On January 16, 2016, President Barack Obama promised a “moonshot” to accelerate national progress to combat cancer, but delivering on that promise faces many challenges.
The job of the oncology medical team is to put out the fire, stop the emergency, and save the patient’s life, said Diane Heditsian, Researcher and Patient Advocate, Breast Oncology Program, University of California, San Francisco, during the 2016 Cancer Survivorship Symposium.
A study of state-specific costs of care and survival among Medicare beneficiaries with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) shows no correlation between the cost of care and patient outcomes.
The use of novel agents in multiple myeloma has led experts to question whether autologous stem-cell transplant (ASCT) is warranted upfront, or whether it can be used as effectively after patients relapse.
- NCI’s Report to the Nation: Cancer Rates Continue to Decline, Liver Cancer the Exception
- A New Gene Variant May Explain Cancer-Related Outcomes in African-Americans
- Xalkori Receives New Indication for Metastatic Non–Small-Cell Lung Cancer with the ROS-1 Mutation
- Afinitor Granted New Indication for Unresectable, Locally Advanced or Metastatic Neuroendocrine Tumors
- FDA Designates Iomab-B as Orphan Drug in the Treatment of Relapsed and/or Refractory Acute Myeloid Leukemia in Older Patients
- Acalabrutinib Demonstrates Efficacy and Safety in Relapsed CLL
- Targeting BCL2 with Venetoclax in Patients with Relapsed CLL
- Atezolizumab Shows Durable Response, Tolerability in Urothelial Carcinoma
- Ibrutinib Superior to Chlorambucil in CLL
The United States has the largest biologic drugs market and high prices for biologics, such as monoclonal antibodies, therapeutic proteins, immunomodulators, and growth factors. Cancer treatments utilize traditional chemical-based drugs and, increasingly, biologic-based drugs. The improved safety and efficacy of biologics offer treatment advantages for newly diagnosed patients with cancer, as well as for those with late-stage and terminal cancers.
A pediatric regimen achieves superior outcomes compared with adult regimens in adolescents and young adults with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Several studies have already shown this outcome, and a multicenter phase 2 study presented at ASH 2015 adds further confirmatory evidence in support of this approach. The trial enrolled patients with ALL aged 18 to 50 years; other trials evaluating “pediatric” or “pediatric-inspired” regimens had an upper age limit of 30 or 40 years.
A new biomarker can identify the subgroup of class 1 uveal melanomas that are most likely to metastasize, according to a new retrospective study (Field MG, et al. Clin Cancer Res. 2016;22:1234-1242). Among class 1 uveal melanomas, those with high levels of PRAME messenger RNA (mRNA) were more likely to metastasize than those with low levels of PRAME mRNA.