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Treating postmenopausal women with advanced breast cancer resistant to hormonal therapy with a combination of 2 existing cancer drugs significantly improves outcome, according to results from a phase 3 clinical trial. Researchers reported at the 2011 European Multidisciplinary Cancer Congress* that women had a progression-free survival of nearly 7 months when treated with a combination of everolimus and exemestane compared to women who received only exemestane.

In the longest-running trial comparing tamoxifen with the aromatase inhibitor letrozole, results reveal that letrozole continues to prevent breast cancer recurrences and lower the risk of death in postmenopausal women with hormone receptor-positive early breast cancer.

Men with hormone therapy resistant metastatic prostate cancer endure less fatigue when treated with a combination of abiraterone acetate and prednisone, according to results from an international phase 3 clinical trial.

In response to the increasing costs facing cancer patients, a study recently identified areas for improvement in both the cost and quality of cancer care. The new study. Benchmarks for Value in Cancer Care: An Analysis of a Large Commercial Population, was reported by one of the nation’s largest networks of community-based oncologists dedicated to advancing cancer care in America, the US Oncology Network. The study was published in the State of Oncology supplement of the peer-reviewed Journal of Oncology Practice.

Controlling the pain related to bone metastases in patients with prostate cancer can be difficult. Researchers have now discovered a single dose of a bisphosphonate drug is as effective for pain relief as single-dose radiotherapy, the standard treatment for bone metastases, according to a large randomized phase 3 trial presented at the 2011 European Multidisciplinary Cancer Congress.*

Postmenopausal women with breast cancer benefit significantly from using zoledronic acid as an aid to chemotherapy, according to trial results presented at the 2011 European Multidisciplinary Cancer Congress* and published in the New England Journal of Medicine.¹ Could this be the key to unlocking the breast cancer recurrence process as well as advancements toward new breast cancer therapy options? Researchers believe so.

Medication effectiveness is dependent on whether the drug is taken in the correct dosage, at the right time, and as prescribed by healthcare providers. The World Health Organization estimates that 50% of patients take their medications incorrectly, thus costing the U.S. healthcare system and consumers approximately $300 billion each year. In a recent article in Nursing Clinics of North America, University of Missouri researchers suggest a personal systems approach when confronting medication nonadherence. Read More ›

Two doses, possibly even 1 dose, of the HPV16/18 vaccine may provide protection equal to the standard 3-dose schedule against persistent HPV16/18 infections, according to an analysis of data taken from women who missed 1 or more prescribed doses in a vaccine trial (Kreimer AR, et al. J Natl Cancer Inst. September 9, 2011. Epub ahead of print).

At 4 years postvaccination, vaccine efficacy (prevention of incident HPV16 and HPV18 infections that persist for at least 1 year) was found to be 80.9% for 3 doses, 84.1% for 2 doses, and 100% for 1 dose.

CHICAGO—Patients are more willing than their oncologists to discuss the cost of cancer care, according to a recent survey of patients with cancer.

It was announced on September 19, 2011, that two new indications for Prolia^® (denosumab) were approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). One indication allows for building bone mass in women receiving adjuvant aromatase inhibitor therapy for breast cancer and with an increased likelihood of fracture. The other indication is for increasing bone mass in men being treated with androgen deprivation therapy for nonmetastatic prostate cancer and at great risk for fracture. Read More ›