2016 August

Advances in the computerization of the imaging, blood flow, and tumor measures of exact volume and vessel density are now less operator dependent. That provides for an accurate and repeatable diagnosis, and a means to follow the individual patient’s unique pattern of cancer development, progress, and response to treatment.

Combined inhibition of the PD-L1/PD-1 axis with atezolizumab (Tecentriq) and the MEK pathway with cobimetinib (Cotellic) showed promising clinical activity and a good safety profile in heavily pretreated patients with microsatellite stable (MSS) metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC), according to findings from a phase 1b study presented at the 2016 World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer.

Pembrolizumab (Keytruda) demonstrated promising antitumor activity with durable responses in patients with advanced thyroid cancer, according to results from the KEYNOTE-028 trial presented at the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting. The overall response rate (ORR) with the PD-1 inhibitor was 9.1%, which included 2 partial responses (PR).

MABp1 (Xilonix), a novel anti–interleukin 1-alpha (IL-1α) antibody, was safe and well tolerated, and demonstrated a significant impact on symptoms, compared with placebo, for patients with advanced colorectal cancer (CRC), according to findings from a phase III study presented at the 2016 World Congress of Gastrointestinal Cancer.

This article reviews some of the concepts surrounding the diagnosis of multiple myeloma are still evolving, and are thus shaping how we see and manage multiple myeloma - hopefully moving slowly but surely toward its elusive cure.

To determine the frequency and clinical characteristics of parotid gland metastasis from nasopharyngeal cancer and oropharyngeal cancer and define criteria for elective inclusion of parotidean nodes in the radiotherapy clinical target volume.