related events.
In a study reported in <em>JAMA Internal Medicine,</em> Patz et al in the NLST Overdiagnosis Manuscript Writing Team estimated the magnitude of overdiagnosis using low-dose computed tomography (CT) screening for lung cancer in the National Lung Screening Trial. They found that more than 18% of lung cancers detected by low-dose CT screening in the trial were likely to be indolent and that 1.38 cases of overdiagnosis occurred per one life saved with CT screening.
As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Bollard et al succeeded in expanding autologous cytotoxic T lymphocytes specific to the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) antigens latent membrane protein 1 (LMP1) and LMP2 and using them in treatment of patients with EBV-associated lymphoma at high risk of relapse or in relapse after standard therapy. Long-term remission was maintained in nearly all patients in remission at the time of LMP cytotoxic T-lymphocyte infusion, and a high response rate was achieved in those with active disease.
<strong>Julie M. Vose, MD, MBA, FASCO,</strong> has been elected President of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) for a 1-year term beginning in June 2015. She will take office as President-Elect during the ASCO Annual Meeting in Chicago in June 2014. Additionally, four new members were elected to the ASCO Board of Directors and two new members to the ASCO Nominating Committee.
In a phase II study reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Westin et al assessed the effects of the anti–PD-1 antibody pidilizumab in combination with rituximab in patients with relapsed follicular lymphoma. Treatment was associated with a high response rate and no autoimmune or severe treatment-related adverse events of grade 3 or 4.
In the phase III START trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> Butts et al assessed whether maintenance treatment with the MUC1 antigen–specific immunotherapy tecemotide could prolong overall survival in patients with unresectable stage III non–small cell lung cancer who had received chemoradiotherapy. They found no overall survival benefit with tecemotide in the entire population, but there was evidence of a survival benefit among patients who had received previous concurrent chemoradiotherapy.
As reported in The Lancet Oncology by Gatta et al, the population-based EUROCARE-5 study has shown improved survival for all childhood cancers combined in Europe between 1999–2001 and 2005–2007 and persistence of regional survival disparities.
As reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by De Angelis et al, the population-based EUROCARE-5 study has shown improved cancer survival over time in all European regions, although regional disparities remain.
Maintaining a 2 decade–long trend, the cancer death rate in the United States continues to decline, according to the Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer, published online this week in <em>Cancer</em>. The report, which covers the years 2001 to 2010, shows drops in death rates for a range of common cancers, including colorectal, breast, and prostate cancers—and particularly lung cancer, where the death rate decreased at a faster pace than in previous years.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Pan et al assessed factors associated with noncompliance with recommended radiation therapy following breast-conserving surgery for breast cancer. A primary factor in underuse of radiation therapy was younger patients having children aged < 7 years.
In a phase III trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Michaelson et al assessed the addition of the antiangiogenesis agent sunitinib to prednisone in patients with progressive metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer after docetaxel-based chemotherapy. No significant improvement in overall survival was observed with the addition of sunitinib.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Greenhalf et al analyzed the association between hENT1 levels and survival in patients with pancreas cancer receiving adjuvant gemcitabine or fluorouracil/leucovorin after resection in the ESPAC-3 trial. Low hENT1 level was associated with significantly poorer survival in gemcitabine recipients.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Sivendran et al assessed the degree to which publication of phase III trials in oncology conformed with CONSORT (Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials) recommendations for reporting adverse events. They found that adverse event reporting is suboptimal.
Adding dasatinib to a standard antihormone therapy, letrozole, doubled the time before disease progressed for women with hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer, according to results of a phase II clinical trial presented at the 2013 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. However, the combination was not found to improve the clinical-benefit rate compared with letrozole alone.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Nan et al investigated the potential role of the single nucleotide polymorphism rs6983267 (chromosome 8q24) in the protective effect of aspirin for colorectal cancer. The study showed that the T allele of rs6983267 was associated with a protective effect in regular aspirin users and was associated with reduced <em>MYC</em> expression.
Patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer and a poor performance status who were previously treated with docetaxel may benefit from currently available second-line therapies, according to the findings of a meta-analysis by Iacovelli et al published in <em>Prostate Cancer and Prostatic Diseases</em>. Currently available therapies included abiraterone, cabazitaxel, and enzalutamide.
A study by Sosman et al has identified two novel <em>BRAF</em> fusions in melanomas previously considered to be negative for molecular targets. In addition, these “pan-negative” melanomas were found to be sensitive to MEK inhibitors. According to the study, BRAF fusions define a new molecular subset of melanoma, potentially comprising between 4% and 8% of pan-negative cases. The study is published in <em>Clinical Cancer Research</em>.
As reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute</em> by Di Leo et al, the final overall survival analysis of the CONFIRM trial has shown a significant benefit of fulvestrant at 500 mg vs 250 mg in postmenopausal women with locally advanced or metastatic estrogen receptor–positive breast cancer recurring or progressing after prior endocrine therapy.
A new study has found a potential relationship linking sugar-derived metabolites--including molecules called advanced glycation end products--with disparities in prostate cancer incidence and mortality between African American and non-Hispanic white men. The findings were presented at the Sixth AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved.
In a phase III trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Loprinzi et al assessed whether calcium and magnesium treatment reduced oxaliplatin-related neurotoxicity in patients with colon cancer receiving adjuvant FOLFOX. They found that calcium/magnesium treatment did not reduce cumulative neurotoxicity and also did not substantially reduce oxaliplatin-related acute neuropathy.
The addition of carboplatin to a neoadjuvant regimen significantly increased the rate of pathologic complete response in patients with triple-negative breast cancer. The results from the CALGB/Alliance 40603 study were reported at the 2013 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. The addition of bevacizumab had some effect when added to chemotherapy, but it was felt to be a less promising candidate for this approach due to its toxicity.
In the phase III EORTC-GIMEMA AML-12 trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Willemze et al compared induction regimens containing high-dose or standard-dose cytarabine in patients with newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia. They found that the high-dose regimen was associated with improved overall survival, particularly among patients aged < 46 years.
Adjuvant use of bisphosphonates reduced the risk of bone recurrence by 34% and the risk of breast cancer death by 17% in postmenopausal women with early breast cancer in a large meta-analysis conducted by the Early Breast Cancer Trialists’ Collaborative Group. The potentially practice-changing findings were presented at the 2013 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium by <strong>Robert Coleman, MD,</strong> of University of Sheffield, United Kingdom.
Adjuvant paclitaxel/trastuzumab may benefit women with small HER2-positive, node-negative tumors with little toxicity, according to a multicenter study presented at the 2013 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. The findings demonstrated that after being treated with the combination, followed by trastuzumab alone, disease-free survival at 3 years was 98.7% in the study population with few adverse events reported.
Women with HER2-positive, hormone receptor-positive breast cancer with mutations in the PI3K/AKT pathway may respond poorly to neoadjuvant therapy, German researchers reported at the 2013 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (Abstract S4-06). Patients with PIK3CA-mutant tumors had a significantly lower pathologic complete response rate after neoadjuvant therapy compared to those with wild-type tumors.
In postmenopausal women receiving hormone replacement therapy, low-dose tamoxifen did not significantly reduce the risk of breast cancer but did increase climacteric symptoms, according to the phase III study results presented by DeCensi et al in the <em>Annals of Oncology.</em> However, beneficial trends in some subgroups were noted by the investigators, suggesting that the treatment may warrant further study.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Chow et al compared cardiovascular risk and risk factors in hematopoietic cell transplantation recipients with those in a matched general population sample. Hematopoietic cell transplantation survivors were at greater risk for cardiomyopathy, stroke, dyslipidemia, and diabetes but at reduced risk for ischemic heart disease. Risk among survivors was associated with modifiable lifestyle risk factors.
In a phase II trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Illidge et al evaluated radioimmunotherapy with fractionated 90Y-ibritumomab tiuxetan as initial treatment in patients with mostly advanced follicular lymphoma. The treatment was well tolerated, with manageable hematologic toxicity, and was associated with a high response rate.
Five years of treatment with anastrozole reduced the risk of primary breast cancer by more than 50% in postmenopausal women at high risk for developing the disease, according to an analysis of the IBIS II trial. The study was published online in The Lancet to coincide with its presentation at the 2013 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.
Among older women with hormone receptor–positive breast cancer, it may be reasonable to omit whole-breast radiation therapy after breast-conserving surgery and neoadjuvant hormone therapy if the patient’s tumors have high levels of estrogen receptor expression, but radiation should remain standard of care for those with low levels of estrogen receptor expression. These findings of the PRIME II study were reported at the 2013 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.
Final results of the phase III NeoALTTO trial have confirmed the value of pathologic complete response to dual HER2 blockade in the neoadjuvant setting. The achievement of pathologic complete response was associated with significantly improved event-free survival and overall survival in some women with HER2-positive tumors. The study was reported at the 2013 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium by <strong>Martine Piccart-Gebhart, MD, PhD</strong>.
Bevacizumab failed to extend invasive disease–free survival when added to trastuzumab-directed adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with HER2-positive breast cancer in the phase III BETH trial. The trial also demonstrated that a non–anthracycline-containing chemotherapy arm was as effective in prolonging survival as an anthracycline-containing arm. The study was presented at the 2013 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.
Re-examination of data from four large studies of the benefits and harms of mammography screening shows that the benefits are more consistent across these studies than previously understood and that all the studies indicate a substantial reduction in breast cancer mortality with screening, according to results presented at the 2013 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.
Women with HER2-positive breast cancer who had the highest levels of immune cells in their tumors gained the most benefit from presurgery treatment with chemotherapy and trastuzumab, according to results presented today at the 2013 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. The findings also suggest that adding immune checkpoint inhibitors to trastuzumab therapy could potentially improve clinical outcomes, according to the researchers.
The antibody-drug conjugate brentuximab vedotin has shown “compelling” antitumor activity in patients with non-Hodgkin lymphomas (NHL) who were no longer responding to treatment, in a study presented at the American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting and Exposition. The ongoing open-label phase II study was designed to test the activity of brentuximab vedotin in relapsed or refractory NHL including B-cell cancers such as diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.
In the phase III INTORSECT trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Hutson et al compared temsirolimus vs sorafenib as second-line treatment in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma after progression on sunitinib. There was no significant difference between treatments in progression-free survival, the primary endpoint, but a benefit in overall survival was observed for sorafenib.
In the phase III INTORACT trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Rini et al compared temsirolimus/bevacizumab vs interferon alfa/bevacizumab in first-line treatment of metastatic renal cell carcinoma. There were no significant differences between the two regimens in progression-free survival, overall survival, or objective response rate.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Zimmer et al assessed the incidence of spontaneous new primary melanomas in patients with stage III or IV melanoma in order to help clarify risk of BRAF inhibitor-related new melanomas. They found that patients not receiving BRAF inhibitor treatment remain at risk for further primary melanomas, with risk significantly increased in men and in patients with a history of multiple primary melanomas before or at diagnosis of stage III or IV disease.
Nearly all of the patients with high-risk chronic lymphocytic leukemia in a phase II clinical trial responded to treatment with ibrutinib and rituximab, reported <strong>Jan Burger, MD, PhD,</strong> of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, at the ASH Annual Meeting. The combination produced complete or partial responses in 95% of patients and was associated with a significant improvement in quality of life.
In a Danish study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Arendt et al assessed cancer risk in subjects presenting with elevated cobalamin. They found that cancer risk increased with increasing cobalamin level and was greatest in the first year of follow-up.
A high proportion of mantle cell lymphoma patients may achieve an objective and durable response to treatment with an initial chemotherapy-free regimen of lenalidomide plus rituximab, according to <strong>Jia Ruan, MD, PhD,</strong> of Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, who presented the results of a multicenter phase II study at the ASH Annual Meeting.
A new analysis of the multiple myeloma IFM 2005-02 trial showed that lenalidomide maintenance prolongs progression-free survival after stem cell transplantation, but does not improve overall survival. This is possibly attributed to the shorter survival time after first disease progression than is observed in patients receiving placebo, suggested <strong>Michel Attal, MD,</strong> of Centre Hospitalier Regional Universitaire Hôpital Purpan, who presented the findings at the 55th American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting and Exposition.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Shiels et al identified 11 circulating inflammation markers significantly associated with lung cancer risk. A risk score using four of the markers distinguished risk levels among current and former smokers.
Data from a study by <strong>Ritu Aneja, PhD,</strong> of Georgia State University in Atlanta, and colleagues indicate that overexpression of the protein HSET is a valuable prognostic biomarker in African American women with breast cancer, but not in Caucasian patients, underscoring the protein’s role in the aggressiveness of the disease in African American women. The findings were presented at the Sixth AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved.
Five commonly used hematology tests, treatments, and procedures are not always necessary, according to the <em>Choosing Wisely®</em> initiative of the American Board of Internal Medicine Foundation. The list of these five tests was published online in <em>Blood</em> to coincide with the unveiling of the list at a press conference during the ASH Annual Meeting.
In patients with indolent B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma refractory to both rituximab and an alkylating agent, monotherapy with the selective oral PI3K-delta inhibitor idelalisib produced a high response rate, with responses persisting for 1 year in the average patient, according to mature response date from a phase II study presented at the ASH Annual Meeting.
First-line treatment of newly diagnosed multiple myeloma using continuous treatment with the doublet of lenalidomide and low-dose dexamethasone was superior to standard triplet treatment with melphalan, prednisone, and thalidomide for 72 weeks, according to initial results of the phase III FIRST trial presented during the Plenary Session at the 55th American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting and Exposition in New Orleans.
The monoclonal antibody gemtuzumab ozogamicin 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 by <strong>Alan S. Gamis, MD, MPH,</strong> of Children’s Mercy Hospital and Clinics in Kansas City, Missouri.
Years after receiving treatment, many patients who survive prostate cancer continue to experience treatment-related symptoms, according to the findings of a study by Darwish-Yassine et al published in the <em>Journal of Cancer Survivorship.</em> These findings highlight the need for improvements in survivor care over an extended period of time.
Two novel agents--the small-molecule PI3K inhibitor IPI-145 and the Bcl-2 inhibitor ABT-199--show promising activity in chronic lymphocytic leukemia, according to two phase I studies presented at the 55th ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition. Both agents achieved excellent response rates in heavily pretreated relapsed/refractory patients including those with poor-risk cytogenetics.
Obinutuzumab plus chlorambucil was superior to rituximab plus chlorambucil as first-line therapy in older chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) patients with comorbidities, with an acceptable safety profile, according to final results of the phase III CLL11 trial. Obinutuzumab/chlorambucil led to a prolongation in overall survival, as well as improved progression-free survival, complete response rate, and minimal residual disease–negative status. <strong>Valentin Goede, MD,</strong> of University Hospital Cologne, presented the results during today's Plenary Session at the 55th ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition.
The intensity of transplant-related chemotherapy and radiation has effects on cognition, according to a study presented at the 55th ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition. Full-intensity hematopoietic stem cell transplant was associated with cognitive decline, while cognition remained intact in patients treated with reduced-intensity hematopoietic stem cell transplant. Cognitive decline was also found to be associated with shorter telomere length prior to transplant in females, but not males.
Treatment with anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-expressing T cells has produced dramatic responses in patients with advanced leukemia who have exhausted treatment options. A new study reported by <strong>James N. Kochenderfer, MD</strong>, of the National Cancer Institute, described the first evidence of the use of CAR T cells in advanced aggressive lymphomas. Preliminary results appear to be as promising as they are in leukemia, with 7 out of 15 patients achieving complete response and 5 achieving partial response.
T-cell–depleted HLA-haploidentical hematopoietic stem cell transplantation can be made more efficacious and safer through the removal of alpha/beta-positive T cells and CD19-positive B cells from the graft, an approach pioneered by Italian investigators who will report results at the 55th ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition today in New Orleans. In a study of 50 children with acute leukemia, the cumulative incidence of transplant-related mortality was 4% and the relapse rate was 19%.
A new class of drugs reduced the risk of patients contracting a serious side effect of bone marrow transplant treatments, according to a study by Choi et al published in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>. The study, the first to test this treatment in humans, combined vorinostat with standard medications given after transplant, resulting in 22% of patients developing graft-vs-host disease compared to 42% of patients who typically develop this condition with standard medications alone.
The presence of <em>PIK3CA</em> missense mutation appears to be associated with shorter disease-specific survival in grade 3 endometrioid but not serous endometrial carcinoma, according to a study in <em>Gynecologic Oncology.</em> Although McIntyre et al found this type of mutation across all histologic types of high-grade endometrial tumors, unfavorable outcomes were seen only with grade 3 endometrioid carcinoma.
Overweight or obese men with prostate cancer whose tumors were positive for the <em>TMPRSS2:ERG</em> genetic mutation had a more than 50% increased risk of dying from cancer after their diagnosis compared with normal-weight men, according to a study by Pettersson et al in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute</em>. There was no effect of obesity on cancer survival among men whose tumors did not have the mutation.
In a study by Brosnan et al published in the journal <em>Cancer</em>, patients receiving crizotinib for the treatment of <em>ALK</em>-positive non‒small cell lung cancer showed reductions in their estimated glomerular filtration rate. The majority of patients attained complete recovery in the estimated glomerular filtration rate upon cessation of crizotinib therapy.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Taylor et al evaluated the ability of preoperative high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) assessment of circumferential resection margin to predict outcome in patients with rectal cancer. They found that MRI assessment was independently predictive of local recurrence, disease-free survival, and overall survival.
High levels of the cholesterol metabolite 27-hydroxycholesterol seem to function like estrogen and may independently drive the growth of breast cancer, according to the findings of a preclinical study by Nelson et al published in <em>Science.</em> This link between hypercholesterolemia and breast cancer suggests that lowering total cholesterol levels may become a useful strategy for reducing the risk of breast cancer.
Disease-free survival is an acceptable surrogate for overall survival in trials of cytotoxic agents for gastric cancer in the adjuvant setting, the GASTRIC group concluded in a report published in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute</em>. The meta-analysis included data from 3,288 individual patients enrolled in 14 randomized clinical trials comparing adjuvant chemotherapy vs surgery alone for patients with curatively resected gastric cancer.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Pogue-Geile et al identified and confirmed an eight-gene predictive model for trastuzumab benefit in the NSABP B-31 population that categorized patients into no-, moderate-, and large-benefit subgroups. Analysis showed that tumors in the no-benefit subgroup are characterized by high ESR1 mRNA and intermediate ERBB2 mRNA expression and that HER2-negative tumors are predominantly in the moderate-benefit group.
In a brief communication published in the <the em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Akbari et al reported finding a higher frequency of <em>PPM1D</em> mutations in circulating white blood cells from women with ovarian cancer vs controls, higher mortality associated with the mutation in women with ovarian cancer, and a greater risk of breast cancer in those carrying the mutation.
In a study reported in <em>JAMA Otolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery,</em> George et al evaluated radiation treatment characteristics and outcomes among head and neck squamous cell carcinoma patients receiving adjuvant external-beam radiation therapy at an academic center vs other institutions. Multivariate analysis showed no difference in survival, but the findings suggested a need for standardization of radiation therapy at nonacademic treatment facilities.
Compared to traditional mammography, 3D mammography--known as digital breast tomosynthesis--found 22% more breast cancers and led to fewer call-backs in a large screening study at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, researchers reported today at the 99th Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting of the Radiological Society of North America.
The results from the European Society for Medical Oncology–led Global Opioid Policy Initiative project show that due to a lack of access to essential opioids, more than 4 billion people--over half the world’s population--live in countries where regulatory barriers, which aim to stem opioid abuse, leave cancer patients suffering in severe pain. The survey results are published in <em>Annals of Oncology</em>.
A phase II trial evaluating the combination of bendamustine with bortezomib and dexamethasone in patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma showed high response rates, with an overall response rate of 60.9% (75.9% when minor responses were included), reported Ludwig et al in <em>Blood</em>. The investigators noted that the short time to response and to best response is clinically relevant, as rapid tumor control generally corresponds with fast improvement of clinical symptoms.
In a study reported in <em>JAMA Otolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery,</em> Hutcheson et al assessed the effects of maintained oral intake and adherence to swallowing exercises during radiation therapy or chemoradiation therapy for pharyngeal cancer. They found that both practices contributed independently to improved long-term swallowing outcomes.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Wagner et al assessed whether a nurse navigator intervention improved quality of life or patient experience with care in patients who recently received a diagnosis of breast, colorectal, or lung cancer. Although no differences in reported quality of life were observed between the nurse navigator intervention and enhanced usual care, patients receiving nurse navigator support reported significantly greater quality of care and significantly fewer problems with care.
In a study reported in <em>JAMA Otolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery,</em> Ranck and colleagues assessed the impact of postradiotherapy neck dissection on local and distant cancer control in patients with advanced squamous cell cancer of the head and neck without distant metastases who had complete response to chemoradiation. They found that postradiotherapy neck dissection was associated with improved control of nonregional disease in patients with advanced nodal disease.
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force today released its final recommendation statement on screening for oral cancer in adults without signs or symptoms of oral cancer who are seen by primary care providers. The Task Force found insufficient evidence to recommend for or against screening for oral cancer by primary care providers.
Early data from a phase I/II clinical study evaluating VAL-083 in patients with recurrent glioblastoma multiforme show stable disease or tumor regression and improved disease symptoms in 25% of patients evaluated in cohorts 1 to 3. The data were presented by Shih et al at the 4th Quadrennial Meeting of the World Federation of Neuro-Oncology, which was held in conjunction with the 18th Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuro-Oncology.
In a study reported in the journal <em>Cancer Prevention Research,</em> Galet et al analyzed the effects of diet on men with prostate cancer. They found that men who were on a low-fat diet and fish oil supplementation had lower cell-cycle progression scores, which are associated with less aggressive cancer.
In a study reported in <em>JAMA Internal Medicine,</em> Smith-Bindman et al evaluated the ability of ultrasound imaging characteristics to determine risk of thyroid cancer associated with thyroid nodules. They found that a strategy of using two abnormal nodule characteristics as an indication for biopsy could identify low-risk patients in whom biopsy could be deferred.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> Simpson et al found that black patients with metastatic colorectal cancer were less likely to have specialist consultations and to receive multimodality therapy than white patients, with these disparities appearing to account for poorer survival in black patients.
A new study published in <em>Cancer</em> has found that several months after surgery for esophageal cancer, different symptoms cluster together in different types of patients. In addition, patients with certain symptom clusters were found to have an increased risk of dying from their disease.
ASCO has policy and procedures for endorsing clinical practice guidelines developed by other professional organizations. As reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by Meyerhardt et al of the ASCO Clinical Practice Guidelines Committee, ASCO has endorsed the Cancer Care Ontario Guideline on Follow-up Care, Surveillance Protocol, and Secondary Prevention Measures for Survivors of Colorectal Cancer, with the addition of qualifying statements.
PARP inhibition appears to be an effective way to shrink <em>PTEN</em>-deficient endometrial tumors with low levels of estrogen but is ineffective in those with high levels of estrogen, according to preclinical results reported by Janzen et al in <em>Molecular Cancer Therapeutics.</em> The findings suggest that modulating the hormonal environment may render PTEN-deficient endometrial tumors more sensitive to PARP inhibitors such as olaparib.
In a study reported in <em>JAMA Internal Medicine,</em> Wernli et al evaluated use of breast magnetic resonance imaging in the community setting from 2005 to 2009. They found that although recommended use of MRI for screening of high-risk women is increasing, considerable progress is needed in ensuring appropriate use.
In a study reported in <em>JAMA Internal Medicine,</em> Stout et al assessed use of breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the community setting from 2000 to 2011. They found a steep increase in use for screening and surveillance, with most women not meeting American Cancer Society criteria for breast MRI and many women with high-risk mutations not being screened.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today expanded the approved uses of sorafenib (Nexavar) to treat late-stage differentiated thyroid cancer. The new indication is for patients with locally recurrent or metastatic, progressive differentiated thyroid cancer that no longer responds to radioactive iodine treatment.
In a study reported in the journal <em>PLoS One,</em> <strong>Allison Jones, MD,</strong> of the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Institute for Women’s Health, University College London, and colleagues analyzed the functional role of epigenetic factors in endometrial cancer development. They found that <em>HAND2</em> methylation could potentially be employed as a biomarker for early detection of endometrial cancer and as a predictor of treatment response.
A team of researchers looking into the interplay of the immune system and cancer have found a link between a history of airborne allergies—in particular to plants, grass, and trees—with risk of blood cancers in women. The same association was not found in men, suggesting a possible gender-specific role in chronic stimulation of the immune system that may lead to the development of hematologic cancers. The findings were published online in the <em>American Journal of Hematology</em>.
In a study reported in <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> <strong>Shuji Ogino, MD, PhD,</strong> of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, and colleagues from the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology evaluated the association of PIK3CA mutations with outcome in patients with stage III colon cancer receiving adjuvant chemotherapy with either fluorouracil (5-FU) and leucovorin or irinotecan plus 5-FU/leucovorin. They found no association of PIK3CA mutation and outcome in this setting.
In a study reported in <em>JAMA Otolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery,</em> <strong>Neil Bhattacharyya, MD,</strong> of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, and <strong>Elliot Abemayor, MD, PhD,</strong> of David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, analyzed recent patterns of hospitalization for head and neck cancer. They found that treatment of head and neck cancer is increasingly regionalized to teaching hospitals.
In a study reported in <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> <strong>Greg Yothers, PhD,</strong> of the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project Biostatistical Center and the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, and colleagues assessed performance of the 12-gene colon cancer recurrence score in patients with stage II or III colon cancer who were treated with fluorouracil with or without oxaliplatin. They found that the recurrence score is an independent predictor of recurrence in this setting and that it provides predictive information beyond standard clinical and pathologic risk factors.
Survivors of nasopharyngeal carcinoma who are former or current smokers are more likely to have their disease progress, relapse, or spread, and are more likely to die of their disease, compared with survivors of nasopharyngeal carcinoma who have never smoked. The findings, reported by <strong>Fang-Yun Xie, MD,</strong> and colleagues in <em>Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention</em>, showed that patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma who smoked heavily were 3.3-fold more likely to die than those who did not smoke.
An Internet-based intervention may significantly improve both sexual function and satisfaction in women with sexual dysfunction years after treatment for breast or gynecologic cancer, according to a randomized trial reported in the November issue of the <em>Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network</em>. <strong>Leslie R. Schover, PhD,</strong> of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, and colleagues also found that the intervention may reduce emotional distress and improve the overall quality of life in these women after treatment.
In a phase I study reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> <strong>Anas Younes, MD,</strong> of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (formerly of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center), and colleagues evaluated the combination of brentuximab vedotin with ABVD (doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine) or AVD in patients with previously untreated Hodgkin lymphoma. The maximum tolerated dose of brentuximab vedotin was not reached, and nearly all patients achieved complete remission. However, the combination of brentuximab vedotin and ABVD was associated with excessive pulmonary toxicity, indicating that brentuximab vedotin and bleomycin should not be used together.
Two studies using whole-exome sequencing of treatment-resistant <em>BRAF</em>-mutated melanomas have identified multiple gene alterations, mostly affecting the MAPK pathway. Molecularly profiling <em>BRAF</em>-mutated melanoma patients at the time of resistance may improve their care by tailoring combinations of targeted therapies to overcome specific resistance mechanisms, according to the research. The studies by <strong>Levi A. Garraway, MD, PhD,</strong> and colleagues are published in <em>Cancer Discovery</em>.
Nearly all melanoma patients with the <em>BRAF</em> mutation will develop resistance to BRAF inhibitors in less than a year and subsequently relapse. While previous studies have shown that melanomas change the MAPK cell-signaling pathway to become resistant, two new studies by <strong>Roger S. Lo, MD, PhD,</strong> and colleagues found that the PI3K-PTEN-AKT pathway may also become altered, suggesting that an upfront combination drug approach that targets both pathways may suppress drug resistance and achieve more durable responses. The studies are published in <em>Cancer Discovery</em>.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today granted regular approval for crizotinib for the treatment of patients with metastatic non–small cell lung cancer whose tumors are <em>ALK</em>-positive as detected by an FDA-approved test. Crizotinib was previously granted accelerated approval in 2011 based on durable objective response rates; today’s approval was based on demonstration of superior progression-free survival and overall response rate associated with crizotinib treatment among patients with <em>ALK</em>-positive NSCLC and disease progression after platinum-based doublet chemotherapy.
An investigational prostate cancer treatment slows the disease’s progression and may increase survival, especially among men whose cancer has spread to the bones, according to an analysis led by the Duke Cancer Institute. The study, published in the journal <em>Clinical Cancer Research,</em> adds long-term survival and safety data for the novel oral drug tasquinimod, a new candidate for treating advanced and recurrent prostate cancer.
Combining gemtuzumab ozogamicin with conventional chemotherapy may improve the outcome of bone marrow transplantation for some children battling high-risk acute myeloid leukemia, according to a study led by St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. The findings, published in <em>Cancer</em>, demonstrated that treatment with gemtuzumab effectively reduced minimal residual disease before transplantation.
In a study reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> <strong>Jia-Xing Zhang, MD,</strong> of Sun Yat-sen University, and colleagues identified a six-microRNA signature that predicted risk of recurrence after surgery for stage II colon cancer and that may help to identify patients most likely to benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> Dale Han, MD, of Moffitt Cancer Center, and colleagues in the Sentinel Lymph Node Working Group attempted to identify factors predictive of sentinel lymph node metastasis in thin melanomas. They found that Breslow thickness ≥ 0.75 mm, Clark level ≥ IV, and ulceration significantly predict sentinel lymph node disease, with the findings suggesting that sentinel lymph node biopsy is indicated for thin melanomas ≥ 0.75 mm.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> <strong>Xin Huang, PhD,</strong> of the National Clinical Research Center of Cancer in Tianjin, and colleagues investigated whether STAT3 activation can identify patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma treated with R-CHOP (rituximab plus cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone) who are at risk for poor survival. These investigators have previously shown that constitutive STAT3 activation is a prominent factor in the activated B-cell subtype of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. In the current study, the investigators found that STAT3 activation significantly predicted poor survival, particularly in patients with activated B-cell–like diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.
