February 2011, Vol 4, No 1

SAN ANTONIO—Denosumab was superior to zoledronic acid (ZA) in preventing skeletal-related events (SREs) in 2046 women with advanced breast cancer and bone metastases, according to new trial results. Denosumab, a monoclonal antibody acting via a novel mechanism, targets the receptor activator of nuclear factor kappa-B (RANK) ligand, important for the survival of osteoclasts, and thereby inhibits bone resorption.

SYDNEY—One-year results in meta static melanoma for PV-10 (Rose Bengal, Provectus Pharmaceuticals) confirm positive interim findings found earlier with the first 40 patients. The updated analysis of the full 80-patient cohort was presented by Sanjiv Agarwala, MD, at the 4th Interdisciplinary Melanoma & Skin Cancer Centres Meeting, held at the 2010 International Melanoma Research Congress. Interim findings had been presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in June. All patients had stage III/IV melanoma.

ANAHEIM—Antibiotics are being delayed in patients with febrile neutropenia, found George Varughese, PharmD.

After a patient is diagnosed with neutropenia, guidelines from the Infectious Diseases Society of America recommend prompt initiation of an antibiotic. “Ideally, prompt is considered to be administration in less than 1 hour,” said Varughese, a pharmacy resident at the University Hospital-Health Alliance of Greater Cincinnati at the University of Cincinnati at the time the study was conducted.

ORLANDO—In newly diagnosed multiple myeloma, the greatest benefits of continuous lenalidomide maintenance after melphalan, prednisone, and lenalidomide induction (MPR-R) are conferred to patients aged between 65 and 75 years. The finding emerged from results of the MM-015 study presented by Antonio Palumbo, MD, University of Torino, Italy. Palumbo’s analysis of the phase 3 study also showed continuous lenalidomide therapy to be superior to regimens of limited duration.

ORLANDO—Adult survivors of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) treated with dexamethasone may have greater risk for neurocognitive impairment and poor emotional regulation than patients treated with prednisone, and they exhibited symptoms of physical stress.

A pilot study conducted by Kevin R. Krull, PhD, at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, and colleagues found an association between the use of dexamethasone during the pediatric patients’ chemotherapy regimen and neurocognitive difficulties as adults.

SAN ANTONIO—Researchers are reporting “woefully inadequate” mammography rates in American women, even in those with healthcare coverage.

Milayna Subar, MD, National Practice Leader, Medco Oncology Therapeutic Resource Center in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey, and colleagues analyzed medical claims data obtained for more than 1.5 million women between 2006 and 2009. All of the women had health insurance through their em ployer or Medicare.

Case Presentation
Chief complaint: Abdominal pain and weight loss for 3 months.

SAN ANTONIO—For women with human epidermal growth factor receptor type 2 (HER2)-overexpressing breast cancer, preoperative treatment with agents that block HER2 leads to high rates of pathological complete response (pCR), according to the results of three studies.

The studies used various combinations of trastuzumab, lapatinib, and pertuzumab (a novel monoclonal antibody) in the neoadjuvant setting.

SAN ANTONIO—Obese breast cancer patients receiving chemotherapy have a significantly shorter overall survival (OS) than nonobese women, researchers reported.

Thomas Samuel, MD, a medical oncologist at Georgia’s Health Sciences University in Augusta, and colleagues examined the correlation between body mass index (BMI) and OS in 259 breast cancer patients receiving chemotherapy between 1997 and 2006. The investigators used data obtained from their institution’s tumor cancer registry.

SAN ANTONIO—In the phase 2 TAMRAD trial, tamoxifen (TAM) with everolimus (RAD) conferred the greatest clinical benefits over tamoxifen alone among patients with secondary hormone resistance after treatment with an aromatase inhibitor (AI).