Two Studies Show Abiraterone Plus Prednisolone/Prednisone Added to Standard Hormone Therapy Improves Survival in Advanced Prostate Cancer
The addition of abiraterone acetate (Zytiga) plus prednisolone/prednisone to standard androgen-deprivation therapy improves survival in men starting treatment for locally advanced...
Olaparib Improves Progression-Free Survival in BRCA-Associated Breast Cancer
The PARP inhibitor olaparib (Lynparza) improved progression-free survival in women with HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer that was either hormone receptor–positive...
Novel Tropomyosin Receptor Kinase Inhibitor Yields High Response Rates Across Tumor Types
Larotrectinib, an oral inhibitor of tropomyosin receptor kinase, showed “striking” activity in adult and pediatric patients with the genetic aberrations known as tropomyosin...
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Monica Morrow, MD, Tumbled Gender Barriers to Build a Career in Surgical Oncology
Breast cancer surgeon Monica Morrow, MD, came from a town in the far northeast reaches of suburban Philadelphia. “I guess because there were only two girls in our family, I was the son my father never had, and he reared me that way. When we were playing catch, if I missed the ball and got hit in...
Secondhand Smoke Exposure Among Nonsmoking Cancer Survivors
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), tobacco use and exposure accounts for about one-third of all cancer-related deaths in the United States. Moreover, exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke is attributable to more than 7,000 lung cancer–related deaths each year in ...
Growing Use of Molecular Pathology May Help Avoid Overtreatment of Early Breast Cancer
The emerging field of molecular pathology focuses on the study and diagnosis of disease through the examination of genes and gene activity within organs and tissues. This information has transformed our thinking about the biologic diversity of breast cancers and has enhanced our treatment...
Lessons Learned and to Be Learned: Reducing Risk of Subsequent Malignancies in Childhood Cancer Survivors
I recently saw a patient in our survivorship clinic. She was treated at age 15 years for Hodgkin lymphoma and is now in her early 50s. During the prior 2 decades, she had developed both bilateral breast cancer and thyroid cancer, as well as multiple basal cell carcinomas, all occurring within her ...
Brentuximab Vedotin vs Physician’s Choice in CD30-Positive Cutaneous T-Cell Lymphoma
The phase III ALCANZA trial has shown that brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris) produces a higher global response rate vs physician’s choice of therapy in previously treated CD30-positive cutaneous T-cell lymphomas. These results were reported by Prince et al in The Lancet. Study Details In this...
Abemaciclib Plus Fulvestrant Delays Breast Cancer Progression in MONARCH 2
In the treatment of metastatic estrogen receptor–positive breast cancer, a highly significant 45% reduction in progression was achieved with abemaciclib, combined with fulvestrant (Faslodex), in the global phase III MONARCH 2 trial, reported at the 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting by George W. Sledge, MD,...
FDA Grants Regular Approval to Dabrafenib and Trametinib Combination for Metastatic NSCLC With BRAF V600E Mutation
On June 22, 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted regular approvals to dabrafenib (Tafinlar) and trametinib (Mekinist) administered in combination for patients with metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with BRAF V600E mutation as detected by an FDA-approved test. These ...