In a randomized noninferiority trial (TARGIT-A) reported in <em>The Lancet,</em> <strong>Jayant S. Vaidya, PhD,</strong> and <strong>Michael Baum, MD</strong>, of University College London, and colleagues compared risk-adapted radiotherapy using single-dose targeted intraoperative radiotherapy vs fractionated external-beam radiotherapy in women with breast cancer. Targeted intraoperative radiotherapy was noninferior to external-beam radiotherapy in preventing local recurrence among all patients and when given concurrently with lumpectomy but not when delayed until after lumpectomy. Breast cancer mortality did not differ significantly between the two groups, but targeted intraoperative radiotherapy was associated with reduced non–breast cancer mortality.
In a phase III trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> <strong>Aman U. Buzdar, MD,</strong> of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, and colleagues compared neoadjuvant therapy with FEC-75 followed by paclitaxel plus trastuzumab (sequential trastuzumab/anthracycline) vs paclitaxel plus trastuzumab followed by FEC-75 plus trastuzumab (concurrent trastuzumab/anthracycline) in patients with HER2-positive breast cancer. They found that the concurrent trastuzumab/anthracycline regimen was not associated with a greater complete pathologic response rate compared with the sequential trastuzumab/anthracycline regimen.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> <strong>Susan Halabi, MD,</strong> of Duke University Medical Center, and colleagues developed and validated a prognostic model predicting prostate cancer survival in patients receiving second-line chemotherapy for castration-resistant metastatic disease. The final model consisted of nine variables and was significantly predictive of survival in testing and validation cohorts.
Additional data for the investigational anti–PD-1 immunotherapy lambrolizumab (MK-3475) were presented yesterday at the 10th International Congress of the Society for Melanoma Research in Philadelphia. In patients with advanced melanoma, lambrolizumab demonstrated an estimated 1-year overall survival rate of 81% across all monotherapy doses evaluated. This is the first time overall survival data have been presented from the cohort of 135 patients with advanced melanoma enrolled in the ongoing phase IB PN 001 trial for lambrolizumab.
Results from a University of Colorado Cancer Center study indicated that resistance to bevacizumab administered in patients with colorectal cancer may be due to increases in growth factors other than the targeted VEGF-A. The study, led by <strong>Christopher H. Lieu, MD,</strong> and published in the journal <em>PLoS One,</em> focused on the tendency of tumors targeted by bevacizumab to switch dependence from VEGF-A to other related growth factors such as VEGF-C, VEGF-D, and placental growth factor.
In a study reported in the <em>Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing,</em> <strong>Eileen Danaher Hacker, PhD, APN, AOCN,</strong> of the University of Illinois College of Nursing, and colleagues attempted to identify and quantify nocturnal care disruptions in patients undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. They found that many nocturnal clinical tasks and activities have the potential to disrupt sleep in hospitalized patients undergoing stem cell transplantation.
The choice and timing of therapeutic interventions may significantly affect the quality of life of young breast cancer survivors in the short term, although other quality-of-life domains such as family relationships may not be negatively impacted after treatment. These findings were reported by <strong>Marie Catherine Lee, MD,</strong> and colleagues at H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute in Tampa, Florida, in the November issue of the <em>The American Journal of Surgery</em>.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> <strong>Jiemin Ma, PhD, MHS,</strong> and colleagues from the American Cancer Society investigated trends in pancreatic cancer death rates in the United States between 1970 and 2009. They found that death rates have been increasing in white men and women since the mid- to late 1990s, whereas rates in black men and women have been decreasing.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> <strong>Mei-Yin C. Polley, PhD,</strong> of the National Cancer Institute, and colleagues assessed intralaboratory and interlaboratory variability in Ki67 scoring. They found high intralaboratory reproducibility but only moderate interlaboratory reproducibility, indicating that standardization of scoring methodology is needed.
In a study reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> <strong>Carrie L. Williams, MB, BCh,</strong> of University College London, and colleagues analyzed risk for cancers among UK children born after assisted conception. They found no increased risk of cancer overall or for individual cancer types except hepatoblastoma and rhabdomyosarcoma, and the absolute risk for these cancers was small.
In a phase III trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> <strong>Edward S. Kim, MD,</strong> of Levine Cancer Institute, Carolinas HealthCare System, and colleagues investigated whether the addition of cetuximab to pemetrexed improved progression-free survival in patients with recurrent or progressive non–small cell lung cancer after platinum-based therapy. There was no significant difference in progression-free survival for cetuximab/pemetrexed vs pemetrexed alone.
In a study reported in <em>JAMA Dermatology,</em> <strong>Astrid Vredenborg, MD,</strong> of Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands, and colleagues evaluated whether acquired melanocytic nevi in childhood are an indicator of melanoma risk in children from families with familial melanoma. They found that number and distribution of nevi are predictive of melanoma later in life.
In a study reported in the <em>International Journal of Radiation Oncology Biology Physics,</em> <strong>Emma C. Fields, MD,</strong> of the University of Colorado School of Medicine, and colleagues analyzed the stage-specific management of male breast cancer with surgery and radiation therapy and related them to outcomes and to female breast cancer. They found that breast conservation is less frequently performed in males with localized disease and that postmastectomy radiotherapy is greatly underutilized in males.
In a study reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> <strong>Umberto Veronesi, MD,</strong> of the European Institute of Oncology, and colleagues investigated whether intraoperative radiotherapy could meet a local recurrence equivalence margin of 7.5% in patients with early breast cancer. Although the treatment was associated with a local recurrence rate within the equivalence margin, the rate was significantly greater than that with whole-breast external radiotherapy.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> <strong>Boris Böll, MD,</strong> of University Hospital Cologne, and colleagues analyzed second-line treatment strategies and survival in older patients with relapsed/refractory Hodgkin lymphoma in German Hodgkin Study Group first-line studies. Use of a prognostic score to divide patients into low-risk and high-risk groups showed that overall survival was significantly prolonged by conventional polychemotherapy/salvage radiotherapy approaches in low-risk patients and that no second-line strategy was associated with overall survival benefit in high-risk patients.
In the phase III READY trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> <strong>John. C. Araujo, MD,</strong> of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, and colleagues investigated the effects of adding dasatinib to docetaxel in chemotherapy-naive men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. No improvement in overall survival was observed with the combination.
Results of a Johns Hopkins study may explain why cyclophosphamide prevents graft-vs-host disease in people who receive bone marrow transplants. The findings, published today in <em>Science Translational Medicine,</em> could pave the way for improvements in preventing graft-vs-host disease and for new therapies to prevent or treat a relapse of the underlying cancer after a transplant.
The use of assay-sensitive treatment significantly improved both progression-free survival and overall survival compared with nonsensitive treatment in women with recurrent ovarian cancer, according to the results of a prospective clinical trial reported in <em>Gynecologic Oncology</em> by <strong>Thomas Rutherford, MD, PhD,</strong> of Yale University School of Medicine, and colleagues. The investigators suggested that diagnostic testing with chemoresponse assays may be a useful tool for optimizing treatment selection for both platinum-sensitive and platinum-resistant patients with recurrent ovarian cancer.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved ibrutinib (Imbruvica) for the treatment of patients with mantle cell lymphoma who have received at least one prior therapy. Ibrutinib, a Bruton’s tyrosine kinase inhibitor, is the second drug with Breakthrough Therapy designation to receive FDA approval.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> <strong>Wen-Qing Li, PhD,</strong> of the National Cancer Institute, and colleagues investigated the potential association between prostate cancer and melanoma. Their findings suggest that personal history of prostate cancer is associated with significantly increased risk of melanoma.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> <strong>Kevin R. Krill, PhD,</strong> and colleagues from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital assessed neurocognitive function in adult survivors of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia. They found pervasive significant impairment across neurocognitive domains, with the frequency of severe impairment increasing in association with rising doses of cranial radiation therapy.
In a study reported in <em>JAMA Surgery,</em> <strong>Vincent Q. Trinh, BSc,</strong> of the University of Montreal Health Centre, and colleagues assessed trends in incidence and mortality of venous thromboembolism after major cancer surgery in the United States between 1999 and 2009. They found that venous thromboembolism rates have increased and mortality rates have decreased over this period. Overall, venous thromboembolism was associated with a 5.3-fold increased risk of death. Factors associated with increased risk of venous thromboembolism included older age, female sex, black race, and Medicare or Medicaid insurance.
Although only a minority of young women experience long delays between the time they detect a breast abnormality and the time they receive a diagnosis, delays in seeking care are more common in women with fewer financial resources, according to a recently published report in <em>Cancer</em>. Economic disparity may be an important consideration in future development of interventions to reduce delays, wrote the authors.
In a study reported in <em>JAMA Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery,</em> <strong>Okechukwu R. Linton, MD,</strong> of Indiana University School of Medicine, and colleagues assessed the prognostic significance of head and neck basaloid squamous cell carcinoma, considered a more aggressive form of squamous cell carcinoma. They found that basaloid squamous cell carcinoma is not independently associated with poorer outcome compared with squamous cell carcinoma.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> <strong>Oriana Yu, MD,</strong> of Jewish General Hospital in Montreal, and colleagues assessed the association of statin use with prostate cancer mortality and all-cause mortality in men with nonmetastatic prostate cancer. They found that postdiagnostic statin use was associated with significantly reduced cancer-specific and overall mortality, with the treatment effect being greatest in men initiating statin use prior to prostate cancer diagnosis.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> <strong>Amélie Trinquand, MD,</strong> of University Paris Descartes, and colleagues in the Group for Research in Adult Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia examined the prognostic interaction of <em>NOTCH1</em> or <em>FBXW7</em> (<em>N/F</em>) mutations and <em>N/K-RAS</em> and <em>PTEN</em> abnormalities in adult T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. They found that <em>N/F mutation</em> in the absence of <em>RAS/PTEN</em> abnormalities identifies a large low-risk subgroup of patients.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> <strong>Maureen J. Aarts</strong>of Maastricht University Medical Centre in the Netherlands, and colleagues evaluated the cost-effectiveness of pegfilgrastim primary prophylaxis covering the first two cycles vs all six cycles of chemotherapy in breast cancer patients at risk of febrile neutropenia. They found that prophylaxis throughout chemotherapy is both more effective in preventing febrile neutropenia and more costly, with an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of €13,112 per patient with episodes of febrile neutropenia prevented.
Use of a minimally invasive endoscopic procedure to remove superficial, early-stage esophageal cancer is as effective as surgery that takes out and rebuilds the esophagus, according to a study by researchers at Mayo Clinic in Florida. The research, published in <em>Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology</em>, examined national outcomes from endoscopic treatment compared to esophagectomy.
A study by <strong>Ido Wolf, MD,</strong> and colleagues has found that a mutation in the estrogen receptor may be the reason breast cancers that initially respond to hormone therapies such as tamoxifen eventually become resistant to treatment. The study is published in <em>Cancer Research</em>. The discovery of the mutation may lead to the development of novel endocrine therapies for patients who develop resistance to currently available treatments.
In a phase II trial (PACE trial) reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> <em>Jorge E. Cortes, MD,</em> of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, and colleagues evaluated ponatinib in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia or Philadelphia chromosome–positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia who were heavily pretreated or harbored the T315I mutation. Ponatinib exhibited marked activity in both resistant/refractory disease and in patients with the T315I mutation.
Several novel agents targeting the HER2, C-MET, and VEGF receptors have achieved encouraging results in gastric cancer, which is the second leading cause of cancer death worldwide. <strong>Charles Fuchs, MD,</strong> of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, reviewed these new approaches in a presentation at the Chemotherapy Foundation Symposium XXXI.
In a study reported in <em>The Lancet,</em> <strong>Guglielmo Ronco, MD,</strong> of the Center for Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention, AO City of Health and Science, in Turin, Italy, and colleagues in the International HPV Screening Working Group performed a follow-up of four randomized trials of human papillomavirus (HPV)-based vs cytology-based cervical screening to determine their relative efficacy in prevention of invasive cervical cancer. They found that HPV screening was associated with a marked improvement over cytology screening in cancer prevention.
Hopes are high that TAS-102, a novel oral nucleoside agent, will turn out to be an advance in the treatment of advanced colorectal cancer, said <strong>Howard Hochster, MD,</strong> of Yale Cancer Center, at the Chemotherapy Foundation Symposium XXXI. In a phase II study, TAS-102 extended overall survival by 3 months in patients with relapsed/refractory colorectal cancer. The drug, which is now being studied in an international phase III trial, was most effective in in patients with <em>KRAS</em>-mutant tumors.
Preliminary results of an ongoing clinical trial suggest that the BRAF inhibitor vemurafenib may have an important role in the treatment of hairy cell leukemia. According to preliminary results of a phase II trial presented at the Chemotherapy Foundation Symposium XXXI by <strong>Jae Park, MD,</strong> of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, vemurafenib can achieve rapid remissions in patients with relapsed hairy cell leukemia.
Advanced imaging techniques may be able to distinguish which patients' tumors will respond to treatment with antiangiogenic drugs and which will not. In a report published online in <em>PNAS</em>, researchers studied patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma who were treated with the antiangiogenic agent cediranib and found that those patients for whom cediranib rapidly "normalized" abnormal blood vessels around their tumors and increased blood flow within tumors survived significantly longer than did patients in whom cediranib did not increase blood flow.
In a study reported in <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> <strong>Karyn B. Stitzenberg, MD, MPH,</strong> and colleagues from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill examined use of local excision compared with proctectomy in early rectal cancer. The investigators found that of the use of local excision in higher-risk cancers is increasing and that overall survival is poorer with local excision alone vs proctectomy alone.
In a study reported in a research letter in <em>JAMA Internal Medicine</em>, <strong>Zehra B. Omer, BA,</strong> of Massachusetts General Hospital, and colleagues assessed how the description of ductal carcinoma in situ affected selection of treatment options. They found significant differences in treatment choices based on description, with more subjects selecting noninvasive options when “cancer” was not included in the description.
In a phase III trial (Southwest Oncology Group 9704) reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> <strong>Patrick J. Stiff, MD,</strong> of Loyola University Medical Center, and colleagues compared three additional cycles of induction chemotherapy vs one additional cycle plus autologous stem cell transplantation in patients with aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma who responded to induction CHOP or rituximab plus CHOP. The study showed that early autologous transplantation resulted in greater progression-free survival but not overall survival, although an overall survival benefit was observed among high-risk patients.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the NovoTAL (Transducer Array Layout) System, which allows certified physicians to use the individual MRI data of recurrent glioblastoma multiforme patients to optimize the field distribution and intensity of tumor treating fields therapy.
A phase II study by Mehdi Hamadani, MD, and colleagues from West Virginia University, assessing the effects of prophylactic atorvastatin treatment in adult sibling donors and recipients of allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation, found the strategy to be safe and potentially effective in preventing acute graft-vs-host disease. The study is reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
In a survey by Deepak Agrawal, MD, MPH, and Don C. Rockey, MD, gastroenterologists and endoscopy nurses were asked about their preference for propofol vs moderate sedation with midazolam-fentanyl or no sedation if they were to undergo screening colonoscopy and how much they would be willing to pay for propofol. The results showed that although most respondents favored propofol, they were unwilling to pay more than $100 extra for it.
The investigational anti–PD-1 immunotherapy MK-3475 showed promising objective response rates in patients with previously treated non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The interim data were presented by <strong>Edward Garon, MD,</strong> Director of Thoracic Oncology at Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center at UCLA, at the 15th World Conference on Lung Cancer in Sydney.
A recent study by Darby and colleagues showed a significant linear increase in risk for major coronary events according to mean cardiac dose of radiation (7.4% per Gy) in patients receiving radiation therapy for breast cancer between 1958 and 2001. In an analysis reported in a research letter in <em>JAMA Internal Medicine,</em> <strong>David J. Brenner, PhD, DSc,</strong> of Columbia University Medical Center, and colleagues assessed risk associated with more modern radiation therapy techniques and found that estimated lifetime risks associated with treatment now range from 0.05% to 3.5%.
Including multiple hormones—rather than just adding one or two individually—in breast cancer risk prediction models may improve clinicians’ ability to more accurately identify women at high risk of developing breast cancer, as well as who would benefit from chemoprevention, according to research by <strong>Shelley S. Tworoger, PhD,</strong> and colleagues. The study was presented at the 12th Annual AACR International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention.
A single dose of the human papillomavirus 16/18 vaccine may be enough to generate long-term immune responses and protection against new HPV infections, and ultimately prevent cervical cancer, according to a National Cancer Institute study by <strong>Mahboobeh Safaeian, PhD,</strong> and colleagues. The study results suggest that it may be possible to simplify vaccine administration schedules, reducing cost and improving implementation. The study was published in <em>Cancer Prevention Research</em>.
The FDA has approved obinutuzumab (Gazyva) for use in combination with chlorambucil (Leukeran) to treat patients with previously untreated chronic lymphocytic leukemia. The drug is the first drug with Breakthrough Therapy designation to receive FDA approval.
Ariad Pharmaceuticals, the manufacturer of the tyrosine kinase inhibitor ponatinib, has agreed to suspend marketing and sales of the antileukemia drug ponatinib due to the risk of life-threatening blood clots and severe narrowing of blood vessels. In phase I and II clinical trials, approximately 48% and 24% of patients, respectively, have experienced serious adverse vascular events after ponatinib treatment. The FDA will continue to evaluate the drug to further understand its risks.
Teenagers and young adults are at increased risk of suicide after being diagnosed with cancer, according to a study published today in <em>Annals of Oncology</em>. A study of nearly 8 million Swedes aged 15 and over found that among the more than 12,000 young people diagnosed with cancer between the ages of 15 and 30, there was a 60% increased risk of suicide or attempted suicide. The risk was highest during the first year immediately after diagnosis, when suicidal behavior was 1.5-fold higher among the patients with cancer compared with the cancer-free group.
Standardized criteria for initiating palliative care consultations can substantially improve the care of patients with advanced solid tumors, according to research from Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, led by <strong>Kerin Adelson, MD,</strong> Coordinator for Ambulatory Oncology Quality for the Tisch Cancer Institute. The study, which will be presented at the 2013 ASCO Quality Care Symposium, reported a reduction in 30-day readmission rates from 21.7% to 13.5% and an improvement in mortality index from 1.35 to 0.59.
A new educational tool for oncologists may enhance compliance with quality care standards and improve the value of cancer care, ultimately resulting in big cost savings for health-care systems, according to <strong>Karen Fields, MD,</strong> and colleagues from H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, Tampa, who described the new clinical tool and value initiative at a press briefing for the 2013 ASCO Quality Care Symposium, to be held November 1 to 2 in Alexandria, Virginia.
In a Canadian study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> <strong>Kerry S. Courneya, PhD,</strong> of the University of Alberta, and colleagues assessed the impact of different levels of physical exercise on physical functioning in women receiving adjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer. They found that higher volumes of aerobic or combined exercise may reduce declines in physical functioning and improve symptoms better than standard volumes of aerobic exercise.
In a phase I trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> <strong>Jeffrey S. Weber, MD,</strong> of the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, and colleagues assessed the effects of nivolumab--a human immunoglobulin G4-blocking antibody against the T-cell programmed death 1 checkpoint protein--with or without a peptide vaccine in patients with ipilimumab-refractory or -naive melanoma. They found that nivolumab with or without vaccine was safe and well tolerated and could induce enduring responses and also observed that responses to ipilimumab could be achieved in nivolumab-refractory patients.
The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) today announced its second “Top Five” list of opportunities to improve the quality and value of cancer care. Published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, ASCO’s second Top Five list was released as part of the Choosing Wisely® campaign to encourage conversations between physicians and patients aimed at curbing the use of certain tests and procedures that are not supported by clinical research.
Patients with non–small cell lung cancer who have the ALK gene rearrangement usually respond to the drug crizotinib,with a median duration of response of approximately 10 months. In a study reported by Shirish Gadgeel, MD, of Karmanos Cancer Institute in Detroit, and colleagues at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer’s 15th World Conference on Lung Cancer, the investigational ALK inhibitor alectinib showed promising tumor activity in patients with ALK-positive NSCLC who were refractory to crizotinib.
Both pemetrexed and gefitinib are standard second-line treatments for advanced nonsquamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in East Asia. In a phase II trial reported at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer’s 15th World Conference on Lung Cancer, Qing Zhou, MD, and colleagues evaluated the efficacy of pemetrexed vs gefitinib as second-line treatment in advanced EGFR wild-type nonsquamous NSCLC. Patients in the pemetrexed arm experienced a significant improvement in progression-free survival compared with gefitinib.
The National Lung Screening Trial reported a 20% reduction in lung cancer mortality achieved through low-dose CT screening of the at-risk population, compared to screening with chest x-ray, but challenges with clinical implications of CT screening for lung cancer remain. Preliminary findings presented at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer’s 15th World Conference on Lung Cancer indicate that computer-aided diagnosis can help distinguish between a benign and malignant lesion from the distinguishable features in the nodule and the surrounding tissue.
Women with breast cancer who had to travel long distances to a comprehensive cancer center were at greater risk to have later-stage disease at diagnosis and a mastectomy at surgery, according to a study by <strong>Krishan Jethwa</strong>, of the University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences, and colleagues. The results were presented earlier today at the 12th Annual AACR International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research.
In a phase III trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> <strong>Thomas E. Hutson, DO, PharmD,</strong> of Baylor Sammons Cancer Center, and colleagues compared the second-generation VEGFR inhibitor axitinib with sorafenib as first-line treatment of metastatic renal cell carcinoma. There was no significant difference between groups in progression-free survival, but axitinib was associated with clinical activity and an acceptable toxicity profile.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> <strong>Julia Wade, PhD,</strong> of Bristol University and colleagues assessed the psychological impact of prostate biopsy in asymptomatic men. They found that postbiopsy symptoms can be associated with increased anxiety, independent of anxiety associated with a diagnosis of prostate cancer.
The two common subtypes of human papillomavirus prevented by vaccines, HPV 16 and 18, are half as likely to be found in African American women as they are in white women with precancerous cervical lesions, according to a study by <strong>Cathrine Hoyo, PhD, MPH,</strong> and colleagues at Duke University School of Medicine. The study was presented at the 12th Annual AACR International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research, held October 27 to 30 in National Harbor, Maryland.
Men who spend the most time engaged in sedentary behaviors are at greatest risk for recurrence of colorectal adenomas, benign tumors that are known precursors of colorectal cancers, according to results presented by <strong>Christine L. Sardo Molmenti, PhD, MPH,</strong> of Columbia University. The study confirms that sedentary behavior appears to independently contribute to increased cancer risk beyond the accompanying reduction in physical activity.
Men with short-ended chromosomes in the immune cells in their blood were at increased risk for aggressive prostate cancer compared with men with long-ended chromosomes in blood immune cells, according to results presented by <strong>Elizabeth A. Platz, ScD, MPH</strong>, of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Among men who smoked or who had smoked in the past, those with the shortest telomeres in their blood leukocytes were more than four times as likely to have gone on to develop aggressive prostate cancer.
Measuring the presence and amount of the protein Vav2 may help identify breast precancers that will progress to invasive cancers, according to results presented by <strong>Marina Guvakova, PhD,</strong> of the University of Pennsylvania. Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) with Vav2 protein were more than twice as likely to progress to invasive cancers as DCIS without this protein.
In a study reported in <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> <strong>Taxiarchis V. Kourelis, MD,</strong> and colleagues from the Mayo Clinic attempted to define a threshold of bone marrow plasma cell number that could serve to define light chain amyloidosis as light chain amyloidosis with multiple myeloma. They found that light chain amyloidosis plasma cell multiple myeloma could be defined as presence of > 10% bone marrow plasma cells, with a poor prognosis similar to that of light chain amyloidosis satisfying CRAB criteria. The findings suggest that both conditions should be considered light chain amyloidosis with multiple myeloma.
In a phase I study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> <strong>Donald M. Cannon, MD,</strong> of University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health and Mountain States Tumor Institute, and colleagues attempted to identify the maximum tolerated dose of dose-escalated hypofractionated radiation therapy in patients with locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer. They found that although no grade 3 or higher pneumonitis was observed and no maximum tolerated dose for acute toxicity could be identified, late grade 4 and 5 toxicities reflecting damage to central and perihilar structures occurred in several patients and were correlated with dose to the proximal bronchial tree.
In a study reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> <strong>Jean M. Mitchell, PhD,</strong> of Georgetown University, examined patterns of use of intensity-modulated radiation therapy to treat prostate cancer among urologists in private practice who have integrated the expensive therapy into their practice. The study showed that ownership of intensity-modulated radiation therapy services increased use of the treatment to a dramatic degree compared with intensity-modulated radiation therapy use by urologists who do not own intensity-modulated radiation therapy services.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved hydrocodone bitartrate extended-release capsules (Zohydro ER) for the management of pain severe enough to require daily, around-the-clock, long-term treatment and for which alternative treatment options are inadequate. The approved labeling for the new drug conforms to the updated labeling requirements for all extended-release/long-acting opioid analgesics announced by the FDA earlier this fall.
Starting January 1, all Americans will have access to health insurance through marketplace exchanges established by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. <strong>Valerie A. Hutchins, MPH,</strong> and colleagues analyzed the implications the law will have on oncology care, including prohibiting health plans from denying coverage to oncology patients because of preexisting conditions. The report is published in the <em>Journal of Oncology Practice</em>.
Since 1994, many thousands of women with breast cancer from families severely affected with the disease have been tested for inherited mutations in <em>BRCA1</em> and <em>BRCA2,</em> and the vast majority of those patients were told that their gene sequences were normal. In a study presented at the American Society of Human Genetics 2013 meeting, researchers found that over 25% of index patients with normal results from commercial <em>BRCA1/2</em> tests, but with families severely affected by breast cancer, could be resolved by sequencing all genes known to be involved in the disease.
A newly discovered potential gene-diet interaction for colorectal cancer may shed light on the statistically significant increased risk of colorectal cancer that is associated with consumption of red and processed meat, according to a study reported yesterday at the American Society of Human Genetics 2013 meeting in Boston.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> <strong>Patricia G. Moorman, PhD,</strong> of Duke University Medical Center, and colleagues evaluated risk of ovarian and breast cancers among oral contraceptive users with <em>BRCA1/2</em> mutations. The study showed a significantly reduced risk of ovarian cancer and a nonsignificantly increased risk of breast cancer among "ever users" of oral contraceptives, similar to risks observed in the general population.
Patient assistance programs can help breast cancer patients meet a variety of needs that might otherwise interfere with getting recommended adjuvant therapies such as radiation, chemotherapy, and hormonal treatments, according to a study published recently in the online edition of the <em>Journal of Oncology Practice</em>. However, very few women reported that they had obtained sufficient help to overcome practical and economic barriers to treatment.
New research ties preparative procedures and complications associated with blood or bone marrow transplant with diminished sexual health in both men and women who have undergone the lifesaving procedure. Study data, published today in <em>Blood,</em> confirm chronic graft-vs-host disease as a potential source of sexual dysfunction and are the first to demonstrate an association between total-body irradiation and sexual dysfunction in men.
Treating aggressive lung cancer with the diabetes drug metformin along with radiation and chemotherapy may slow tumor growth and recurrence, suggested new preliminary findings from researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. The results point to metformin as an effective radiosensitizer to treat stage III non–small cell lung cancer.
In a letter to <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> <strong>Ségolène Hescot, MD,</strong> of Université Paris Descartes, and colleagues reported evidence of irreversible pancreatic atrophy in two patients after long-term sorafenib treatment. Both patients received cumulative doses of sorafenib greater than 1,000 g over more than 2 years of treatment.
Previously reported results of the phase III EORTC intergroup 40983 trial showed that perioperative chemotherapy with FOLFOX4 increased progression-free survival compared with surgery alone in patients with initially resectable liver metastases from colorectal cancer. In an analysis of long-term outcomes reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> <strong>Bernard Nordlinger, MD,</strong> of Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Ambroise Paré and Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, and colleagues found no overall survival benefit with the addition of FOLFOX4 to surgery at a median of 8.5 years of follow-up.
In a phase III trial reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em>, Daniel D. Von Hoff, MD, of Translational Genomics Research Institute in Phoenix, and colleagues assessed the addition of nab-paclitaxel to gemcitabine in patients with previously untreated metastatic pancreatic cancer. The combination resulted in significantly improved overall survival and progression-free survival but was also associated with increased myelosuppression and peripheral neuropathy.
A functional biomarker that can predict whether BRAF-mutant melanomas respond to drugs targeting BRAF could help guide the treatment of patients with these cancers, according to results presented by <strong>Ryan B. Corcoran, MD, PhD,</strong> of Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center and Harvard Medical School. After treatment with a <em>BRAF</em>-targeted drug, two-thirds of patients had lower levels of tumor cell S6 phosphorylation, which was associated with an almost fivefold improvement in progression-free survival.
A new diagnostic platform to detect BRAF mutations in melanoma and other cancer types is faster and more accurate compared with the standard method currently used in clinics, and this could help accelerate diagnosis and treatment, according to results presented by <strong>Filip Janku, MD, PhD,</strong> of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has assigned Priority Review to the regulatory submission for ramucirumab as a single-agent treatment for advanced gastric cancer following disease progression after initial chemotherapy. Ramucirumab is a human monoclonal antibody that specifically blocks the vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 and inhibits downstream signaling involved in angiogenesis.
In a phase II study reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> <strong>Brian I. Rini, MD,</strong> of the Cleveland Clinic, and colleagues evaluated the effects of axitinib dose titration in patients with previously untreated metastatic renal cell carcinoma. They found a higher response rate in patients receiving dose titration.
- BMN673, a potent oral investigational PARP inhibitor, produced response rates of 44% in BRCA-related breast cancer and 46% in BRCA-related ovarian cancer.
- Median progression-free survival was 33 weeks in each tumor type.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> <strong>I-Chan Huang, PhD,</strong> of University of Florida at Gainesville, and colleagues investigated the association between prevalence of symptoms and health-related quality of life in adult survivors of childhood cancer enrolled in the St. Jude Lifetime Cohort study. They found a high prevalence of symptoms, which were associated with impaired health-related quality of life.
In a phase III trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> <strong>Sergio Amadori, MD,</strong> of Tor Vergata University Hospital in Rome, and colleagues evaluated the sequential addition of gemtuzumab ozogamicin to standard chemotherapy in older patients with newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia. They found no survival benefit of gemtuzumab ozogamicin and excessive toxicity in patients aged ≥ 70 years.
