Conference Correspondent

In patients who have undergone hematopoietic stem cell transplants, genetic factors may influence susceptibility to congestive heart failure related to anthracyclines used prior to transplant, City of Hope researchers found. Read More ›

Among children with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), the presence of a specific genetic marker known as WT1 SNP rs16754 may be associated with reduced chemotherapy-related toxicity and reduced treatment-related toxic deaths if they are African American or Asian, a phase 2 Children’s Oncology Group trial suggested. Read More ›

Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) researchers showed that cryotherapy given at the time of high-dose melphalan reduced the incidence of severe oral mucositis and the need for pain medicine in patients with multiple myeloma who are undergoing autologous stem cell support. Read More ›

The administration of the histone deacetylase inhibitor vorinostat in patients undergoing matched related donor reduced-intensity conditioning allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplants could be an effective approach to reducing graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), according to the first-in-human clinical trial of 45 patients. Read More ›

A pooled analysis of the EIN-STEIN-DVT and EINSTEIN-PE studies showed rivaroxaban to be as effective in preventing recurrences of venous thromboembolism as enoxaparin followed by a vitamin-K antagonist, with perhaps less risk for bleeding. Read More ›

A 500-mg dose of fulvestrant improved survival compared with a 250-mg dose in women with estrogen receptor–positive (ER+) metastatic breast cancer with no increase in toxicity, according to an update of the Comparison of Faslodex in Recurrent or Metastatic Breast Cancer (CONFIRM) trial. Read More ›

Extending tamoxifen treatment for 10 years reduced the risk of dying by 29% compared with the standard 5 years of tamoxifen for estrogen receptor–positive (ER+) breast cancer, but these benefits of longer-duration tamoxifen did not emerge until the second decade after diagnosis, according to results of the international Adjuvant Tamoxifen—Longer Against Shorter (ATLAS) study. Read More ›

Two years of trastuzumab provide no benefit over the standard of 1 year of trastuzumab therapy for human epidermal growth factor receptor 2–positive (HER2+) breast cancer, according to an 8-year follow-up of the Herceptin Adjuvant (HERA) trial reported by Martine Piccart, MD, president of the European Society for Medical Oncology and chair of the Breast International Group, Institut Jules Bordet, Brussels, Belgium. Read More ›

A 10-year follow-up of the 2-part UK Standardisation of Breast Radiotherapy Trial (START) supports the 5-year findings, which demonstrated that a shorter course of adjuvant radiation therapy is equivalent to a 5-week course of radiation for women with invasive breast cancer. Read More ›

Cognitive changes identified in patients undergoing chemotherapy are common and referred to as “chemo brain.” Read More ›