Articles

Azacitidine is the current standard of care for high-risk myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), but many patients experience treatment failure. No study has previously analyzed patient outcomes of those who fail azacitidine therapy. This new analysis combined data from 4 international clinical trials to describe patient outcomes after failing azacitidine treatment (Prébet T, et al. J Clin Oncol. 2011;29:3322-3327).

The second-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) dasatinib and nilotinib produce optimal cytogenetic response after 3 months of treatment in themajority of patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) in the chronic phase, a much faster rate than the 12 to 18 months for the peaked response reported with imatinib (Jabbour E, et al. J Clin Oncol. 2011;29:4260-4266).

A phase 3 study comparing the efficacy and safety of rituximab alone and in combination with bortezomib in patients with relapsed grade 1 or 2 follicular lymphoma who were rituximab- naive or rituximab-sensitive showed extended PFS with the drug combination comparedwith rituximab alone (Coiffier B, et al. Lancet Oncol. 2011;12:773-784).

This is the first phase 3 clinical trial to compare the effectiveness of 2 second- generation antiangiogenic agents —axitinib and sorafenib—for meta - static renal-cell cancer, showing great promise for the investigational drug axitinib (Rini BI, et al. Lancet. 2011;378: 1931-1939).

Breast cancer in women under age 40 years is often considered a more aggressive disease than in older women, and this often leads clinicians to recommend mastectomy over breast-conserving therapy (BCT), that is, lumpectomy or radiation. However, 2 studies presented at the 2011 Breast Cancer Symposium suggest that younger age in itself is not a reason for mastectomy.

A consortium of world cancer specialists, economists, and policymakers is tackling the issue of equitable cancer care in the face of rising cost of care in high-income countries.

The development of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in patients with cancer has a significant impact in terms of morbidity and mortality and healthcare costs, according to a “real-world analysis” reported at the 2011 European Multi - disciplinary Cancer Congress.

Medical practices in the United States spend much more money and time dealing with third-party payers than do Canadian practices, according to a recent report (Morra D, et al. Health Aff. 2011;30:1443-1450).