April 2015, Vol 6, No 3

Hollywood, FL—The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) now recommends nivolumab (Opdivo) as subsequent therapy for metastatic squamous non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) after its recent FDA approval.
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Hollywood, FL—A new clinical guideline for smoking cessation in patients with cancer encourages the use of evidence-based pharmacotherapy, behavioral therapy, and close follow-up with retreatment if needed, said Peter G. Shields, MD, Deputy Director, Comprehensive Cancer Center, James Cancer Hospital, Columbus, OH, at the 2015 National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) conference.
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Hollywood, FL—Watch and wait remains the standard of care for patients with asymptomatic early-stage chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), even for high-risk patients, but once therapy is indicated, targeted agents may supplant chemotherapy in the first-line treatment setting, said William G. Wierda, MD, PhD, Center Medical Director, Department of Leukemia, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, at the 2015 National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) annual conference.
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Orlando, FL—Patients with urologic cancer who are readmitted after a surgery to a second hospital and not to their original hospital are more likely to have complications than patients readmitted to their original surgical hospital, according to findings presented at the 2015 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium.
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Orlando, FL—Significant cost-savings in treating patients with prostate cancer could be achieved in the US healthcare system with the use of the cell-cycle progression (CCP) gene-expression assay called Prolaris (from Myriad Genetics Laboratories), according to a poster from E. David Crawford, MD, Professor of Surgery and Radiation Oncology, University of Colorado, Aurora, and colleagues, presented at the 2015 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium.
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Orlando, FL—Patients undergoing complex oncologic procedures, such as rad­ical cystectomy, radical prostatectomy, or percutaneous nephrolithotomy, are more likely to travel outside of their regions if they have private insurance, potentially reflecting better access to care based on income, according to findings presented at the 2015 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium.
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Hollywood, FL—Sunitinib and pazopanib have long battled for supremacy in treating advanced renal-cell carcinoma (RCC). According to findings presented at the 2015 National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) conference, the newer drug, pazopanib, may have some advantage in terms of total cost of care, but survival outcomes were exactly the same.
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Chicago, IL—Immunotherapy holds promise for the maintenance treatment of late-stage ovarian cancer, according to results of a phase 2 clinical trial. The vaccine, made from the patient’s own tumor cells, was able to prolong recurrence-free survival compared with standard of care.
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