On Tuesday, an Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC) recommended that the FDA approve sunitinib (Sutent) and everolimus (Afinitor) for patients with advanced pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (pNETs). Whereas the incidence of most cancers has been declining steadily over the years, cases of pNET are increasing and new, more effective therapies are desperately needed.
Researchers from the National Cancer Institute report that radiation therapy for a first cancer is unlikely to lead to a second cancer diagnosis later in life. Berrington de Gonzalez and associates conducted a retrospective review of data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results cancer registry for nearly 650,000 adults who received a cancer diagnosis between 1973 and 2002 and survived at least 5 years. Read More ›
The US Food and Drug Ad ministration (FDA) held a public meeting in February to assess whether stricter criteria are needed when considering oncology drugs for accelerated approval. Measures enacted in 1992 allow the FDA to grant accelerated approval for drugs targeted at unmet needs in cancer based solely on data from single-arm studies and relying on end points other than the standard metric of overall survival. Read More ›
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Timing of Hormonal Replacement Therapy Affects Breast Cancer Risk Read More ›
Following a lung cancer diagnosis, patients typically embark on a dizzying journey that takes them from one waiting room to another, as they follow their treatment plan from the medical oncologist to the surgical oncologist to the radiation oncologist and back again. Coordinating these visits imposes yet another burden on the patient and often leads to delays in care. Six years ago, St. Joseph Mercy Cancer Center in Ypsilanti, Michigan, decided to simplify life for their patients by opening a multidisciplinary lung cancer clinic.
In a randomized trial of patients with cancer who were suffering from vertebral compression fractures (VCFs), balloon kyphoplasty was associated with greater pain relief and better quality of life than nonsurgical care. According to the authors, patients who received kyphoplasty relied significantly less on pain medication, bed rest, and walking assistance 1 month after undergoing the procedure.
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