In a trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> <strong>Yoon-Koo Kang, MD,</strong> of University of Ulsan College of Medicine in Seoul, and colleagues assessed the effects of imatinib rechallenge in patients with metastatic or unresectable gastrointestinal stromal tumors after objective progression on first-line imatinib and second-line sunitinib. They found that rechallenge provided progression-free survival benefit compared with placebo.
Patients with pancreatic cancer may benefit from an investigational member of an emerging class of anticancer drugs called antibody-drug conjugates, according to preclinical results presented at the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics. MLN0264 was found to markedly inhibit the growth of human pancreatic tumors transplanted into mice, and when combined with gemcitabine, caused greater tumor shrinkage than either drug alone.
Two drug combinations that simultaneously block two major signaling pathways downstream of the protein KRAS, which is aberrantly active in most pancreatic cancers, may provide a new treatment option for patients with this disease, according to preclinical results presented at the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics. The combinations were found to substantially reduce tumor growth and metastasis in mouse models.
The nanopharmaceutical CRLX101, a novel inhibitor of topoisomerase-1 and hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-1 alpha, may be capable of overcoming resistance of tumors to antiangiogenic agents, according to a study reported at the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics, held October 19 to 23 in Boston. Previously thought of as “undruggable,” HIF-1 alpha promotes tumor invasion, metastasis, and stem cell formation.
A large prospective study of patients with pancreatic cancer by <strong>Brian M. Wolpin, MD, MPH,</strong> and colleagues found that patients with a body mass index (BMI) in the obese range live on average 2 to 3 months less after their diagnosis than healthy-weight patients. The association of BMI with survival was strongest for people who were overweight or obese 2 decades before their diagnosis. The study is published in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
The investigational drug PF-06463922 may have the potential to become a new treatment option for patients who have lung cancer harboring abnormalities in the ALK gene, according to preclinical results presented at the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics, held October 19 to 23 in Boston. The agent was found to be a potent inhibitor of ALK and ROS1 and readily entered the brains of mice, rats, and dogs.
LEE011, a small-molecule inhibitor of cyclin-dependent kinase 4/6 being developed by Novartis Oncology, showed promising results in drug-resistant melanoma and drug-resistant breast cancer when tested in combination with other targeted therapies, according to findings presented at the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics, held October 19 to 23 in Boston. Based on these preclinical results, several phase I clinical trials were recently launched.
AZD9291, a third-generation inhibitor of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), is capable of overcoming resistance conveyed by the T790M mutation in advanced non–small cell lung cancer, according to research presented at the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics in Boston. Responses in vitro and in vivo have been robust, and preliminary phase I data suggest that about 50% of treatment-refractory patients respond.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> <strong>Mariana Chavez-MacGregor, MD,</strong> of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, and colleagues analyzed risks of congestive heart failure in a population of Medicare-covered women with stage I to III breast cancer treated with chemotherapy. Trastuzumab use was significantly associated with congestive heart failure risk, and risk among trastuzumab users was increased in patients aged > 80 years, those with coronary artery disease or hypertension, and those who received weekly trastuzumab.
In a randomized phase II trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by <strong>R. Wendel Naumann, MD,</strong> of Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, and colleagues, the addition of vintafolide to pegylated liposomal doxorubicin improved progression-free survival in women with recurrent platinum-resistant ovarian cancer. The progression-free survival benefit was most marked in patients with 100% of lesions positive for folate receptors as identified by the folate receptor-targeted imaging agent <sup>99m</sup>Tc-etarfolatide.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is investigating an increasing frequency of reports of serious and life-threatening blood clots and severe narrowing of blood vessels of patients taking the antileukemia drug ponatinib. In the most recent clinical trial data submitted by the manufacturer to FDA, at least 20% of all participants treated with ponatinib have developed blood clots or narrowing of blood vessels.
The National Institutes of Health has awarded 10 new grants totaling up to $17 million over the next 4 years to support genomics research in Africa, as part of the Human Heredity and Health in Africa (H3Africa) program. This set of grants is the second disbursement of H3Africa awards and brings the total amount of funding since the 2010 launch of the program to about $74 million. In addition to genomics research, the new awards will support training of African genomic scientists and building scientific infrastructure on the continent.
Clinical trials have shown limited efficacy of anti–insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor (IGF-1R) monoclonal antibodies, with the mechanisms of resistance to such therapy remaining undefined. In preclinical studies reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> <strong>Dong Hoon Shin</strong> of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, and colleagues found that the integrin β3-Src signaling cascade and thus Akt were activated by IGF-1 when IGF-1 binding was inhibited by the anti-IGF-1R monoclonal antibody cixutumumab. Targeting integrin β3 or Src resulted in enhanced antitumor activity of cixutumumab in resistant cell lines and xenografts.
A genetic analysis of 3,281 tumors from 12 cancer types by <strong>Li Ding, PhD,</strong> and colleagues from The Genome Institute at Washington University in St. Louis has found 127 significantly mutated genes that appear to be involved in either cancer initiation or progression. The average number of mutations in these significantly mutated genes is between two and six, indicating that a relatively small number of genetic mutations fuel tumor growth. The study was published in <em>Nature</em>.
In a phase IIIB trial (ATLAS) reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> <strong>Bruce E. Johnson, MD,</strong> of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and colleagues assessed the addition of maintenance erlotinib to bevacizumab following chemotherapy plus bevacizumab in first-line treatment of advanced non-small cell lung cancer. The addition of erlotinib improved progression-free survival but not overall survival and was associated with additional toxicity.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> <strong>Alan Pollack, MD, PhD,</strong> of University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, and colleagues compared escalated radiation dose using hypofractionated vs conventional fractionation intensity-modulated radiation therapy in men with favorable- to high-risk prostate cancer. They found that the hypofractionated regimen did not improve the rate of biochemical or clinical disease failure. However, there were no differences in late toxicities between groups, and patients receiving the hypofractionation regimen required 12 fewer daily radiotherapy treatments.
An international research team led by scientists from Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center has discovered a genetic mutation linked to low-risk bladder cancer. The findings, published in <em>Nature Genetics,</em> identified <em>STAG2</em> as one of the most commonly mutated genes in bladder cancer, particularly in tumors that do not spread.
An international consortium co-led by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute in Australia has identified four genetic variants associated with an increased risk of esophageal cancer and its precursor, Barrett’s esophagus. The findings were published online ahead of print in <em>Nature Genetics</em>.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> <strong>Catherine Schairer, PhD,</strong> from the National Cancer Institute, and colleagues investigated risk factors associated with inflammatory breast cancer. Among their findings was that high body mass index increased inflammatory breast cancer risk irrespective of menopausal status and estrogen receptor status.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> <strong>Laura P. Forsythe, PhD, MPH,</strong> of the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) in Washington, DC, and colleagues examined the frequency with which oncologists provide survivorship care plans or treatment summaries to primary care physicians and characteristics of oncologists/primary care physicians who report frequent provision/receipt. They found that a minority of oncologists/primary care physicians report always/almost always providing/receiving survivorship care plans and that oncologists who reported detailed training in late- and long-term effects of cancer and use of electronic medical records were more likely to report providing the care plans.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> <strong>Esther N. Klein Hesselink,</strong> of University Medical Center Groningen in the Netherlands, and colleagues evaluated long-term cardiovascular mortality in patients with differentiated thyroid cancer. They found that risk of cardiovascular and all-cause mortality is increased in these patients, independent of age, sex, and cardiovascular risk factors.
A simple blood test that measures serum free fatty acids and their metabolites may detect early-stage lung cancer and its recurrence, researchers from The Cleveland Clinic reported at the ANESTHESIOLOGY™ 2013 Annual Meeting in San Francisco. Levels of these potential biomarkers were up to six times higher in patients with cancer vs controls and fell dramatically after tumor resection.
An optical imaging technique that measures metabolic activity in cancer cells can accurately differentiate breast cancer subtypes, and it can detect responses to treatment as early as 2 days after therapy administration, according to a study published in <em>Cancer Research</em>.
Pap cytology is more specific but less sensitive than human papillomavirus (HPV) testing for detection of high-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN2+). In a study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> <strong>Hans Ikenberg, MD,</strong> of CytoMol in Frankfurt, Germany, and colleagues assessed the specificity and sensitivity of p16/Ki-67 dual-stained cytology, a biomarker combination indicative of transforming HPV infections, in CIN2+ screening. They found that dual-stained cytology was more sensitive than Pap cytology and had comparable specificity.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> <strong>Ningqi Hou, PhD,</strong> of University of Chicago, and colleagues analyzed the potential contribution of patient characteristics to risk of breast cancer associated with hormone replacement therapy. The study found that risk of breast cancer in this setting varies according to race/ethnicity, body mass index, and breast density.
A substudy of the RTOG 0525 trial, reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by <strong>Terri S. Armstrong, PhD,</strong> of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, and colleagues, assessed net clinical benefit of dose-dense and standard adjuvant temozolomide treatment in a subpopulation of glioblastoma patients. They found that patients in the dose-dense group exhibited greater symptom burden and functional interference and decreased global health and motor function. Baseline measures and early changes predictive of overall survival and progression-free survival were identified.
In a phase III trial (RTOG 0525) reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> <strong>Mark R. Gilbert, MD,</strong> of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, and colleagues compared dose-dense and standard-dose temozolomide maintenance in patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma multiforme. They found no difference in overall survival or progression-free survival between the two groups overall or according to <em>MGMT</em> methylation status. Among all patients, <em>MGMT</em> methylation was associated with improved survival.
Standard and reduced high-dose volume radiation therapy for muscle-invasive bladder cancer provide comparable tumor control and decreased late toxicity when compared to surgery, according to a study published in the October issue of the <em>International Journal of Radiation Oncology • Biology • Physics</em>. The research is part of the BC2001 clinical trial, one of the largest randomized trials conducted involving radiation therapy in patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> <strong>Qian Wang, PhD,</strong> of the Origins of Cancer Laboratory, Centenary Institute, in Newton, Australia, and colleagues assessed the role of L-type amino acid transporters (LATs) in prostate cancer. They found that inhibition of LAT transporters, and thus leucine uptake, may constitute a new strategy in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.
Myeloablative conditioning with cyclophosphamide combined with intravenous busulfan was associated with better leukemia-free and overall survival than conditioning with cyclosphosphamide and total-body irradiation in patients with acute myeloid leukemia who were in first complete remission after receiving a first hematopoietic cell transplant from a human-leukocyte antigen–matched sibling or unrelated donor. The results were reported in <em>Blood</em>.
In a phase III trial performed to assess the potential benefit of neoadjuvant dual HER2 blockade in HER2-positive breast cancer, <strong>André Robidoux, MD,</strong> and colleagues in the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project evaluated tumor response in patients receiving neoadjuvant lapatinib or trastuzumab alone and in combination after doxorubicin/cyclophosphamide treatment. The study, reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> showed that rates of pathologic complete response were similar with lapatinib and trastuzumab, with the combination producing a numerically but not statistically greater response rate.
Hot flashes occur in approximately 80% of androgen-deprived men. In a randomized study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by <strong>Mara Z. Vitolins, DrPH, MPH, RD,</strong> of Wake Forest School of Medicine, and colleagues, neither venlafaxine nor soy protein--both of which have been used to treat menopausal symptoms in women--improved hot flashes in men with prostate cancer more than placebo. Soy protein vs no soy protein was found to have a beneficial impact on quality of life.
In a phase II trial reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, <strong>Patrick G. Morris, MD,</strong> of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, and colleagues assessed the efficacy of rituximab (Rituxan), methotrexate, procarbazine, and vincristine (R-MPV) followed by consolidation reduced-dose whole-brain radiotherapy and cytarabine in primary central nervous system lymphoma. They found that the strategy produced high response rates, prolonged progression-free and overall survival, and minimal neurotoxicity.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute,</em> <strong>Ghada N. Farhat, PhD,</strong> of University of Balamand in Beirut, and colleagues found that women with lower pretreatment endogenous estrogen levels are at greatest risk of breast cancer during estrogen-plus-progestin therapy.
Increased hepatocyte growth factor/MET signaling is associated with poor prognosis and acquired resistance to EGFR-targeted treatment in patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). In a phase II study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, <strong>David R. Spigel, MD,</strong> of Sarah Cannon Research Institute, and colleagues examined whether dual inhibition of MET/EGFR with the anti-MET monoclonal antibody onartuzumab and erlotinib could provide clinical benefit in patients with advanced NSCLC. They found that the combination improved progression-free survival and overall survival among MET-positive patients but not among MET-negative patients.
In a study reported in the <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute</em>, <strong>Ivana Sestak, PhD,</strong> of Queen Mary University of London, and colleagues assessed the value of immunohistochemical markers, Onco<em>type</em> DX recurrence score, and the PAM50 risk of recurrence score when added to clinical treatment score in predicting recurrence at 5 to 10 years in women with estrogen receptor–positive breast cancer. They found that risk of recurrence provided the strongest prognostic information for years 5 to 10.
Patients with cutaneous malignant melanoma do not maintain the cautious sun behavior they exhibit just after diagnosis, even though they are at increased risk for developing a second primary melanoma, data from a Danish study suggested. The study, published in <em>JAMA Dermatology</em>, found that patients’ daily doses of ultraviolet radiation increased 25% from the first to the second summer after diagnosis with cutaneous malignant melanoma. From the first to the third summer, the increase was 33%.
Among patients with pancreatic cancer who had surgery for removal of the cancer, treatment with the drug gemcitabine for 6 months resulted in increased overall survival as well as disease-free survival, compared with observation alone, according to a study published today in <em>JAMA</em>. The findings provide strong support for the use of gemcitabine in this setting, with a median overall survival for patients treated with gemcitabine of 22.8 months vs 20.2 months in the observation group.
The Program Chairs of the 2013 CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, which will be held December 10–14, 2013, have highlighted what they consider to be the most important abstracts to be presented at the Symposium. In a telebriefing in advance of the December meeting, <strong>C. Kent Osborne, MD,</strong> called these the “abstracts to keep an eye on.” Dr. Osborne was joined by <strong>Peter Ravdin, MD, PhD,</strong> and <strong>Carlos Arteaga, MD</strong>.
In a study reported in <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, <strong>Stéphanie Hoppe, PhD, of Institut Bergonié</strong> in Bordeaux, France, and colleagues assessed functional status in older patients with cancer receiving first-line chemotherapy using the Activities of Daily Living (ADL) scale. Clinically significant functional decline was found in 17% of patients and higher Geriatric Depression Scale scores and lower Instrumental ADL scale scores at baseline were independently predictive of decline.
Etirinotecan pegol is a topoisomerase-I inhibitor designed to provide prolonged tumor cell exposure to the active metabolite of irinotecan. In a phase II study reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> <strong>Ahmad Awada, MD,</strong> of Jules Bordet Institute, Université Libre de Bruxelles, and colleagues examined every-2-week and every-3-week regimens of etirinotecan pegol in patients with previously treated metastatic breast cancer. On the basis of the study findings, the every-3-week regimen was advanced to phase III testing.
Patients with bladder cancer are two times more likely to have complications after a radical cystectomy procedure if they have a biomarker for poor nutritional status before the operation, according to study findings presented at the 2013 Clinical Congress of the American College of Surgeons. Surgeons from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, identified a potentially modifiable risk factor for such postsurgical problems: a low preoperative level of albumin.
Scientists from The Scripps Research Institute have identified a new drug candidate for an inherited form of cancer with no known cure. Published in <em>The Journal of Biological Chemistry</em>, the new study showed the drug candidate—known as FRAX97—slowed the proliferation and progression of tumor cells in animal models of neurofibromatosis type 2. This inherited type of cancer, caused by mutations in the antitumor gene <em>NF2,</em> leads to tumors of the auditory nerve that connects the inner ear to the brain.
A recent trial examined the false-negative rate of sentinel lymph node surgery for staging the axilla after neoadjuvant chemotherapy in women with node-positive cN1 breast cancer. As reported in the <em>Journal of the American Medical Association</em> by <strong>Judy C. Boughey, MD,</strong> of the Mayo Clinic, and colleagues, the false-negative rate was found to be 12.6% in women with two or more sentinel lymph nodes examined, higher than the 10% rate expected with sentinel lymph node surgery in women with clinically node-negative disease. As a result, the investigators recommended that improvements in the strategy be made before it can be used as an alternative to axillary lymph node dissection in women with cN1 disease.
There is an absence of biomarkers to indicate which patients with stage I non–small cell lung cancer would best benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy. In a study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> <strong>Juan Sandoval, PhD,</strong> of the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute in Barcelona, and colleagues identified a DNA methylation signature that discriminated high- and low-risk stage I patents.
In a phase III trial (GRANITE-1 study) reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by <strong>Atsushi Ohtsu, MD, PhD,</strong> of the National Cancer Center Hospital East in Kashiwa, Japan, and colleagues, everolimus plus best supportive care did not prolong overall survival compared with placebo plus best supportive care in patients with previously treated advanced gastric cancer.
ASCO and the College of American Pathologists (CAP) today released a joint, updated guideline to improve the accuracy and reporting of HER2 testing in patients with invasive breast cancer. The new guideline is based on a review of medical research literature, and provides oncologists and pathologists with recommendations for testing HER2 overexpression, interpreting the results, and recommending HER2-targeted therapies. The guideline is published in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> and the <em>Archives of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine</em>.
In a study reported in <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> <strong>Enric Domingo, PhD,</strong> of The Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics at the University of Oxford, and colleagues assessed the predictive performance of <em>PIK3CA</em> mutations for benefits from cyclooxygenase-2 inhibition with rofecoxib and from low-dose aspirin. Presence of <em>PIK3CA</em> mutations did not predict relapse-free survival or overall survival benefits with rofecoxib treatment but did predict improved relapse-free survival among aspirin users.
In a study reported in <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> <strong>Raya Mawad, MD,</strong> of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, and colleagues assessed the frequency of allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation in patients with acute myeloid leukemia in first complete remission at their institution and the reasons for not undergoing hematopoietic cell transplantation. They found that 67% of patients received hematopoietic cell transplantation and that the most common reasons for not receiving transplantation were early relapse and poor performance status.
As reported in <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> <strong>Mila Donker, MD,</strong> of the Netherlands Cancer Institute, and colleagues analyzed the effects of adjuvant radiotherapy after local excision for ductal carcinoma in situ on long-term risk for local recurrence and survival in patients from the EORTC 10853 trial. Radiotherapy was associated with reduced 15-year risks for local recurrence overall and invasive local recurrence.
Children of melanoma survivors were more likely to wear hats and reapply sunscreen after receiving a multimedia informational program designed specifically for them. These new findings were included in research published in <em>Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention</em>. The study is the first to examine a sun protection intervention for children of melanoma survivors, a group whose risk of melanoma is almost doubled because of shared genotypic and phenotypic factors.
Women who participated in at least 1 hour of vigorous physical activity every day had a 25% lower risk of breast cancer and those who walked for at least 7 hours per week had a 14% reduced risk of breast cancer, according to a large epidemiology study of postmenopausal women by <strong>Alpa V. Patel, PhD,</strong> and colleagues at the American Cancer Society. In addition, the benefits derived from increased physical activity and walking were not influenced by body type or hormonal status. The study is published in <em>Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention</em>.
Etirinotecan pegol is a topoisomerase-I inhibitor that prolongs systemic exposure to the active metabolite of irinotecan. In a phase II trial reported in <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> <strong>Ignace B. Vergote, MD, PhD,</strong> of University Hospital Leuven in Belgium and colleagues found that the agent produced encouraging responses and progression-free survival in women with platinum-resistant/refractory ovarian carcinoma.
In an open-label phase III superiority/noninferiority trial reported in Journal of Clinical Oncology by <strong>Ann-Lii Cheng, MD,</strong> of National Taiwan University Hospital in Taipei, sunitinib was associated with significantly poorer overall survival compared with sorafenib in a population of mostly Asian patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma. Results differed in Asian-region vs non-Asian patients and according to presence of hepatitis B virus and hepatitis C virus infection.
A population-based study by <strong>Nynikka Palmer, DrPH, MPH,</strong> and colleagues comparing cancer survivors living in rural and urban areas found that rural survivors aged 65 and older were more likely to forgo routine follow-up medical care after cancer because of financial concerns than their urban counterparts. Other challenges, such as a lack of social support and transportation issues may also contribute to the rural-urban disparity. The study is reported in <em>Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention</em>.
An investigational targeted drug that reduces blood flow to tumors prolonged the survival of patients with advanced stomach cancer after standard treatments failed, according to results of large multicenter clinical trial reported by <strong>Charles S. Fuchs, MD,</strong> of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and colleagues in <em>The Lancet</em>. Patients receiving the monoclonal antibody ramucirumab also experienced a longer delay before the cancer progressed than those who were given a placebo in the randomized, controlled phase III trial, the investigators reported.
<strong>Dean Ornish, MD,</strong> of the University of California San Francisco and Preventive Medicine Research Institute in Sausalito, and colleagues previously reported an association between 3 months of comprehensive lifestyle changes and increased telomerase activity in peripheral blood mononuclear cells in a small pilot study in men with low-risk prostate cancer. In a long-term follow-up reported in The Lancet Oncology, Dr. Ornish and colleagues found increases in relative telomere length after 5 years in patients in the lifestyle intervention group.
Older patients with acute myeloid leukemia have a high relapse rate after standard chemotherapy. In a study reported in <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> <strong>Sylvie D. Freeman, MD, PhD,</strong> of University Hospitals Birmingham National Health Service Trust, and colleagues investigated whether assessing chemotherapy sensitivity by multiparameter flow cytometric minimal residual disease detection has independent prognostic value in patients aged > 60 years. They found that early assessment of treatment response with flow cytometry is highly prognostic in this setting.
In a study reported in <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> <strong>Monique Terwijn, PhD,</strong> of the VU University Medical Centre in Amsterdam, and colleagues assessed the prognostic performance of flow cytometric minimal residual disease detection in acute myeloid leukemia patients aged < 60 years. They found that minimal residual disease status was a strong prognostic factor for relapse and that minimal residual disease–positive patients with late complete remission are at risk for poor outcome.
Some data suggest that <em>BRCA1</em> mutations are associated with occult primary ovarian insufficiency and that <em>BRCA1</em> and <em>BRCA2</em> mutation carriers have earlier natural menopause than noncarrier relatives. A study reported in <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by <strong>Ian M. Collins, MD,</strong> of Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and University of Melbourne, and colleagues indicates that <em>BRCA1</em> and <em>BRCA2</em> mutation carriers are not at greater risk of earlier natural menopause than their noncarrier relatives.
In a study reported in <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> <strong>Cornelia A.J. Brouwer</strong>, of the University Medical Center Groningen in the Netherlands, and colleagues assessed vascular parameters in long-term childhood cancer survivors and sibling controls. They found that survivors who had received radiotherapy as part of their treatment had an unfavorable cardiovascular risk profile including increased carotid and femoral intima-media thickness and higher tissue-type plasminogen activator and plasminogen activator inhibitor type 1 levels.
Scientific data suggest that a woman reduces her risk of breast cancer by breastfeeding, having multiple children, and giving birth at a younger age. However, a study led by the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, indicates that women of Mexican descent may not fit that profile. In fact, results suggest that women of Mexican descent with more children and those who breastfeed are more likely to be diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer. The study was recently published online in <em>Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention</em>.
New research shows that children with an inherited genetic defect in a critical anti-inflammatory pathway have a genetic predisposition to lymphoma. Results of the study, published online today in <em>Blood</em>, reveal an important association between the genetic defect, which causes chronic intestinal inflammation and early onset inflammatory bowel disease, and its role in cancer development in infants and children.
A study by the American Cancer Society shows a convergence of breast cancer rates among white and African American women due to a rise in breast cancer incidence in African American women coupled with stable rates in white women. However, deaths from breast cancer are more common among African American women. The study is published in <em>CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians</em>.
In a study reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine,</em> <strong>Francisco M. Marty, MD,</strong> of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and colleagues found that the anti-cytomegalovirus (CMV) agent CMX001 at a dose of 100 mg twice weekly significantly reduced the incidence of CMV events in patients receiving hematopoietic cell transplants. Diarrhea was the dose-limiting toxicity.
In a retrospective analysis of German High-Grade Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma Study Group trials reported in <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> <strong>Gerhard Held, MD,</strong> of Saarland University Medical School in Homburg, and colleagues assessed the impact of rituximab and radiotherapy on outcome in patients with aggressive B-cell lymphoma and skeletal involvement. The analysis showed that the addition of rituximab to chemotherapy did not improve outcome and suggested that radiotherapy was associated with improved outcome.
All nonessential government services were suspended at midnight after Congress failed to reach a budget compromise to keep the government funded before the start of the new fiscal year beginning on October 1, 2013. ASCO issued a statement today in response to the government shutdown and released information related to federal agencies that reimburse cancer, fund cancer research, and shepherd drug development.
A study in France, where more than 80% of men undergo routine prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening, has found that the test may do more harm than good. In a virtual model of men aged 59 to 69 with and without exposure to routine PSA testing, the researchers found that screening would prevent only one prostate cancer–specific death and one high-risk prostate cancer. The authors believe that routine PSA screening should be abolished.
Use of existing, well-established hypertension drugs could improve the outcome of cancer chemotherapy by opening up collapsed blood vessels in solid tumors. In a report published in <em>Nature Communications,</em> investigators from Massachusetts General Hospital described how the angiotensin inhibitor losartan improved the delivery of chemotherapy drugs and oxygen throughout tumors by increasing blood flow in mouse models of breast and pancreatic cancer. A clinical trial based on the findings of this study is now underway.
The 5-year results of the UK Standardisation of Breast Radiotherapy (START) trials suggested that lower total doses of radiotherapy delivered in fewer, larger doses were at least as safe and effective as the historical standard regimen of 50 Gy in 25 fractions as adjuvant therapy for early breast cancer. In an article published in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> <strong>Joanne S. Haviland and colleagues in the START Trialists’ Group reported a prespecified 10-year follow up of the two trials. The results support continued use of the 40 Gy/15 fraction regimen widely used in the UK.
Results of the phase III TH3RESA trial presented at the European Cancer Congress 2013 showed that the antibody-conjugate ado-trastuzumab extends progression-free survival in women with advanced HER2-positive breast cancer that progressed on two or more previous HER2-directed therapies including trastuzumab and lapatinib. Patients in the ado-trastuzumab emtansine group had a median progression-free survival that was nearly double that of the control arm.
In high-risk, locally advanced rectal cancer, treatment with cetuximab conveyed a survival benefit in patients with <em>TP53</em> wild-type tumors, according to a retrospective analysis of the EXPERT-C trial presented at the 2013 European Cancer Congress. Patients with <em>TP53</em> mutations did not derive a survival benefit from the addition of the targeted agent to capecitabine plus oxaliplatin chemoradiotherapy.
In an analysis of the NeoALTTO trial, patients with mutations in <em>PI3KCA</em> were significantly less likely to achieve a pathologic complete response to dual blockade with lapatinib and trastuzumab. The assessment of <em>PI3KCA</em> might help identify HER2-positive patients unlikely to benefit from neoadjuvant dual HER2 blockade. The findings were reported at the European Cancer Congress 2013 by <strong>Jose Baselga, MD</strong>.
For the first time, an immunotherapy has shown promise in smokers with non–small cell lung cancer. The engineered monoclonal antibody MPDL3280A achieved encouraging and durable responses in smokers and nonsmokers with NSCLC and squamous and adenocarcinoma histology, reported <strong> Jean-Charles Soria, MD,</strong> at the European Cancer Congress 2013 in Amsterdam. The phase I study found that smoking status and level of PD-L1 expression predicted for response.
According to the results of the Advanced Prostate Cancer Patient and Caregiver Burden of Illness Survey, although patients with prostate cancer report feeling generally optimistic about their diagnosis, many men may feel isolated in coping with their disease. Forty-five percent of men reported that they keep silent about their prostate cancer and treatments, and 59% are concerned about becoming a burden to family and friends. By comparison, only 43% of patient respondents have the same level of concern about dying.
According to an extended follow-up analysis of the Women’s Health Initiative, postmenopausal women taking continuous combined estrogen/progestin hormone therapy had a 35% reduction in the incidence of endometrial cancer. Overweight and obese women had about a sevenfold increased risk for endometrial cancer, which was attenuated by combined hormone therapy. <strong>Rowan T. Chlebowski, MD, PhD,</strong> reported the results of the study at the European Cancer Congress 2013 in Amsterdam.
Extending radiation to the lymph nodes behind the sternal wall and above the collarbone extends overall survival in patients with stage I to III breast cancer and does not increase toxicity compared to conventional locoregional radiation therapy, according to 10-year results of an international randomized trial reported at the European Cancer Congress 2013 in Amsterdam.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today granted accelerated approval to pertuzumab in combination with trastuzumab and docetaxel chemotherapy in patients with early-stage breast cancer in the neoadjuvant setting. Pertuzumab is the first FDA-approved drug for the neoadjuvant treatment of breast cancer.
In up to 10% of all cancers, the primary site of origin is unknown. A large study presented at the European Cancer Congress 2013 in Amsterdam revealed that molecular profiling can identify targets amenable to drug therapy in 80% of cancers with unknown primary origin, representing a huge step forward in oncologists’ ability to offer effective treatment to these patients. Most of targetable abnormalities identified in this study can be treated with conventional chemotherapy, not biologics.
In the treatment of metastatic or locally advanced melanoma, ipilimumab conveys long-term survival benefits, according to studies presented at the European Cancer Congress 2013 by <strong>F. Stephen Hodi, Jr, MD,</strong> and <strong>Michele Maio, MD, PhD,</strong>. Patients treated in the phase II and III clinical trials had median overall survivals of over 11 months, and over 20% of patients were alive at 3 years. In both analyses, a plateau effect emerged at 3 years.
Cancer cells are known to have short telomeres, but just how short they are from cancer cell to cancer cell may be a determining factor in a prostate cancer patient's prognosis, according to a study led by scientists at Johns Hopkins. The findings, published in <em>Cancer Discovery,</em> revealed that men with variable telomere length in cancer cells and shorter telomeres in stromal cells were 14 times more likely to die of their prostate cancer than were men whose telomeres had less variable length among cancer cells and longer in stromal cells.
