Articles

Patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) receive unnecessarily high-dose levels of chemotherapy, according to Dr Bob Löwenberg, professor of Hematology at the Erasmus University Medical Center in Rotterdam, The Netherlands at the 16th Congress of the European Hematology Association.

Based on results of the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial (PCPT) and the Reduction by Dutasteride of Prostate Cancer Events (REDUCE) trial, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has updated the Warnings and Precautions sections of the labels for the 5-alpha reductase inhibitor (5-ARI) drug class. These trials showed that daily use of finaseride and dutasteride reduced overall incidence of prostate cancer (mainly low-grade), but increased the incidence of high-grade prostate cancers.

Oncology specialists from around the world gathered in Chicago to hear the latest research in cancer and how these new therapies and strategies will impact patient care. Interestingly, none of the plenary sessions this year focused on the major cancer types, such as breast and lung. Instead the abstracts were chosen because they have the greatest opportunity to change practice, including two presentations in melanoma, one in GIST, and two in pediatric oncology.

Read all of our 2011 ASCO Annual Meeting Coverage

CHICAGO—Women considered at risk for breast cancer developed fewer breast cancers and fewer precursor lesions by taking the aromatase inhibitor (AI) exemestane for 5 years, versus placebo, in a large Canadian study presented at the 2011 annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

CHICAGO—More support for bevacizumab in the treatment of ovarian cancer emerged at the 2011 annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, with studies showing the drug prolongs the time to disease progression, both in the metastatic and primary disease settings.

OCEANS

CHICAGO—For the first time in decades, the treatment of advanced melanoma has taken a positive turn, according to studies presented at the 2011 annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology that showed a survival benefit with 2 experimental agents.

CHICAGO—The oral poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitor olaparib delayed ovarian cancer recurrence by 4 months when given as maintenance therapy to patients with platinum-sensitive relapsed ovarian cancer, in an international study reported at the 2011 annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology by Jonathan Ledermann, MD, professor of medical oncology, University College London, United Kingdom.

Patients with stage IV or locally advanced stage III cutaneous melanoma experienced higher response rates and longer progression-free survival (PFS) when treated with a gp100 vaccine and interleukin-2 than with interleukin-2 alone, in a phase 3 randomized trial. Tumors in all 185 patients expressed HLA*A0201, which allowed presentation of the peptide vaccine to T cells. The researchers concluded that their results show the potential of immune agents in combination with other treatments in this patient population.

Treatment with a hybridoma-derived autologous tumor immunoglobulin (Ig) idiotype (Id) vaccine extended disease-free survival (DFS) by 14 months in treatment-naive patients with advanced stage follicular lymphoma achieving complete response (CR) or CR unconfirmed (CRu) after chemotherapy, in a double-blind multicenter controlled phase 3 trial. Subgroup analysis identified that patients with the IgM heavy chain isotype and therefore an IgM-Id vaccine, had greater time to relapse than patient with the IgG isotype and IgG-Id vaccine. Read More ›

Individualized computer-delivered treatment (CDT) for the maintenance of smoking cessation after a quit attempt did not increase short- or long-term abstinence rates compared with standard treatment (ST) in a group of 303 daily smokers who received either CDT or ST in combination with pharmacotherapy. At 1 week, 1 month, 6 months, and 12 months, no significant differences were found between the groups. Read More ›