Articles
The systemic amyloidoses are a group of complex diseases caused by tissue deposition of misfolded proteins that results in progressive organ damage.1 The incidence of immunoglobulin light chain (AL) amyloidosis (also referred to as primary amyloidosis) is approximately one-tenth that of multiple myeloma,1 a more common cancer of the bone marrow plasma cells. Read More ›
Patients may not understand the information medical care providers give them for a number of reasons, but significant among them is poor healthcare literacy, which is the ability to understand health information and to use that information to make good decisions about health and medical care. Unfortunately, about 33% of the adult population in the United States has limited healthcare literacy. Yet, the need for this proficiency is greater than ever because medical care has become progressively more complex. Let us take a look at healthcare literacy facts and figures:
Read More ›Bortezomib Median Overall Survival Update for Previously Untreated Multiple Myeloma
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a supplemental new drug application for Velcade (bor tezomib) for Injection (Millennium: The Takeda Oncology Company) that updates the label to include additional longterm (median follow-up 60.1 months) overall survival (OS) data from the VISTA trial. The VISTA trial examined the use of bortezomib-based therapy in patients with previously untreated multiple myeloma (MM).
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Due to the tremendous physical, psychological, and economic burdens of end-stage diseases, there now is an increasing need for palliative care as an integral part of the treatment plan in the management of radiation oncology patients, according to Marilyn Haas, PhD, nurse practitioner at CarePartners Supportive and Palliative Services, Asheville, North Carolina. In addition, she said that integrating palliative care earlier rather than later may be especially important in those patients with metastatic disease.
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Incorporating nurse practitioners and physician assistants into oncology practices appears to be an effective strategy for dealing with an impending shortage of oncologists and at the same time improving productivity and achieving both patient satisfaction and provider satisfaction, according to a recent study.1
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There is a lack of guidelines when it comes to standard of care for adult cancer survivors, and it is time to start thinking about establishing such guidelines, according to nurse practitioner Richard Boyajian, who is Clinical Director of Adult Survivorship at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts. He said establishing appropriate guidelines could potentially reduce morbidity and mortality.
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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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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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