April 11th 2024
Combining rintatolimod with pembrolizumab may confer a synergistic effect in patients with recurrent ovarian cancer.
Equalizing Inequities™ in Multiple Myeloma Care: Shining a Light on Current Barriers and Opportunities for Improved Outcomes
View More
Community Practice Connections™: 14th Annual International Symposium on Ovarian Cancer and Other Gynecologic Malignancies
View More
Medical Crossfire®: How Do Clinicians Integrate the Latest Evidence in Treating Ovarian Cancer to Personalize Care?
View More
Medical Crossfire®: Where Are We in the World of ADCs? From HER2 to CEACAM5, TROP2, HER3, CDH6, B7H3, c-MET and Beyond!
View More
Community Oncology Connections™: Overcoming Barriers to Testing, Trial Access, and Equitable Care in Cancer
View More
Community Practice Connections™: 5th Annual Precision Medicine Symposium – An Illustrated Tumor Board
View More
HPV Signal Protein p16 Clears Up Cloudy Images in Cervical Cancer Cytology
July 21st 2010Human papilloma virus often lurks in cervical tissue, and it can cause cancer there. But the infection is also often benign, particularly among young women. Biomarkers of transformation are proving useful in helping cytologists to decide when a suspicious-looking Pap result is truly a sign of trouble.
Ovarian Cancer Care: It’s Time for “Personalized” Approaches
July 15th 2010As outlined in the excellent, comprehensive review by Drs. Liu and Matulonis, ovarian cancer is the most lethal gynecologic malignancy in the United States, with approximately 16,000 deaths and 22,000 new cases yearly.[1] The vast majority of patients present with intra-abdominal spread of disease at the time of diagnosis, resulting in low overall cure rates. As outlined, patients are primarily managed with primary surgical resection and subsequent platinum-based chemotherapy.
New Advances in Ovarian Cancer
July 15th 2010Epithelial ovarian cancer is the leading cause of death from gynecologic malignancy in the United States, with approximately 15,000 deaths per year. Platinum/taxane doublets have long been considered the standard treatment regimen for advanced-stage disease; however, recent studies have sought to improve on the outcome from this therapy. Intraperitoneal (IP) chemotherapy has been shown to yield superior progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS); however, logistical problems and toxicities have limited more widespread adoption. Recent studies have also suggested that a “dose-dense” schedule of paclitaxel in combination with carboplatin may result in improved outcomes, and the impact of biological therapies in the first-line setting is under active investigation. In the setting of recurrent disease, preliminary results suggest that novel doublet regimens such as carboplatin and pegylated liposomal doxorubicin may have similar activity to standard platinum/taxane doublets while carrying a reduced risk of allergic reactions. Additionally, targeted therapy remains an active area of investigation, with evidence of activity from agents such as PARP inhibitors, anti-angiogenics, and PI3 kinase inhibitors. Here, we review recent advances in our understanding of ovarian cancer and its treatment in both the newly diagnosed and recurrent settings.
Challenges to the Paclitaxel/Carboplatin Algorithm in Ovarian Cancer Treatment
July 15th 2010After years of maintaining the status quo in ovarian cancer treatment, a number of recent advances have challenged the paradigm based on intravenous (IV) taxane and platinum as the therapy of choice for advanced ovarian cancer. These new data are summarized concisely by Liu and Matulonis in this issue.
SGO survey offers snapshot of gynecologic oncology
July 14th 2010The Society of Gynecologic Oncologists conducted a demographic and practice survey and found that their members are shifting away from private practice into salaried positions. The survey also found an increase in the number of group or multispecialty practices.
Ovarian Cancer Screening Tool, ROCA, Yields Promising Results
June 15th 2010Postmenopausal women at average risk of ovarian cancer may benefit from ROCA (Risk of Ovarian Cancer Algorithm), a new ovarian cancer screening strategy that combines information about trends in CA-125 blood test results and age, followed by transvaginal ultrasound (TVU) as needed and referral to a gynecologic oncologist. Results of a prospective multicenter trial of ROCA were reported at the 44th annual meeting of ASCO (abstract 5003). Results of ROCA testing were used to categorize women as low risk (requiring a repeat CA-125 test in 1 year); intermediate risk (repeat CA-125 test in 3 months); or high risk (TVU and referral to a gynecologic oncologist, who decides, based on clinical findings and the TVU result, whether the patient needs to undergo surgery).
Cancer Management Chapter 17: Cervical cancer
March 8th 2010Of the predominant gynecologic cancers, cancer of the uterine cervix is the least common, with only 11,270 new cases anticipated in the United States in 2009. Nevertheless, approximately 4,070 women die of cancer of the uterine cervix annually in the United States.
