December 2011, Vol 4, No 8

An investigational alpha-pharmaceutical not only prevented skeletal-related events (SREs) in patients with prostate cancer with bone metastases in a phase 3 study presented at the 2011 European Multidisciplinary Cancer Congress, but it also improved overall survival. “This is the first drug targeted to bone metastases in prostate cancer to improve survival,” said lead investigator Chris Parker, MD, Royal Marsden Hospital, London. “There are other bone drugs used in prostate cancer, but they help to minimize symptoms; they don’t improve survival. Read More ›

In patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer with ALK gene rearrangements, treatment with crizotinib provided clinically meaningful antitumor activity, producing responses in 51% of patients, in a multicenter phase 2 study reported at the 2011 European Multidisciplinary Cancer Congress.

Rearrangements in ALK are seen in up to 5% of patients, and crizotinib—a firstin- class, oral, potent, and selective small molecular—competitively inhibits ALK.

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Dual HER2 blockade with trastuzumab plus pertuzumab combined with docetaxel chemo - therapy significantly extended progression- free survival (PFS) by about 6 months compared to trastuzumab plus docetaxel plus placebo in patients with metastatic HER2+ breast cancer, according to results from the CLEOPATRA trial presented at the CTRCAACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

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The development of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in patients with cancer has a significant impact in terms of morbidity and mortality and healthcare costs, according to a “real-world analysis” reported at the 2011 European Multidisciplinary Cancer Congress.

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Patients with rectal cancer who use a combination of chemotherapy (capecitabine) with 5 weeks of radiation (50 Gy) prior to surgery may have an 88% chance of surviving the cancer 3 years after treatment, according to results presented at the 53rd Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology held October 2-6, 2011, in Miami Beach, Florida.

Although cancer patients who undergo radiation therapy frequently have acute and chronic skin reactions, there are no hard and fast guidelines on management of radiation-induced skin reactions or the best products to use. Each center or practice should develop its own clinical guide about how patients should manage skin reactions and which products are recommended for patient use, said Maureen McQuestion, RN, Princess Margaret Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Read More ›

Many malignancies currently have oral medication options for cancer therapy. Read More ›

The Cleveland Clinic was founded in 1921 in Cleveland, Ohio, by 4 physicians. At that time, it was one of only a few group practices in the United States. This group practice model was very familiar to 3 of the founders—George Crile Sr, Frank Bunts, William Lower—as they served together in military hospitals near the front lines of World War I. These 3 colleagues were determined to establish a not-for-profit clinic that combined the best of military and civilian medical practices. Read More ›

Promising data on several new breast cancer agents, including one new cytotoxic, were presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology Breast Cancer Symposium 2011 held September 8-10 in San Francisco, California.

The addition of the novel histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor entinostat to exemestane significantly delayed recurrences and showed a trend for a survival benefit in the phase 2 ENCORE 301 (ENtinostat Combinations Overcoming REsistance) study reported by Denise Yardley, MD, of Sarah Cannon Research Institute and Tennessee Oncology in Nashville.
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A higher dose of radiation (74 Gy) does not improve overall survival for non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) that has spread to the lymph nodes compared with the standard radiation dose (60 Gy), according to a new study presented at the 53rd Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology.

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