Articles

Younger patients with luminal A subtype breast cancer may not need chemotherapy, according to a Danish trial presented by lead investigator Torsten O. Nielsen, MD, PhD, Professor, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada, at the 2015 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. Patients with luminal A biological subtype breast cancer have an excellent prognosis, even high-risk patients, the study suggests.

On November 16, 2015, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first monoclonal antibody, daratumumab (Darzalex; Janssen Biotech), for the treatment of patients with multiple myeloma who have received at least 3 previous lines of therapy, including a proteasome inhibitor and an IMiD, or for the treatment of patients whose disease is double-refractory to proteasome inhibitors and IMiDs.

Cabozantinib (Cabometyx) achieved superior progression-­free survival (PFS) versus standard treatment with everolimus in patients with previously treated advanced renal-cell carcinoma in an updated analysis of the phase 3 METEOR trial, the results of which were reported at the 2016 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium.

The first-in-class cancer stem-cell inhibitor BBI608 demonstrated activity in advanced pancreatic cancer and colorectal cancer (CRC), according to results of 2 small studies reported at the 2016 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium.

Linking physicians and patients is a major undertaking, but given the ubiquity of smartphone technology and the rise in app development, the healthcare industry is poised to leverage advances in communication and information exchange. At the 2016 Cancer Survivorship Symposium, Steven J. Katz, MD, MPH, Professor of Medicine and Health Management and Policy, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, discussed the use of deliberation systems to enhance communication with survivors and their care.

“When we talk about multidisciplinary cancer care teams, I think it is important to discuss MDT [multidisciplinary team] clinical decision-making,” said Dr Jacobs. “How does the team really work together?”

Secondary pathology review can significantly improve clinical outcomes through precise and accurate pathology diagnoses, according to Lavinia P. Middleton, MD, Professor, Department of Pathology, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX.

Web-based reporting in the outpatient community setting is not only feasible, but it can identify areas that need quality improvement initiatives, according to J. Russell Hoverman, MD, PhD, Vice President of Quality Programs, Texas Oncology, PA, Dallas.

Surgery for the primary treatment of T1-T3 oropharynx squamous-­cell carcinoma (OPC) does not increase the cost of care, even for patients requiring adjuvant treatment, according to A. Daniel Pinheiro, MD, an otolaryngologist at Mercy Clinic Ear, Nose, and Throat-Surgery Center, Springfield, MO, who presented his findings at the 2016 Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancer Symposium.