Shalmali Pal

Coverage in most countries is universal, but limited resources can sometimes hinder how much coverage a person can expect.

A medical oncologist, a radiation oncologist, and a surgeon share pearls and pitfalls in their specialized approaches to managing recurrent disease.

PET paired with a variety of radiotracers offers insights into the metabolic, DNA, and protein pathways.

An increasing number of women diagnosed with breast cancer chose to undergo contralateral prophylactic mastectomy, but this option only showed a real survival benefit in women who met certain criteria in terms of age, disease stage, and disease status.

The low-cost imaging technique has value for determining the relative aggressiveness of inflammatory and advanced disease.

A weekly course of paclitaxel has proved itself effective in breast cancer and is feasible in ovarian cancer as well. But questions remain as to the actual benefits of a shorter treatment course.

Pretreated patients with metastatic gastric cancer experienced a boost in overall survival after treatment with everolimus (Afinitor), according to the results of a phase II trial presented at the 2010 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium.

Study in Asian population runs counter to previous concern that phytoestrogen in soy may increase disease risk.

Study pinpoints factors that put post-transplant patients at risk for non-melanoma skin cancers.

Also, French surgical oncologists discuss their experience with treament of heterogenous Merkel cell carcinoma.

Fulvestrant-anastrozole combination did not demonstrate advantage despite a better dose loading schedule and compelling preclinical data.

The U.S. Radiation Therapy Oncology Group has greenlighted the routine use of SBRT, but physicians overseas call for more scientific evidence to support its widespread use.

Modeling study calculates that the adoption of proton therapy is possible if it is based on clinical evidence and not market forces.

Investigators from the Breast International Group 1-98 study and the Intergroup Exemestane Study updated their respective trial results at SABCS 2009.

A 30-year study of nearly 20,000 Danish women made a defensible connection between obesity and poor prognosis after breast cancer diagnosis and treatment.

Fluorouracil, oxaliplatin (Eloxatin), and bevacizumab (Avastin) for first-line therapy is preferred in metastatic colon cancer.

Many women continue to experience pain and sensory disturbance up to three years after breast cancer treatment, according to Danish researchers, who found that younger women in particular reported persistent pain. They called for further strategies for improving pain management after breast surgery.

Renal cell carcinoma represents 3% of all cancer cases but has a significant death rate associated with it: It’s estimated that there will be 60,000 new cases this year and 16,000 deaths from kidney cancer. The risk factors associated with kidney cancer include smoking, obesity, hypertension, and some occupational exposure.

Despite a better dose loading schedule and compelling preclinical data, the combination of fulvestrant and anastrozole did not demonstrate any advantage in first relapse of hormone receptor-positive breast cancer, according to first results from the FACT trial.

Researchers in Taiwan and China found that alternating mammography and ultrasound led to a higher cancer detection rate in women aged 40-49. Meanwhile in the UK, a group from West Midlands Research Collaborative have made a case for starting screening at age 40 in certain ethnic groups. Finally, German investigators assessed the value of semi-annual ultrasound exams in high-risk women.

Along with many other health issues, obese breast cancer patients face a particularly grim prognosis, with an amplified risk of recurrence and an increased risk of dying of the disease, according to results from a long-term, large-scale study in a Danish population. The researchers also noted that a larger body habitus negatively impacted treatment results.

Exemestane alone and exemestane following tamoxifen, are equally appropriate treatment options, according to results from TEAM, the first trial prospectively powered to test the superiority of five years of aromatase inhibitors compared with a specific sequential strategy in postmenopausal women with endocrine-sensitive breast cancer.

SAN ANTONIO-Options for breast cancer prevention range from “noninvasive” lifestyle changes (diet, nutrition, exercise) to more radical surgical approaches. During an SABCS 2009 educational session, Judy Garber, MD, from Boston’s Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, outlined some of the advances in chemoprevention of ER-negative/HER2-positive breast cancers.

SAN ANTONIO-Investigators from Breast International Group 1-98 study and the Intergroup Exemestane Study updated their respective trial results at SABCS 2009. From the BIG 1-98 data, letrozole continued to show survival advantage, while exemestane offered protective benefits, based on IES study results.

SAN ANTONIO, TEX.-Clinical updates on the mother of all monoclonal antibodies and the link between bone and breast health will be ones-to-watch at SABCS 2009. Peter Ravdin, MD, PhD, shared his presentation picks at this year’s meeting with Oncology News International. Dr. Ravdin is on the SABCS executive committee and is based at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio.

NEW ORLEANS-The scientific program sessions are a unique offering at ASH, with an agenda that varies from the overall meeting. First, the speakers are invited to share their particular expertise with ASH attendees. Also, the abstracts are not peer-reviewed but are crafted specifically for the meeting.

Owen Witte, MD, has been a California resident for nearly 35 years, but there’s nothing laid-back about him. The director of the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research retains the rapid fire speech of a native New Yorker. Although it was getting toward late afternoon when Dr. Witte met with Oncology News International, he ushered a steady stream of visitors into and out of his office at the University of California, Los Angeles. When he spoke about his work, it was with the same energy that no doubt drew him to science in the first place.

BERLIN-A pair of colon cancer trials using panitumumab (Vectibix) not only proved the efficacy of the drug in patients with nonmutated KRAS but also highlighted the importance of ascertaining KRAS status. Trial 181 evaluated panitumumab in combination with FOLFIRI as a second-line treatment for metastatic colorectal cancer, while trial 203 paired the anti-EGFR agent with FOLFOX4 as first-line treatment.

Cannabinoids, which are a byproduct of marijuana smoke, have been recognized to have potential antitumor properties, but evidence of a relationship between marijuana use and the induction of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma has been inconsistent.

Head and neck patients who undergo surgery first are more likely to complete radiation therapy, according to Seattle-based researchers. Megan Dann Fesinmeyer, PhD, MPH, and colleagues noted that radiation dose and treatment duration correlated with tumor control and survival, but that breaks in radiotherapy have been associated with inferior tumor control.