A Call For More Research On Cancer’s Environmental Triggers
No question about cancer is more contentious than its causes.
writer, health care advocate, physician
No question about cancer is more contentious than its causes.
By speaking up, advocates at the meeting have shifted the direction of breast cancer research. Some are alive, improbably, as a consequence of new treatments enabled and promoted by their advocacy.
These results have the potential to reduce overtreatment of breast cancer—stopping patients’ unnecessary exposure to chemotherapy—in a large fraction of cases.
Who should decide when evidence for a drug sufficient to support a patient’s decision to give it a try?
“This tool brings us closer to the country doctor model,” Basch said. “I never thought that survival would be impacted.”
The key to the positive results is molecular matching. Patients received larotrectinib, a TRK inhibitor, only if their cancers were marked by a switch…It’s a perfect example of how precision medicine can benefit patients with rare conditions.
It’s possible that tumor mutation burden (TMB) predicts if cancer―of any type―will respond to treatment with immune drugs, but this remains to be tested.
Are unbridled profits necessary to drive medical innovation and progress?
The new agent, a monoclonal antibody to CD22 with a toxin attached, is manufactured by Pfizer. It’s called inotuzumab ozogamicin.
Prior to the program’s start, maternal mortality for women with sickle cell disease exceeded 9% at the teaching hospital. With team-based care, the death rate fell to 1%.
Ribociclib is one of several CDK inhibitors being tried in breast cancer and other malignancies.
If these data pan out, this first-in-class antibody might be likened to Herceptin, or Rituxan… a precise treatment that works on malignant cells that have tested positive for the relevant molecule.
“If we had a drug that caused this level of survival benefit, wouldn’t we want to go out and use it?” said Dr. Patricia Ganz.
Avoiding recurrence is a legitimate goal, but there’s a trade-off.
This paper offers the clearest demonstration, yet, of the value – to patients – of precision medicine in oncology.
Online communities can be terrific. But in person, patients hug one another, and develop trust, bonds that last, hopefully, from one year’s meeting to the next.
Blood specialists reported on practice-changing studies for sickle cell disease, including a large study of bone marrow transplant from matched sibling donors. A preliminary report looked at effects of GBT440, a novel oral agent that augments hemoglobin’s binding to oxygen.
The benefits of Prolia appear to exceed those reported for a competing class of drugs, bisphosphonates. It’s well-tolerated and comparatively easy to take…
Venetoclax is a powerful new kind of oral medication. It enables leukemia cells to die by interfering with Bcl-2, a survival signal.
So far, the studies demonstrate that Lynparza has activity in cancer patients with and without inherited BRCA mutations.
A low Oncotype DCIS score predicts a low chance that non-invasive breast cancer will recur. The study supports that many women with DCIS can safely forgo radiation.
The IBIS-1 trial shows a dramatic, reductive effect of tamoxifen in preventing breast tumors.
What’s concerning about the preliminary findings is that the median time to response was 18 weeks. For patients to wait four months or longer to see if there’s a benefit seems like a lot; these are women without much time to spare.
First, you need awareness. In many world regions, fatalism is still an obstacle. Second, you need a delivery system. Third…
Employment and money concerns haunt many people with all kinds of cancer, nation-wide, during and after treatment.
“There is no ‘race for the palliation,’” said Dr. Michael Levy, MD, PhD of Fox-Chase Cancer Center, a palliative care specialist.