Karen Sandrick

VIENNA-Image-guided intensity-modulated radiotherapy, high-intensity focused ultrasound, and cryotherapy are increasing the curative treatment options for men with prostate cancer. The problem is how to determine which patients are most suitable for these therapies.

CHICAGO-Serious and fatal drug reactions tripled between 1998 and 2005, according to a 2007 FDA analysis. In that time period, the total number of serious adverse drug events multiplied 4 times faster than the number of prescriptions written. The number of serious drug reactions for biotechnology agents rose nearly 18-fold (T Moore et al: Analysis of FDA reported post marketing ADR database, Arch Intern Med 167:1752-1759, 2007).

When laboratory tests are inaccurate or misinterpreted, patients may receive costly targeted drugs that provide no benefit. If the medical community doesn’t resolve the problem, payers will take action on their own.

The difficulty of manufacturing new chemotherapeutic agents-particularly specially formulated biologic cytotoxins-escalates the financial outlay that must be made by physicians as well as driving up the cost of drug delivery to patients, said Howard A. Burris III, MD, chief medical officer and director of drug development at the Sarah Cannon Research Institute and associate with Tennessee Oncology, both in Nashville.

NEW ORLEANS-Molecular imaging is rapidly advancing as a biomedical modality that increases the understanding of underlying cellular mechanics and dynamics and adds a new dimension to the diagnosis and treatment of disease. It may be a sensitive and specific method for evaluating cancer by measuring the expression of genes that trigger oncogenesis and stratifying tumors on the basis of their biological characteristics