A bioinformatics approach to repurposing drugs resulted in identification of a class of antidepressants as a potential new treatment for small cell lung cancer, according to a study published in Cancer Discovery. The two drugs, imipramine and promethazine, were found to induce small cell lung cancer cell death and were also effective in mice bearing human small cell lung cancers that were resistant to cisplatin.
In a phase III study (VANTAGE 088 trial) reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> <strong>Meletios Dimopolous, MD,</strong> of the University of Athens, and colleagues assessed the addition of the oral HDAC inhibitor vorinostat to bortezomib in patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma. The study showed a small but significant progression-free survival advantage with vorinostat treatment, a difference that the investigators regarded as of unclear clinical relevance.
Interim results of the Cambridge Breast IMRT trial indicated that intensity-modulated radiotherapy was associated with significantly reduced skin telangiectasia compared with standard radiotherapy at 2 years in patients with early breast cancer. As reported in <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by <strong>Mukesh B. Mukesh, MBBS, FRCR,</strong> of Cambridge University Hospitals National Health Service Foundation Trust, and colleagues, intensity-modulated radiotherapy was associated with improved overall cosmesis and reduced skin telangiectasia at 5 years.
In an exploratory analysis reported in <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> <strong>Matthew R. Smith, MD, PhD,</strong> of Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, and colleagues investigated the relationship between PSA doubling time and bone metastasis–free survival in denosumab and placebo recipients in a recent trial. The study included men with nonmetastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer and baseline prostate specific antigen (PSA) ≥ 8.0 ng/mL or PSA doubling time ≤ 10.0 months. Denosumab consistently increased bone metastasis–free survival according to decreasing PSA doubling time. No improvements in overall survival were observed with denosumab according to PSA doubling time.
Protecting the stem cells that reside in and around the hippocampus substantially reduces the rate of cancer patients' memory loss during whole-brain radiotherapy without a significant risk of recurrence in that area of the brain, a new study shows. Results of the phase II clinical trial of patients with brain metastases were presented by co-principal investigator <strong>Vinai Gondhi, MD, </strong> at the American Society for Radiation Oncology’s 55th Annual Meeting.
In a multicenter retrospective analysis reported in <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> <strong>Andrew M. Evens, DO, MSc,</strong> of Tufts University Medical School, and colleagues examined treatment, complications, and outcomes for Hodgkin lymphoma and non-Hodgkin lymphoma occurring during pregnancy. The findings indicate that standard, nonantimetabolite, combination chemotherapy can be administered past the first trimester with few complications and expected maternal survival.
In a study reported in <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, <strong>Alan C. Geller, MPH, RN,</strong> of the Harvard School of Public Health, and colleagues assessed long-term trends in the incidence and mortality of melanoma in Connecticut, a state with complete and consistent tumor registration. They found “unremitting” increases in incidence and mortality across 6 decades.
In a trial (ACRIN 6668/RTOG 0235 trial) reported in <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> <strong>Mitchell Machtay, MD,</strong> of Case Western Reserve University and colleagues assessed the relationship between standardized uptake value (SUV) for 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography and survival in patients with stage III non–small cell lung cancer. Higher post-treatment standardized uptake value was associated with poorer survival, although clear cutoff values for clinical use remain to be identified.
A new study from researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Proton Therapy Center found that the use of feeding tubes in patients with oropharyngeal cancer treated with intensity modulated proton therapy decreased by more than 50% compared to patients treated with intensity modulated radiation therapy. The findings, presented today at the American Society for Radiation Oncology’s 55th Annual Meeting, suggest that proton therapy may offer vital quality of life benefits for patients with this disease.
The second-generation immunomodulatory drug pomalidomide “has shown impressive results in patients with multiple myeloma who are refractory to lenalidomide and bortezomib,” according to a review of clinical data leading to the drug’s approval by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In February, the FDA approved pomalidomide for patients with multiple myeloma who have received at least two prior therapies including lenalidomide and bortezomib and have demonstrated disease progression on or within 60 days of completion of the last therapy.
Although the incidence of skin cancer is increasing, “the rate at which physicians are mentioning sunscreen at patient visits is quite low, even for patients with a history of skin cancer,” according to an analysis of data from more than 18.30 billion patient visits. Children and adolescents get the least sunscreen recommendations, although they get the most sun exposure of any age group and sunburns in childhood greatly increase the risk for future melanoma. The findings were published in <em>JAMA Dermatology</em>.
According to a study published in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em>abiraterone acetate when taken in conjunction with prednisone significantly delays progression of pain and deterioration of quality of life in men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer compared with prednisone alone. The combination resulted in a meaningful clinical benefit for patients, with a more than 8-month delay in progression of pain and a more than 4-month delay in quality of life deterioration.
New results from a large retrospective study of the National Cancer Institute’s SEER database, published in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> show that patients with cancer who were married at the time of diagnosis live markedly longer compared to unmarried patients. Researchers also found that married patients are more likely to be diagnosed with earlier-stage disease and much more likely to receive the appropriate therapy.
In a phase II study reported in <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> <strong>Jonathan W. Friedberg, MD,</strong> of University of Rochester Wilmot Cancer Center, and colleagues assessed the effects of the selective aurora A kinase inhibitor alisertib in patients with relapsed and refractory aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma. They found that the agent was generally well tolerated and exhibited activity that warrants further study.
A study of long-term colorectal cancer incidence and mortality after lower endoscopy reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em> by <strong>Reiko Nishihara, PhD,</strong> of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, and colleagues found that both colonoscopy and sigmoidoscopy for any indication were associated with a reduction in overall colorectal cancer and distal colorectal cancer incidence and mortality, with only colonoscopy being associated with a reduction in proximal colon cancer incidence and mortality.
Mindfulness-based cancer recovery was shown in to be superior to supportive-expressive group therapy in decreasing symptoms of stress and improving overall quality of life and social support among women who had stage I to III breast cancer who were experiencing distress, reported <strong>Linda E. Carlson, PhD,</strong> and colleagues in <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.
A large study assessing glomerular function in adult survivors of childhood cancers who were treated with certain chemotherapy drugs or kidney surgery found that they had worse kidney function, which did not recover over time, compared with adult survivors who were not given nephrotoxic therapy. The study is published in <em>Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention</em>.
The Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation has announced two open access gateways, one for researchers, which will provide access to specific patient gene mutations and data on how patients respond to treatment, and one for patients, which will provide information about treatment and clinical trials specific to their disease. The goal is to speed the development of precision medicines for the blood cancer.
When treated with stereotactic radiosurgery that is not combined with whole-brain radiotherapy, adult brain cancer patients who were 50 years old and younger were found to have improved survival, according to research presented on Sunday, September 22, at the American Society for Radiation Oncology’s 55th Annual Meeting.Younger patients (under 50 years old) were also found to be at no greater risk of new brain metastases developing despite omission of whole-brain radiotherapy.
When used to treat pediatric patients with intracranial malignant tumors, proton therapy may limit the toxicity of radiation therapy while preserving tumor control, according to research presented on Sunday, September 22, at the American Society for Radiation Oncology’s 55th Annual Meeting. According to principal investigator <strong>Shannon MacDonald, MD,</strong>, the “represents the best available evidence on the use of proton radiotherapy in the pediatric population.”
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) today released its final recommendation statement on medications to reduce the risk of primary breast cancer in women. Clinicians are recommended to prescribe risk-reducing medications, such as tamoxifen or raloxifene, for women who are at increased risk for breast cancer and at low risk for adverse medication effects. However, the USPSTF recommends against the routine use of these drugs for risk reduction of primary breast cancer in women who are not at an increased risk for breast cancer.
As reported in <em>The Lancet</em>by <strong>Aron Goldhirsch, MD,</strong> of the European Institute of Oncology in Milan, and colleagues, 2 years of trastuzumab showed no advantage over 1 year of treatment in patients with HER2-positive early breast cancer in the phase III HERA trial. An updated comparison of 1 year of trastuzumab vs observation showed significant disease-free and overall survival benefits of trastuzumab after median follow-up of 8 years, despite substantial crossover to trastuzumab.
Adding cisplatin to a treatment plan of radiation therapy and high–dose rate brachytherapy for stage IIIB cervical cancer is beneficial, according to research presented on September 22, 2013, at the American Society for Radiation Oncology’s 55th Annual Meeting. The study also indicated that the combined treatments produced acceptable levels of toxicity.
A secondary analysis of the RTOG 9202 prostate cancer trial examined results of men with intermediate-risk prostate cancer who had received long-term hormonal therapy after radiation therapy, and concluded that there were no additional benefits when compared to short-term hormonal therapy, according to research presented today at the American Society for Radiation Oncology’s 55th Annual Meeting.
A shorter course of androgen suppression therapy prior to radiation therapy, when compared to an extended course of androgen suppression therapy, yields comparable outcomes and fewer adverse effects for intermediate-risk prostate cancer patients, according to research presented today at the American Society for Radiation Oncology’s 55th Annual Meeting. The study confirmed a disease-specific-survival rate of 95% when patients received fewer weeks of neoadjuvant total androgen suppression.
In a study reported in <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, <strong>Jianhua Yin, MD</strong>, of the Second Military Medical University in Shanghai, and colleagues assessed the effects of nucleotide/nucleoside analog hepatitis B virus (HBV) inhibitor treatment on postoperative prognosis in patients with HBV-related hepatocellular carcinoma. Nucleoside/nucleotide analog treatment was found to significantly improve recurrence-free survival and overall survival.
Interim positron emission tomography (PET) scan is being used to guide risk-adapted therapy in patients with early-stage and advanced-stage Hodgkin lymphoma for clinical research at academic centers, and experts predict that this will become standard of care in clinical practice. At the NCCN 8th Annual Congress on Hematologic Malignancies, <strong>Craig Moskowitz, MD</strong>, of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer in New York, updated attendees on use of PET-guided therapy in Hodgkin lymphoma.
Although imatinib is the initial therapy for chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), several second-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitors are now approved for the treatment of this disease. <strong>Michael Millenson, MD</strong>, of Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, reviewed practical considerations in selecting tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy for CML at the NCCN 8th Annual Congress on Hematologic Malignancies, held September 20–21 in New York.
Researchers have discovered why multiple myeloma frequently recurs after an initially effective treatment that can keep the disease at bay for up to several years. The study, published in <em>Cancer Cell</em>, identified two genes—<em>IRE1</em> and <em>XBP1<em>—that control response to the proteasome inhibitor and the mechanism underlying the drug resistance that is the barrier to cure.
In a study reported in <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, <strong>Mathias Onrud of Norwegian Radium Hospital, Oslo University Hospital, and colleagues assessed outcomes in the follow-up of the Norwegian Radium Hospital trial to determine long-term effects of external beam radiation therapy in the adjuvant treatment of early-stage endometrial cancer. They found no survival benefit of external pelvic radiation, with pelvic radiation decreasing survival and increasing the risk of secondary cancer in women aged < 60 years at diagnosis.
In an analysis reported in <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, <strong>Frank A. Sinicrope, MD,</strong> of the Mayo Clinic and North Central Cancer Treatment Group investigated the association of deficient DNA mismatch repair with prognosis in patients with stage III colon cancer treated with adjuvant fluorouracil, leucovorin, and oxaliplatin (FOLFOX) chemotherapy. They found that patients with proximal deficient DNA mismatch repair tumors had favorable outcome, whereas those with distal or N2 deficient DNA mismatch repair tumors had poor outcome.
Researchers from University of Rochester Medical Center have shown scientifically what many women report anecdotally: that tamoxifen is toxic to cells of the brain and central nervous system, producing mental fogginess similar to “chemo brain.” In the study, published in the <em>Journal of Neuroscience,</em> the researchers also report that the MEK1/2 inhibitor selumetinib (also known as AZD6244) appears to counteract or rescue brain cells from the adverse effects of the breast cancer drug.
In a study reported in <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology,</em> <strong>Yuko Kitagawa, MD, FACS,</strong> of Keio University School of Medicine, and colleagues found that sentinel node mapping using a standardized dual tracer endoscopic injection technique was safe and accurate in patients with gastric cancer.
In a study reported in <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, <strong>Dawn L. Hershman, MD, MS,</strong> of Columbia University, and colleagues assessed the use of bevacizumab (Avastin) in older patients with metastatic breast, lung, or colon cancer. They found that bevacizumab was contraindicated in approximately one-third of patients in whom it was used.
New research shows that microRNA-486 (miR-486) is a potent tumor-suppressor molecule in lung cancer, and that it helps regulate the proliferation and migration of lung cancer cells, as well as the induction of apoptosis in those cells. Published in the <em>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</em>, the study suggests that miR-486 may serve as a biomarker for patients with lung cancer who might respond to treatment with insulin growth factor inhibitors.
A meta-analysis reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em> by <strong>Wei-Chih Liao, MD,</strong> of National Taiwan University Hospital, and colleagues indicates that fluorouracil or gemcitabine is optimal adjuvant therapy for pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Chemoradiation was associated with poorer survival and chemoradiation plus chemotherapy provided no significant additional survival benefit at the cost of greater toxicity.
In an analysis of the PRIME trial reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em> by <strong>Jean-Yves Douillard, MD, PhD,</strong> of Institut de Cancérologie de l’Ouest René Gauducheau, and colleagues, the presence of RAS mutations, in addition to <em>KRAS</em> exon 2 mutations, in metastatic colorectal cancer was predictive of a lack of response to panitumumab/FOLFOX4 treatment. However, in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer without RAS mutations, the addition of panitumumab to FOLFOX was associated with improved progression-free and overall survival.
ASCO, a sponsoring organization of the Rally for Medical Research Hill Day, held today, is joining with a broad coalition of groups from the medical research advocacy community in urging Congress to invest in the National Institutes of Health. The multiyear stagnation in federal research funding is having a profound negative effect on the U.S. cancer research enterprise, in many cases triggering devastating changes to scientists’ ability to conduct cancer research.
In a phase II study reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>, <strong>Luana Calabrò, MD,</strong> of the Istituto Tuscano Tumori in Siena, and colleagues identified beneficial effects of tremelimumab treatment despite a low response rate in patients with chemotherapy-resistant advanced malignant mesothelioma.
In the phase III AVEX trial reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology,</em> <strong>David Cunningham, MD,</strong> of Royal Marsden Hospital in London and colleagues assessed the addition of bevacizumab to capecitabine in patients aged ≥ 70 years with previously untreated metastatic colorectal cancer who were not considered candidates for oxaliplatin- or irinotecan-based chemotherapy. The bevacizumab/capecitabine combination significantly improved progression-free survival and was associated with more frequent adverse events.
According to new research at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute, a gene encoding the enzyme phosphoinositide-dependent kinase-1 (PDK1) plays an essential role in the development and progression of melanoma. According to the study, published online in <em>Oncogene</em>, median survival time was increased by more than 50% in some mice lacking the<em>PDK1</em> gene.
Young women with breast cancer may overestimate the risk that cancer will occur in their other, healthy breast and decide to undergo a prophylactic contralateral mastectomy, a survey conducted by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute investigators indicated. The study, published in <em>Annals of Internal Medicine </em>, also shows that many patients may opt for contralateral prophylactic mastectomy despite knowing it will be unlikely to improve their chance of survival.
Scientific discoveries have spurred better ways to prevent, detect, diagnose, and treat cancer, resulting in 1 million fewer deaths since the early 1990s and an increase in cancer survivorship in the U.S. to 13.7 million today. Despite these advances, however, 580,350 Americans will die from cancer this year, and cancer will soon overtake heart disease as the number one disease-related killer of Americans, according to the American Association for Cancer Research <em>Cancer Progress Report 2013</em>.
In a phase II study (MCL-001, EMERGE) reported in <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, <strong>Andre Goy, MD,</strong> of Hackensack University Medical Center, and colleagues evaluated the use of single-agent lenalidomide in bortezomib-treated patients who had relapsed/refractory mantle cell lymphoma. Durable responses were observed in 28% of patients.
A study by <strong>Jie He, MD, PhD,</strong> and colleagues has found that plasma levels of isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 (IDH1) were significantly higher in patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) than in healthy controls. The test results show that IDH1 could be used in the diagnosis of NSCLCs and is more effective than existing blood biomarkers of lung adenocarcinoma. The study was published in <em>Clinical Cancer Research</em>.
In an exploratory analysis of long-term survival data from the GeparTrio trial reported in Journal of Clinical Oncology, <strong>Gunter von Minckwitz, MD,</strong> of the German Breast Group in Neu-Isenburg, and colleagues found that response-guided neoadjuvant chemotherapy appears to improve disease-free survival and overall survival and appears to be most effective in hormone receptor–positive tumors.
Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc, today announced the FDA has granted Breakthrough Therapy designation to volasertib, an investigational inhibitor of polo-like kinase (Plk), which is being evaluated for the treatment of patients aged 65 or older with previously untreated acute myeloid leukemia who are ineligible for intensive remission induction therapy.
GlaxoSmithKline recently announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted Priority Review designation to its supplemental New Drug Applications for the combined use of dabrafenib (Tafinlar) and trametinib (Mekinist) for the treatment of adult patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma with a BRAF V600E/K mutation.
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. In clinical studies of men with benign prostatic hyperplasia implanted with two or more UroLift sutures, participants reported a decrease in symptoms and an increase in quality of life in the 2 years following treatment.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted Breakthrough Therapy designation for ofatumumab (Arzerra) in combination with chlorambucil for the treatment of patients with lymphocytic leukemia who have not received prior treatment and are inappropriate for fludarabine-based therapy. Ofatumumab is a human monoclonal antibody that targets an epitope on the CD20 molecule encompassing parts of the small and large extracellular loops.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the first generic version of capecitabine (Xeloda), an oral chemotherapy agent used in the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer and breast cancers. Teva Pharmaceuticals USA has gained FDA approval to market generic capecitabine in 150 and 500 mg strengths.
A comparison of three methods of predicting the risk of recurrence in women treated for estrogen-receptor–positive breast cancer found that only the breast cancer index (BCI)—a biomarker based on the expression levels of seven tumor-specific genes—accurately identified patients who continue to be at risk after 5 years of treatment with either tamoxifen or the aromatase inhibitor anastrozole. The study comparing the BCI with with two other prognostic tests was published online in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>.
The level of expression of three genes associated with aging can be used to predict whether seemingly low-risk prostate cancer will remain slow-growing, according to findings published in <em>Science Translational Medicine</em>. Use of this three-gene biomarker, in conjunction with existing cancer-staging tests, could help physicians better determine which men with early prostate cancer can be safely followed with active surveillance and spared the risks of prostate removal or other invasive treatment.
Tivozanib is a selective tyrosine kinase inhibitor of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 1, -2, and -3. In a phase III trial reported in <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by <strong>Robert J. Motzer, MD,</strong> of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, and colleagues, tivozanib was found to improve progression-free survival but not overall survival and to exhibit a different toxicity profile when compared with sorafenib as initial targeted therapy in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma.
A phase III study investigating ipilimumab in men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer failed to meet its primary endpoint of prolonging overall survival. However, the therapy did show a benefit in progression-free survival, and a subgroup analysis suggests that patients with less advanced disease may experience the most benefit from ipilimumab.
In a study reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em>, <strong>Annette McWilliams, MD,</strong> of Vancouver General Hospital, and colleagues analyzed data from subjects undergoing low-dose computed tomography screening for lung cancer to identify factors that might predict whether lung nodules found on first screening are malignant. They developed models that accurately estimated likelihood of malignancy.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee voted 13 to 0, with one abstention, in favor of recommending accelerated approval of a pertuzumab (Perjeta) regimen for neoadjuvant treatment in patients with high-risk, HER2-positive, early-stage breast cancer. If approved, the regimen will be the first neoadjuvant breast cancer treatment approved in the United States and the first treatment approved based on pathologic complete response data.
ASCO joins with the American College of Sports Medicine and other leading health organizations to help raise awareness of the impact of childhood obesity on the development of cancer and other chronic illnesses in adulthood. Obesity is linked to an increased risk of many cancers, including endometrial, colorectal, esophageal, kidney, pancreatic, and certain breast cancers, but only 7% of Americans realize that it is a risk factor.
A study by researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital found that brachytherapy was associated with better cause-specific survival and overall survival in women with cervical cancer. The population-based analysis also revealed geographic disparities and decline in brachytherapy treatment in the United States. The study was published in the September 2013 issue of <em>The International Journal of Radiation Oncology</em>.
Jane Carrie Weeks, MD, MSc, a prominent researcher at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, internationally known for building the discipline of outcomes research in oncology and admired by colleagues as an outstanding mentor, died September 10 after a long illness. She was "one of the true intellectual pillars of the Harvard medical community," said Dana-Farber President Edward Benz, Jr, MD.
A family of microRNAs blocks cancer progression and metastasis by stifling a tumor’s ability to weave new blood vessels to support itself, researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center reported in <em>Nature Communications</em>. Patients with lung, ovarian, kidney, or triple-negative breast cancers live longer if they have high levels of miR-200 expression, the researchers found.
In a study reported in <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, <strong>Gregory T. Armstrong, MD</strong>, of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, and colleagues assessed the frequency of major cardiac events and cardiovascular risk factors among adult survivors of childhood cancer and their siblings. They found that survivors were at greater risk of cardiac events and had more risk factors, with the findings suggesting an opportunity to reduce cardiovascular risk by addressing modifiable risk factors, and hypertension in particular, in these patients.
In a phase II study reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>, <strong>Stephen E. Jones, MD</strong>, of US Oncology Research, and colleagues assessed the addition of 1 year of trastuzumab to a nonanthracycline regimen of docetaxel/cyclophosphamide as adjuvant therapy in patients with HER2-positive early-stage breast cancer and evaluated the effect of the regimen in <em>TOP2A</em>-amplifed vs <em>TOP2A</em>-nonamplified disease. Similar disease-free survival and overall survival were found in <em>TOP2A</em>-amplifed and <em>TOP2A</em>-nonamplified disease.
In a keynote lecture during the 2013 Breast Cancer Symposium, <strong>George Sledge, MD</strong>, offered five predictions for the future of the medical management of breast cancer in the next 5 to 10 years, based on the intersection of biology, technology, economics, demography, and the modern health-care system.
Results of the two rounds of annual incidence screening with low-dose computed tomography (CT) vs radiography in the National Lung Screening Trial were recently reported by <strong>Denise R. Aberle, MD</strong>, of University of California at Los Angeles, and colleagues in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em>. Among the findings of the trial is that low-dose CT was more sensitive in detecting early-stage lung cancers but had a lower positive predictive value compared with radiography.
In a phase III trial (MM-003) reported in <em>The Lancet Oncology</em>, <strong>Jesus San Miguel, MD</strong>, of Universidad de Salamanca, and colleagues found that the combination of pomalidomide plus low-dose dexamethasone was associated with significantly prolonged progression-free survival and overall survival compared with high-dose dexamethasone in patients with refractory or relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma.
Syndax Pharmaceuticals Inc today announced that the FDA has designated entinostat as a Breakthrough Therapy for the treatment of locally recurrent or metastatic estrogen receptor–positive breast cancer when added to exemestane in postmenopausal women whose disease has progressed following nonsteroidal aromatase inhibitor therapy. Entinostat is an investigational histone deacetylase inhibitor set to begin phase III testing.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced class-wide safety labeling changes and new postmarketing study requirements for all extended-release and long-acting opioid analgesics intended to treat pain. The action is part of an effort to combat the serious risks of misuse, abuse, addiction, and death from long-acting opioid analgesics, while still preserving appropriate access for patients who rely on these agents to manage their pain.
Using NanoString RNA counting technology, <strong>Richard Morgan, PhD</strong>, and colleagues have identified seven targets that could potentially be used to develop new immunotherapies for patients with metastatic melanoma. Their findings could increase the number of patients eligible for adoptive immunotherapy. The study was reported in <em>Clinical Cancer Research</em>.
For the first time, a genetic link specific to risk of pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) has been identified, according to a team of researchers from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, University of Washington, and other institutions. Scientists found a genetic mutation in <em>PAX5</em> in two unrelated families in which pediatric ALL has been diagnosed in multiple generations. The discovery was reported online in the journal <em>Nature Genetics</em>.
Quizartinib is a potent and selective inhibitor of FMS-like tyrosine kinase 3 (FLT3) kinase activity in preclinical acute myeloid leukemia (AML) models. In a phase I study reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, <strong>Jorge E. Cortes, MD</strong>, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and colleagues found that quizartinib exhibited clinical activity in patients with relapsed/refractory AML, particularly those with FLT3-internal tandem duplications, and was associated with an acceptable toxicity profile.
<strong>Larry Norton, MD</strong>, of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, is the recipient of the 2013 Gianni Bonadonna Breast Cancer Award, which he received at the 2013 Breast Cancer Symposium. In accepting the award, Dr. Norton commented on what he called “the coevolution of clinical and basic science in oncology” and called for a return to the exploration of concepts rather than an exclusive focus on the testing of agents.
The use of mammograms to prevent breast cancer deaths has been controversial, especially after the USPSTF proposed in 2009 to limit screening to women aged 50 to 74 years. A new analysis has found that 71% of deaths from breast cancer occur in younger women who do not receive regular mammograms. Published early online in Cancer, the study indicates that regular screening before age 50 should be encouraged.
A British study has found that breast cancer patients with low adherence to adjuvant tamoxifen therapy have shorter time to recurrence, increased medical costs, and worse quality of life than women taking daily doses of the drug for 5 years. The report was published in the <em>British Journal of Cancer</em>.
In a phase III trial reported in <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, <strong>Rosella Elisei, MD</strong>, of University of Pisa and colleagues found that cabozantinib significantly prolonged progression-free survival compared with placebo in patients with progressive medullary thyroid cancer. This trial provided the basis for FDA approval of cabozantinib in progressive metastatic medullary thyroid cancer.
After neoadjuvant chemotherapy, 41% of early breast cancer patients experienced a change in status for the estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, or HER2 oncogene, researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center reported at the 2013 Breast Cancer Symposium in San Francisco. A change in receptor status was associated with improved recurrence-free survival but not overall survival.
German investigators reported at the 2013 Breast Cancer Symposium in San Francisco that an abridged magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) protocol can accurately detect cancers among women whose mammographic screenings were negative. MRI, therefore, may reveal the type of tumor that mammography typically misses, and can do so in a time-efficient fashion, thus making MRI feasible for breast cancer screening, said <strong>Christiane K. Kuhl, MD</strong>, of RWTH Aachen University.
Scientists at Johns Hopkins have identified a molecular marker called <em>Mig6</em> that appears to accurately predict longer survival among patients being treated with the EGFR inhibitors gefitinib and erlotinib. Results from the preliminary study were published in <em>PLoS ONE</em>.
A Swedish study of 50 patients with glioblastoma who received valganciclovir as adjuvant treatment following standard therapy, has found significantly improved survival rates over the control group that did not receive the antiviral drug. After 2 years, 62% were still alive, compared with 18% of those patients who did not receive the drug. The study was reported in <em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em>.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today expanded the approved uses of paclitaxel protein-bound particles for injectable suspension, albumin-bound (nab-paclitaxel, Abraxane) to treat patients with late-stage pancreatic cancer in combination with gemcitabine. The approval was based on the results of a phase III clinical trial that demonstrated a 1.8-month improvement in overall survival in patients treated with nab-paclitaxel plus gemcitabine vs gemcitabine alone.
A new laser-based technology may make brain tumor surgery much more accurate, allowing surgeons to tell cancer tissue from normal brain at the microscopic level while they are operating and avoid leaving behind cells that could spawn a new tumor. In a new paper published in <em>Science Translational Medicine</em>, researchers described how stimulated Raman scattering microscopy allows them to "see" the tiniest areas of tumor cells in brain tissue.
A 5-year study from UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center has found that patients with head and neck cancer receiving radiation as part of their treatment were less likely to suffer unwanted side effects such as worsening of diet, need for a feeding tube, or narrowing of the throat passage if they complied with a set of prescribed swallowing exercises during therapy. The study was led by <strong>Marilene B. Wang, MD</strong> and published in <em>Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery</em>.
A new report from the Dartmouth Atlas Project found that while the use of hospice care for Medicare patients with advanced cancer is increasing, many patients do not receive hospice care until they are within 3 days of the end of their life. More patients were also treated in intensive care units in the last month of their life.
A large retrospective study reported that adding magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to mammography before or immediately after surgery was not associated with reduced local recurrence or contralateral breast cancer rates among women with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) of the breast who were treated with lumpectomy. The findings suggest that MRI does not improve long-term outcomes for most women with DCIS, and may lead to a decrease in routine use of MRI in this patient population.
A large population-based study in the Netherlands found that women who had received radiation therapy to treat ductal carcinoma in situ of the breast (DCIS) have no increased risk of cardiovascular disease compared to the general population of Dutch women, nor compared to DCIS patients treated with surgery only.
A large-scale survey of women undergoing mammography screening indicates that over 90% either underestimate or overestimate their lifetime risk for developing breast cancer. Furthermore, 4 in 10 women surveyed reported they had never discussed their personal breast cancer risk with a doctor. This is the first study to quantify the magnitude of this knowledge gap.
<strong>Bettina Scholtka, PhD</strong>, and colleagues have developed a highly sensitive method to detect genetic variations that are involved in the development of colon cancer. The screening method can detect a single cancer-specific gene variation among 10,000 times the amount of normal DNA, and is up to 5,000-fold more sensitive than other noninvasive screening methods. The study was reported in <em>Cancer Prevention Research</em>.
In a study reported in <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, <strong>Tina Hsu<strong> of University of Toronto and colleagues assessed changes in quality of life from time of breast cancer diagnosis to long-term survivorship and compared quality of life in long-term survivors to that of age-matched women with no history of breast cancer. Quality of life improved over time in survivors and was similar to that in controls with the exception of small but clinically important deficits in cognition and finances.
In a study reported in <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, <strong>Shukui Qin, MD</strong>, and colleagues compared FOLFOX4 (infusional fluorouracil, leucovorin, and oxaliplatin) with doxorubicin as palliative chemotherapy in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma. They found a trend toward improved overall survival and significantly improved progression-free survival with FOLFOX4 treatment.
As reported in <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by <strong>Glenwood D. Goss, MD</strong>, of the Ottawa Hospital Cancer Center, and colleagues, the prematurely closed NCIC CTG BR19 study showed no apparent survival benefit of adjuvant gefitinib vs placebo in patients with completely resected non–small cell lung cancer.
