A Call For More Research On Cancer’s Environmental Triggers
No question about cancer is more contentious than its causes.
Commentary: How Patients Have Transformed A Medical Meeting About Breast Cancer
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.
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.
Why All Cancer Patients Should Have Access To Genomic Testing
What’s at issue is the right of all cancer patients—regardless of wealth—to obtain high-quality information about their conditions.
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.
Is There A Better Place To Decide What’s Right For Patients?
Who should decide when evidence for a drug sufficient to support a patient’s decision to give it a try?
Dr. Robert Califf Shares Ideas About Real-World Evidence And Health Data
“Medicine is rapidly falling behind business in the accrual of high-quality evidence,” Califf said.
The Paradoxical Benefits Of A Web App For Cancer Patients
“This tool brings us closer to the country doctor model,” Basch said. “I never thought that survival would be impacted.”
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.
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.
We Need To Tame The Price Of New Cancer Drugs
Are unbridled profits necessary to drive medical innovation and progress?
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.
Team Care Slashes Deaths From Pregnancy In Sickle Cell Anemia
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%.
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.
MoovCare, A Web App, Helps Cancer Patients Live Longer
“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.
Report Touts Benefits Of Prolonged Medication After Breast Cancer. Is It Persuasive?
Avoiding recurrence is a legitimate goal, but there’s a trade-off.
The Emerging Value Of Personalized Phase 1 Clinical Trials In Oncology
This paper offers the clearest demonstration, yet, of the value – to patients – of precision medicine in oncology.
At A Conference On Cancer, Patients Take Notes Like Their Lives Depend On It
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 Test Offers An Amazing View Of Metastatic Prostate Cancer Cells
Evaluation of circulating tumor cells enables monitoring of some cancers from blood samples. This form of liquid biopsy offers…
‘The Knick’ Shines A Light On Early Medical Innovation
With exception, surgeons at The Knick are brilliant, driven, caring and flawed individuals. They examine their patients constantly, and improvise.
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.
Precision Medicine Is A Needed Goal That Will Benefit Cancer Patients
A common misconception is that precision medicine is about one drug for one disease. But for most cancer types, it will involve combining medications in effective cocktails.
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.
Memo To Candidates: Support For U.S. Cancer Research Crosses Party Lines
A striking 50% of those surveyed said they’d be more likely to vote for a Presidential candidate who supports sustained increases in federal funding for cancer research over the next decade, and 10% indicated they’d be less likely to do so.
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.
Can Antibiotics Prevent Deaths From Stomach Cancer?
In the 1980s, doctors linked H. pylori infection to stomach cancer. In infected adults, a brief course of antibiotics lessens cancer risk.
A Perfect Blood Test For Pancreatic Cancer?
If confirmed, this method of liquid biopsy would enable monitoring and genetic evaluation of pancreatic cancer from blood.
In Lumpectomy For Breast Cancer, Taking Out A Bit More Reduces O.R. Revisits
In a prospective randomized trial, adding a “shave” to the lumpectomy site reduced positive margins and halved re-operations.
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.
On Mammography, Evidence, And Why We Need To Improve Breast Cancer Screening
There is no good trial of mammography using current radiology systems in the context of modern pathology and minimalist treatment approaches. And there is none underway. As seen in Forbes.
Oncotype Test Could Reduce Overtreatment Of Early Stage Breast Cancer
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.