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Nordion Inc. announced an additional randomized, multicenter phase 3 clinical trial for TheraSphere, a treatment for liver cancer.

The trial, YES-P, will focus primarily in Europe and is aiming for enrollment of about 350 patients. The trial will continue to evaluate the safety and efficacy of TheraSphere in the treatment of patients with portal vein thrombosis (PVT) associated with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma.

While the presence of PVT is a contraindication for most embolic therapies, TheraSphere represents a safe alternative.

According to a new study published in the current issue of European Urology, robot-assisted surgery is far more successful than radical “open” surgery in the treatment of prostate cancer in the United States.

The research is the first nationwide comparison of robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP) results with the standard, open radical prostatectomy (ORP) results, using a 20% population sample.

Researchers at Henry Ford Hospital’s Vattikuti Urology Institute (VUI) found that:

A new analysis has found that Hispanic lung cancer patients are at a survival advantage over white or black patients. The study suggests that, along with several other types of cancer, certain undefined genetic and/or environmental factors allow Hispanic patients with lung cancer to live longer than patients of other ethnicities. Results were published April 23 online in Cancer, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society.

Researchers determined pain is undertreated in more than one-third of patients with invasive cancer, with minorities twice as likely to not receive analgesics, according to a study published in Journal of Clinical Oncology.

The research from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center is the largest evaluation of cancer pain and related symptoms ever performed in an outpatient setting.

When prescribing medicines, oncologists often don’t consider the cost. In other words, they don’t require any more benefit, or months of survival, from an expensive drug when compared with a less expensive one, according to a new research study appearing in the April issue of Health Affairs.

Researchers from USC recently examined how much cancer patients value hope, particularly with regard to end-of-life treatments.

The study, led by Darius Lakdawalla, director of research at the Schaeffer Center at USC and associate professor in the USC Price School of Public Policy, is published in a unique issue on cancer spending from the journal Health Affairs.

At least 1 treatment-related complication is reported by more than 60% of breast cancer survivors as late as 6 years after their diagnosis, according to a new study published in a special issue of Cancer. Devoted to exploring, preventing, and monitoring the physical late effects of breast cancer treatment, the special issue focuses on the nation’s 2.6 million survivors of the disease.

A treatment approach approved by the FDA in 2006 which involves adding the drug bevacizumab (Avastin) to the standard chemotherapy regimen for non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) did not significantly increase survival rates for patients over the age of 65 enrolled in Medicare, according to a new study being published in the April 18 issue of JAMA.