A team of researchers led by <strong>Janet Stanford, PhD</strong>, of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center has discovered that mutations in the gene <em>BTNL2</em>, which encodes a protein involved in regulating T-cell proliferation and cytokine production--both of which impact immune function--increase the risk of developing prostate cancer. The findings were published in <em>Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention</em>.
In a study reported in <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, <strong>Gunter von Minckwitz, MD</strong>, of the German Breast Group in Neu-Isenberg, and colleagues compared adjuvant oral ibandronate bisphosphonate therapy with observation in women with high-risk early breast cancer. The study found no survival benefit of the addition of ibandronate to dose-dense chemotherapy.
In a noninferiority trial (BRISK-FL) reported in <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, <strong>Philip J. Johnson, MD</strong>, of the Institute of Translational Medicine, University of Liverpool, and colleagues compared first-line brivanib vs sorafenib in patients with unresectable advanced hepatocellular carcinoma. Brivanib did not meet the criterion for noninferiority in overall survival compared with sorafenib.
In the BRISK-PS trial reported in <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, <strong>Josep M. Llovet, MD</strong>, and colleagues compared brivanib vs placebo plus best supportive care in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma who had shown disease progression despite or were intolerant of sorafenib treatment. The study showed that brivanib did not improve overall survival, although benefits in response rate and time to progression were observed.
Survivors of childhood cancer are at risk for long-term adverse physical and mental effects, but little is known about the effects of illness in siblings of these patients. In a study reported in Lancet Oncology, Lasse Wegener Lund, MD, of the Danish Cancer Society Research Centre in Copenhagen, and colleagues found that cancer survivors were at long-term risk of mental disorders and that increased risk may also be present in siblings who were young when the patient’s illness was diagnosed.
In an Italian study reported in Journal of Clinical Oncology by Umberto Vitolo, MD, and colleagues in the Fondazione Italiana Linfomi, treatment-naive patients aged > 60 years with advanced follicular lymphoma were randomized to rituximab maintenance or observation after brief first-line therapy with R-FND (rituximab, fludarabine, mitoxantrone, and dexamethasone) and rituximab consolidation. R-FND and rituximab consolidation produced high response and progression-free survival rates.
Investigators from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have shown that NOTCH1, a well-known cancer-causing gene implicated in a number of malignancies, plays a far more critical role in non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) than previously thought. The new information could lead to new therapeutic strategies for a group of patients who represent almost half of NSCLC cases. The study was published online in Cancer Research.
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital investigators have identified the MCL1 protein as being essential to the survival of Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia cells. Based on their findings, they have fashioned what may be a more effective method of killing leukemia cells. Their findings appear in the August 29 edition of the journal Blood.
A review of the health histories of 91,005 mothers enrolled in the Nurses’ Health Study II suggests the more alcohol women drink between early adolescence and first full-term pregnancy, the greater their risk of breast cancer. This research from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, for the first time, links increased breast cancer risk to drinking between early adolescence and first full-term pregnancy. The study was published online in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
A study from the Mayo Clinic finds advances in imaging technologies, including ultrasound, CT, and MRI, are fueling an epidemic in the diagnosis and treatment of thyroid cancers that are unlikely to ever cause symptoms or death, exposing patients to unnecessary and harmful treatments. The study is reported in BMJ.
ASCO has launched a new wiki site to engage the cancer community in its clinical practice guideline development process. The new site will provide oncologists, practitioners, and patients with an opportunity to provide feedback or submit evidence on individual published guidelines.
Thyroid ultrasound imaging could be used to identify patients who have a low risk of thyroid cancer for whom biopsy could be deferred, according to a retrospective case-control study by Rebecca Smith-Bindman, MD, and colleagues in JAMA Internal Medicine. The researchers concluded that “adoption of uniform standards for the interpretation of thyroid sonograms would be a first step toward standardizing the diagnosis and treatment of thyroid cancer and limiting unnecessary diagnostic testing and treatment.”
In a study reported in Journal of Clinical Oncology, Arjun Sahgal, MD, of Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in Toronto and colleagues evaluated the occurrence of vertebral compression fractures in patients undergoing spine stereotactic body radiotherapy. Vertebral compression fracture occurred in 14% of spinal segments treated; radiation dose/fraction, vertebral compression fracture at baseline, lytic tumors, and spinal deformity were associated with significantly increased risk of this adverse event.
A retrospective analysis of 110 patients with juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia found that single-unit, unrelated donor umbilical cord blood transplantation resulted in a 5-year disease-free survival rate of 44%. An international team of investigators reported the study results in Blood.
Hodgkin lymphoma survivors treated with radiotherapy and chemotherapy containing high doses of the alkylating agent procarbazine were at an increased risk of developing stomach cancer, according to a large study by scientists at the National Cancer Institute. The study is reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
A study by Alexi Wright, MD, MPH, and colleagues at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women’s Hospital has found that two common subtypes of cervical cancer, adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma, have distinct molecular profiles. The results suggest that clinical outcomes may be improved with the use of more targeted treatment strategies, including P13 kinase inhibitors and MEK inhibitors. The study is published in Cancer.
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Ilse Schuitema, MSc, and colleagues found that cranial radiotherapy was associated with decreased white matter integrity (which significantly correlated with age at diagnosis and age at assessment) and poorer neuropsychological function in patients who had received chemotherapy or cranial radiotherapy 20 to 30 years earlier for childhood lymphoid malignancy.
In a noninferiority trial reported in Lancet Oncology, Yuankai Shi, MD, and colleagues compared the EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor icotinib with gefitinib in Chinese patients with previously treated advanced non–small cell lung cancer. The study showed that icotinib, which is given three times daily, was noninferior to gefitinib in progression-free survival and might offer a better adverse event profile.
Subcutaneous trastuzumab (not available in the United States) has been shown to have noninferior efficacy and similar pharmacokinetic and safety profiles compared with IV trastuzumab in patients with early-stage HER2-positive breast cancer. In the PrefHer trial reported in Lancet Oncology, Xavier Pivot, MD, of CHU Jean Minjoz in Besançon, and colleagues found that such patients preferred subcutaneous trastuzumab over intravenous administration.
A preclinical study suggests that blocking the RUNX1 protein normally credited with suppressing leukemia may be a promising therapeutic strategy for acute myeloid leukemia.
Amod A. Sarnaik, MD, and colleagues from Moffitt Cancer Center are investigating whether an intralesional injection of PV-10, a solution derived from Rose Bengal, a water-soluble dye used to stain damaged cells in the eye, can shrink tumors and reduce the spread of cancer in patients with melanoma.
African American women are less likely to receive the vaccine for human papillomavirus (HPV), even with access to health care, according to a study by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. The findings, published today in the Journal of Adolescent Health, suggest a need for health-care providers to both bolster HPV vaccination recommendations and address negative attitudes toward the vaccine among this vulnerable patient population.
A new screening strategy for ovarian cancer appears to be highly specific for detecting the disease in postmenopausal women before it becomes lethal. Investigators are waiting on results of a larger clinical trial now ongoing in the UK to determine whether the new strategy will result in a change in practice.
FDA has granted priority review designation to the supplemental new drug application of sorafenib (Nexavar) tablets for the treatment of locally advanced or metastatic radioactive iodine-refractory differentiated thyroid cancer.
The primary analysis of the Japanese JGOG 3016 trial showed that dose-dense paclitaxel plus carboplatin significantly improved progression-free and overall survival compared with conventional paclitaxel/carboplatin as first-line treatment in patients with advanced ovarian cancer. In a long-term follow-up of the trial reported in Lancet Oncology, Noriyuki Katsumata, MD, of Nippon Medical School Musashi Kosugi Hospital in Kawasaki, and colleagues found that dose-dense treatment was associated with significantly prolonged survival after a median follow-up of more than 6 years.
The combination of panobinostat, bortezomib, and dexamethasone was able to recapture responses in 34.5% of heavily pretreated, bortezomib-refractory patients with multiple myeloma in the phase II PANORAMA 2 trial, reported online in Blood. Responses among 55 patients included 1 near-complete response and 18 partial responses.
Despite a relatively high rate of depression among patients with head and neck cancer following radiation therapy, mental health services are severely underutilized, concluded researchers who analyzed questionnaire results from 211 patients previously treated with radiation therapy and disease-free after at least 1 year of follow-up. None of the patients had a preexisting diagnosis of mental health problems, suggesting that diagnosis of cancer and/or treatment were probably the primary causes for their psychosocial symptoms.
The risk of transformation to melanoma appears very low for biopsy-diagnosed mildly or moderately dysplastic nevi, and routine surgical excision of nevi with a positive biopsy margin may not be indicated. Patients with biopsy-diagnosed moderately-to-severely and severely atypical nevi, however, have a higher risk of melanoma, and in this group, excision may be beneficial to prevent or detect melanoma.
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force today released its final Recommendation Statement for primary care interventions to prevent tobacco use in children and adolescents. The USPSTF recommends that primary care clinicians provide interventions, including education or brief counseling, to prevent initiation of tobacco use among school-aged children and adolescents.
Ceptaris Therapeutics, Inc, announced today that the FDA has granted marketing approval for the orphan drug mechlorethamine gel (Valchlor) for the topical treatment of stage IA and IB mycosis fungoides-type cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) in patients who have received prior skin-directed therapy.
Compared with non-Hispanic whites and U.S.–born Hispanics, foreign-born Hispanics with non–small cell lung cancer have a decreased risk of disease-specific mortality, according to a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Manali I. Patel, MD, of Stanford University, and colleagues.
Studies evaluating two standards of care in adults with advanced Hodgkin lymphoma—ie, BEACOPPescalated and ABVD—have not been statistically powered to test differences in overall survival. In a systematic review and network meta-analysis reported in Lancet Oncology by Nicole Skoetz, MD, of the Cochrane Haematological Malignancies Group, and colleagues, six cycles of BEACOPPescalated significantly improved overall survival compared with ABVD and other regimens.
Indoor tanning, defined as using a tanning booth, sun bed, or sunlamp, is common among non-Hispanic white female high school students and young adults, despite risks of melanoma and nonmelanoma skin cancer, according to a study published online by JAMA Internal Medicine. Videos on photoaging and other appearance-focused interventions have been shown to reduce indoor tanning among young adults by up to 35%.
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Karen M. Mustian, PhD, MPH, of the University of Rochester Medical Center, and colleagues compared the effects of a standardized yoga intervention vs standard care on global sleep quality in patients with cancer experiencing sleep disruption. They found that yoga participants had significantly greater improvements in global sleep quality, subjective sleep quality, daytime dysfunction, wake after sleep onset, sleep efficiency, and medication use.
In a study reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Sepideh Saadatmand, MD, of Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, and colleagues analyzed data from a large Dutch prospective screening study in women with hereditary predisposition to breast cancer to determine cost-effectiveness of annual MRI screening. They found that MRI screening may improve survival for women with familial risk but is expensive, particularly in the youngest age categories.
An app to prevent teens from smoking and encourage them to quit if they have started is now available without charge at the Apple iTunes Store.
Researchers suggest secondary cancers seen in melanoma patients who are being treated for a BRAF gene mutation may require new strategies, such as enhanced surveillance and combining BRAF-inhibitor therapy with other inhibitors, especially as they become more widely used.
In a study reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Hannah Arem, MHS, PhD, of the National Institutes of Health, and colleagues analyzed the association between quality of diet according to the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans—Healthy Eating Index 2005 and risk for pancreatic cancer. They found that higher-quality diet was associated with reduced risk.
A new population-based study has found that patients with glioblastoma who died in 2010, after the FDA approval of bevacizumab, had lived significantly longer than patients who died of the disease in 2008, prior to the conditional approval of the drug for the treatment of brain cancer.
A drug recently approved for use in multiple myeloma is now being tested for its ability to fight central nervous system (CNS) lymphoma, a deadly cancer of the immune system that can affect the brain, spinal cord and fluid, and eyes. In a preclinical study published in <em>PLOS ONE</em>, pomalidomide was shown to have excellent brain penetration and a significant impact on the tumor microenvironment in CNS lymphoma. A clinical trial is now underway.
Researchers at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School have identified a key transcription factor that is overproduced in treatment-resistant prostate cancer, as well as the two protein kinases that trigger the process. The findings, published in <em>Molecular Cancer Research</em>, could be utilized to develop treatments for prostate cancer that is resistant to current therapies.
As reported in <strong>Journal of Clinical Oncology</strong> by <em>Sandra M. Swain, MD, FACP</em>, of Washington Cancer Institute–MedStar Washington Hospital Center, and colleagues, the NSABP B-38 trial assessed whether the addition of a fourth drug to a standard adjuvant regimen could improve outcomes compared with two standard regimens in women with early-stage node-positive breast cancer. The study found no significant differences in disease-free survival among the three regimens, although toxicity profiles differed.
In a study reported in <em>Journal of the National Cancer Institute</em>, <strong>Erin E. Flynn-Evans, PhD</strong>, of the Division of Sleep Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and colleagues assessed the association between night or rotating shift work and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. They found that shift work was associated with significantly increased risk of elevated total PSA level and elevated total PSA combined with free PSA ≤ 25%.
In a study reported in <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, <strong>Alan K. Burnett, MD</strong>, of Cardiff University School of Medicine, and colleagues compared induction with daunorubicin/cytarabine, daunorubicin/cytarabine plus etoposide, and fludarabine/cytarabine/granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (FLAG) plus idarubicin, and consolidation with amsacrine/cytarabine/etoposide followed by mitoxantrone/cytarabine vs high-dose cytarabine in younger patients with acute myeloid leukemia. The results suggested that FLAG plus idarubicin induction and high-dose cytarabine consolidation may be the best regimen in patients with favorable- or intermediate-risk disease.
New research suggests that restricting calories for a defined period of time may improve the success of cancer treatment, offering valuable new data on how caloric intake may play a role in programmed cancer cell death and efficacy of targeted cancer therapies. The study results were published online today in <em>Blood</em>.
Researchers from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston found that poor oral health, including gum disease and dental problems, is an independent risk factor for oral human papillomavirus infection, which causes between 40% and 80% of oropharyngeal cancers. The study is published in <em>Cancer Prevention Research</em>.
A commercially available serum-based protein test may help select second-line treatment for patients with non–small cell lung cancer whose <em>EGFR</em> mutation status is wild-type or unknown. In the PROSE trial, patients classified as “poor” on the VeriStrat proteomic assay had better survival with chemotherapy than with erlotinib. Survival was best in VeriStrat “good” patients, but treatment selection was unimportant.
In the REGAL trial reported in <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, <strong>Tracy T. Batchelor, MD, MPH</strong>, of Massachusetts General Hospital, and colleagues compared oral monotherapy with the pan-VEGF tyrosine kinase inhibitor cediranib and the combination of cediranib plus lomustine vs lomustine alone in patients with recurrent glioblastoma. There was no significant difference in progression-free survival for either cediranib alone or cediranib/lomustine compared with lomustine alone.
In a study reported in <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, <strong>Tomasz Huzarski, MD, PhD</strong>, and colleagues from the Polish Hereditary Breast Cancer Consortium assessed survival among women with early-onset breast cancer with and without <em>BRCA1</em> mutation and identified prognostic factors among those with <em>BRCA1</em>-positive disease. They found that 10-year overall survival was similar in <em>BRCA1</em>-positive and <em>BRCA1</em>-negative disease. Positive lymph node status was a predictor of increased mortality and oophorectomy a predictor of reduced mortality in women with <em>BRCA1</em>-positive disease.
Based on data from a multisite imaging trial involving more than 2,600 women, researchers say breast lesions categorized as “probably benign” on supplemental screening ultrasound could be reevaluated with imaging in 12 months, reducing patient anxiety, follow-up exams, and unnecessary biopsies. Results of the study are published online in the journal <em>Radiology</em>.
A telomerase RNA component gene called TERC, which is responsible for regulating the length of caps on the ends of DNA molecules and believed to be involved in the aging process, has been linked to the development of multiple myeloma, according to a study published in Nature Genetics. These findings bring the total number of genetic variants believed to be involved in multiple myeloma to seven, providing further evidence that susceptibility to myeloma can be inherited.
A new way of analyzing data acquired in magnetic resonance imaging appears to be able to identify whether or not tumors are responding to antiangiogenesis therapy, which may help physicians determine the most appropriate treatments for patients. In a report published online in <em>Nature Medicine</em>, investigators from Massachusetts General Hospital described how vessel architectural imaging was able to identify changes in brain tumor blood vessels within days of the initiation of antiangiogenesis therapy.
In a study reported in <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, <strong>Anthony V. Moorman, PhD</strong>, of Newcastle University, and colleagues compared outcomes in children and adolescents with B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia and intrachromosomal amplification of chromosome 21 (iAMP21) in a trial in which iAMP21 was identified retrospectively and not used to guide treatment vs a trial in which patients with iAMP21 were assigned to the most intensive treatment group. Five-year event-free survival, relapse rate, and overall survival were significantly better in patients receiving intensive therapy in the latter trial.
In a study reported in <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, <strong>Nyla A. Heerema, PhD</strong>, of The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, and colleagues in the Children’s Oncology Group (COG) assessed the frequency of intrachromosomal amplification of a region of chromosome 21 (iAMP21) and associated outcomes in a large cohort of children with B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia treated in COG trials. They found that iAMP21 was present in 2% of children and that it was associated with poorer event-free and overall survival in those with standard-risk disease.
A new study published in the <em>Annals of Oncology</em> reported that giving men with testicular cancer a single dose of chemotherapy alongside radiotherapy could improve the effectiveness of treatment and reduce the risk of long-term side effects. Neoadjuvant carboplatin was found to reduce relapse rates compared with radiotherapy alone and also allowed radiation doses to be reduced.
For the two-thirds of lung cancer patients with locally advanced or metastatic disease, tumor size is not used currently to predict overall survival times. However, a new study published in the British Journal of Cancer has shown that even in advanced stages, total tumor size can have a major impact on survival. The study found that total tumor measurements greater than 7.5 cm predicted shorter survival times.
In a study reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Ian M. Thompson, Jr, MD, of the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, and colleagues analyzed survival rates of finasteride and placebo recipients in the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial after up to 18 years of follow-up. They found that although diagnosis of high-grade cancer was more common in the finasteride group, there were no significant differences between the finasteride and placebo groups in rates of overall survival or survival after diagnosis of prostate cancer.
A “new kind of pathology” that supplements anatomy and histology with molecular etiology has been emerging over the past decade and promises better response rates among cancer patients as genomic alterations in cancer continue to be identified and treated with targeted therapies. In a presentation at the Best of ASCO Chicago meeting, Shridar Ganesan, MD, PhD, described the advances made in this field and the challenges that remain in applying molecular profiling to clinical practice.
In the BEATRICE trial reported in Lancet Oncology, David Cameron, MD, of the University of Edinburgh, and colleagues evaluated the strategy of adding the antiangiogenic agent bevacizumab to adjuvant chemotherapy in women with triple-negative breast cancer. The study showed that the addition of bevacizumab did not improve invasive disease-free survival.
Despite taking a tailored risk assessment tool that factors in family history and personal habits, nearly 20% of women did not believe their breast cancer risk, according to a new study from the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center that was published in <em>Patient Education and Counseling</em>. The study found that most of the women who didn’t believe their risk numbers felt that the tool did not take into account their family history of cancer or their personal health habits.
A new analysis has found that breastfeeding for more than 6 months may safeguard nonsmoking mothers against breast cancer. However, the same does not seem to hold true for mothers who smoke. Published early online in the <em>Journal of Clinical Nursing</em>, the findings add to the list of benefits of breastfeeding for women and their babies, according to the authors.
A phase I clinical trial showed diffuse large B-cell lymphomas resistant to chemotherapy can be reprogrammed to respond to treatment after being pretreated with the drug azacitidine (Vidaza), according to a study published in <em>Cancer Discovery</em>. Of the 12 patients treated with azacitidine followed by standard chemotherapy, 11 had a complete response and 10 remained in complete remission for up to 28 months.
A trial reported in <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em> by <strong>John P. Crown, MD</strong>, of the Irish Cooperative Oncology Research Group, and colleagues assessed the addition of the antiangiogenesis agent sunitinib to capecitabine in patients with previously treated metastatic breast cancer who had received taxane and anthracycline therapy. The addition of sunitinib did not improve progression-free survival, overall survival, or response rate.
In a report published in Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Scarlett Lin Gomez, PhD, of the Cancer Prevention Institute of California, and colleagues detailed cancer incidence trends among Asian American populations from 1990 through 2008. The findings indicate a need for increased prevention and surveillance efforts for lung, breast, and liver cancers, in particular, among several different populations.
Off-label prescribing of drugs remains common in oncology, but about two-thirds of off-label prescribing is consistent with the National Comprehensive Cancer Network compendium, according to a study reviewed by <strong>Monika K. Krzyzanowska, MD, MPH</strong>, at the Best of ASCO 2013 in Chicago. Positive aspects of off-label drug use include early access to medications and opportunities for innovation, but it can also negatively impact accrual to clinical trials and have serious adverse effects that could harm patients.
Age-related variations in the treatment of melanoma were observed in a study of melanoma and its management in the elderly compared to younger patients, according to a retrospective, population-based study by Dragos Ciocan, MD, and colleagues, published online today in JAMA Dermatology. Patients aged 70 years or older had more frequent melanomas involving the head and neck, thicker melanomas, and were more likely to have ulcerated lesions.
A study published today in <em>Nature</em> revealed that two long noncoding RNAs activate androgen receptors, circumventing androgen-deprivation therapy. In their active state, these receptors turn on genes that spur growth and metastasis, making these cancers highly treatment-resistant. The study illustrates how prostate cancer can thrive, even when deprived of hormones, and provides potential targets for new therapies.
Researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center suggest secondary cancers seen in melanoma patients who are being treated for a <em>BRAF</em> gene mutation may require new strategies, such as enhanced surveillance and combining BRAF inhibitor therapy with other inhibitors, especially as they become more widely used. They discussed this topic in a review article published in <em>Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology</em>.
Although previous animal studies have suggested that metastasizing cancer cells undergo a major molecular change as they leave the primary tumor, picking up new characteristics along the way that making them more resistant to therapy, there was no confirmation that this process took place in human tissue samples. A new study published in <em>Journal of Ovarian Research</em> provides evidence that epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition also takes place in patients with ovarian cancer.
In a study reported in Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Paul Lochhead, MBChB,MRCP, and colleagues analyzed the association of microsatellite instability and BRAF status subgroups with survival in patients with colorectal cancer. They found that combined microsatellite instability/BRAF status is a potential biomarker for prognostic risk stratification.
Research by <strong>Kathryn L. Penney, ScD</strong>, and colleagues suggests that low-grade prostate cancers do not progress to higher grade over time, adding more evidence to support active surveillance, or a watch-and-wait approach, for patients with lower-grade disease. The study findings were published in <em>Cancer Research</em>.
Scientists have long believed that healthy brain cells, once damaged by radiation designed to kill brain tumors, cannot regenerate. But new research in mice suggests that neural stem cells are resistant to radiation and can be roused from a hibernation-like state to reproduce and generate new cells able to migrate, replace injured cells, and potentially restore lost function. The study was published online in the journal <em>Stem Cells</em>.
Parents and siblings of children with cancer have between a two- and four-times increased risk of developing cancer compared with first-degree relatives with no childhood cancer patients, according to a study by <strong>Joshua Schiffman, MD</strong>, and colleagues. The study, published in the <em>International Journal of Cancer</em>, used data from the Utah Population Database to broadly examine the risk of all types of cancer in relatives of children with cancer.
An individual patient data meta-analysis reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by researchers in the Meta-Analysis of Chemotherapy in Head and Neck Cancer, Induction Project, Collaborative Group was performed to compare outcomes with taxane/cisplatin/fluorouracil (5-FU) vs cisplatin/5-FU induction therapy in patients with locoregionally advanced head and neck cancers. Taxane/cisplatin/5-FU was associated with significant improvements in overall survival, progression-free survival, locoregional failure, and distant failure.
In a study reported in Lancet Oncology, researchers in the Endogenous Hormones and Breast Cancer Collaborative Group analyzed data from seven prospective studies to determine associations between sex hormones and risk of breast cancer in premenopausal women. They found that estradiol, calculated free estradiol, estrone, androstenedione, dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate, and testosterone concentrations were positively associated with risk of breast cancer and that luteal phase progesterone and sex hormone-binding globulin were not.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved dolutegravir (Tivicay), a new drug to treat HIV-1 infection. The oral integrase strand transfer inhibitor is approved for use in both treatment-naive and treatment-experienced HIV-infected adults as well as some older children who are treatment-naive or treatment-experienced.
According to a study published online today in <em>Cancer Cell</em>, the molecule interleukin-11 may be a potential new target for anticancer therapies. Until now, interleukin-11’s role in cancer development has been underestimated, but researchers have recently identified this molecule as a "dark horse" for the development of cancer.
A multistate study led by researchers at the University of Utah has revealed that the risk for childhood cancer is moderately increased among children and young adolescents with certain types of major birth defects, but not others. According to the study, published in <em>PLOS ONE<em>, children born with nonchromosomal birth defects have a two-fold higher risk of cancer before age 15, compared to children born without birth defects.
A new analysis has found that a type of radiation therapy called carbon ion radiotherapy can control cancer growth and prolong survival in patients with spinal tumors. The study, published online in <em>Cancer</em>, indicates that the treatment is a promising alternative for patients whose spinal tumors cannot be surgically removed.
In a study reported in <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, <strong>Kelly-Anne Phillips, MD</strong>, and colleagues analyzed the association of adjuvant tamoxifen use and risk of contralateral breast cancer among women carrying <em>BRCA1</em> and <em>BRCA2</em> mutations in the International <em>BRCA1</em> and <em>BRCA2</em> Carrier Cohort Study, Kathleen Cuningham Foundation Consortium for Research into Familial Breast Cancer, and Breast Cancer Family Registry. Use of tamoxifen was associated with reduced risk of contralateral disease, with the benefit appearing to be independent of estrogen receptor status of first breast cancer.
Early studies by <strong>Michel Sadelain, MD, PhD</strong>, and colleagues show that T cells taken from a healthy person that are reprogrammed into stem cells using a combination of pluripotent stem cell and chimeric antigen receptor technologies and then infused into tumor-bearing mice are able to attack cancer cells the same way natural T cells do in humans. The findings were published in <em>Nature Biotechnology</em>.
Researchers at the Moffitt Cancer Center have identified four inherited genetic variants in patients with non–small cell lung cancer that can help predict survival and treatment response. Their findings, published in <em>Carcinogenesis</em>, could help lead to more personalized treatment options and improved outcomes for patients.
According to a new study published in the journal Cancer, the survival outcome of patients with Burkitt lymphoma has improved substantially over the past decade, with notable exceptions. To help doctors and researchers better understand who responds well to treatment and who does not, the study authors used their findings to create a stratified risk score of patient prognosis.
For the first time, scientists have directly observed events that lead to the formation of a chromosome abnormality that is often found in cancer cells. The abnormality, called a translocation, occurs when part of a chromosome breaks off and becomes attached to another chromosome. The results of this study, conducted by scientists at the National Cancer Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health, was published in the journal <em>Science<em>.
In a study reported in Journal of Clinical Oncology, Maximilian Christopeit, MD, and colleagues evaluated the role of second hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for relapsed acute leukemia after related or unrelated first hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and analyzed the effect of donor change on second stem cell transplantation outcome. They found that second hematopoietic stem cell transplantation produced 2-year overall survival of 25% among all patients and that donor change had neither a beneficial nor detrimental effect on overall survival.
Genomic sequencing experts at Johns Hopkins partnered with pharmacologists at Stony Brook University to reveal a striking mutational signature of upper urinary tract cancers caused by aristolochic acid, a plant compound contained in herbal remedies used for thousands of years to treat a variety of ailments such as arthritis, gout, and inflammation. The findings were published this week in <em>Science Translational Medicine</em>.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today approved the first rapid human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) test for the simultaneous detection of HIV-1 p24 antigen as well as antibodies to both HIV-1 and HIV-2 in human serum, plasma, and venous or fingerstick whole blood specimens.
A study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute shows that a specific pattern found in the tumor pathology of some lung cancer patients is a strong predictor of recurrence. According to the authors, the findings offer the first scientific evidence that may not only help surgeons identify which patients are more likely to benefit from less radical lung-sparing surgery, but which patients will benefit from more extensive surgery.
Researchers have identified and validated a biomarker accessible in blood tests that could be used to predict which stem cell transplant patients are at highest risk for graft-vs-host disease. The study, published in The New England Journal of Medicine, found that patients with a high level of ST2 were more than twice as likely to have graft-vs-host disease that resisted standard treatment with steroids and nearly four times as likely to die within 6 months of transplant.
A recent study published in the <em>Journal of Oncology Practice</em> assessed the feasibility and value of incorporating patient-reported outcomes into oncology practice. Although practicing oncologists had differing levels of understanding regarding the details of patient-reported outcomes, most recognized the value of these data in improving the overall patient encounter.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted orphan drug designation to Eisai’s investigational compound E7777 for cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. E7777 is designed to have an improved purity profile and manufacturing process. It is currently in a pivotal trial intended to support its submission for approval.
GlaxoSmithKline announced today that it will discontinue the manufacture and sale of the tositumomab/iodine-131 tositumomab (Bexxar) therapeutic regimen on February 20, 2014. Tositumomab/iodine-131 tositumomab is currently approved in the United States and Canada for the treatment of patients with CD20-positive relapsed or refractory, low-grade, follicular, or transformed non-Hodgkin lymphoma who have progressed during or after rituximab (Rituxan) therapy, including patients with rituximab-refractory non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Researchers at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute have discovered a novel mechanism responsible for the loss of a critical tumor-suppressor gene in rhabdomyosarcoma and other soft-tissue sarcomas, rare cancers that strike mainly children and often respond poorly to treatment. The findings were published in the journal <em>Science Signaling</em>.
In a study reported in <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, <strong>David Margel, MD, PhD</strong>, of University of Toronto and colleagues examined the effect of duration of antidiabetic medication exposure after prostate cancer diagnosis on all-cause and prostate cancer–specific mortality in men with diabetes. They found that increased duration of metformin use was associated with significantly reduced risk of prostate cancer–specific and all-cause mortality.
