April 27th 2024
A mobile app may help to expedite treatment and identification for patients with GVHD.
Equalizing Inequities™ in Multiple Myeloma Care: Shining a Light on Current Barriers and Opportunities for Improved Outcomes
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Patient, Provider, and Caregiver Connection: Addressing Pediatric and AYA Patient Concerns While Managing Hodgkin Lymphoma
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Patient, Provider, and Caregiver Connection™: Individualizing Care for Patients with Schizophrenia—Understanding Patient Challenges and the Role of Innovative Treatment
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B-Cell Tumor Board: Rendering Real World Personalized Treatment Plans in CLL/SLL and MCL Through the Lens of Emerging BTKi Evidence
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Applying New Evidence in Multiple Myeloma Care from Frontline to R/R Disease
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Community Oncology Connections™: Overcoming Barriers to Testing, Trial Access, and Equitable Care in Cancer
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Translating New Evidence into Treatment Algorithms from Frontline to R/R Multiple Myeloma: How the Experts Think & Treat
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Medical Crossfire: How Has Iron Supplementation Altered Treatment Planning for Patients with Cancer-Related Anemia?
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Medical Crossfire®: The Experts Bridge Recent Data in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia With Real-World Sequencing Questions
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Improving Outcomes in Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemias at the Intersection Between Hematology and Oncology Care
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Community Practice Connections™: 5th Annual Precision Medicine Symposium – An Illustrated Tumor Board
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Asparaginase Erwinia Chrysanthemi Gets FDA Approval for Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia
December 9th 2011The US Food and Drug Administration has approved asparaginase Erwinia chrysanthemi for the treatment of patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, who have developed hypersensitivity to E. coli derived asparaginase and pegaspargase chemotherapy.
Outcomes of Patients With MDS After Secondary Failure of Hypomethylating Drugs
December 3rd 2011Two recent reports show that the prognosis of MDS patients after secondary failure of hypomethylating drugs is poor, and switching from one failing hypomethylating drug to another cannot induce clinically significant responses.
Persistence of PTSD Highlighted in Large NHL Survivor Study
November 22nd 2011A survey of more than 500 long-term survivors of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) has revealed that more than one-third experience persistent or worsening symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), with nearly 4 of 10 cancer survivors stating they still experience symptoms of PTSD more than a decade after their cancer diagnosis.
MALT Lymphomas: Pathogenesis Can Drive Treatment
Marginal zone lymphoma of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma is an indolent B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma arising from the lymphoid tissue at extranodal sites.
Treatment-Related Adverse Events in Patients With Relapsed/Refractory Multiple Myeloma
November 15th 2011The rational development of novel targeted therapies is expanding treatment options for patients with relapsed/refractory (R/R) multiple myeloma (MM). The first-in-class proteasome inhibitor (PI) bortezomib (Velcade), the immunomodulatory agents thalidomide (Thalomid) and lenalidomide (Revlimid), and liposomal doxorubicin are currently the major approved therapeutic agents in this setting.[1]
Multiple Myeloma: A Clinical Overview
November 15th 2011Multiple myeloma (MM) is a malignant, progressive plasma cell tumor characterized by overproduction of monoclonal immunoglobulins, osteolytic bone lesions, renal disease, and immunodeficiency.[1] Before the 1980s, patients with MM experienced a slow, progressive decline in quality of life until death approximately 2 years after diagnosis.
Adoptive T-Cell Immunotherapy: One Step Forward
September 14th 2011A recent case report in the New England Journal of Medicine highlights the promising potentials of adoptive T-cell immunotherapy by redirecting them, through chimeric antigen receptors, as a novel and effective therapeutic modality for cancer.
FDA Approves Brentuximab Vedotin for Hodgkin Lymphoma and Systemic Anaplastic Large-Cell Lymphoma
August 25th 2011The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced last week the approval of brentuximab vedotin, a CD30-directed antibody drug-conjugate, for the treatment of refractory Hodgkin lymphoma and systemic anaplastic large-cell lymphoma.
Equine ATG as the First-Line Treatment for Aplastic Anemia
August 24th 2011Equine ATG has been used for the treatment of severe aplastic anemia since the 1980s. Rabbit ATG is used in many parts of the world including South America, Japan, and European countries. The results of a randomized study of equine versus rabbit ATG showed that rabbit ATG was inferior to equine ATG.
Surprising Success in Immunotherapy Treatment for Leukemia
August 22nd 2011Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have reported on the results of a trial in which a patient with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) experienced a complete remission after immunotherapy with tumor-reactive modified T cells.
