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Chicago, IL—“Precision medicine” is the new catch phrase in oncology, and examples of it were evident across the vast halls of McCormick Place at the 2012 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting.
[ Read More ]Chicago, IL—Two agents are vying to be the preferred option for bone protection in patients with cancer—the blockbuster drug zoledronic acid (ZA; Zometa, Reclast) and the newer drug denosumab (Prolia), which was ap - proved last year for the prevention of skeletal-related events (SREs) in patients with cancer.
[ Read More ]Results from a phase 3 clinical trial presented at a plenary session at ASCO 2011 could lead to prolonged treatment with adjuvant imatinib for gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST). [ Read More ]
Studies presented at the 2011 annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) suggest that patients with metastatic mel anoma or with non– small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC)—2 disease states with very high rates of mortality—may soon have new treatment options. [ Read More ]
A series of studies presented at this year’s ASCO annual meeting suggest that the use of unwarranted high-cost imaging procedures, a surge in the use of innovative treatment technologies, and off-label use of supportive cancer agents are helping to escalate Medicare costs, leading researchers to suggest that further regulation may be needed to rein in unnecessary expenses. [ Read More ]
Chicago, IL—The potential of 2 novel agents still in clinical trials, and 1 drug that was recently approved, offer new hope to patients with metastatic castrate- resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC), a disease with a dire prognosis and few good current treatment options.
First-in-Class R-223
One of the investigational agents, alpharadin (radium-223 chloride [R- 223]), may have just earned a chance for an expedited approval by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) because of its positive results.
[ Read More ]The “big news” in metastatic ovarian cancer presented at ASCO 2011 involved the investigational poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitor olaparib, which prolonged progression-free survival (PFS) by nearly 4 months versus placebo. [ Read More ]
A cost analysis presented at ASCO 2011 and performed at the University of Toronto, Odette Cancer Center, Ontario, showed that the emerging combination regimen that includes oxaliplatin (Eloxatin), iri - no tecan (Camptosar), fluorouracil (Adrucil) and leucovorin (FOLFIRINOX) is not cost-effective when considered within the framework of a willingness-to-pay threshold of $100,000 per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY). [ Read More ]
The use of high-dose methotrexate (HD-MTX) has demonstrated a significant improvement in event-free survival in patients with pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) at 5 years compared with the standard regimen. [ Read More ]
Chicago, IL—Whole genome sequencing was the topic of a session at the 2011 ASCO annual meeting in which specialists discussed the implications of “genome-forward medicine” in lung cancer.
This entails “how to get to the nature of tumors and their heterogeneity,” said Elaine Mardis, PhD, Codirector of the Genome Institute at Washington University, St Louis, MO. Next-generation sequencing, she said, will eventually guide treatment decisions.
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