Researchers at Mayo Clinic in Florida have revealed the process by which pancreatitis--chronic inflammation of the pancreas--morphs into pancreatic cancer. The findings, published in <em>The Journal of Cell Biology</em> may point to ways to identify pancreatitis patients at risk of pancreatic cancer and to potential drug therapies that might reverse the process.
In the phase II BREAK-2 study reported in <em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>, <strong>Paolo A. Ascierto, MD</strong>, of Istituto Nazionale Tumori Fondazione G. Pascale, and colleagues assessed the activity of the mutated BRAF kinase inhibitor dabrafenib in patients with <em>BRAF</em>-V600E/K mutant metastatic melanoma. They found a high response rate among patients with <em>BRAF</em>-V600E mutation.
Scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute reported in the <em>Journal of Clinical Investigation</em> that they observed a strong and selective immune response in some patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia who, shortly after allogeneic transplant, received several doses of a personalized tumor vaccine composed of their own inactivated leukemia cells plus GM-CSF.
In a study published in Annals of Internal Medicine, Benjamin Lebwohl, MD, MS, and colleagues, found that patients with celiac disease who had persistent villous atrophy were at higher risk for all types of lymphoma. Patients with celiac disease with persistent villous atrophy had a greater annual risk of 102.4 per 100,000, compared with patients with healed intestines, whose risk was 31.5 per 100,000.
Organized mailing campaigns could substantially increase colorectal cancer screening among uninsured patients, according to a study published online in JAMA Internal Medicine. The research also suggested that a noninvasive colorectal screening approach, such as a fecal immunochemical test, might be more effective in promoting participation in potentially life-saving colon cancer screening among underserved populations than a colonoscopy.
The results of a large-scale analysis of the association between DNA viruses and human malignancies suggest that many of the most common cancers are not associated with DNA viruses. The findings, published in the August issue of the Journal of Virology, challenge earlier studies suggesting that as many as 40% of tumors are caused by viruses.
A team of researchers at the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center at Columbia University Medical Center has identified 18 new genes responsible for driving glioblastoma multiforme, the most common--and most aggressive--form of brain cancer in adults. The study was published online in Nature Genetics.
Long-term use of a calcium-channel blocker to treat hypertension is associated with higher breast cancer risk, according to a report published by JAMA Internal Medicine. The study assessed the relationships between the major classes of hypertensive agents and risk of the two most common histologic types of breast cancer in postmenopausal women with long histories of hypertensive use.
In a study published in Molecular Cell, scientists at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute found that the p62 protein has a cascade affect in regulating cell growth in response to the presence of nutrients such as amino acids and glucose. Disrupting this chain may offer a new approach to treating disease.
Scientists at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital have discovered a way to target the immune system to shrink or eliminate tumors in mice without causing autoimmune problems. Researchers also found evidence that the same mechanism may operate in humans. The study was published online today in Nature and may provide a new target for ongoing efforts to develop immunotherapies to harness the immune system to fight cancer and other diseases.
In a trial reported in Lancet Oncology by Susan G. Kreissman, MD, of Duke University Medical Center, and colleagues, children and young adults aged less than 30 years with high-risk neuroblastoma received purged or nonpurged peripheral blood stem cell transplantation. Purging of peripheral blood stem cells was not associated with improved outcome compared with nonpurged peripheral blood stem cells.
Evidence shows that contralateral prophylactic mastectomy for women with unilateral breast cancer at low risk for disease spread or second primary breast cancer is not only unwarranted, but raises the risk for complications. Nevertheless, more women—and their surgeons—are opting for the treatment, according to a report by Steven J. Katz, MD, MPH, and Monica Morrow, MD, in JAMA.
An international research team led by scientists at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute discovered that by preventing cancer cells from entering a state of cellular sleep, cancer drugs are more effective, and there is a lower chance of cancer recurrence. The findings, published online in Cancer Research, are the first to show that it is possible to therapeutically target cancer cells to keep them from entering quiescence, or “cell sleep.”
In the SoFEA trial, reported in Lancet Oncology by Stephen R.D. Johnston, PhD, FRCP, and colleagues, postmenopausal women with advanced hormone receptor–positive breast cancer that progressed on nonsteroidal aromatase inhibitors were treated with the steroidal antiestrogen fulvestrant with or without anastrozole or with exemestane alone. The study found no additional benefit of fulvestrant plus anastrozole treatment.
Omega-3 fatty acids, contained in oily fish such as salmon and trout, selectively inhibit growth and induce cell death in early and late-stage oral and skin squamous cell carcinomas cancers, according to new research from scientists at Queen Mary, University of London. The findings were published online in Carcinogenesis.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is informing the public that acetaminophen has been associated with a risk of rare but serious, sometimes fatal, skin reactions, including Stevens-Johnson Syndrome, toxic epidermal necrolysis, and acute generalized exanthematous pustulosis.
A more precise method for determining bone marrow involvement in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma—a key factor in tailoring patient management plans—has been identified by researchers in a study published in the August issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine. Imaging with 18F-FDG PET/CT, when compared to bone marrow biopsy, was more sensitive, showed a higher negative predictive value, and was more accurate, changing treatment for 42% of patients with bone marrow involvement.
In a study reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, María-Victoria Mateos, MD, PhD, and colleagues compared induction lenalidomide plus dexamethasone followed by maintenance lenalidomide with observation in patients with high-risk smoldering multiple myeloma. Active treatment was associated with delayed progression to symptomatic disease and improved overall survival with acceptable toxicity.
Scientists at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center who identified a protein’s dual role in cancer promotion have discovered a way to shut it down, opening a potential new avenue for cancer treatment. Reporting their findings in the journal Cell, the researchers describe the first compound that directly binds to and blocks Skp2, a protein they previously showed both turns off a cellular defense against cancer and switches on a cancer-feeding metabolic pathway.
Blocking dietary sugar and its activity in tumor cells may reduce cancer risk and progression, according to researchers from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York. The study, conducted in fruit flies and published in the August issue of Cell, provides insight as to why metabolism-related diseases such as diabetes or obesity are associated with certain types of cancer, including pancreatic, breast, liver, and colon cancers.
A new study led by researchers at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute demonstrated that the anticancer compound SMIP004 specifically kills prostate cancer cells by compromising their ability to withstand environmental stress. The study, recently published in Oncotarget, uncovered novel mechanisms of anticancer activity and could lead to the development of more effective therapies for castration-resistant prostate cancer.
In a report in Journal of Clinical Oncology, Sonali M. Smith, MD, and colleagues analyzed outcomes in a large cohort of autologous or allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation recipients with the most common T-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma histologies. Their findings indicate greater effectiveness of these procedures earlier in the disease course and limited utility in multiply relapsed disease. They also suggest that autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation at relapse may be a potential option for select patients, particularly those with anaplastic large-cell lymphoma.
Nonsentinel lymph node positivity appears to be a significant prognostic factor in patients with stage III melanoma, according to a study by Anna M. Leung, MD, and colleagues. The study, published online today in JAMA Surgery, found that nonsentinel lymph node positivity had a strong association with recurrence, shorter overall survival, and shorter melanoma-specific survival.
Scientists studying acute myeloid leukemia have discovered that rather than displacing hematopoietic stem cells in the bone marrow as previously believed, the cancer is in fact inhibiting production of downstream hematopoietic cells, effectively putting them to sleep. The findings were published recently in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The addition of tomosynthesis to standard digital mammography resulted in a 30% reduction in overall recall rates among women being screened for breast cancer, according to a new study published online in Radiology. The results demonstrate that digital tomosynthesis is an effective tool in reducing the recall rate in breast cancer screening.
Surgery is not always necessary for women with atypical lobular hyperplasia and lobular carcinoma in situ, according to a new study published online in Radiology. Researchers said that periodic imaging and clinical exam are effective in these patients when radiology and pathology findings are benign and concordant.
Researchers have discovered that specific types of bacteria in the gut are major contributors to lymphoma. The study, led by Robert H. Schiestl, PhD, of UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, was published online in Cancer Research.
Men who decide to be screened for prostate cancer and those who forgo PSA screening stick with their decisions after receiving materials explaining the risks and benefits of the test, according to a study published in JAMA Internal Medicine. The decision aids greatly increased their knowledge about screening and reduced their conflict about what to do, but did not have an impact on their screening decision when measured a year later.
The recommendation by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) for the use of low-dose, computed tomography (CT) to detect early lung cancer in high-risk individuals is a major milestone in the war on cancer.
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force posted its final evidence report and draft recommendation statement on screening for lung cancer.
The National Lung Screening Trial found that 3 years of annual screening with low-dose helical computed tomography (CT) reduced lung cancer mortality compared with chest radiography in older persons who were heavy smokers. In a report published in The New England Journal of Medicine, the National Lung Screening Trial Research Team described the screening, diagnosis, and limited treatment results from the initial round of screening in the National Lung Screening Trial.
A growing concern that hundreds of thousands of men and women are undergoing unnecessary and sometimes harmful treatments for premalignant and slow-growing, low-risk cancerous lesions that may never cause harm has led scientists from a working group of the National Cancer Institute to recommend a strategy to improve the current approach to cancer screening and prevention. The recommendations also call for eliminating the word “cancer” from some common premalignant conditions.
Since 2000, the National Prostate Cancer Register of Sweden has led an effort to decrease national rates of inappropriate prostate cancer imaging by disseminating utilization data and the latest imaging guidelines to urologists in Sweden. As reported in Journal of the National Cancer Institute by Danil V. Makarov, MD, and colleagues, this effort has resulted in a large and significant reduction of inappropriate imaging in patients with low-risk prostate cancer and a small but still significant reduction in those with high-risk cancer.
The incidence of a non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) is significantly higher in regions near facilities that release the chemical benzene into the environment, according to a new study published early online in Cancer. This and other studies like it will be critical to identifying and enacting public health policies to decrease or prevent cancer, the authors wrote.
Patients diagnosed with thymoma, a rare cancer of the thymus gland, may be able to avoid certain cancer treatments associated with severe adverse events if the results of a new test reveal they are at low risk of metastasis, according to a study published in PLOS ONE. The study, by researchers at the Indiana University School of Medicine, reported results on a gene-expression profile test designed to predict whether thymoma will metastasize within 5 years.
Richard I. Fisher, MD, a leading cancer center administrator and nationally recognized hematology/oncology expert, has been appointed President and CEO of Fox Chase Cancer Center. Dr. Fisher will also hold the title of Cancer Center Director of Fox Chase, serving as the principal investigator on the Cancer Center Support Grant from the National Cancer Institute.
In a study reported in Lancet Oncology by Ole Raaschou-Nielsen, PhD, of the Danish Cancer Society Research Center, and colleagues, lung cancer incidence in European countries was prospectively assessed according to several measures of air pollution exposure. The study showed that particulate matter air pollution contributes to risk of lung cancer, particularly adenocarcinoma.
In the SWOG S0421 trial reported in Lancet Oncology by David I. Quinn, FRACP, and colleagues, men with advanced castration-resistant prostate cancer received docetaxel plus either atrasentan or placebo. The study showed no progression-free survival or overall survival benefit with the addition of atrasentan.
Intratumoral injections of plasmid DNA encoding interleukin-12, facilitated in its delivery by electroporation, results in tumor regression in patients with both metastatic melanoma and Merkel cell carcinoma, according to findings reported by Shailender Bhatia, MD, at the 2013 World Cutaneous Malignancies Congress on July 28.
A survey released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that the vaccination rate of the human papillomavirus (HPV) for adolescent girls remained virtually unchanged from 2011 to 2012 and highlights the need for physicians to increase the consistency and strength of HPV vaccination recommendations during health-care office visits.
The FDA announced today that oral ketoconazole should not be used as first-line treatment for any fungal infection and should only be used for the treatment of endemic mycoses when alternative antifungal therapies are not available or tolerated. This is the result of a comprehensive risk-benefit assessment of oral ketoconazole that found that the drug can cause severe or fatal liver damage, adrenal insufficiency, and may lead to harmful drug interactions with other medications.
In the TAILOR trial, reported in Lancet Oncology by Marina Chiara Garassino, MD, and colleagues, erlotinib was compared with standard docetaxel as second-line treatment in patients with EGFR wild-type advanced non–small cell lung cancer who had received prior platinum-based therapy. The findings suggest that docetaxel is superior to erlotinib in this setting.
A family history of cancer increases the risk of other members of the family developing not only the same, or concordant, cancer but also a different, or discordant, cancer, according to a large study of 23,000 people in Italy and Switzerland. The research, published in Annals of Oncology, provides a comprehensive picture of the risk of developing various different types of cancer in families where there is a history of the disease.
Scientists have identified a protein that could play a crucial role in recognizing whether patients with colorectal cancer are candidates for chemotherapy due to a high risk of their cancer spreading, according to a new study published in the British Journal of Cancer. The investigators found that patients with low levels of the protein FOXO3 had an increased risk of metastasis.
In a large cohort study of postmenopausal women published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, Geoffrey Kabat, PhD, and colleagues have found the taller a woman is, the greater her risk of developing all cancers combined and of developing cancer at specific sites, including breast, colon, endometrium, kidney, ovary, rectum, and thyroid, as well as multiple myeloma and melanoma.
Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital have used digital versions of a standard molecular biology tool to detect a common tumor-associated mutation in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with brain tumors. In a report published in Molecular Therapy – Nucleic Acids, the investigators described using digital polymerase chain reaction to analyze extracellular vesicles for the presence of a tumor-associated mutation in the IDH1 gene.
This afternoon, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) hosted a congressional briefing to highlight the significance of federally funded biomedical research in improving our understanding of cancer health disparities and developing targeted interventions to eliminate them.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) seeking additional information to help the agency make informed decisions about menthol in cigarettes. The agency aims to obtain additional information related to potential regulatory options it might consider, such as establishing tobacco product standards.
In a study reported in Journal of Clinical Oncology, Sebastien Gouy, MD, and colleagues evaluated survival outcomes in locally advanced cervical cancer patients with negative PET-CT imaging results who underwent laparoscopic para-aortic staging surgery before chemoradiotherapy. The found that event-free survival was similar in patients with no nodal involvement and in those with nodal metastasis ≤ 5 mm and much lower in those with nodal involvement > 5 mm.
In a trial reported in Journal of Clinical Oncology, Nancy J. Tarbell, MD, of Massachusetts General Hospital, and colleagues in the Pediatric Oncology Group assessed the effects of chemotherapy before vs after radiation therapy following surgery in children with high-risk medulloblastoma. They found no difference in 5-year event-free survival with the two strategies.
In an analysis of 5-year survival rates among black and white women diagnosed with breast cancer between 1991 and 2005, black women continued to have a lower rate of survival, with most of the difference related to factors including poorer health of black patients at diagnosis and more advanced disease, rather than treatment differences, according to a study published today in JAMA.
In a study examining tissue oxygenation levels and predicting radiation response, Ralph Mason, PhD, and colleagues found that countering hypoxic and aggressive tumors with an “oxygen challenge”—inhaling oxygen while monitoring tumor response—coincided with a greater delay in tumor growth in an irradiated animal model. The findings were published online in Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.
Boys are more likely to receive the quadrivalent human papillomavirus vaccine if their mothers receive flu shots or Pap screenings, according to a study published in the American Journal of Public Health. The findings suggest that a mother’s receipt of preventive services may have an impact on her son’s HPV4 vaccination.
In a phase III diagnostic accuracy study reported in Journal of Clinical Oncology, Pier Paolo Piccaluga, MD, PhD, and colleagues assessed the ability of gene-expression profiles to identify peripheral T-cell lymphoma subtypes. They found that gene-expression profile–based molecular classifiers could distinguish angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma and ALK-negative anaplastic large-cell lymphoma from peripheral T-cell lymphoma–not otherwise specified with a high degree of accuracy.
In a phase II study evaluating three dosing regimens of nanoparticle albumin-bound (nab)-paclitaxel given with bevacizumab, weekly dosing of nab-paclitaxel resulted in the highest overall response rate and longest progression-free survival. The study, led by Andrew D. Seidman, MD, of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, was published in Clinical Breast Cancer.
In a study reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Stephanie A. Kovalchik, PhD, and colleagues analyzed the number of lung cancer deaths prevented and false-positive rates with low-dose CT screening in the National Lung Screening Trial according to a validated model for predicting 5-year risk of lung cancer death. They found that increasing risk was associated with a greater number of CT screening–prevented lung cancer deaths and a lower number of false-positive results per death prevented.
An integrative approach to treating chronic pain significantly reduces pain severity while improving mood and quality of life, according to a new study published in BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine. Researchers found a reduction in pain severity of more than 20% and a drop in pain interference of nearly 30% in patients after 24 weeks of integrative care. Significant improvements in mood, stress, quality of life, fatigue, sleep, and well-being were also observed.
Researchers have discovered a gene-expression signature that may lead to new immune therapies for lung cancer patients. According to findings published in The Journal of Clinical Investigation, NF-κB, a protein complex known to promote tumor growth, may also have the ability to boost the immune system to eliminate cancerous cells before they can cause harm, as well as promote antitumor responses.
In a trial reported in New England Journal of Medicine, Chris Parker, MD, and colleagues compared the alpha emitter radium-223 dichloride with best standard of care in men with castration-resistant prostate cancer and bone metastases. Interim analysis showed that radium-223 dichloride treatment was associated with significantly prolonged overall survival, resulting in termination of the trial, and an updated analysis confirmed the survival advantage.
In a study reported in Lancet Oncology, Sara E. Barton, MD, and colleagues analyzed infertility and time to pregnancy in female childhood cancer survivors. They found that survivors had a significantly increased risk of clinical infertility compared with sibling controls. Although survivors had increased time to pregnancy, the majority of those with clinical infertility eventually achieved pregnancy.
In an open-label phase III trial reported in Lancet Oncology, Manfred Westphal, MD, and colleagues assessed the effects of locally applied adenovirus-mediated gene therapy with sitimagene ceradenovec followed by IV ganciclovir after surgical resection in patients with newly diagnosed resectable glioblastoma. They found that the sitimagene ceradenovec treatment significantly improved time to reintervention or death but not overall survival compared with resection alone.
Women who survive cancer have more frequent, severe, and troubling hot flashes than other women with menopausal symptoms, according to a study published online in Menopause. But surprisingly, the study found that the cancer survivors fare better psychologically and report a better quality of life than the women without cancer and have about the same levels of sexual activity and function.
In a study reported in Lancet Oncology, Weiva Sieh, PhD, of Stanford University and colleagues assessed the prognostic effect of progesterone receptor (PR) and estrogen receptor (ER) status among nearly 3,000 women with invasive epithelial ovarian cancer. They found that ER- and PR-positivity are prognostic markers for endometrioid and high-grade serous ovarian cancers.
A set of proteins involved in the body’s natural defenses produces a large number of mutations in human DNA, according to a study led by researchers at the National Institutes of Health. The findings, published in Nature Genetics, suggest that these naturally produced mutations are just as powerful as known carcinogenic agents in producing tumors.
A new study by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, in partnership with Costa Rican investigators and the National Cancer Institute, shows for the first time that the vaccine against human papillomavirus (HPV) types 16 and 18, which is used to prevent cervical cancer, also provides strong protection against oral HPV infections, known to be associated with cancer of the oropharynx and tonsils.
A study of 3.5 million veterans found that survivors of many types of cancer, including liver, pancreatic, esophageal, and lung cancer, as well as multiple myeloma and leukemia, appear to have a significantly reduced risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease, especially if they have been treated with chemotherapy.
A long-term study of 40,000 healthy women who took low-dose aspirin every other day for at least 10 years had about a 20% lower risk of developing colon cancer after 18 years of follow-up. However, the study did not find a corresponding effect for other types of cancer.
In a collaborative phase III trial of the North Central Cancer Treatment Group and Mayo Clinic reported in Journal of the National Cancer Institute by Debra L. Barton, RN, PhD, of the Mayo Clinic and colleagues, patients with cancer-related fatigue were treated with Wisconsin ginseng or placebo. Fatigue was significantly reduced in ginseng recipients at 8 weeks, and no discernible toxicities were associated with ginseng treatment.
The RAPID trial compared accelerated partial-breast irradiation using 3D conformal external-beam radiation therapy vs whole-breast irradiation in women with invasive or in situ breast cancer ≤ 3 cm. As reported by Ivo A. Olivotto, MD, FRCPC, and colleagues in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, interim cosmetic results from the trial show that adverse cosmesis at 3 years was significantly increased among patients treated with accelerated partial-breast irradiation compared with whole-breast irradiation.
In a recent study published in Nature Cell Biology, Xiaolu Yang, PhD, and colleagues discovered that TAp73, a relative of the tumor-suppressor protein p53, supports the proliferation of human and mouse tumor cells. They also found that TAp73 activates the expression of the G6PD enzyme, the rate-limiting molecule of the important pentose phosphate pathway.
Cancer patients who receive chest radiation should be screened for heart disease every 5 to 10 years, according to the European Association of Cardiovascular Imaging of the European Society of Cardiology and the American Society of Echocardiography. Their recommendations are outlined in the first expert consensus statement on screening for radiation-induced heart disease, published in European Heart Journal – Cardiovascular Imaging.
In a phase III trial reported in Journal of Clinical Oncology by Fabrice Barlesi, MD, PhD, and colleagues, patients with advanced nonsquamous non–small cell lung cancer who had disease control after first-line treatment with platinum-based chemotherapy plus bevacizumab had significantly prolonged progression-free survival with maintenance bevacizumab/pemetrexed compared with bevacizumab alone. Toxicity was increased with bevacizumab/pemetrexed, although no new safety signals were observed.
In 2015, the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer will require cancer centers to implement screening programs for psychosocial distress as a new criterion for accreditation. The American Psychosocial Oncology Society, Association of Oncology Social Work, and Oncology Nursing Society have endorsed the new standard and have published a joint statement identifying issues that must be addressed before centers can adhere to the guidelines and provide quality patient care.
In a study that included more than 10,000 men with nonmetastatic prostate cancer, use of androgen deprivation therapy was associated with a significantly increased risk of acute kidney injury, with variations observed with certain types of androgen deprivation therapies, according to a study in the July 17 issue of JAMA, published online today.
Researchers from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center recently discovered that the most frequently used cancer cell lines in ovarian cancer research are not suitable models of ovarian cancer. Their findings are the result of a detailed review of genomic data that recently became publicly available. Their methods, published in Nature Communications, could provide a usable framework for other researchers to better assess cell lines’ validity for future use in this and in other types of cancer research.
In the final overall survival results of the PARAMOUNT trial reported by Luis G. Paz-Ares, MD, and colleagues, pemetrexed maintenance was associated with a significant 22% reduction in risk of death compared with placebo in patients with advanced nonsquamous non–small cell lung cancer who did not progress on induction therapy with pemetrexed/cisplatin. Updated safety results yielded no new findings, with drug-related grade 3 or 4 anemia, fatigue, and neutropenia being relatively infrequent but more common with pemetrexed.
Obinutuzumab is a type II, glycoengineered, humanized anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody. In the phase II GAUGUIN studies in Journal of Clinical Oncology by Franck Andre Morschhauser, MD, Gilles A. Salles, MD, and colleagues, obinutuzumab exhibited encouraging clinical activity and an acceptable safety profile in patients with relapsed/refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma or mantle cell lymphoma and in patients with relapsed/refractory indolent non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
According to a new study, colorectal cancer survivors face an increased risk of developing subsequent cancers, particularly second colorectal cancers and small intestinal cancers. These findings, published online in Cancer, may help in the development of screening guidelines for patients with a history of colorectal cancer.
Although feelings of depression tend to lessen within 2 years of a cancer diagnosis, anxiety often remains a persistent problem for cancer survivors and their spouses, lasting up to 10 years or more. Nearly 18% of patients experienced serious anxiety at 2 to 10 years postdiagnosis, and that number increased to 28% in survivors and 40% in their spouses in a further analysis that looked at couples.
The NCI-60 cell lines, which represent cancers of lung, colon, brain, ovary, breast, prostate, and kidney as well as leukemia and melanoma, are the most frequently studied human tumor cell lines in cancer research and have generated the most extensive cancer pharmacology database worldwide. As recently reported in Cancer Research, investigators at the National Cancer Institute have performed a comprehensive analysis of coding variants in the NCI-60 panel identified by whole-exome sequencing.
Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine have found that nerves play a critical role in both the development and spread of prostate tumors. Their findings, published today in Science, may lead to new ways to predict the aggressiveness of prostate cancer and to novel therapies for preventing and treating the disease.
Although the introduction of the chemotherapy regimen BEACOPP has significantly improved disease control and overall survival in patients with Hodgkin lymphoma, the therapy has also resulted in higher treatment-related mortality. In a recently published study in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, German researchers found that individual risk of treatment-related mortality associated with the BEACOPPescalated regimen can be predicted by an algorithm based on the patient’s age and performance status.
The recently revised International Prognostic Scoring System (IPSS) was found to more precisely define prognosis and life expectancy of patients with myelodysplastic syndrome than the previous IPSS and WHO Prognostic Scoring System, and can be useful in risk-adapted patient management and in improving patient and oncologist communication.
Researchers have created a predictive tool that can quantify the risk of recurrence of carcinoma of the major salivary glands in individual patients, allowing oncologists to accurately determine whether additional treatment is warranted after initial surgery.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today approved the tyrosine kinase inhibitor afatinib (Gilotrif) for the first-line treatment of patients with metastatic non–small cell lung cancer whose tumors express specific EGFR mutations by an FDA-approved test. Concurrent with this action, the FDA approved the therascreen EGFR RGQ PCR Kit for detection of EGFR exon 19 deletions or exon 21 (L858R) substitution mutations.
Jamie H. Von Roenn, MD, Professor of Medicine at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, has been named as the Senior Director of the Education, Science and Professional Development Department of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. Dr. Von Roenn is a medical oncologist and expert in breast oncology and palliative medicine, particularly on the integration of palliative medicine skills and principles into oncology care.
Scientists at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital have discovered that a protein used by cancer cells to evade death also plays a vital role in heart health. This dual role complicates efforts to develop cancer drugs that target the protein, but may lead to new therapies for heart muscle damage. The findings were published recently in Genes & Development.
A second large, prospective study by scientists at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center has confirmed the link between high blood concentrations of omega-3 fatty acids and an increased risk of prostate cancer. The latest findings indicate that high concentrations of EPA, DPA and DHA are associated with a 71% increased risk of high-grade prostate cancer.
A team of scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies has identified why disruption of the vital p53 pathway leads to the proliferation of cancer cells. Their findings on telomeres, published today in Molecular Cell, suggest a potential target for preventive measures against cancer, aging, and other diseases.
In a phase III double-blind study (VENICE trial) reported in Lancet Oncology, Ian F. Tannock, DSc, of Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in Toronto, and colleagues evaluated the addition of the antiangiogenic agent aflibercept to standard docetaxel/prednisone therapy in patients with metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer. Median overall survival was not improved with the addition of aflibercept.
In the open-label phase III SPECTRUM trial, Jan B. Vermorken, MD, of Antwerp University Hospital, and colleagues evaluated the effects of adding panitumumab to cisplatin/fluorouracil in first-line treatment of recurrent or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. The addition of panitumumab prolonged progression-free survival but not overall survival.
Scientists have successfully targeted a malfunctioning immune system enzyme, IRAK1, to kill diseased cells from patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), a precursor to acute myeloid leukemia. Reporting their results in Cancer Cell, researchers say their successful laboratory tests in human MDS cells and mouse models of MDS provide a molecular target for developing new drugs to battle the syndrome.
Different factors influence delay between diagnosis and first course of treatment for breast cancer for African American and white women, according to a recently published study in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention. Among white women, household size and losing a job due to one's diagnosis were reasons for delay in treatment, while among African American women, the type of treatment received influenced delay.
According to research published in PNAS, scientists have used an efficient new screening strategy to identify gene mutations in tumor cells that are possible drug targets for the most common form of lung cancer. Using a targeted genetic dependency screen, the researchers were able to identify three kinases with mutations activating the MEK/ERK pathway: FGFR4, MAP3K9, and PAK5.
Men experiencing infertility, especially those with azoospermia, a condition in which no measurable sperm is present, are at an increased risk of developing a variety of different cancers, including testicular, lymphoma, melanoma, and prostate cancers, according to a new study.
Why aspirin and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs reduce the risk of cancer is unknown. However, new research in patients with Barrett’s esophagus is showing that these drugs may prevent cancer by slowing the accumulation of somatic genome abnormalities that lead to uncontrolled cell development.
An interdisciplinary panel of clinical experts in multiple myeloma has developed new recommendations in the management of bone disease related to the cancer, including guidelines for the use of intravenous bisphosphonates as first-line antimyeloma therapy.
Pharmacyclics, Inc, today announced that it has submitted a New Drug Application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the investigational oral Bruton's tyrosine kinase inhibitor ibrutinib, for two relapsed/refractory B-cell malignancy indications: mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL)/small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL). The submission was based on data from phase II studies in patients with relapsed/refractory MCL and in patients with relapsed/refractory CLL/SLL.
Among men who had undergone radical prostatectomy, daily consumption of a beverage powder supplement containing soy protein isolate for 2 years did not reduce or delay development of biochemical recurrence of prostate cancer compared to men who received placebo, according a study published today in JAMA. The trial was stopped early for lack of treatment effects, and 28.3% of participants developed biochemical recurrence within 2 years.
According to study results published online today in Blood, new evidence suggests that using advanced genetics technologies to monitor for remaining cancer cells after treatment may soon become an effective tool to inform treatment decisions and ultimately predict patient outcomes for patients with Philadelphia chromosome–positive acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL).
Nearly half the surgical procedures for sarcoma done at 85 academic medical centers were performed by surgeons untrained in oncology, according to national data analyzed by researchers from the University of California Davis Medical Center, Sacramento. Almost 20% of operations were performed by surgeons who complete an average of one or two of these procedures per year. These findings may have significant implications for quality of care.
Afatinib is an oral selective ErbB family inhibitor that irreversibly blocks signaling from EGFR/ErbB1, HER2/ErbB2, and ErbB4 and has exhibited broad-spectrum activity against EGFR mutations in preclinical studies. In a phase III study (LUX-Lung 3) reported in Journal of Clinical Oncology, investigators found that first-line afatinib increased progression-free survival compared with standard cisplatin plus pemetrexed chemotherapy in a predominantly East Asian population of patients with EGFR-mutant stage IIIB/IV lung adenocarcinoma.
