Articles

Boston, MA—Combinations of targeted therapies will be key to overcoming resistance that occurs in tumor cells and leads to eventual failure of a single targeted agent, said Alex Adjei, MD, PhD, the Katherine Anne Gioia Chair in Cancer Medicine, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, NY, at the Second Global Biomarkers Consortium annual conference.

A genomic test to sequence the circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from whole blood, ClearID Breast Cancer from Cynvenio Biosystems, is now available commercially to molecularly monitor for breast cancer recurrence. The test uses a standard blood draw from which DNA from tumor cells is isolated and interrogated using next-generation–sequencing tools to determine the presence of cancer-associated DNA mutations.

San Diego, CA—Results of a new small study have shown that histology without the use of Oncotype DX Breast Cancer assay accurately predicts the risk for recurrence in low-grade breast carcinoma. Although Oncotype DX is useful in predicting recurrence in high-grade breast cancer, this study suggests that low-grade tumors may be adequately assessed for recurrence by histology only.

San Francisco, CA—Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-guided brachy­therapy led to significantly less urinary dysfunction in men being treated for localized prostate cancer compared with ultrasound-guided techniques, according to a long-term prospective cohort study reported at the 2014 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium.

San Francisco, CA—A new tool called the Prostate Health Index (phi) can identify which patients with favorable-risk prostate cancer can safely be managed with active surveillance and which patients will probably require treatment. The phi index is relatively low tech and is calculated using 3 serum measurements: prostate-specific antigen (PSA), free/total PSA, and a measurement called [-2]proPSA.

San Francisco, CA—Phase 3 data from a global clinical trial have demonstrated an improvement in overall survival (OS) when the investigational angiogenesis inhibitor ramucirumab is added to chemotherapy as second-line therapy in patients with advanced gastric cancer.

Value Propositions from April 2014.

Therapies targeting vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and mTOR signaling pathways are standard first-line and second-line treatment options for patients with metastatic renal-cell carcinoma. However, an unmet medical need exists for patients who had previously received VEGF-targeted and mTOR inhibitor therapies.

Nodular lymphocyte-predominant Hodgkin lymphoma (NLPHL) is a rare type of Hodgkin lymphoma that represents approximately 5% of all cases. Unlike classic Hodgkin lymphoma, the malignant cells of NLPHL universally express CD20. Because rituximab (Rituxan) is an anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody, it has been evaluated as a treatment option for this patient population.

Metastatic breast cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide, with almost 40,000 women in the United States succumbing to the disease in 2013. Although advances in the treatment of breast cancer have been made, metastatic disease is still largely considered incurable. In a prospective, multicenter, molecular-screening study, researchers investigated whether the identification of individual genomic alterations could lead to personalized targeted therapy in women with advanced breast cancer (André F, et al. Lancet Oncol. 2014;15:267-274).