All News

ORLANDO-In newly diagnosed, early chronic phase, Ph+ chronic myelogenous leukemia, nilotinib (Tasigna) quickly induced complete cytogenetic responses and was well tolerated, Jorge Cortes, MD, of M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, said at ASH 2007 (abstract 29).

In a landmark trial, DFMO plus sulindac reduced the risk of advanced adenomas by 92% in high-risk patients, with low toxicity.

In high-grade malignant glioma patients, functional diffusion maps showed tumor response to radiation therapy at 3 weeks after treatment initiation, compared with 10 weeks for traditional volumetric assessment of radiological response.

Putting fertility issues on the back burner should no longer be an option for oncologists who treat young adult cancer patients, especially as newer fertility preservation options become available, a number of reproductive medicine specialists told ONI.

The media played up the finding that colonoscopy may be missing so-called flat polyps, but a number of CT colonography experts interviewed by ONI see no need for panic.

A recent study in elderly breast cancer patients that linked earlier-stage disease, and possibly improved survival, with regular screening mammography is “fatally flawed” and “naïve,” according to some cancer screening experts.

SAN DIEGO-Presentations at AACR 2008 highlighted two new agents under development by Amgen with potential for use in treating colorectal cancer.

The care of cancer survivors is gaining new, much needed attention as the number of survivors in this country tops 11 million and there is recognition of the unique unmet needs of this group as a whole. In their article, Marcia Grant and Denise Economou trace the emergence of the cancer survivorship movement through private and federal agency reports and advocacy and service-based programs.

People living with cancer may experience nerve pain often described as tingling, burning, or numbness. Problems with coordination also may be present. These symptoms may be associated with a peripheral neuropathy. In this condition, nerves outside the brain and spinal cord have been damaged, often by the cancer treatments themselves.

Drug is a kinase inhibitor that blocks the action of mTOR (mammalian target of rapamycin). mTOR plays an important role in regulating key cellular functions, such as cell proliferation, survival, movement, and angiogenesis. It is part of the P13K (phosphoinositide 3-kinase)/Akt (protein kinase) signaling pathway which is often mutated in cancer. When mTOR is blocked, this leads to cell cycle arrest in the G1 phase of the cell cycle.

Students at Ivy Tech Community College-Bloomington will be the first in the nation to be offered a specialized training program in proton therapy.

Do all the bloody scenes from some of last year’s top-rated movies-There Will Be Blood, No Country for Old Men, Sweeney Todd-suggest that the American Society of Hematology is doing product placement?

The 2008 Oncology on Canvas: Expressions of a Cancer Journey art competition and exhibition, sponsored by Eli Lilly and Company in partnership with the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship, is accepting entries to be received no later than June 30, 2008.

A study based on nearly 23,000 patients at 1,178 US healthcare facilities has found that FDG-PET or PET/CT led referring physicians to alter their opinion about the optimal treatment for 36.5% of cancer patients.

Xoft, Inc’s Axxent Electronic Brachytherapy System, initially FDA approved for accelerated partial breast irradiation in patients with resected early-stage breast cancer, has now received expanded FDA clearance for the treatment of other cancers or conditions where radiation therapy is indicated.

Merck & Co., Inc.’s supplemental Biologics License Application for use of Gardasil in women aged 27 through 45 has been accepted by the FDA and designated for priority review.

Optical tomography with ultrasound localization has the potential to monitor tumor vascular changes during neoadjuvant chemotherapy, according to a pilot study in which the modality was able to distinguish between responders and nonresponders, and even between complete and partial pathologic responses. Susan Tannenbaum, MD, of the University of Connecticut, Farmington, described the approach at the 2007 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (abstract 45).

When given as intended with radiation therapy, the dose-intense Stanford V regimen is well-tolerated, safe, and effective for treating bulky or advanced Hodgkin lymphoma, based on the experience of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

Monica Morrow, MD, has joined the staff of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center as chief of the Breast Service in the Department of Surgery. Dr. Morrow is also the incumbent of the Anne Burnett Windfohr Chair of Clinical Oncology, effective January 2009.

Offering palliative care to pediatric cancer patients markedly reduced their end-of-life suffering, according to research conducted at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.

The first ever joint consensus guideline for colorectal cancer screening adds two new tests to the list of recommended options-stool DNA and CT colonography, also known as virtual colonoscopy-outlines quality elements for each testing method, and includes a preference for screening tests that can detect cancer early and also detect precancerous polyps.

Adherex Technologies Inc. has activated a phase III trial of sodium thiosulfate (STS) vs placebo to prevent hearing loss in children scheduled to receive cisplatin-based chemotherapy for newly diagnosed germ cell, liver, brain, nerve tissue, or bone cancers.

An independent data monitoring committee stopped a phase III clinical trial of the investigational mTOR inhibitor everolimus (RAD001) after interim results showed significantly better progression-free survival in patients with advanced kidney cancer who received the drug, compared with placebo.

Increasing attention is now being focused on cancer care as a continuum with expectations for the development and evaluation of a seamless set of medical, psychosocial, and spiritual services that flow from diagnosis through survivorship and end of life care.

Cisplatin is effective in treating several types of childhood cancers (eg, CNS tumors, osteosarcoma, hepatoblastoma, neuroblastoma, germ cell tumors). It is the most ototoxic drug used clinically, and hearing loss is a well-recognized toxicity of cisplatin therapy.

A 49-year-old Caucasian man presented with progressing erythematous plaques on the face and neck in December 2007. He was treated with topical steroids, presumably for dermatitis, without improvement.

Researchers in DNA markers and photon-activation therapy have garnered more than $1 million dollars for personal use through the Gotham Prize for Cancer Research, a newly established award designed to encourage innovations in cancer research.

His Royal Highness, The Duke of York, was the guest of honor at a lunch held to mark the US launch of the UK-based specialty pharmaceutical company ProStrakan Group plc.