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.
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.
7 Key Cancer Trends For 2018
Few doctors, even oncologists who subspecialize, can keep up with developments in the field.
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..
Bayer’s Stivarga Shows Slim Progress Against Liver Cancer
My enthusiasm for this new drug, Stivarga, is tempered by the low response rate and toxicity.
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.
Before Breast Cancer Surgery, A Question Every Patient Should Ask Her Surgeon
Can you perform a sentinel lymph node biopsy, and avoid removing all of the glands from my armpit?
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.
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.
Could New Lung Cancer Meds Keep Walter White From Breaking Bad?
Today, Walter White might not be doomed by his lung cancer. The harder problem is how to pay for his care.
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.
Why Many Cancer Drugs Don’t Have To Cost So Much
The concept of valuing drugs, at least in part, by how easy it is to reliably produce, distribute and take them, appeals to reason.
Companion Diagnostics? For Cancer Care, We Need Better Ones
These biomarkers should link patients to optimal therapy (when such exists), and lead some to decline therapy that’s unlikely to help. The CDx field is moving forward rapidly in oncology..
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.
Precision Medicine Will (Eventually) Lower Cancer Care Costs
Over time, the costs should drop, like for smartphone tech, what my Dad – a chemistry major and retired physician – called “magic.”
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.
Study Highlights Social Factors Affecting Breast Cancer Surgery
A new study sheds light on social and economic factors that influence whether women with breast cancer get lumpectomy or mastectomy.
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.
‘Shower Shirt’ Takes Innovation Prize, Enables Women To Shower After Mastectomy
The Shower Shirt is made of waterproof parachute material on the outside, with microfiber on the inside of the neck, a water-resistant zipper, flap, and Velcro all the way down in front.
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.
Heart Health After Cancer: A Growing Concern
It’s the kind of problem a person who’s had cancer, or a doctor who’s prescribed generally helpful treatment, may not want to think about.
On The Death Of David Carr, And Cancer Survivorship
Carr’s story highlights the need for improved survivorship care. As his recent autopsy disclosed, he died with an aggressive form of lung cancer and heart disease.