Articles

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 ›

Tissue velocity imaging and strain imaging can predict preclinical changes in left ventricular (LV) systolic function before a patient experiences a change in left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), according to a prospective study in HER2-positive patients receiving trastuzumab in the adjuvant setting. Cardiac biomarkers, however, did not predict the development of cardiac dysfunction. Read More ›

Up to 39% of cancer patient believed they did not receive the physical rehabilitation they needed, and 10% to 24% believed they did not receive other rehabilitation services they required. These are the findings of a group of Danish researchers who used the Oncology Nursing Society definition of “a process by which individuals within their environments are assisted to achieve optimal functioning within limits imposed by cancer,” to survey 2202 cancer patients regarding their perception of the rehabilitation they received. Read More ›

The evidence backing the use of myeloid growth factors in patients at high risk for febrile neutropenia is solid, according to Jeffrey Crawford, MD, of Duke Cancer Institute, Durham, North Carolina.