CHICAGO – In an early clinical trial, 33 out of 35 (94%) patients had clinical remission of multiple myeloma upon receiving a new type of immunotherapy ̶ chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells targeting B-cell maturation protein or BCMA. Most patients had only mild side effects.
June 5, 2017
CHICAGO – Malignant pleural mesothelioma or MPM is a rare cancer, but its incidence has been rising. This cancer is usually associated with asbestos exposure, and patients have a median life expectancy of only 13-15 months. All patients relapse despite initial chemotherapy, more than 50% of them within six months after stopping treatment. There are currently no effective therapeutic options for patients with MPM.
June 5, 2017
CHICAGO – Findings from a phase III clinical trial point to a more effective initial treatment for patients with ALK-positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Compared to the current standard of care crizotinib (Xalkori), the newer ALK inhibitor alectinib (Alecensa) halted cancer growth for a median of 15 months longer and caused fewer severe side effects.
June 5, 2017
CHICAGO – A phase III clinical trial of 4,805 women with HER2-positive breast cancer suggests adding a second HER2 targeted medicine, pertuzumab (Perjeta), to standard of care trastuzumab (Herceptin) after surgery may help, although the benefit is modest.
June 5, 2017
CHICAGO – Findings from a phase III clinical trial point to a potential new treatment for patients newly diagnosed with advanced, epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Compared to the EGFR inhibitor gefitinib (Iressa), one of the standard targeted medicines for this disease, second-generation EGFR inhibitor dacomitinib delayed cancer growth by a median of 5.5 months more.
June 4, 2017
CHICAGO – Findings from a phase III clinical trial of about 300 women may introduce PARP inhibitors as a new type of treatment for breast cancer. Compared to standard chemotherapy, the oral targeted medicine olaparib (Lynparza) reduced the chance of progression of advanced, BRCA-related breast cancer by 42%, delaying progression by about 3 months.
June 4, 2017
Global Study Sets New Risk-Based Standard to Personalize Chemotherapy for Colon Cancer After Surgery
CHICAGO – After surgery for lymph-node positive colon cancer (stage III), some patients may only need half of the long-standing standard course of chemotherapy. In an analysis of six clinical trials with over 12,800 patients, 3 months of chemotherapy was nearly as effective as 6 months in patients with relatively lower recurrence risk and caused fewer side effects, particularly nerve damage.
June 4, 2017
CHICAGO – A randomized clinical trial of 766 patients shows that a simple intervention ̶ a web-based tool that enables patients to report their symptoms in real time, triggering alerts to clinicians ̶ can have major benefits, including longer survival. Patients with metastatic cancer who used the tool to regularly report symptoms while receiving chemotherapy lived a median of 5 months longer than those who did not use the tool.
June 3, 2017
CHICAGO – In a study of 124 patients with advanced breast, lung, and prostate cancers, a new, high-intensity genomic sequencing approach detected circulating tumor DNA at a high rate. In 89% of patients, at least one genetic change detected in the tumor was also detected in the blood. Overall, 627 (73%) genetic changes found in tumor samples were also found in blood samples with this approach.
June 3, 2017
CHICAGO – Findings from a retrospective study of 1,200 women provide reassurance to breast cancer survivors who are contemplating pregnancy. In the study, women who became pregnant after an early breast cancer diagnosis, including those with estrogen receptor (ER)-positive tumors, did not have a higher chance of cancer recurrence and death than those who did not become pregnant.
June 3, 2017
CHICAGO – Adding abiraterone acetate (Zytiga) plus prednisone to standard hormonal therapy for men newly diagnosed with high-risk, metastatic prostate cancer lowers the chance of death by 38%. In a phase III clinical trial of 1,200 men, abiraterone also more than doubled the median time until the cancer worsened, from 14.8 months to 33 months. The study will be featured in a press briefing today and presented at the 2017 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting.
June 3, 2017
CHICAGO – A clinical trial of nearly 2,000 men shows that adding abiraterone acetate (Zytiga) to a standard initial treatment regimen for high-risk, advanced prostate cancer lowers the relative risk of death by 37%. The 3-year survival rate was 76% with standard therapy alone, but 83% with standard therapy plus abiraterone. This is the largest study of abiraterone as first-line therapy for advanced prostate cancer.
June 3, 2017
CHICAGO – Scientists may have developed the first targeted, oral, tumor-type agnostic therapy – a cancer medicine that works comparably well across many kinds of cancer, regardless of patient age. In clinical trials of adults and children with 17 different types of advanced cancer, larotrectinib treatment resulted in responses in 76% of patients. Response to larotrectinib has been durable, with 79% of responses ongoing 12 months after starting treatment.
June 3, 2017
CHICAGO – Genomic testing of tumor samples can enable personalized treatment selection, where targeted treatments are matched to genetic changes in the tumor. Although a growing number of patients with advanced cancers receive some genomic testing, comprehensive genomic testing is not yet routine care.
June 2, 2017
CHICAGO – About 50% of all cancer survivors and 70% of young breast cancer survivors report moderate to high fear of recurrence. The fear can be so distressing that it negatively affects medical follow-up behavior, mood, relationships, work, goal setting, and quality of life. Yet, interventions to alleviate this fear are lacking.
Pages |