All News

BERLIN-Panitumumab (Vectibix), in combination with FOLFIRI as second-line treatment, significantly improved progression-free survival compared to FOLFIRI alone in patients with KRAS wild-type metastatic colorectal cancer, according to study results that will be presented at ESMO 2009 (see Table). However median overall survival did not achieve statistical significance in the study arm.

Pattern analyses reveal clues to better patient management

Bevacizumab (Avastin) alone or in combination with irinotecan, was well tolerated and active in recurrent glioblastoma, according to phase II trial results. The multicenter, open-label, noncomparative trial evaluated 167 patients randomly assigned to receive bevacizumab (10 mg/kg) alone or in combination with irinotecan (340 mg/m2 or 125 mg/m2), with or without concomitant enzyme-inducing antiepileptic drugs, respectively, once every two weeks.

The risks associated with neoadjuvant hormonal therapy may outweigh the benefits of its use in conjunction with brachytherapy in some older men with prostate cancer, according to research from the radiation oncology program at Boston’s Harvard Medical School.

Biopharmaceutical company Micromet closed $80.5 million in funding last month after a public offering of 14 million shares of common stock. Earlier in the year, the company raised $40 million.

More than a decade has passed since the FDA approved the first pill to fight cancer. Designed to battle metastatic colorectal cancer, capecitabine (Xeloda) marked a significant change in chemotherapy, untethering some cancer patients from office-based intravenous drug infusions. Other such drugs have since been commercially released, including temozolomide (Temodar) and imatinib (Gleevec), but the reimbursement system in this country has failed to keep up.

With the availability of newer drugs for treating multiple myeloma, such as proteosome inhibitors and immunomodulatory drugs (IMiDs), outcomes and depth of response are steadily improving. These developments have led to a debate about whether high-dose chemotherapy and autologous stem cell transplant should still be considered first-line therapy or whether newer drug regimens should replace transplant.

The NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology for the Prevention and Treatment of Cancer-Related Infections has been updated to include information about the effect that the H1N1 virus may have on the diagnosis and treatment of cancer treatment-related infections.

Most melanomas are found during complete skin exams of patients who came to see a physician for different complaints, according to a study in the Archives of Dermatology.

Megadollar centers give way to smaller, cheaper machines

TAMPA, Fla.-Genotyping could become a pivotal part of an individualized treatment program for cancer patients because some patients seem more susceptible to pain than others, according to research presented at the 2009 American Society of Preventive Oncology meeting.

As a young candy striper at a Los Angeles hospital, lymphoma researcher Alexandra M. Levine, MD, MACP, experienced a portentous moment, although she didn’t necessarily realize it at the time. An older patient, feeling alone and lonely, waved the teenager to his bedside for a chat and she obliged. “He thanked me profusely for having helped him,” she said. “I didn’t understand what I had done, but it was one of those moments that was huge.”

Native to Asia, ginger has many traditional uses. Current scientific evidence supports use of ginger for nausea and vomiting-clinical trials substantiate ginger’s effectiveness against nausea and vomiting associated with pregnancy, motion sickness, and postsurgery. A few studies of ginger for chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting yielded conflicting data, but a recent controlled trial demonstrates that ginger significantly reduces nausea and vomiting during the first day of chemotherapy.

Ovarian malignancies are a leading cause of cancer death in women because they are usually detected in the late stages when the disease is incurable. Encouraging new research presented by Abbott at the American Association for Clinical Chemistry annual meeting,

Common variants of the gene that determines human blood type are associated with an increased risk of pancreatic cancer, according to a study by scientists at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and colleagues from many universities and research institutions. The study, published online August 2, 2009, in Nature Genetics, is consistent with an observation first made more than 50 years ago.

E-Updates in the Adjuvant Treatment of Breast Cancer, Volume 2Updates on Chemotherapeutic Options and Targeted Therapies

Running a successful oncology practice requires you to be one part doctor, one part CEO. After all, your practice demands a skilled combination of high-quality patient care and business acumen. And with countless office procedures and mountains of paperwork involved, your practice also requires that you pay close attention to even the smallest details, which means that you must also serve as an auditor and a chief financial officer. The survival of the practice, like the quality of the care you deliver, rests in the details.

Researchers at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland have built a mathematical model to determine the role of PTEN protein expression on resistance to trastuzumab (Herceptin).

Patient selection criteria and best practices for the use of accelerated partial breast irradiation, outside of a clinical trial, are covered by the American Society of Radiation Oncology in a consensus statement.

Cancer researchers and compliance officials agree that patients enrolled in clinical trials are entitled to a high level of privacy protection, but there is significant tension between the two groups over how HIPAA rules should be implemented, according to the results of a survey by the ASCO Cancer Research Committee.

PHOENIX-Locoregional nodal relapse is very common in adenocarcinoma of the stomach, even after surgery, and this high failure rate has been used to justify additional therapies to improve outcomes.

CHICAGO-Biology and biography were the buzzwords at a panel convened on cancer nutrition at the 2009 Nutrition and Health Conference: State of the Science and Clinical Applications. Panel members offered a primer on the various nutrition strategies that are available to cancer patients.

President Barack Obama has pledged government transparency of his administration. His newly appointed FDA commissioner, Margaret A. Hamburg, MD, has taken up that call, promising a wider view into an entity that has often been perceived as inaccessible. “Over the years, the FDA has been referred to as a ‘black box’ that makes important decisions without explaining them,” Dr. Hamburg said recently.

ANAHEIM, CALIF.-Siemens Healthcare unveiled the IM-Real ART Solution, a real-time planning system that produces images in 10 minutes or less, at the 2009 American Association of Physicists in Medicine meeting.

The FDA is reviewing Eisai Corporation of North America’s supplemental new drug application for Dacogen (decitabine for injection). The review is for an alternative five-day dosing regimen to treat patients with myelodysplastic syndromes.

Yaupon Therapeutics has completed enrollment for the second phase of its trial for Clearazide for early-stage cutaneous T-cell lymphoma.

The addition of zoledronic acid (Zometa) increases overall survival in lung cancer patients with bone metastases, according to researchers at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and G. Papanikolaou Hospital in Greece.

Routine surgery to remove the primary tumor in patients with unresectable colon metastases is no longer necessary, according to a group at New York’s Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. They based their decision on six years of clinical experience at their institution and reported on them at ASCO 2009.

Identify theft is one of the country’s fastest growing crimes. Half of the annual 8.3 million identity thefts occur in the workplace, and medical practices are no exception, according to the Federal Trade Commission. Medical records are rich in information, such as a patient’s Social Security number, date of birth, credit card numbers, and insurance information, which can be misused for financial gain and for medical fraud.

A prominent Danish researcher is continuing to question the value of screening mammography, reporting that one in three breast cancers is overdiagnosed.