Web-Based Tool for Symptom Reporting Leads to Longer Survival in Advanced Cancer Patients
June 16th 2017Patients receiving treatment for metastatic cancer who used a web-based tool to report their symptoms either while at home or during clinic visits lived on average 5 months longer than their counterparts who had standard symptom monitoring.
Responses Stimulated Across All Tumor Types Harboring TRK Fusions With Larotrectinib
June 6th 2017Larotrectinib (LOXO-101), the novel pan-TRK inhibitor, induced responses in 3 out of 4 patients with a <em>TRK</em> fusion–positive solid tumor, according to findings presented in a press conference June 3 at the 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting.
FDA Grants Approval to Co-Packaging of Ribociclib With Letrozole for Metastatic Breast Cancer
May 10th 2017The FDA has given its approval to co-packaging of the oral medications ribociclib (Kisqali) and letrozole (Femara) for the treatment of postmenopausal women with HR-positive, HER2-negative advanced breast cancer.
Encouraging Early Signal Seen With Addition of Coxsackievirus to Ipilimumab in Melanoma
April 7th 2017Adding a formulation of the Coxsackievirus A21 to ipilimumab yielded an overall response rate of 50% and was well-tolerated in immunotherapy-naïve and pretreated patients with advanced melanoma.
Five-Year Survival Rate 16% With Nivolumab in NSCLC, Follow-Up Data Shows
April 6th 2017According to 5-year follow-up data from the CA209-003 study, long-term survival in patients with metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who received the immune checkpoint inhibitor nivolumab (Opdivo) has proven to be much higher than expected, with 16% of patients surviving after 5 years.
TTFields Significantly Improve Survival in GBM
April 5th 2017A landmark analysis of findings from the EF-14 trial testing the efficacy and safety of tumor treating fields for the treatment of patients with glioblastoma multiforme has found that the risk of death was reduced by 37% and overall survival was extended by a median of 5 months with the use of the device.
Brentuximab Vedotin Benefits Offset Risk of Peripheral Neuropathy, Patients Say
April 3rd 2017Patients with lymphoma who are treated with brentuximab vedotin often experience peripheral neuropathy as an adverse event and potentially dose-limiting toxicity. A novel study has shown that, despite the prevalence of this toxicity, these patients report that the better outcomes yielded from treatment with brentuximab vedotin outweigh the risk of neuropathy.
Researchers Identify Benefits of Stepped Psychosocial Support in Head and Neck Cancer
March 21st 2017Researchers in the Netherlands have found that using a gradual or “stepped” approach to providing psychosocial support for patients diagnosed with head and neck or lung cancers not only improves their quality of life but is also cost-effective.
Scalp Cooling Devices Safe and Effective to Use for Patients Receiving Chemotherapy
December 10th 2016Findings from the first prospective, randomized clinical trial to evaluate modern scalp-cooling demonstrate that the system is safe and effective in reducing hair loss in women being treated with chemotherapy for their breast cancer, especially for those on taxane-based regimens.
Vadastuximab Talirine Shows Early Signs of Efficacy in Patients With AML
December 5th 2016With treatment for newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia remaining essentially unchanged over the last 4 decades, researchers are hopeful that the addition of the investigational agent vadastuximab talirine to standard 7+3 induction therapy may improve survival for these patients.
CPX-351 Before Transplant Improves Survival for Older Patients With AML
December 4th 2016An exploratory subgroup analysis of older patients with high-risk acute myeloid leukemia who took the liposomal formulation CPX-351 (Vyxeos) before allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation demonstrated that the drug improves overall survival and reduces the risk of early death.
Individualized Approaches Recommended to Treat Elderly Patients with Localized HNSCC, Says Porceddu
July 27th 2016Although paradigms for treating older patients with head and neck cancer are not well defined, advancements in targeted and immunotherapies and less toxic radiation regimens suggest that physicians can aim for a more individualized approach to treating this patient population.
CDK4/6 Inhibitors Expanding Treatment Options for ER+ Metastatic Breast Cancer
July 24th 2016More options are now available for combining and sequencing therapy for patients with estrogen (ER)–positive metastatic breast cancer (mBC), including the deployment of CDK4/6 inhibitors, as clinicians endeavor to individualize the sequencing of therapies to improve patient outcomes, according to Maura N. Dickler, MD.
Neoadjuvant Studies Identifying Optimal Strategies for TNBC
July 23rd 2016A better understanding of how patients with triple-negative breast cancer respond to neoadjuvant therapy regimens is helping to further individualize therapy for patients while also informing treatment decisions in the adjuvant setting.
Crowdsourcing Tumor Samples Could Advance Metastatic Breast Cancer Treatments
June 17th 2016A new nationwide research project is encouraging patients to share tumor samples and clinical information with researchers in the hope that it will lead to discoveries for new and improved treatment options and, ultimately, a cure, for metastatic breast cancer.
Aromatase Inhibitor Extension to 10 Years Reduces HR-Positive Breast Cancer Recurrence
June 14th 2016Extending aromatase inhibitor (AI) treatment to 10 years post-treatment reduced the risk of recurrence in women with early-stage HR-positive breast cancer by more than a third. Findings of the MA.17R trial also showed that adjuvant therapy extension did not create any new toxicities or quality of life complications for patients.
Black Women Less Likely to Pursue BRCA Testing and Cancer Risk Reduction Measures
June 8th 2016Findings from a population-based study reported at the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting revealed that young black women with breast cancer are much less likely to undergo testing for the BRCA gene or to get risk reducing prophylactic mastectomy or salpingo-oophorectomy than other women.
Lu-Dotatate Continues to Offer Major Benefits to Patients With Midgut NETs
January 20th 2016Patients with advanced midgut neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) will continue to see major therapeutic benefits from the peptide receptor radionuclide therapy Lu-Dotatate (Lutathera), including an improvement in overall survival and the reduction of progression or death risk by 79%.
Survival Improved Over 10 Years With Breast-Conserving Therapy Versus Mastectomy
December 15th 2015Breast-conserving therapy (BCT) and radiation in early-stage breast cancer has been shown to give patients about a 20% better chance of survival over the course of 10 years, moreso than their counterparts who opted had mastectomy.
Denosumab Shows Survival Boost in Postmenopausal Women
December 11th 2015A follow-up benefits analysis of adding denosumab to aromatase inhibitor (AI) therapy shows the agent not only helps prevent fractures, it also reduces risk of recurrence and death in postmenopausal women with HR-positive breast cancer.
New Horizons in Treatment for Patients With Polycythemia Vera
November 5th 2015The news of a shifting landscape for the diagnosis and treatment of polycythemia vera (PV) is a good thing for patients and practitioners. The altered playing field means refined criteria for diagnosing symptomatic patients, identifying those at highest risk, and an impressive arsenal for treating a disease which carries such heavy symptom burdens.