Articles
Decisions about prostate cancer treatment should be based on disease risk and life expectancy rather than chronologic age, according to a new analysis by University of California, San Francisco, researchers. They found that older men are more likely to have high-risk disease at diagnosis and less likely to receive potentially curative local therapy.
Use of vitamin supplements may reduce the risk of recurrence and death in women with breast cancer, two new studies suggest.
These studies contrast with some previous studies, which suggested that antioxidants may protect cancer cells during radiotherapy and chemotherapy, thus reducing the effectiveness of treatment.
More patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) in chronic phase achieve molecular response when peginterferon alfa-2a is added to imatinib therapy, but toxic side effects make completing treatment difficult for many, according to analysis of SPIRIT trial data (N Engl J Med. 2010;363:2511-2521). The researchers concluded that this increase in molecular responses could translate into better survival.
SAN ANTONIO—A re-analysis of the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI)—which found an increased risk of breast cancer and heart disease in women taking hormone replacement therapy (HRT)—suggests that estrogen alone, without progesterone, may actually be protective against breast cancer.
SAN ANTONIO—A rapidly growing, nationwide clinical trial matching service that is user-friendly for patients is enabling more patients to learn about and enroll in clinical trials, said Ellie Cohen, PhD, the program’s director. Cohen described the success of her program at the 33rd annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.
SAN ANTONIO—In a trial involving women with stage II/III breast cancer (N = 3360), adding zoledronic acid (ZA) to standard adjuvant chemotherapy did not prolong overall survival (OS) or disease-free survival (DFS) after a median follow-up of 59 months, contrary to some previous reports.
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 presented at the 33rd annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.
ORLANDO—Patients often do not understand the terms clinicians use to describe their hematologic malignancies, such as myelodysplastic syndrome, which may lead to misunderstandings about their disease.
ORLANDO—Low doses of alemtuzumab were effective in preventing graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) in leukemia patients receiving sibling and matched unrelated hematopoietic cell transplants.
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 presented at the 33rd annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.
The studies used various combinations of trastuzumab, lapatinib, and pertuzumab (a novel monoclonal antibody) in the neoadjuvant setting.