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...
Encouraging Results For Ribociclib In Advanced Breast Cancer
Ribociclib is one of several CDK inhibitors being tried in breast cancer and other malignancies...
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...
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...
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...
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…...
Five Key Issues For The Future Of Cancer IT
If there’s one thing that’s become clear about precision medicine – and the delivery of optimal care based in science – it will require super technology. This need is especially urgent in oncology...
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...
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...
Thinking Ahead: From ‘The Emperor Of All Maladies’ To Precision Medicine In Cancer
We’re in the 1950s of precision medicine, so to speak. Modern oncology care helps some, many but not all...
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...
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?...
The (Unmet) Potential Value of Cancer Genome Testing
Genome sequencing is not routine in oncology practice. But maybe it should be, advocates suggest...
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...
Ambitious ‘Lung-MAP’ Trial Aims to Evaluate Biomarkers and New Drugs in Squamous Cell Lung Cancer
The Lung-MAP trial will identify molecular abnormalities in tumors specimens from thousands of patients with squamous cell lung cancer...
A Chip against Cancer: Microfluidics Spots Circulating Tumor Cells
With an ordinary blood sample, a device can monitor cancerous cells for spread or resistance to treatment...