Many Breast Cancer Patients Can Safely Skip Chemo, Large Trial Confirms
These results have the potential to reduce overtreatment of breast cancer—stopping patients’ unnecessary exposure to chemotherapy—in a large fraction of cases.
PARP Drugs Help Some Breast Cancer Patients, But They’re No Magic Bullet
For patients with metastatic breast cancer, doctors don’t yet know how to predict long-term responses to this PARP drug.
A New PARP Drug For Breast Cancer? I’m Thrilled!
The paradigm for using chemo first to treat advanced breast cancer may change, as we gain experience with these new drugs.
Actually, Many New Cancer Drugs May Be Helpful And Worth Trying
Perhaps the literature fails to capture the clinical value of oncology drugs. This could happen for several reasons.
A Pill Might Control Pancreatic Cancer, Even If It Doesn’t Cure It
A new type of cancer medication, called PARP inhibitors, is gaining traction in clinical practice.
Precision Oncology Drug Shows Power Of Cancer Genomics
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.
In Bold Move, FDA Approves Cancer Drug For Any Advanced Tumor With Genetic Changes
The FDA’s accelerated approval of this drug might surprise traditional oncologists. It suggests the agency may be ditching an archaic system for classifying cancers based on body parts—like breast or liver or colon cancer—and instead will focus..
Which Patients Will Be Helped By Immune Cancer Drugs? This Test May Tell
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.
A PARP Inhibitor Keeps Some Cancers In Check For Years
Lynparza—a PARP inhibitor taken as an oral tablet, daily— keeps qualified cases of advanced ovarian cancer in check for two years, as compared to placebo.
A New Antibody For Treating Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia?
The new agent, a monoclonal antibody to CD22 with a toxin attached, is manufactured by Pfizer. It’s called inotuzumab ozogamicin.
Encouraging Results For Ribociclib In Advanced Breast Cancer
Ribociclib is one of several CDK inhibitors being tried in breast cancer and other malignancies.
Tragedy In A Clinical Trial: A Reminder That Biotech Is Not A Game
It was a seemingly innocuous change in the protocol that may have caused this experimental tragedy. Which is all the more reason to be careful, and mind the details.
A Novel, Targeted Drug Yields Promising Results In Stomach And Esophageal Cancer
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.
Report Touts Benefits Of Prolonged Medication After Breast Cancer. Is It Persuasive?
Avoiding recurrence is a legitimate goal, but there’s a trade-off.
Lip Service To Patients And Caregivers, Or Respect? The Significance Of An FDA Panel’s Review
..as if mothers telling an FDA panel about what’s happening to their kids with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a disabling condition, is the opposite of science.
The Big News For Sickle Cell Anemia Is Not Gene Therapy
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.
Why Prolia May Be The Better Drug For Reducing Bone Breaks And Recurrence After Breast Cancer
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 Cancer Drug Effective In Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia
Venetoclax is a powerful new kind of oral medication. It enables leukemia cells to die by interfering with Bcl-2, a survival signal.
In A First, Kidney Cancer Drug Extends Survival
Taken together, the findings raise many possibilities – and questions about strategy, and expense – for testing and prescribing new small drugs and immune-targeting antibodies to patients with kidney and, potentially, other advanced cancer forms.
Why Evidence From A Clinical Trial Of Ovarian Cancer Has Limited Value
One problem is that prospective, randomized clinical trials comparing treatments for conditions like “Stage 3 ovarian cancer” fall behind the pace of advances in science and drug development.
Lynparza, First In A New Class Of Cancer Drugs, Is Surprisingly Active In A Wide Range Of Tumors
So far, the studies demonstrate that Lynparza has activity in cancer patients with and without inherited BRCA mutations.
Novel Drug Expands Treatment Options For Women With Metastatic Breast Cancer
The FDA’s decision on palbociclib immediately expands treatment options for a large fraction of people living with metastatic breast cancer. What limits enthusiasm is how much this oral drug will cost.
Why The FDA Panel’s Nod To Sandoz’s Filgrastim (Zarzio) Is Good News For Patients
The implications extend beyond cancer drugs. Biosimilars have the potential to significantly reduce the costs of modern health care for people with all kinds of illness
Tamoxifen As A Breast Cancer Preventive — Mixed Results In Long-Term Follow-Up
The IBIS-1 trial shows a dramatic, reductive effect of tamoxifen in preventing breast tumors.
What’s Intriguing And Concerning About Early Results For Keytruda In Breast Cancer
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.
For Treatment Of Polycythemia Vera, FDA Approves Jakafi, A Targeted Therapy
The kinase inhibitor offers a new option for people with polycythemia vera, a condition for which few drugs have been available.
Perjeta Works In A Form Of Metastatic Breast Cancer: Active In Other Tumors?
Perjeta extends survival in patients with Her2 positive breast cancer. Might drugs targeting Her2 be effective in other malignancies?
With So Many Terrific New Drugs For Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia, Why Worry?
CLL patients face an astonishing array of new medical options. These terrific advances, while beneficial for some, raise the possibility of overtreatment.
Breast Cancer Chemotherapy Varies Widely: Study Raises Questions About Early Treatment Choices
Chemotherapy treatments for early-stage breast cancer vary widely in their possible side effects. But few newly-diagnosed patients press their oncologists about those differences.
Vicious Verbiage Targets Cancer Patients’ Voices, at Cardiobrief
A journalist who covers medical matters of the heart grabbed my attention on the Fourth of July. In The Voice of the Patient: Time To Bring Out the Muzzle?, Larry Husten at Forbes’ Cardiobrief blog, insinuates that the women who spoke at the…
Chemo: A Treatment That Could Wind Up Giving You (Another) Cancer
Few cancer patients take notes on chemo dose options and potential long-term side effects.