In a phase II study reported in Lancet Oncology, Timur Mitin, MD, of Massachusetts General Hospital, and colleagues assessed the effects of adding paclitaxel or fluorouracil to radiation therapy plus cisplatin followed by adjuvant chemotherapy in a program of selected bladder preservation in patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer. The regimen produced good response and bladder preservation rates, but completion of adjuvant therapy was difficult to achieve.
In a study reported in Journal of Clinical Oncology, Marjorie L. McCullough, ScD, and colleagues examined the association between pre- and postdiagnosis red/processed meat consumption and all-cause and colorectal cancer–specific mortality. They found that prediagnosis consumption was associated with increased all-cause mortality and mortality from cardiovascular disease but not colorectal cancer mortality and that postdiagnosis consumption was not associated with all-cause or cause-specific mortality.
The use of proton radiation therapy in the treatment of cancer does not carry a significantly increased risk of secondary malignancies when compared with photon therapy, according to a new study. However, longer follow-up studies are needed to determine whether there is a significant decrease in secondary cancers.
The American Society of Clinical Oncology issued a newly updated clinical practice guideline today on pharmacologic prevention interventions for premenopausal and postmenopausal women who are at increased risk for breast cancer. The update, published today in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, strongly recommends discussing the use of tamoxifen with premenopausal women and tamoxifen and raloxifene with postmenopausal women at increased risk for breast cancer.
For patients with advanced gastric cancer, treatment with chemotherapy after surgery can reduce the risk of cancer-related death by 34% over 5 years compared to surgery alone, researchers reported at the 15th ESMO World Congress in Gastrointestinal Cancer, held July 3 to 6 in Barcelona. Investigators concluded that adjuvant XELOX (capecitabine plus oxaliplatin) after D2 gastrectomy should be considered as a standard treatement for patients with operable gastric cancer.
Researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston announced that two HIV-infected patients who underwent allogeneic bone marrow transplants several years ago for the treatment of Hodgkin lymphoma have no detectable levels of HIV in their blood cells even though they have recently stopped taking antiretroviral medications.
The growth rates and clinical importance of small colorectal polyps have not been well established. In a study reported in Lancet Oncology, Perry J. Pickhardt, MD, of the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, and colleagues found that volumetric growth rate on computed tomography colonography can identify proven advanced adenomas and that a minority of small polyps progress over time.
A new analysis has found that among patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), African Americans more commonly present with advanced disease and tend to have shorter survival times than Caucasians despite receiving the same care. The results, published online today in Cancer, suggest that biologic factors may account for some racial disparities in cancer survival.
The American Society of Clinical Oncology and more than 50 other cancer and health-care organizations are urging the Obama Administration to issue guidance on a provision in the Affordable Care Act requiring coverage of routine medical costs for patients interested in participating in clinical trials to ensure that health plans implement the provision.
In a study reported in Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Roland B. Walter, MD, PhD, of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, and colleagues found that 33.8% of the excess risk for cancer in men was accounted for by height differences between men and women. Height-associated risk was greatest for kidney cancers, melanoma, and hematologic malignancies.
Smokers and single men are more likely to acquire oncogenic oral human papillomavirus (HPV), according to new results from the HPV Infection in Men (HIM) Study. Researchers also reported that newly acquired oral HPV infections in healthy men are rare and, when present, usually resolve within 1 year.
Two drugs were given Priority Review designation by FDA earlier this week. Obinutuzumab (GA101) was granted Priority Review for the treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia, based on final stage 1 data from the pivotal CLL11 trial. FDA also granted Priority Review to a pertuzumab (Perjeta) regimen in the neoadjuvant setting for patients with HER2-positive early-stage breast cancer.
A novel pairing of a PARP inhibitor and an antiangiogenic agent in patients with recurrent ovarian cancer showed promising activity and had manageable toxicities, according to a phase I trial published online in the European Journal of Cancer. Patients achieved a 61% clinical benefit rate when treated with the combination of olaparib and cediranib,
In a study published in Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Alain G. Zeimet, MD, PhD, of Innsbruck Medical University and colleagues assessed the ability of L1 cell adhesion molecule (L1CAM) expression to discriminate patients with poorer outcome in a population of patients with early-stage type I endometrioid endometrial cancers. Their findings indicate that L1CAM is a powerful predictor of poor outcome and suggest that patients with L1CAM-positive disease should receive adjuvant therapy.
The rapid increase in papillary thyroid cancer in the United States may not be linked to increase in occurrence, but instead may be linked to an increase in the diagnosis of precancerous conditions and to a person's insurance status, according to a study published online in Thyroid.
Although targeted treatment for solid malignant tumors can lead to regressions, often they are short-lived because the cancer cells become resistant to the therapy. Now, scientists are providing new thinking on ways to use multiple targeted drugs at the same time rather than sequentially to achieve longer-term remissions.
According to a recently published analysis in the Journal of Thoracic Oncology, stereotactic body radiotherapy is safe and effective for patients with stage I non–small cell lung cancer in a multicenter environment. In addition, radiotherapy dosage was identified as a major treatment factor influencing local tumor control and overall survival.
In a phase III multicenter trial conducted in seven Asian countries, the intercalated combination of erlotinib and chemotherapy improved progression-free survival vs chemotherapy alone as first-line treatment in a population of patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer with known and unknown EGFR mutation status. The trial, reported in Lancet Oncology, showed that benefit was generally limited to patients known to have activating EGFR mutations, but suggests that a proportion of those with unknown mutation status also benefit.
A “co-clinical” approach that merges real-time data from genetically engineered mouse models with clinical data from human tissue samples of patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer has identified several molecular pathways causing castration resistance. The findings may lead to the development of tailored therapies for late-stage prostate cancer.
According to a study published in the July issue of the Bulletin of the World Health Organization, the MPOWER tobacco control measures adopted by 41 countries between 2007 and 2010 will result in 15 million fewer smokers and are predicted to prevent an estimated 7.4 million premature deaths by 2050.
In a report published online in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, investigators found that the HOXB13/IL17BR ratio can indicate which women are at risk for cancer recurrence after tamoxifen and which are most likely to benefit from continuing treatment with the aromatase inhibitor letrozole. The biomarker may help many women avoid unnecessary extended treatment.
Single-agent apixaban (Eliquis) may simplify the treatment of patients with acute venous thromboembolism, according to a new study published online in The New England Journal of Medicine. In the phase III AMPLIFY trial, the oral factor Xa inhibitor was found to be as effective as the current standard of care for venous thromboembolism and was associated with a clinically relevant reduction of 69% in major bleeding.
In a pilot study of acupuncture in breast cancer–related lymphedema of the arm reported in in the July 1 issue of Cancer, Barrie R. Cassileth, MS, PhD, of the Integrative Medicine Service at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and colleagues found a ≥ 30% reduction in circumference difference between affected and unaffected arms in 33% of patients and a ≥ 20% reduction in 55%. No serious adverse events and no infections or severe exacerbations were observed during the treatment period or during 6 months of follow-up.
Investigators in The Cancer Genome Atlas Research Network have uncovered a connection between how tumor cells use energy from metabolic processes and the aggressiveness of clear cell renal cell carcinoma. Their findings demonstrate that normal metabolism is altered in clear cell renal cell carcinoma tumor cells, and involves a metabolic shift that correlates with tumor stage and severity in some cases.
Recurrence of melanoma skin cancer 10 or more years after initial treatment is more common than previously thought, occurring in more than 1 in 20 patients. However, according to a new study published in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons, these patients tend to live longer after their cancer returns than patients whose melanoma recurs in the first 3 years.
In a phase III trial reported by Alice T. Shaw, MD, PhD, of Massachusetts General Hospital, and colleagues in The New England Journal of Medicine, crizotinib improved progression-free survival compared with standard chemotherapy in previously treated patients with advanced ALK-positive non–small cell lung cancer. Crizotinib treatment was also associated with a higher response rate and greater patient-reported reductions in symptoms and improvement in global quality of life.
Survival rates for newly diagnosed patients with Burkitt’s lymphoma in the United States has improved substantially over the past 10 years, especially among young adults, according to a new study. However, outcomes for patients in the general population remain low, particularly for older and African American patients.
A study of more than 1,800 men aged 52 to 62 suggests that African Americans diagnosed with very low-risk prostate cancers are much more likely than white men to actually have aggressive disease that goes unrecognized with current diagnostic approaches. Although prior studies have found it safe to delay treatment and monitor some presumably slow-growing or low-risk prostate cancers, the results of this study indicate that active surveillance does not appear to be a good idea for black men.
A new study provides the first statistically based guidelines for determining whether a stem cell transplant is appropriate for older patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), the most common blood disorders in people over 60 years of age, and frequently a precursor for leukemia. The findings suggest that reduced-intensity stem cell transplantation offers a survival benefit for patients with higher-risk MDS, but not for those with lower-risk disease.
A new study published in JAMA Dermatology sought to determine whether long-term survival varied between white male and female adolescents and young adults with melanoma (aged 15 to 39 years at diagnosis) in the United States. According to the report, non-Hispanic white males have a higher mortality than females, and the results support a biologic explanation for male survival disadvantage.
In studies to identify prognostic factors in diffuse large B-cell lymphomas, Thierry J. Molina, MD, PhD, and colleagues assessed expression of MYC, BCL2, MYC/BCL2, IgM, and germinal center B-cell–like and non–germinal center B-cell–like subtypes in patients with de novo disease treated with rituximab and anthracycline-based chemotherapy. A multivariate analysis showed that BCL2 overexpression and the non–germinal center B cell–like subtype were significantly associated with poorer progression-free survival and overall survival.
Aileen B. Chen, MD, MPP, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and colleagues in the Cancer Care Outcomes Research and Surveillance Consortium recently assessed patient expectations regarding goals of radiation therapy for incurable lung cancer. They found that while a majority of patients believed radiation therapy might help them live longer and reduce disease-related problems, a majority also did not report understanding that radiation therapy was "not at all likely" to cure them.
Beverly Moy, MD, of Massachusetts General Hospital, and colleagues recently analyzed the relationship between declaration of financial conflicts of interest and "research prominence" for abstracts presented at ASCO Annual Meetings. They found that the percentage of abstracts with at least one author declaring financial conflicts of interest has increased over time and that such abstracts have a high meeting prominence and receive better peer review scores.
In an analysis of outcomes according to serum vitamin D levels in elderly patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma in the RICOVER-60 trial, vitamin D deficiency was associated with significantly poorer event-free survival and overall survival in patients receiving R-CHOP and significantly poorer overall survival in those receiving CHOP without rituximab.
The IELSG-19 Study, the largest randomized trial in extranodal marginal zone B-cell lymphoma conducted to date, showed that the combination of chlorambucil and rituximab resulted in significantly prolonged event-free and progression-free survival but not overall survival compared with either agent alone.
According to the authors of a recent study, oncologists should allow soyfood use by their patients with breast cancer if those foods are already part of their patients’ diet and should not discourage other breast cancer survivors from moderate consumption. A review of studies examining the impact of soyfoods on breast cancer risk found clinical evidence indicating that isoflavone exposure has little effect on the markers of breast cancer risk.
In two large studies, the association between aspirin use and risk of colorectal cancer was affected by BRAF mutation status, with regular aspirin use associated with a lower risk of BRAF wild-type colorectal cancer but not with risk of BRAF-mutated cancer. The findings, published in JAMA, suggest that BRAF-mutant colon tumor cells may be less sensitive to the effect of aspirin.
Use of advanced treatment technologies for prostate cancer, such as intensity-modulated radiotherapy and robotic prostatectomy, has increased among men at low risk of dying of the disease and those who have a high risk of noncancer mortality. A study published today in JAMA assessed the use of these technologies in this population of patients who are unlikely to benefit from the treatment.
According to findings presented at the 12th International Conference on Malignant Lymphoma in Lugano, Switzerland, PET-guided radiation therapy in patients with advanced-stage diffuse large B-cell lymphoma with residual CT abnormalities after R-CHOP treatment is associated with favorable survival outcome. Patients with PET-negative residual CT abnormalities also have a favorable outcome and should be spared unnecessary toxicity.
Findings from a phase II study of ibrutinib reported at the 12th International Conference on Malignant Lymphoma in Lugano, Switzerland, demonstrated that the Bruton’s tyrosine kinase inhibitor produced rapid and durable control over disease in blood, nodes, spleen, and marrow in treatment-naive and relapsed/refractory patients who had chronic lymphocytic leukemia with 17p deletion.
A new study found that postmenopausal women who follow at least five of the Recommendations for Cancer Prevention from the American Institute for Cancer Research cut their risk of developing breast cancer by more than half, compared to those who meet none
In a study reported in Journal of Clinical Oncology, researchers found that colorectal cancer survivors continue to report neuropathy-related symptoms 2 to 11 years after diagnosis, particularly sensory symptoms in the lower extremities among patients treated with oxaliplatin. Patients with the most neuropathy-related symptoms reported significantly poorer health-related quality of life than those with fewer symptoms.
In a phase II trial of 111 patients with relapsed/refractory mantle cell lymphoma, single-agent ibrutinib was associated with response in 68% of patients and an estimated median duration of response of 17.5 months. Treatment had a favorable toxicity profile, with grade 3 or higher hematologic adverse events being uncommon.
Two pieces of legislation wending their way through congressional committees aim to eliminate breast cancer within a decade and erase disparities in clinical care by educating breast cancer patients, especially minority patients, about the disease and options for treating it.
In a recent study published in The New England Journal of Medicine, ibrutinib treatment produced high rates of durable responses in patients with relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia or small lymphocytic lymphoma. Patients achieved an overall response rate of 71%, and estimated 26-month progression-free and overall survival rates were 75% and 83%, respectively.
Researchers have discovered and mapped the signaling network between epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and MCM7, which had not previously been tied to EGFR signaling. This signaling pathway correlates with EGFR status and poor survival in patients with breast cancer, the authors reported.
Researchers at the NCI found that at least one in three individuals with oropharyngeal cancer had antibodies to HPV16 E6, compared to fewer than one in 100 individuals without cancer—and when present, these antibodies were detectable many years before disease onset.
A study comparing the prognostic value of traditional response criteria and minimal residual disease measurement in patients with multiple myeloma found that a sequencing-based method called LymphoSIGHT and multiparameter flow cytometry analysis both accurately identified patients negative for minimal residual disease.
In a study reported in Journal of Clinical Oncology, researchers investigated the molecular mechanisms underlying changes in tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes in the follicular lymphoma microenvironment. They found that tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes exhibit altered gene expression and demonstrated that changes in the microenvironment can affect overall survival and time to transformation in follicular lymphoma.
The prevalence of human papillomavirus (HPV) infections in teenage girls has dropped sharply since the introduction in 2006 of the HPV vaccine, even though immunization rates remain relatively low, a new government study shows. The most common sexually transmitted infection in the United States, HPV is a principal cause of cervical cancer in women and throat cancer in men.
A combination of the myxoma virus and the immune suppressant rapamycin can kill glioblastoma multiforme, the most common and deadliest malignant brain tumor, according to new research published in Neuro-Oncology. The combination has been shown to infect and kill both brain cancer stem cells and differentiated compartments of glioblastoma multiforme.
A significant proportion of patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer have poor performance status, and optimal clinical management of these patients has not been established. In an attempt to help define optimal chemotherapy in such patients, researchers conducted a phase III trial of first-line carboplatin plus pemetrexed vs pemetrexed alone in patients with an ECOG performance status of 2. One-year overall survival in the combination arm was significantly improved compared to pemetrexed alone (40.1% vs 21.9%).
Many men with low-risk, localized prostate cancers can safely choose active surveillance or watchful waiting instead of undergoing immediate treatment and have better quality of life while reducing health-care costs, according to a study by researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Massachusetts General Hospital.
Patients with colon cancer identified on screening colonoscopy appear to have lower-stage disease on presentation and better outcomes independent of their staging, according to a report published online today in JAMA Surgery. According to the authors, this further emphasizes the importance of compliance to screening colonoscopy guidelines.
Although overall mortality rates due to single primary melanomas and multiple primary melanomas appear to be similar, relative mortality for thicker single primary melanomas appears to be greater than that for thicker multiple primary melanoma, according to a study published online today in JAMA Dermatology.
Investigators from Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in Toronto and the University of California, Los Angeles, have submitted an Investigational New Drug (IND) application for CFI-400945, a novel drug candidate targeting the enzyme PLK4, which plays a crucial role in cell division.
In a multicenter phase II study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, F. Stephen Hodi, MD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and colleagues assessed the effects of imatinib treatment in patients with melanomas with KIT mutations or amplifications. Responses were observed in patients with KIT mutation but not when KIT amplification alone was present.
In a Japanese phase I-II study of the novel oral ALK inhibitor CH542480 in ALK-rearranged non–small cell lung cancer, patients who were ALK inhibitor–naive experienced high response rates. All patients had a reduction in tumor size of more than 30%, and treatment was well tolerated.
An international alliance of over 70 major research and health-care organizations, academic centers, and medical societies have joined forces to consolidate the world’s databases of genomic information to make it easier for clinicians and researchers to share genomic data and make medicine more effective.
The phase III PHARE trial failed to establish noninferiority of 6 months of adjuvant trastuzumab vs 12 months of treatment in women with early HER2-positive breast cancer. Although the longer course was associated with a higher rate of cardiac events, the results support continued use of the 12-month regimen as standard of care.
ACCENT Collaborative Group investigators analyzed the impact of age on colon cancer recurrence and survival after adjuvant therapy with the newer options using the ACCENT database. Their findings suggest a reduced benefit of adding oxaliplatin to fluoropyrimidines in patients aged 70 years and older and no age-related difference in the comparative efficacy of oral fluoropyrimidines vs intravenous 5-FU.
Although previous studies have suggested that acetyl-L-carnitine may be effective in preventing and treating sensory neuropathy, a recent paper published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology suggests otherwise. Investigators found that, in women receiving adjuvant taxane therapy for breast cancer, daily acetyl-L-carnitine was associated with no improvement in chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy at 12 weeks and with worse peripheral neuropathy at 24 weeks.
Genomic heterogeneity within tumors and among lesions varies widely, and “discordance among lesions could lead to the selection of the ‘incorrect’ targeted inhibitor,” according to a presentation by David B. Solit, MD, of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, at the 2013 ASCO Annual Meeting. In some cases, targeted therapy can actually harm patients when is given in the wrong genetic context, Dr. Solit explained.
The promotion of accountable care organizations, a crucial element in the Affordable Care Act, may result in unintended new medical liability risks, according to a Viewpoint published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The concern is that accountable care organizations may face the same types of litigation that managed care organizations encountered in the 1990s when they were accused of prioritizing their financial success over the health and well-being of their members.
The National Cancer Institute has announced that it will no longer accept investigator-initiated R01 and P01 applications that propose phase III clinical trials for cancer-related medical interventions or cancer imaging modalities. The policy change take effect on September 25, 2013, for P01 grant applications and October 5, 2013, for R01 grant applications.
The FDA recently approved the MemoryShape Breast Implant for breast augmentation in women at least 22 years old and for breast reconstruction in women of any age. The approval is based on 6 years of data from 955 women demonstrating that there is a reasonable assurance of safety and effectiveness for this implant.
A new molecular pathway involving the gene ZNF365 has been identified, and abnormalities in that pathway may predict worse outcomes for patients with breast cancer, according to data published in Cancer Discovery.
Bazedoxifene, a drug approved in Europe to treat osteoporosis, has now been shown to stop the growth of breast cancer cells, even in cancers that have become resistant to current targeted therapies, according to a study presented at the Endocrine Society’s 95th Annual Meeting in San Francisco.
A study led by researchers at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute has identified an abnormal metabolic pathway that drives cancer cell growth in a particular glioblastoma subtype. The finding may lead to new therapies for a subset of patients with glioblastoma, the most common and lethal form of brain cancer.
ROR1, a protein used by embryo cells during early development, and recently found in many different types of cancer, may serve as a switch regulating metastasis, according to researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center.
A phase III trial evaluating the investigational agent trebananib has reached its primary endpoint of progression-free survival, demonstrating a 34% reduction in the risk of disease progression in patients with recurrent ovarian cancer.
A unanimous decision by the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that naturally occurring human genes could not be patented because they are products of nature. However, genes that are artificially constructed and not found in nature, or complementary DNA (cDNA), are eligible for patent protection.
In an analysis of outcomes in the HERA trial in women with early-stage invasive HER2-positive breast cancer, Ann H. Partridge, MD, MPH, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and colleagues found that age was not strongly associated with risk of early recurrence or benefit from trastuzumab therapy.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has expanded the approved use of denosumab (Xgeva) to treat adults and some adolescents with giant cell tumor of the bone, a rare and usually noncancerous tumor. The approval provides a treatment option for patients who are not surgical candidates or for whom surgery would result in severe morbidity.
Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in or near the genes ZNF423 and CTSO were associated with breast cancer risk among women who underwent prevention therapy with tamoxifen and raloxifene, according to data published in Cancer Discovery. Women with the unfavorable variations of these SNPs had a fivefold increased risk of developing breast cancer.
A clinical trial has shown that patients and their physicians are eager to jump into the next generation of cancer care: analysis of an individual’s tumor to find and target genetic mutations that drive the cancer. The CUSTOM trial is the first completed prospective clinical trial to use genetic analysis alone to assign cancer treatment for patients, demonstrating the feasibility of conducting extensive genetic testing in a timely manner.
A study from the University of Colorado Cancer Center showed that the ALK and ROS1 gene rearrangements known to drive subsets of lung cancer are also present in some colorectal cancers. Results imply that drugs used to target ALK and ROS1 in lung cancer may also have applications in this subset of colorectal cancer patients.
Researchers have discovered how normal breast precursor cells may be genetically vulnerable to developing into cancer. The luminal progenitors studied had extremely short telomeres, leaving the chromosome ends unprotected, with DNA damage markers that suggested the cells may be vulnerable to genetic changes leading to malignancy.
A large prospective multicenter cohort study in France and Belgium has shown that critically ill patients with hematologic malignancies admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) have good survival, disease control, and post-ICU health-related quality of life. Earlier admission to the ICU, a potentially modifiable risk factor, was associated with better survival.
A workforce shortage of geriatricians and other health professionals trained and certified in caring for older patients with cancer is colliding with the aging of the population and the increasing number of older Americans with cancer. Using geriatric assessment tools to guide interventions and technology to integrate geriatrics and oncology care can facilitate quality of care for these patients.
Marilyn Tavenner, the Acting Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), told Congress last week that CMS has no legal authority to exempt Medicare Part B drugs from the 2% reduction in reimbursement to Medicare providers and hospitals mandated by the federal budget sequestration.
A new patient protocol for aggressive and recurrent lymphoma that combines high-dose chemotherapy and radioimmunotherapy showed encouraging overall survival rates in some patients preparing for autologous bone marrow transplant, researchers reported at the 2013 Annual Meeting of the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging.
A new study from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute may help clinicians and drug researchers choose the most promising genetic targets to attack in a common type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The report provides a new view of an overactive B-cell receptor–signaling pathway that drives about one-third of diffuse large B-cell lymphomas.
For patients with advanced breast cancer, positron emission tomography and magnetic resonance imaging can improve quality of life by providing physicians with information on the effectiveness of chemotherapy prior to surgery, according to a study presented at the 2013 Annual Meeting of the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging.
A study examining trends in X-ray computed tomography use in children in the United States has found that reducing unnecessary scans and lowering the doses for the highest-dose scans could lower the overall lifetime risk of future imaging-related cancers by 62%.
Earlier this month, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) released its updated projections of reductions in programs due to the deficit-budget mechanism known as sequestration, which took effect on March 1, 2013. The sequestration law requires NIH to cut 5%, or $1.55 billion, of its fiscal year 2013 budget, and the cuts must apply evenly across all programs, projects, and activities.
Surveillance appears to be sufficient for men with stage I seminoma treated with orchiectomy, sparing patients from side effects of adjuvant radiation or chemotherapy. In a long-term study presented at the 2013 ASCO Annual Meeting, 99.5% of men followed by surveillance alone were disease-free and alive 15 years postdiagnosis.
Results from a multicenter phase II study of patients with locally advanced HER2-positive breast cancer who receive targeted therapy with trastuzumab and lapatinib indicate that chemotherapy may not be necessary for selected patients with HER2-positive tumors, according to a study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Orphan Drug designation to Stemline Therapeutics' SL-401 for the treatment of blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm, a rare and aggressive hematologic malignancy for which there is no effective treatment.
A large randomized phase II study found that a novel heat shock protein (Hsp) 90 inhibitor, ganetespib, when combined with docetaxel in second-line therapy, leads to longer overall survival compared to standard second-line docetaxel alone in patients with advanced lung adenocarcinoma that progresses after initial therapy. Patients with more than 6 months from time of diagnosis with advanced lung cancer derived the greatest benefit from the combination.
The FDA has approved initiation of a multicenter trial of the DigniCap System, a scalp-cooling device for chemotherapy-related hair loss. The trial is the second and final phase of study for the DigniCap System. A previous study found that the treatment was successful and well tolerated in the majority of women.
A genomic profiling study of African American women with breast cancer found that about one in five carries an inherited abnormality in at least 1 of 18 genes associated with breast cancer susceptibility. Next-generation sequencing assays, like BROCA, which allow assessment of multiple genes, would be useful in assessing African American women, who have a great diversity of inherited mutations.
A European phase III clinical trial found that lymphedema was twice as common among women with sentinel lymph node–positive early breast cancer who had axillary lymph node dissection compared to those who had axillary radiotherapy. Overall and disease-free survival 5 years after treatment were equivalent.
A survey of 214 U.S. oncologists and hematologists found that more than 80% encountered cancer drug shortages between March and September of 2012, and many reported that shortages affected the quality of patient care they were able to provide. Although additional surveys conducted by ASCO suggested that chemotherapy drug shortages may have eased very slightly, there is growing concern over the shortage of other drugs that are critical for cancer patient care.
Researchers at UC San Diego School of Medicine and University of Rochester Medical Center have identified a new mechanism that appears to suppress tumor growth, opening the possibility of developing a new class of anticancer drugs.
Novel abnormalities in the FGFR gene, called FGFR fusions, were identified in a spectrum of cancers, and preliminary results with cancer cells harboring FGFR fusions suggested that some patients with these cancers may benefit from treatment with FGFR inhibitor drugs, according to data published in Cancer Discovery.
Low-dose weekly administration of paclitaxel resulted in equal progression-free survival but reduced overall toxicity compared to every-2-week dose-dense administration for women with higher-risk early-stage breast cancer who have undergone surgery, a phase III randomized trial demonstrated.
British scientists have found a molecular "bullseye" for a rare form of melanoma, opening up opportunities for new targeted treatment, according to new research published in the Journal of Pathology. The findings suggest that mucosal melanoma, unlike cutaneous melanoma, is not linked to ultraviolet light exposure.
A randomized phase III study found no improvement in overall survival after the addition of bevacizumab to standard first-line chemoradiation for glioblastoma. The findings suggest that bevacizumab should not be a part of first-line therapy for patients with glioblastoma.
A novel gene variant found in human and animal tissue, PTEN-Long, may be a promising treatment for cancer, including breast and brain cancer, according to a study published today in the journal Science.
According to ASCO President Clifford Hudis, MD, this year’s ASCO Annual Meeting was exciting in two specific ways. First, we saw the development of novel therapies and combinations that effectively manipulate the immune system and extend survival in historically difficult-to-treat diseases, like metastatic melanoma. The second issue relates to our important responsibility to deliver high-quality care around the world.
Cytomegalovirus, a virus that infects most Americans but that usually remains dormant in the body, might speed the progression of glioblastoma when certain genes are shut off in tumor cells, new research shows.
Cervical cancer mortality was reduced by 31% over a period of 15 years among women screened with biennial visual inspection with acetic acid, or vinegar, delivered by primary health workers in a large randomized study conducted among 150,000 women in India. This strategy could prevent 22,000 cervical cancer deaths every year in India and close to 73,000 in resource-poor countries worldwide. Cervical cancer is responsible for more than 250,000 deaths worldwide annually.
Ten years of adjuvant treatment with tamoxifen reduces breast cancer recurrence and mortality among women treated for early-stage estrogen receptor–positive breast cancer, according to results of the British phase III aTTom study. These findings complement and confirm the results of the international ATLAS study.
A randomized phase III study found that the targeted drug sorafenib stalls disease progression by 5 months in patients with metastatic differentiated thyroid cancer that has progressed despite standard radioactive iodine therapy. The median progression-free survival was 10.8 months in the sorafenib group vs 5.8 months in the placebo arm (P < .0001).
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved lenalidomide (Revlimid) for the treatment of patients with mantle cell lymphoma whose disease has relapsed or progressed after two prior therapies, one of which included bortezomib (Velcade).
Spouses and long-term partners of patients diagnosed with human papillomavirus (HPV)–positive oropharyngeal cancer were no more likely to test positive for oral HPV infection than people in the general population and have a low risk of HPV-related oropharyngeal cancer, according to the Human Oral Papillomavirus Transmission in Partners over Time (HOTSPOT) study.
The FDA has approved trametinib (Mekinist) for the treatment of patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma with BRAF V600E or V600K mutation, as well as the ThxID BRAF assay for detection of these mutations.
First-line cetuximab (Erbitux) plus FOLFIRI chemotherapy (leucovorin, fluorouracil, irinotecan) offered a roughly 4-month survival advantage over bevacizumab (Avastin) plus FOLFIRI for patients with KRAS wild-type metastatic colorectal cancer in the German phase III clinical trial FIRE-3.
Adding bevacizumab (Avastin) to chemotherapy regimens with or without a platinum drug resulted in statistically significant improvements in overall survival, progression-free survival, and response rates for women with metastatic or relapsed cervical cancer treated in a randomized phase III study.
Long-term follow-up results from an expanded phase I study indicate that nivolumab produced long-lasting responses in patients with stage IV melanoma. Overall, 33 out of 107 patients (31%) treated with five different doses of nivolumab experienced tumor shrinkage of at least 30%.
Progression-free survival was significantly improved for patients with metastatic melanoma of the eye (uveal melanoma) treated with selumetinib, according to the final analysis of data from a phase II crossover study.
The FDA has granted fast track designation to the SGX942 development program for the treatment of oral mucositis as a result of radiation and/or chemotherapy treatment in patients with head and neck cancer.
