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Meeting Highlights

Hollywood, FL—The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Panel for Multiple Myeloma reported its annual update to the NCCN Clinical Practice GuidelinesTM at the 2012 NCCN Conference.

Kenneth C. Anderson, MD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, who chairs the NCCN myeloma panel, and panel member William Bensinger, MD, of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, reported only minor changes, but put these into context for the clinicians in attendance.

Hollywood, FL—The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Panel for Multiple Myeloma reported its annual update to the NCCN Clinical Practice GuidelinesTM at the 2012 NCCN Conference.

Kenneth C. Anderson, MD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, who chairs the NCCN myeloma panel, and panel member William Bensinger, MD, of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, reported only minor changes, but put these into context for the clinicians in attendance.

San Francisco, CA—The “eradication” of colorectal cancer (CRC) may be a step closer, based on promising data for stool DNA testing, said David A. Ahlquist, MD, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, at the 2012 Gastroin­testinal Cancers Symposium.

Suggesting that his claim is “not too bold, and not hyperbole,” Dr Ahlquist explained that stool DNA testing using next-generation technology is:

San Francisco, CA—The novel tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) regorafenib, used as a single agent to treat treatment-refractory metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC), significantly improved survival and delayed disease progression in an international phase 3 trial presented at the 2012 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium.

San Francisco, CA—A serum-based enzyme immunoassay using the PAM4 antibody, combined with the serum marker CA19-9, detected stage I pancreatic cancer in nearly two thirds of patients analyzed in a study presented at the 2012 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium. It also demonstrated high discriminatory power with respect to benign pancreatitis.

To determine whether bortezomib-based combinations are able to overcome the poor prognosis of cytogenetic abnormalities, a subanalysis of a series of 231 elderly newly diagnosed MM patients included in the Spanish GEM05MAS65 trial was conducted. Patients included in this study were randomized to receive induction with either bortezomib, melphalan, and prednisone (VMP) or bortezomib, thalidomide, and prednisone (VTP). After induction therapy, patients were subsequently randomized to maintenance therapy with either bortezomib and prednisone (VP) or bortezomib and thalidomide (VT).

Also at ASH 2010 were results from three large phase 3 studies of bortezomib maintenance: HOVON-65/GMMG-HD4 (in which bortezomib vs thalidomide maintenance therapy was examined following initial randomization between PAD and VAD induction), presented by Sonneveld and colleagues from the Netherlands; a study of bortezomib, melphalan, prednisone, and thalidomide followed by maintenance with bortezomib and thalidomide, presented by Palumbo and colleagues from Italy; and the UPFRONT study (which examined weekly bortezomib maintenance therapy following bortezomib-based induction regimens), prese

Preliminary results (n=27) of a phase 1/2 study (N=35) of the combination of carfilzomib, lenalidomide, and dexamethasone in patients newly diagnosed with MM were also presented at ASH 2010. The combination showed promise, with very high response rates (≥partial response [PR], 96%; ≥very good partial response [VGPR], 70%; Cr/nCR, 55%; and stringent CR, 22%).1

 

Perspectives

Results of an open-label, single-arm, phase 2b trial investigating the safety and efficacy of carfilzomib, an irreversible, second-generation proteasome inhibitor, as a single agent in 266 patients with relapsed MM were presented at ASH 2010. Patients had received a median of 4 prior therapies including bortezomib and either thalidomide or lenalidomide, as well as an alkylating agent.

San Francisco, CA—Approximately 80% of patients with stage II colon cancer will be cured by surgery alone, but 20% will still relapse. Oncologists struggle with the question of which patients could benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy to reduce this risk, and which patients can be safely observed, without further treatment.

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  • Rheumatology Practice Management
  • American Health & Drug Benefits
  • Value-Based Cancer Care
  • Value-Based Care in Myeloma
  • Value-Based Care in Neurology