Web Exclusives

ORLANDO—A study of physicians from five countries found that nurses and hematologists counseling patients with chronic myeloid leukemia about the importance of adherence to prescribed tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) or having an established adherence protocol, such as medication diaries, pill organizers, or informational calendars, was associated with im proved adherence, and those patients who took the drugs as prescribed had significantly better therapeutic milestones.

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SAN ANTONIO—Researchers are reporting “woefully inadequate” mammography rates in American women, even in those with healthcare coverage.

Milayna Subar, MD, National Practice Leader, Medco Oncology Therapeutic Resource Center in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey, and colleagues analyzed medical claims data obtained in more than 1.5 million women between 2006 and 2009. All of the women had health insurance through their employer or Medicare.

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Adult survivors of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) treated with dexamethasone may have greater risk for neurocognitive impairment and poor emotional regulation than patients treated with prednisone, and they exhibited symptoms of physical stress. Read More ›

Almost half of the cancer patients in a recent study did not receive any thromboprophylaxis during hospitalization, even though cancer and its treatment increases the risk for deep-vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE) and three professional organizations—the American College of Chest Physicians, the American Society of Clinical Oncology, and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network—have issued guidelines recommending DVT prophylaxis. Read More ›

SAN ANTONIO—Weightlifting can significantly reduce the likelihood that breast cancer patients will develop lymphedema after they complete treatment, according to results of the Physical Activity and Lymphedema trial reported at the 33rd annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. Read More ›

SAN ANTONIO—A re-analysis of the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI)—which found an increased risk of breast cancer and heart disease in women taking hormone replacement therapy (HRT)—suggests that estrogen alone, without progesterone, may actually be protective against breast cancer.  Read More ›

SAN ANTONIO—A rapidly growing, nationwide clinical trial matching service that is user-friendly for patients is enabling more patients to learn about and enroll in clinical trials, said Ellie Cohen, PhD, the program’s director. Cohen described the success of her program at the 33rd annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.  Read More ›

SAN ANTONIO—In a trial involving women with stage II/III breast cancer (N = 3360), adding zoledronic acid (ZA) to standard adjuvant chemotherapy did not prolong overall survival (OS) or disease-free survival (DFS) after a median follow-up of 59 months, contrary to some previous reports. Read More ›

SAN ANTONIO—For women with human epidermal growth factor receptor type 2 (HER2)-overexpressing breast cancer, preoperative treatment with agents that block HER2 leads to high rates of pathological complete response (pCR), according to the results of three studies presented at the 33rd annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.  Read More ›

ORLANDO—Patients often do not understand the terms clinicians use to describe their hematologic malignancies, such as myelodysplastic syndrome, which may lead to misunderstandings about their disease.  Read More ›