Variants Identified, Associated with Second Malignant Neoplasms in Hodgkin’s Lymphoma
August 16th 2011Researchers at the University of Chicago and colleagues have identified two variants on chromosome 6q21 that are associated with second malignant neoplasms (SMNs) in survivors of pediatric Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The SMNs are linked to radiation therapy used to treat the pediatric cancer.
Treatment of Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia Without Cytotoxic Chemotherapy
July 15th 2011There has been dramatic progress in the management of acute promyelocytic leukemia during the past three decades. Important insights into the pathogenesis of the disease have come to light and effective treatment has been developed.
Who Knows How to Treat Systemic Light Chain Amyloidosis?
June 15th 2011A rarely noted aspect of the era of novel agents and explosive new knowledge in the clonal plasma cell diseases is how short the half-life of relevant information has become, and how this churning has challenged clinical thinking.
Treatment of Immunoglobulin Light Chain (Primary or AL) Amyloidosis
June 15th 2011This review of the various available options for the treatment of systemic amyloidosis is designed to help the clinician determine which patients are candidates for stem cell transplantation and which should be treated with conventional chemotherapy.
Novel Treatments and New Research in Hodgkin Lymphoma
June 9th 2011In this video interview, Joseph Connors gives an overview of the results presented here at ASCO of the phase II trial of brentuximab vedotin in patients with relapsed or refractory Hodgkin lymphoma, and discusses the most intriguing work currently being done with novel agents used to treat relapsed or refractory Hodgkin lymphoma.
Tricking or Treating Myelodysplastic Syndromes
May 13th 2011The myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are a heterogeneous spectrum of clonal hematopoietic diseases characterized by bone marrow hypercellularity, dysplasia of cellular elements, and consequent inadequate hematopoiesis, with resultant peripheral blood cytopenias.
The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same
April 15th 2011About 35 years ago, I encountered several children and adolescents with acute lymphoblastic leukemia or widespread non-Hodgkin lymphoma who presented with or who developed, upon initiation of therapy, severe renal and metabolic derangements.
E-Charts help track course of febrile events in hematology
December 30th 2010Computerized registry couldbe easily adopted in the U.S.,according to Italian developers. Developing a web-based registry amongcommunity oncologists may be usefulfor collecting significant informationabout febrile events in patients withhematologic malignancies.
Overview: Management of Treatable but Incurable Cancers
December 15th 2010The accurate and in-depth documentation of learning gaps is a fundamental aspect of developing continuing education activities. To obtain a better understanding of community-based medical oncology practice patterns, 43 oncologists within the United States were recruited to complete a traditional clinical case–based questionnaire and to contribute specific anonymous demographic and treatment information derived from their actual patients. This information was used to create a cross-sectional case database on two types of cancer in which major clinical advances have been reported in recent years - multiple myeloma and follicular lymphoma. These diseases also are similar in that most patients experience clinically meaningful benefits from systemic treatment but are unlikely to be cured by therapy. As further described in this and the subsequent two articles, this case-based series documents that (a) clinical research advances are being quickly implemented in daily patient care and that (b) although therapeutic strategies vary based on patient age, the short-term outcomes in terms of response to and tolerance of treatment are similar in younger and older patients.
Management of Follicular Lymphoma in the Up-Front and Relapsed Settings
December 15th 2010A number of recent treatment advances in the management of follicular lymphoma (FL), including the introduction of the anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody rituximab, have effectively shifted the primary therapeutic goal away from palliation and avoidance of toxicity toward the more proactive objective of extending survival. This paper reviews recent practice patterns in the broad context of the published findings from major phase III randomized trials; it documents potential gaps between trial results and actual practice, and the implications of these for continuing education of oncologists. Forty-three US-based community oncologists participated in a cross-sectional case survey during which 40 documented their management of 186 patients with newly diagnosed FL and 133 patients with relapsed FL, all of whom were treated after January 1, 2008. The findings from this initiative indicate that the majority of these patients did not have any major symptoms at presentation. Additionally, tolerance of and response to treatment, regardless of the regimen employed, were similar across the different age groups studied (<65, 65-74, ≥75 years). Therapies selected by the physicians surveyed in both the up-front and the relapsed settings broadly corresponded to the evidence-based published literature and were supported by treatment guidelines. In addition, a change in the proportional use of bendamustine/rituximab (BR) in the up-front treatment of FL from 2008 to 2010 was observed, suggesting that community oncologists are rapidly incorporating pivotal clinical trial results when deciding on individual patient management strategies.