Articles

It is next to impossible for a day to go by without thinking about the contributions of personalized medicine to the care of patients living with cancer. Whether we are treating a newly diagnosed patient with HER2/neupositive breast cancer using trastuzumab, or using erlotinib in the management of a patient with non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose tumor harbors specific mutations in the epidermal growth factor receptor genes, individualizing therapy based on molecular biology and genetic testing has become commonplace in contemporary oncology practice.

Stockholm, Sweden—Trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1), a novel monoclonal antibody–guided therapy for HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer, achieved almost a 40% reduction in the risk of disease progression compared with standard treatment with trastuzumab (Herceptin) and docetaxel (Taxotere), investigators reported at the 2011 European Multidisciplinary Cancer Congress.

Stockholm, Sweden—The use of everolimus (Afinitor) together with the aromatase inhibitor exemestane (Aromasin) more than halved the risk for disease progression in patients with advanced breast cancer, adding an average of 4 disease-free months, investigators reported at the 2011 European Society for Medical Oncology European Multidisciplinary Cancer Congress.

Stockholm, Sweden—The indefinite use of bevacizumab (Avastin) in patients with re lapsed ovarian cancer got another boost at the 2011 European Multi disciplinary Cancer Congress, with a subanalysis of the phase 3 OCEANS trial showing consistent benefit across subgroups.

Stockholm, Sweden—Two expensive drugs may be better than 1 for maintenance treatment of advanced non– small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to a study at the 2011 European Multidisciplinary Cancer Congress.

Stockholm, Sweden—An investigational alpha-pharmaceutical not only prevented skeletal-related events (SREs) in patients with prostate cancer with bone metastases in a phase 3 study presented at the 2011 European Multidisciplinary Cancer Congress, but it also improved overall survival.

The FDA expedited the approval of brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris, Seattle Genetics) for the treatment of Hodgkin lymphoma, as well as for systemic anaplastic large-cell lymphoma (ALCL), a rare non-Hodgkin lymphoma that may manifest in several parts of the body, including the lymph nodes, skin, bones, soft tissue, lungs, and liver.