FDA Approves Cervical Cancer Vaccine
November 10th 2009The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved GlaxoSmithKline’s human papillomavirus bivalent (types 16 and 18) vaccine, recombinant (Cervarix) for the prevention of cervical precancers and cervical cancer associated with oncogenic human papillomavirus (HPV) types 16 and 18 for use in girls and young women (aged 10–25).
SGO White Paper Explores HPV Vaccine’s Impact on Cervical Cancer Prevention
September 11th 2009The Society of Gynecologic Oncologists (SGO) has published the first in a series of four papers on a variety of cervical cancer issues and topics that were the focus of its Forum “The Future Strategies for Cervical Cancer Prevention: What Do We Need to Do Now to Prepare,” held last September in Chicago.
Cervical Cancer Vaccine Proves Highly Effective in Recently Published Landmark Study
September 11th 2009The final analysis of the largest efficacy trial of a cervical cancer vaccine was published July 25, 2009, in The Lancet. The study, involving 18,644 women, confirmed GlaxoSmithKline’s Cervarix is highly effective at protecting against the two most common cervical cancer–causing human papillomavirus (HPV) types, 16 and 18. The study also showed that the vaccine provides cross-protection against HPV types 31, 33, and 45, the three most common cancer-causing virus types beyond 16 and 18.
The Role of Adjuvant Radiation in Endometrial Cancer
April 10th 2009Endometrial cancer is the most common gynecologic malignancy, with an estimated 40,100 cases and 7,470 deaths in 2008. This malignancy represents 6% of all cancers, and 3% of cancer deaths in women. Endometrial cancer is more prevalent in older women, with an incidence of 1 in 142 for women 40 to 59 years old, increasing to 1 in 81 women over 70 years old.[1] Median age at diagnosis is 62.[2] The mortality of endometrial cancer has decreased from 4.18 to 4.12 per 100,000 from 1991 to 2004.
Resolving the Confusion Surrounding Adjuvant Radiation in Endometrial Cancer
April 10th 2009Published analyses combining groups of patients with different risk profiles have created confusion surrounding patient selection for adjuvant treatment after surgery for endometrial cancer. As a result, no randomized trial has demonstrated a survival benefit with the addition of adjuvant radiation
Landmark Study Shows HPV Testing Significantly Reduces Deaths from Cervical Cancer
April 10th 2009Results from an 8-year trial involving more than 130,000 women published in The New England Journal of Medicine (360:1385-1394, 2009) demonstrate that in low-resource settings, a single round of human papillomavirus (HPV) testing significantly reduces the numbers of advanced cervical cancers and deaths, compared with Pap testing or visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA). This was the first randomized controlled trial to measure incidence of cervical cancer and associated rates of death as the primary outcomes, using different tools for screening.
Functional MRI boosts early staging of cervical cancer
March 23rd 2009Diffusion-weighted MRI added to standard T2-weighted scans can help spot cervical cancer in its early stages. A preliminary study from the Institute of Cancer Research in London determined that DWI can spot tumors missed by T2 imaging and bolster management options for women who wish to preserve reproductive organs.
Robotic, Laparoscopic Surgery Compared in Endometrial Cancer
March 16th 2009Patients with endometrial cancer who have minimally invasive robotic-assisted hysterectomies tend to have quicker surgeries and shorter hospital stays compared with patients who have similar laparoscopic surgical procedures, according to new research from The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer–James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute.
21st Century Challenge of Ovarian Cancer in the Elderly
December 1st 2008Given that in the 21st century many believe 70 years of age is the new 60 and 80 years of age is the new 70, any article on ovarian cancer in the elderly depends on one’s definition of elderly. To put this in a 21st century perspective, in a thoughtful article on aging in The New Yorker (“The Way We Age Now,” April 30, 2007), Atul Gawande points out, “for most of our hundred-thousand-year existence-all but the past couple of hundred years-the average life span of human beings has been 30 years or less (research suggests that subjects of the Roman Empire had an average life expectancy of 28 years).
What Is the Role of Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy in the Management of Ovarian Cancer?
September 2nd 2008Conventional therapy for advanced-stage ovarian cancer-ie, aggressive cytoreductive surgery followed by aggressive chemotherapy-was established more than 3 decades ago [Editor’s note: See Dr. Schwartz’s article, “Cytoreductive Surgery in the Management of Ovarian Cancer,” in last month’s issue of ONCOLOGY]. Since that time, no prospective randomized trials have been reported to confirm the efficacy of this treatment strategy.
Cytoreductive Surgery in the Management of Ovarian Cancer
August 1st 2008The standard management for advanced-stage ovarian cancer was established in the mid-1970s. At a 1974 National Cancer Institute Consensus Conference on Ovarian Cancer, Griffiths presented data supporting the role for aggressive cytoreductive surgery as the first step in the management of this disease, followed by cytotoxic chemotherapy.