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SAN ANTONIO—Breast cancer patients who take multivitamins with minerals are less likely to have disease recurrence than patients who do not take multivitamins with minerals, according to new data.

The routine use of multivitamins with minerals also appears to be associated with a decreased risk of breast cancer–specific and overall death.

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What started as tumor board conferences a decade ago has grown into a true multidisciplinary team approach to comprehensive breast care. ProHealth Care’s Center for Breast Care at Waukesha Memorial Hospital’s Regional Cancer Center in Waukesha, Wisconsin, is an interdisciplinary breast cancer clinic where patients can see multiple specialists in one visit. With the opening of the clinic, the various specialists involved in patient care can talk to each other about a patient in real time, not replacing tumor board conferences, but taking patient care to the next level.

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ANAHEIM—Pharmacist assessment of palonosetron use for the prevention of emesis associated with chemotherapy has the potential to capture inappropriate use and result in cost savings, said John P. Jezak, PharmD.

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ANAHEIM—Overweight as well as obese chemo therapy recipients who are dosed according to total body weight do not experience more adverse drug events or cycle delays than normal weight recipients.

The finding, which comes from a 10-year retrospective analysis of patients with gastrointestinal (GI) cancers, should allay concerns about overdosing and the potential for increased toxicities when calculating the chemotherapy dose using total body weight, said lead investigator Tiffany Dea, PharmD.

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ANAHEIM—A new process for handling oral chemotherapy medications that delineates prescriber privileges may help to avert errors or drug–drug interactions, said Brian L’Heureux, PharmD.

On August 1, 2010, at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland, a new procedure for processing oncology orders was implemented, said L’Heureux, an oncology pharmacy resident.

Under the new system, oncologyspecific medications have to be ordered by prescribers with delineated privileges using a specific chemotherapy order form.

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Avoiding intermittent highdose dexamethasone (HD) when administering the vincristine/ doxorubicin/dexamethasone (VAD) regimen can reduce the risk for bacterial infection in patients with multiple myeloma (MM), suggest the results of a Japanese study published in the January issue of the International Journal of Hematology.

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The FDA has agreed to fast-track its review of Pfizer's New Drug Application for crizotinib, an investigational small molecular inhibitor for patients with advanced lung cancer who test positive for the anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) translocation. According to the National Cancer Institute, approximately 2% to 7% of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) have a chromosomal rearrangement involving the ALK gene (most often, an EML4-ALK translocation). This accounts for approximately 10,000 cases annually in the United States.
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The FDA held a public meeting on Tuesday to assess whether stricter criteria are needed when considering oncology drugs for accelerated approval. Measures enacted in 1992 allow the FDA to grant accelerated approval for drugs targeted at unmet needs in cancer based solely on data from single-arm studies and relying on endpoints other than the standard metric of overall survival. Read More ›

On Friday, the FDA approved Mobile MIM, an application that allows physicians to view radiology images using an iPhone or an iPad. Mobile MIM can display computed tomography scans, MRIs, and images created with positron emission tomography with sufficient quality in most cases to make diagnostic decisions. Read More ›

Patients can instantly save up to $200 off their copay with each prescription for PediatRx’s Granisol, the only FDA-approved ready-to-use liquid solution of granisetron. This new copay assistance program also leverages technology to initiate prior approval if a patient’s insurance requires it.
 
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