Adding GM-CSF to ipilimumab significantly improved survival and was associated with fewer side effects compared to ipilimumab alone, according to results of a proof-of-principle phase II trial. Overall survival rates at 1 year were 68.9% for patients receiving combination therapy compared to 52.9% for patients receiving ipilimumab alone.
Pazopanib (Votrient), an oral multikinase inhibitor, extends disease-free survival by an average of 5.6 months, compared to placebo, in women with advanced ovarian who had initial successful treatment with surgery and chemotherapy. Median progression-free survival was 17.9 months in the pazopanib group vs 12.3 months in the placebo group.
Preliminary results of an ongoing trial suggest that the anti–PD-1 antibody lambrolizumab has significant antitumor activity in patients with advanced melanoma and is well tolerated.
Although a majority of U.S. oncologists report satisfaction with their careers, many say they have experienced at least one symptom of burnout, according to a Mayo Clinic–led study.
The addition of everolimus (Afinitor), an mTOR inhibitor, to trastuzumab (Herceptin) and vinorelbine significantly extended progression-free survival in women with HER2-positive advanced breast cancer, compared to treatment with placebo plus trastuzumab and vinorelbine, in the phase III BOLERO-3 trial.
A lack of clinical trials aimed specifically at younger patients with breast cancer could be partly to blame for their poorer survival rates, according to a new study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
A newly developed, single-step Raman spectroscopy algorithm has the potential to simultaneously detect microcalcifications and enable diagnosis of the associated breast lesions with high precision, according to data published in Cancer Research.
A new study by researchers Fox Chase Cancer Center has identified a disconnect between clinical trials that look at new treatments for metastatic pancreatic cancer and the patient population most likely to be diagnosed with the disease.
An Australian study has identified a subgroup of prostate cancer cells that survive androgen deprivation therapy and could contribute to prostate cancer recurrence.
In a phase III study, patients with previously untreated chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) achieved an improvement in progression-free survival when treated with ofatumumab (Arzerra) in combination with chlorambucil vs chlorambucil alone.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved two new drugs, dabrafenib (Tafinlar) and trametinib (Mekinist), for patients with advanced or unresectable melanoma, the most dangerous type of skin cancer.
Frequent heartburn was positively associated with cancers of the throat and vocal cord among nonsmokers and nondrinkers, and the use of antacids, but not prescription medications, had a protective effect, according to data published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.
A new study on prostate cancer describes a novel class of drugs developed by UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers that interrupts critical signaling needed for prostate cancer cells to grow.
Survival rates have increased significantly among patients who received blood stem cell transplants from both related and unrelated donors, according to a study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
In simultaneous sessions during the European Hematology Congress in Stockholm, two of Scientific Working Groups will discuss progress in lymphoma and myeloma.
Under conditions of oxygen starvation often encountered by tumors, the epidermal growth factor receptor sends signals that thwart the development of tumor-suppressing microRNAs, an international team led by scientists at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center discovered.
Mayo Clinic researchers have used next-generation genomic analysis to determine that some of the more aggressive prostate cancer tumors have similar genetic origins, which may help in predicting cancer progression.
Treating pediatric leukemia patients with a liposomal formulation of anthracycline-based chemotherapy at an intensified dose during initial treatment may result in high survival rates without causing any added heart toxicity.
A new clinical trial is testing whether targeting treatments to a genetic anomaly can lead to better treatments for castration-resistant metastatic prostate cancer. The trial, led by investigators at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, is being conducted at 11 sites throughout the country.
Physicians have more information to share with their patients about the benefits and risks of low-dose computed tomography lung cancer screening following the publication in the New England Journal of Medicine of the results of the first (of three planned) annual screening examinations from the National Lung Screening Trial.
Researchers at Mayo Clinic have found that patients with inflammatory bowel disease have a 37% greater risk for melanoma.
Beta-blockers, normally used for high blood pressure, could enhance the effectiveness of chemotherapies in treating neuroblastoma, according to a new study published today in the British Journal of Cancer.
A new measure of the heterogeneity of cells within a tumor appears to predict treatment outcomes of patients with the most common type of head and neck cancer.
Positively charged gold nanoparticles are usually toxic to cells, but cancer cells somehow manage to avoid nanoparticle toxicity. Mayo Clinic researchers found out why and determined how to make the nanoparticles effective against ovarian cancer cells.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the use of C-View, a new low-dose, two-dimensional imaging software to be used as part of Hologic’s FDA-approved three-dimensional mammography screening exam.
Researchers at Mayo Clinic have developed a promising method to distinguish between pancreatic cancer and chronic pancreatitis, two disorders that are difficult to tell apart.
A large study reports that the vast majority of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma relapses are detected based on symptoms, abnormal blood tests or abnormal findings on physical exam, suggesting that CT scans, which are currently a routine part of follow-up, may be unnecessary.
A long-term study of men with stage I seminoma suggests that surveillance for cancer recurrence, rather than additional chemotherapy or radiation therapy, is sufficient for the vast majority of men who have undergone successful surgery for their cancer.
Results from a phase I study of a new oral targeted drug, idelalisib (GS-1101), show the agent has potential as a therapy for relapsed or treatment-resistant chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
In the largest clinical trial to date to examine the efficacy of PARP inhibitor therapy in BRCA1/2 carriers with diseases other than breast and ovarian cancer, the oral drug olaparib was found to be effective against advanced pancreatic and prostate cancers.
A phase III trial in patients with stage III non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) concluded that standard-dose radiotherapy is safer and more effective than high-dose radiotherapy, extending survival by 9 months and causing fewer treatment-related deaths.
Results from a phase I study show that combination therapy with ipilimumab (Yervoy) and the investigational antibody drug nivolumab led to lasting tumor shrinkage in approximately half of patients with aggressive, advanced melanoma.
Findings from a large, prospective 20-year study indicate that a high level of cardiovascular fitness in middle age reduces men’s risk of developing and dying from lung and colorectal cancer.
A phase I expansion study of the investigational anti–PD-L1 drug MPDL3280A shows impressive tumor shrinkage rates in patients with several different cancers—including lung, melanoma, kidney, colorectal, and gastric cancers—that had progressed despite several prior treatments.
A study has identified microRNA-155 as a new independent prognostic marker and treatment target in patients with cytogenetically normal acute myeloid leukemia (AML).
The FDA approved radium Ra 223 dichloride for the treatment of patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer, symptomatic bone metastases, and no known visceral metastatic disease.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved the cobas EGFR Mutation Test, a companion diagnostic for erlotinib (Tarceva). The test is being approved with an expanded use for erlotinib as a first-line treatment for patients with metastatic NSCLC who have certain mutations in the EGFR gene.
Despite previous scientific studies suggesting that the diabetes drug metformin has anticancer properties, a new, first-of-its-kind study has found the drug may not actually improve survival rates after breast cancer in certain patients.
A new study from the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center showed that targeting both hormone receptors and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 in first-line treatment of patients with metastatic breast cancer significantly increased overall survival times.
A comprehensive genomic analysis of nearly 400 endometrial tumors suggests that certain molecular characteristics, such as the frequency of mutations, could complement current pathology methods and help distinguish between principal types of endometrial tumors, as well as provide insights into potential treatment strategies.
Researchers at Johns Hopkins have identified a gene that, when repressed in tumor cells, puts a halt to cell growth and a range of processes needed for tumors to enlarge and spread to distant sites.
Patients with advanced bladder cancers that are surgically removed might need additional therapy to prevent recurrence in certain situations, a new UT Southwestern Medical Center study suggests.
The FDA is alerting health-care professionals that the use of the incorrect nonproprietary name for the breast cancer drug Kadcyla (ado-trastuzumab emtansine) in some medication-related electronic systems poses a risk of mix-up with Herceptin (trastuzumab) and may result in medication errors.
In the dawn of oncology, Emil "Tom" Frei III, MD, along with his associate, Emil Freireich, MD, did something new in the treatment of cancer—they combined chemotherapies, a transcendent therapeutic approach that accelerated the field and, in turn, saved millions of lives. Dr. Frei died on April 30 at the age of 89.
In a phase II trial, patients with advanced alveolar soft part sarcoma, a rare cancer, achieved some control of their disease using the experimental anticancer drug cediranib.
Postmenopausal women aged 55 to 75 with early-stage breast cancer can be safely treated with breast-conserving surgery without postoperative radiation therapy, according to a double arm, prospective, randomized study presented this week at the American Society of Breast Surgeons Annual Meeting.
FDA has granted daratumumab breakthrough therapy designation for the treatment of patients with multiple myeloma who have received at least three prior lines of therapy, including a proteasome inhibitor and an immunomodulatory agent, or who are double refractory to a proteasome inhibitor and immunomodulatory agent.
Smoking increased the risk for developing colon cancer, and female smokers may have a greater risk than male smokers, according to data published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.
Tamoxifen and three similar drugs reduce breast cancer incidence by 38% in women at an increased risk of the disease according to a Cancer Research UK study published in The Lancet.
Sandra M. Swain, MD, FACP, President, American Society of Clinical Oncology made this statement about budget cuts to cancer care on April 26.
Tamoxifen is a time-honored breast cancer drug used to treat millions of women with early-stage and less-aggressive disease, and now a University of Rochester Medical Center team has shown how to exploit the agent’s secondary activities so that it might work on more aggressive breast cancer.
Obese men were more likely to have precancerous lesions detected in their benign prostate biopsies compared with nonobese men and were at a greater risk for subsequently developing prostate cancer, according to data published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.
When the retinoblastoma is diagnosed in racial and ethnic minority children whose families don't have private health insurance, it often takes a more invasive, potentially life-threatening course than in other children, probably because of delays in diagnosis, researchers report.
A prospective study by researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital observed an association between risk of second primary cancer and history of nonmelanoma skin cancer in white men and women.
Nearly two-thirds of children receiving stem cell transplants returned to the hospital within 6 months for treatment of unexplained fevers, infections, or other problems, according to a study performed at Dana-Farber/Children’s Hospital Cancer Center in Boston.
Merck has announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has designated lambrolizumab as a Breakthrough Therapy for the treatment of patients with advanced melanoma.
More than a quarter of a century after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, many children and teenagers who developed thyroid cancer due to radiation are in complete or near remission, according to a recent study.
The American Society of Clinical Oncology, Community Oncology Alliance, ION Solutions, and The US Oncology Network today commended a bipartisan group of 124 lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives who sent a letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) expressing concern that Medicare cuts to critical cancer medications are forcing oncologists to turn away cancer patients.
A new study led by researchers at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute suggests that an unusual experimental drug can reduce breast cancer aggressiveness, reverse resistance to the drug fulvestrant, and perhaps improve the effectiveness of other breast cancer drugs.
A combination of therapies may prove to be a promising advance for the treatment of anaplastic thyroid cancer based on results of a phase I clinical trial, say researchers at Mayo Clinic in Florida.
Pharmacyclics, Inc, announced today that it has completed enrollment for the RESONATE trial, a phase III study using ibrutinib monotherapy vs ofatumumab in patients with relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia or small lymphocytic lymphoma.
Breast cancer survivors are among the women who could most benefit from regular physical activity, yet few meet national exercise recommendations during the 10 years after being diagnosed, according to a study by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.
The FDA has approved updated labeling for the reformulated painkiller OxyContin (which is more difficult to inject or snort than the original product), in an effort to curb abuse of the powerful opiate. The agency will no longer accept or approve new drug applications for generics that rely on the acceptance and approval of the original OxyContin.
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments Monday in a case seeking to invalidate patents on two genes associated with hereditary breast and ovarian cancer.
Researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center and colleagues analyzed national data to investigate the differences in cancer prevention beliefs by race and ethnicity.
Frozen balls of ice can safely kill cancerous tumors that have spread to the lungs, according to the first prospective multicenter trial of cryoablation. The results were presented on April 14, 2013, at the Society of Interventional Radiology’s 38th Annual Scientific Meeting in New Orleans.
A costly and widely used mammography add-on increases detection of noninvasive and early-stage invasive breast cancer but also makes more mistakes than mammography alone, researchers have found.
A new study on how the progression of acute lymphocytic leukemia is influenced by the bone marrow environment has demonstrated for the first time that targeting osteopontin may be an effective strategy to increase the efficacy of chemotherapy in patients with this disease.
The chances of developing lung cancer associated with asbestos exposure, asbestosis, and smoking are dramatically increased when these three risk factors are combined, and quitting smoking significantly reduces the risk of developing lung cancer after long-term asbestos exposure.
Patients with primary mediastinal B-cell lymphoma who received infusions of chemotherapy, but who did not have radiation therapy to the mediastinum, had excellent outcomes, according to clinical trial results.
President Obama has released his proposed budget for fiscal year 2014, which proposes new reductions for cancer care services. Taken in combination with existing strains imposed by sequestration, this proposal threatens access to care for some of America's most vulnerable: elderly patients with cancer.
When given sequentially, two orally available experimental drugs—sapacitabine and seliciclib—worked together to elicit antitumor effects in patients with incurable BRCA-deficient cancers, according to phase I data presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2013.
New results from a clinical trial conducted in Shanghai, China, indicate that adding cetuximab to standard chemotherapy enables some patients with otherwise inoperable liver metastases due to colorectal cancer have their metastases surgically removed.
Although previous research has linked alcohol consumption to an increased risk of developing breast cancer, a new study has found that drinking before and after diagnosis does not impact survival from the disease.
Black women with breast cancer had significantly worse survival compared with other racial and ethnic groups across cancer subtypes, which suggests that the survival differences are not solely attributable to the fact that they are more frequently diagnosed with less treatable breast cancer subtypes.
Researchers using anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy achieved responses in children whose acute lymphocytic leukemia had returned after a bone marrow transplant, according to preliminary results presented at the AACR Annual Meeting.
A novel two-step immunotherapy approach yielded clinically beneficial responses in patients with advanced ovarian cancer according to data from two phase I clinical trials presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2013.
For women with metastatic, HER2-positive breast cancer, the amount of HER2 on their tumor might determine how much they benefit T-DMI, according to data from a subanalysis of the phase III clinical trial that led the FDA to approve the drug in February of this year.
A strong, stable federal investment in cancer research, prevention, and treatment is critical to continue the progress we are making for the more than 1.66 million Americans newly diagnosed with cancer every year. ASCO calls on Congress to renew its commitment to this life-sustaining research.
The FDA has granted an additional Breakthrough Therapy Designation for the investigational oral agent ibrutinib as monotherapy for the treatment of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia or small lymphocytic lymphoma with deletion 17p.
The antibody-drug conjugate DMUC5754A showed activity in women with ovarian cancer, even those with hard-to-treat, platinum-resistant disease, in a phase I trial presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2013.
Leading health-care organizations have developed an evidence-based guideline that establishes recommendations for EGFR and ALK testing, helping to guide targeted therapies.
The NeuroBlate Thermal Therapy System provides a new, safe, and minimally invasive procedure for treating recurrent glioblastoma, according to the first-in-human study of the system.
For the first time, researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have isolated adult stem cells from human intestinal tissue.
Taking a break from hormone-blocking prostate cancer treatments once the cancer seems to be stabilized is not equivalent to continuing therapy, a new large-scale international study finds.
The antidepressant drug duloxetine helped relieve painful numbness and tingling feelings caused by chemotherapy in 59% of patients, a new study finds. This is the first clinical trial to find an effective treatment for this pain.
A research team jointly led by scientists from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and the University of California, Los Angeles, has enhanced a device they developed to identify and “grab” circulating tumor cells that break away from cancers and enter the blood.
The Community Oncology Alliance, in conjunction with the American Society of Clinical Oncology, International Oncology Network/AmerisourceBergen, and the US Oncology Network, issued a joint statement on the crippling effects of sequestration cuts to cancer drugs and services which began April 1, 2013.
Poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitors may be a novel treatment strategy for patients with cancer that has become resistant to the commonly used chemotherapy drug cisplatin, according to data from a preclinical study published in Cancer Research.
A team of international cancer researchers has identified the signaling pathway that is overactivated in estrogen receptor–positive breast cancer cells that are resistant to hormone therapies such as tamoxifen, aromatase inhibitors, or fulvestrant.
Researchers at Roswell Park Cancer Institute have found that a new formulation of the promising anticancer agent FL118 is even more effective in controlling colon and head and neck cancer than a version reported 6 months earlier proved to be.
Men with Lynch syndrome face a higher lifetime risk of developing prostate cancer and appear to develop the disease at an earlier age, according to a new study led by researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Researchers at Mayo Clinic Cancer Center have identified new DNA sequences associated with breast cancer and ovarian cancer.
A new diagnostic test that uses a technique known as metabolomic analysis may be a safe and easy screening method that could improve the prognosis of patients with pancreatic cancer through earlier detection.
Physicians who care for lung cancer patients recognize the importance of tobacco cessation but often do not provide cessation assistance to their patients, according to a recent study published in the Journal of Thoracic Oncology.
Researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center and colleagues at the University of Florida studied health-care providers to determine the factors associated with disparities in human papillomavirus vaccination among girls, ages 9 to 17, from low-income families.
The American Society of Clinical Oncology announced that it has completed a prototype of CancerLinQ™, the Society’s groundbreaking health information technology (HIT) initiative to achieve higher quality, higher value cancer care with better outcomes for patients.
The American Association for Cancer Research has released its second Annual Report on Cancer Survivorship in the United States in advance of the AACR Annual Meeting 2013, which will be held in Washington, DC, April 6-10.
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego Moores Cancer Center have identified a humanized monoclonal antibody that targets and directly kills chronic lymphocytic leukemia cells.
New results from a large observational follow-up study conducted in Shanghai, China, indicate that women with lung cancer who consumed more soy food prior to their cancer diagnosis lived longer than those who consumed less soy.
A drug that indirectly impairs the function of several cancer-driving proteins, including anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK), may be an effective new treatment for patients with ALK-positive non–small cell lung cancer.
The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center Survivorship Program has been selected to lead a nationwide study that aims to improve long-term health outcomes for cancer survivors between the ages of 18 and 39.
New research from the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center may help clinicians determine which patients are at highest risk for postsurgical blood clots in the legs or lungs.
In a recent study published in the Journal of Thoracic Oncology, researchers identified patterns of mutations in early-stage, node-negative lung adenocarcinoma.
The NCCN 18th Annual Conference: Advancing the Standard of Cancer Care featured the latest updates in clinical practice decision-making in cancer care, including updates to the NCCN Guidelines for Thyroid Carcinoma and the new NCCN Guidelines for Penile Cancer and Survivorship.
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have shown that a new imaging dye, technetium Tc-99m tilmanocept, is an effective agent in detecting and mapping cancers that have reached the lymph nodes.
A national survey of health professionals showed that drug shortages are taking a heavy toll on cancer patients, forcing treatment changes and delays that for some patients meant worse outcomes, more therapy-related complications, and higher costs.
Black women younger than 50 are disproportionately afflicted with and dying from early-onset breast cancer compared to their white counterparts. Researchers suggest that increased genetic counseling and BRCA testing can reduce cancer incidence and mortality in this population.
Researchers have completed a phase II clinical trial to determine the safety and efficacy of dasatinib for patients with higher-risk myelodysplastic syndromes in whom previous treatments have failed.
The overexpression or underexpression of a newly identified set of genes related to lipid metabolism may help physicians identify whether or not a woman is at risk for hormone receptor–positive or hormone receptor–negative breast cancer
Women with triple-negative breast cancer are more likely to have high levels of the MET biomarker in their tumors, making it a promising new target for cancer drugs, according to research published in the British Journal of Cancer.
A phase III trial evaluating the safety and efficacy of talimogene laherparepvec treatment in late-stage melanoma met its primary endpoint of durable response rate.
A study led by researchers at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital links inherited variations in a few genes to a substantially increased risk of acute lymphoblastic leukemia and helps to explain ethnic differences in the cancer’s incidence.
Surgery offers better survival benefit for men with localized prostate cancer, according to a large observational study, conducted by a group of researchers in Sweden and the Netherlands.
New research published online in Clinical Chemistry shows that decreased levels of vitamin D may predispose smokers to developing tobacco-related cancer.
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital was awarded a U.S. patent for its invention of compositions for genetically modifying human immune cells so they can destroy some of the most common forms of cancer in children and adults.
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) announced today the addition of two new NCCN Member Institutions: UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center and the University of Colorado Cancer Center.
A population-based case control study of major coronary events in women who underwent radiotherapy for breast cancer between 1958 and 2001 in Sweden and Denmark found a direct link between radiation dose and the occurrence of ischemic heart disease years later.
Samuel M. Silver, MD, PhD, of the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, has been elected Chairman of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network Board of Directors.
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network has issued its first ever NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology for Survivorship.
Patients who consume high-fat dairy products following breast cancer diagnosis increase their chances of dying from the disease years later, according to a study by Kaiser Permanente researchers.
The planned sequestration cuts to cancer drugs and services will force 72% of community oncology practices to stop seeing new Medicare patients, not treat any Medicare patients without secondary insurance, and/or send them elsewhere for treatment.
Based on goals established at a March 2011 workshop, the National Cancer Policy Forum of the Institute of Medicine recently held a follow-up meeting to assess progress in making the NCI-funded clinical trials system more efficient and productive.
Nearly two-thirds of women with ovarian cancer do not receive guideline-recommended treatment, often because they are cared for at hospitals that treat a small number of patients with the disease, a study reveals.
Patients with advanced ovarian cancer who undergo intensive treatment with intraperitoneal chemotherapy are significantly more likely to live longer than those who receive standard intravenous (IV) chemotherapy, according to a recent study.
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.
A team of international cancer researchers has discovered a new type of retinoblastoma in very young children, a finding that may immediately change clinical practice and optimize care for these patients.
Patients with locally advanced cervical cancer have better treatment outcomes and are more likely to survive the disease if they receive care at a high-volume medical center than patients treated at low-volume facilities.
The Colon Cancer Alliance, COLONTOWN, and the American College of Radiology are calling on Congress to pass the CT Colonography Screening for Colorectal Cancer Act.
A new study has found that many older adults are hesitant to halt cancer screenings even when the screenings may no longer be beneficial or may even be potentially harmful.
For patients with kidney tumors, a new study shows the health and economic advantages to removing just the tumor as opposed to the entire kidney.
Two Indiana University researchers have been awarded a multiyear, $3.2 million grant to develop and improve therapies for pancreatic cancer.
New research suggests that more stringent criteria may be needed for African American men with prostate cancer when considering active surveillance of the disease.
A new immunoassay that tests for the presence of three biomarkers appears to be a valid screening method for the early detection of malignant kidney cancer, according to data published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.
Endometrial cancer survivors are more likely to complete physical activity, and for longer durations, when their daily self-efficacy is higher, according to a study published in Health Psychology.
Combatting the tobacco industry’s tactics in the world’s poorest countries as well as ensuring the best cancer vaccines are available to those most in need are key in order to reduce the number of cancer deaths worldwide, according to a new report.
Men with low-risk prostate cancer who previously had to choose between aggressive treatment and active surveillance may have a new option: focal laser ablation.
As baby boomers age and the number of people with serious chronic illnesses continues to rise, the demand for experts in palliative medicine is sure to outstrip the supply, according to a perspective published in The New England Journal of Medicine.
A series of microRNA expression signatures that may help to define progression of the precancerous condition Barrett’s esophagus into esophageal adenocarcinoma was reported recently in Cancer Prevention Research.
In a new study, researchers noted an overall 70% reduction of advanced colorectal cancer diagnoses associated with receiving a screening colonoscopy.
New results from a prospective clinical trial conducted in France show that children with low-risk retinoblastoma do not need adjuvant chemotherapy to prevent disease recurrence or metastasis.
Zora Brown, a trustee for the AACR Foundation for the Prevention and Cure of Cancer, a breast and ovarian cancer survivor, and a pioneering advocate for cancer research and breast cancer awareness among minorities, has died at age 63.
A new study has found that nearly one in four women newly diagnosed with breast cancer reported symptoms consistent with post-traumatic stress disorder shortly after diagnosis.
A recent study found that healthy adolescent females have predetermined expectations for becoming parents in the future, but have concerns about fertility and childbearing should they develop cancer.
A study of older patients with advanced head and neck cancers has found that where they were treated significantly influenced their survival.
Royal Philips Electronics announced that it has received 510(k) clearance from the FDA for its MicroDose SI system, a full-field digital mammography system that enables clinicians to conduct exams using low-dose radiation without compromising image quality.
Researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center have successfully infused large numbers of donor-derived, WT1-specific T cells in order to prolong survival in high-risk and relapsed leukemia patients after stem cell transplantation.
According to recently published data, an increasing BMI was associated with a higher risk for colorectal cancer with a specific molecular characteristic, and inversely, physical activity was linked to a decreased risk for that same cancer.
Self-identified smokers directly connected to a tobacco cessation quit line are 13 times more likely to enroll in a treatment program as compared to smokers who are handed a quit line referral card and encouraged to call on their own, according to a new study.
A new study suggests that the majority of women undergoing breast cancer operations worry about lymphedema and that this fear far exceeds their actual risk of developing this incurable condition.
The FDA has expanded the approved use of regorafenib to treat patients with metastatic or unresectable GIST that is no longer responding to imatinib or sunitinib.
The FDA approved ado-trastuzumab emtansine (Kadcyla) for patients with HER2-positive, metastatic breast cancer who were previously treated with trastuzumab (Herceptin) and taxane chemotherapy.
An international research team has identified variations in four genes that are linked to an increased risk of colorectal cancer.
The Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences Foundation has announced the recipients of its inaugural Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences, recognizing excellends in research aimed at curing intractable diseases and extending human life.
A new drug combination shows promise in reducing the risk for patients with advanced oral precancerous lesions to develop squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.
The experimental drug selumetinib may allow some patients with advanced thyroid cancer to overcome resistance to radioiodine, the most effective therapy for the disease, according to new research from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.
Castle Biosciences, Inc, announced the launch of MyUvealMelanoma.com, a website created to educate newly diagnosed patients, their families, and health-care providers about uveal melanoma, the most common form of eye cancer.
While advancements in cancer treatment over the last several decades have improved patient survival rates for certain cancers, some patients remain at risk of developing treatment-related leukemia, according to results of a study published in Blood.
A phase II clinical trial by the National Cancer Institute's Gynecological Oncology Group provides the first evidence of a drug that shows a relatively high response rate for patients with low-grade serous ovarian cancer.
The American Association for Cancer Research hosted a briefing on February 12 for members of Congress and their legislative staffs that highlighted progress in cancer research and treatment as well as challenges created by decreased levels of funding.
A new, large-scale study of triple-negative breast cancer shows that small molecules called microRNA can be used to define four subtypes of this aggressive malignancy.
The FDA has approved polamidomide (Pomalyst) for the treatment of patients with multiple myeloma whose disease has progressed after being treated with at least two prior therapies.
A novel combination of the investigational agent ibrutinib and bortezomib could potentially be an effective new therapy for several forms of blood cancer, including diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and mantle cell lymphoma.
Researchers have pinpointed mutations that lead to drug resistance and relapse in acute lymphoblastic leukemia, the first time anyone has linked the disease’s reemergence to specific genetic anomalies.
Patients with advanced, recurrent, or persistent cervical cancer that was not curable with standard treatment who received the bevacizumab lived 3.7 months longer than patients who did not receive the drug, according to an interim analysis of a large, randomized clinical trial.
In a major breakthrough for uterine serous carcinoma (USC), a chemoresistant, aggressive form of endometrial cancer, Yale researchers have defined the genetic landscape of USC tumors, findings that point to new treatment opportunities.
A protein associated with conditions of metabolic imbalance, such as diabetes and obesity, may play a role in the development of aggressive forms of breast cancer, according to new findings by researchers at the NCI.
Researchers found that giving patients with lymphoma high doses of vorinostat in combination with another round of commonly used second-line drugs resulted in a 70% response rate, including several patients whose lymphoma cells disappeared entirely.
The FDA has approved the first generic version of liposomal doxorubicin injection (Doxil), which is currently on the FDA’s drug shortage list.
Patients with early-stage breast cancer who were treated with lumpectomy plus radiation may have a better chance of survival compared with those who underwent mastectomy, according to a study recently published in Cancer.
Qigong, an ancient mind-body practice, reduces depressive symptoms and imrpoves quality of life in women undergoing radiotherapy for breast cancer, according to a recently published study in Cancer.
Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation has introduced a new Centers of Excellence program, which will fund the research of leading childhood cancer institutions committed to developing and conducting early-phase clinical trials. Three institutions have been awarded funding of $350,000 per year, renewable annually for up to 5 years for a total of $1.75 million.
The FDA has approved a new use of imatinib (Gleevec) to treat children newly diagnosed with Philadelphia chromosome–positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).
The FDA recently approved bevacizumab (Avastin) for use in combination with fluoropyrimidine-irinotecan or fluoropyrimidine-oxaliplatin based chemotherapy for the treatment of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer whose disease has progressed on a first-line bevacizumab-containing regimen.
A team of researchers at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and University Hospitals Case Medical Center, and collaborators at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and Erasmus Medical Center, have discovered a gene variant that drives the spread of aggressive breast cancer.
Compared to gemcitabine alone, nab-paclitaxel plus gemcitabine was superior to gemcitabine alone with statistically significant and clinically meaningful results across primary and key secondary endpoints and patient subgroups.
Researchers at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital have identified new genetic defects in high-risk childhood leukemia subtypes with chromosomal loss and evidence that some patients have an inherited cancer syndrome.
Scientists may be able to better predict which patients with colorectal cancer will respond to chemotherapy using a new mathematical model that measures the amount of stress required for a cancer cell to die without harming healthy tissue.
Patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) have improved survival outcomes if they are taking beta-blockers while receiving radiotherapy, according to a study of 722 patients recently published in Annals of Oncology.
Ezatiostat hydrochloride has been granted orphan drug designation by the FDA for the treatment of myelodysplastic syndrome.
The Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer, 1975–2009, shows that overall cancer death rates continued to decline in the United States among both men and women, among all major racial and ethnic groups, and for all of the most common cancer sites, including lung, colon and rectum, female breast, and prostate.
The recently approved MarginProbe System will significantly improve surgeons' ability to intraoperatively identify "cancer on the margin" and significantly reduce pathologically positive margins following a patient's initial lumpectomy surgery.
