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After determining that the drug is unsafe and ineffective for breast cancer treatment, the FDA recently revoked the agency’s approval of the breast cancer indication involving Avastin use in combination with paclitaxel for patients with HER2-negative breast cancer.

Severe high blood pressure; bleeding and hemorrhaging; heart attack or heart failure; and the development of perforations in different parts of the body such as the nose, stomach, and intestines are the risks included with the use of bevacizumab.

A national support and advocacy group for those at risk for or living with lung cancer, Lung Cancer Alliance (LCA), recently issued its annual National Report Card on Lung Cancer. This report is a general assessment of the nation’s response to the ongoing high mortality rate of  lung cancer.

Dear Colleague,

Many US oncologists say they are good at managing their patients’ pain, yet they consider their pain management training to be poor, according to a study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

A new epigenetic therapy has shown potential for patients with recurrent metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to a recent issue of Cancer Discovery, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

While disruptive and of growing concern to patients and clinicians, the current drug shortages in the US are limited mainly to generic injectables and a small number of disease areas, according to Drug Shortages: A Closer Look at Products, Suppliers and Volume Volatility, an IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics study.

The report’s findings include:

Approximately half of male breast cancer patients treated with tamoxifen report side effects including weight gain and sexual dysfunction. These adverse effects influence more than 20% of male patients to discontinue treatment, according to researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. The study, published recently in Annals of Oncology, is the largest to date of how men with breast cancer tolerate the estrogen-blocking drug.

This week the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Erbitux (cetuximab) in combination with platinum-based chemotherapy with 5-fluorouracil (CT), for the first-line treatment of recurrent locoregional or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN).

Head and neck cancers account for 3% to 5% of all cancers in the US, according to the National Cancer Institute. These cancers are more common in men and in people over the age of 50, and they typically develop in the nose, throat, or mouth.

Adequate information on fertility preservation may not be offered to many women prior to breast cancer treatment, according to research presented at the 2011 National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) Cancer Conference.

A survey of more than 300 breast cancer surgeons, nurses, and cancer doctors was conducted by researchers at The Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust to determine which factors impacted whether medical care providers discussed fertility preservation with their patients.