Articles

Chicago, IL—Results from a phase 3 clinical trial presented at a plenary session at ASCO 2011 could lead to prolonged treatment with adjuvant imatinib for gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST).

Studies presented at the 2011 annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) suggest that patients with metastatic mel anoma or with non– small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC)—2 disease states with very high rates of mortality—may soon have new treatment options.

Chicago, IL—A series of studies presented at this year’s ASCO annual meeting suggest that the use of unwarranted high-cost imaging procedures, a surge in the use of innovative treatment technologies, and off-label use of supportive cancer agents are helping to escalate Medicare costs, leading researchers to suggest that further regulation may be needed to rein in unnecessary expenses.

Chicago, IL—The potential of 2 novel agents still in clinical trials, and 1 drug that was recently approved, offer new hope to patients with metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC), a disease with a dire prognosis and few good current treatment options.

Chicago, IL—The “big news” in metastatic ovarian cancer presented at ASCO 2011 involved the investigational poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitor olaparib, which prolonged progression-free survival (PFS) by nearly 4 months versus placebo.

Chicago, IL—A cost analysis presented at ASCO 2011 and performed at the University of Toronto, Odette Cancer Center, Ontario, showed that the emerging combination regimen that includes oxaliplatin (Eloxatin), irino tecan (Camptosar), fluorouracil (Adrucil) and leucovorin (FOLFIRINOX) is not cost-effective when considered within the framework of a willingness-to-pay threshold of $100,000 per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY).

Chicago, IL—The use of high-dose methotrexate (HD-MTX) has demonstrated a significant improvement in event-free survival in patients with pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) at 5 years compared with the standard regimen.

Chicago, IL—Whole genome sequencing was the topic of a session at the 2011 ASCO annual meeting in which specialists discussed the implications of “genome-forward medicine” in lung cancer.

Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) has traditionally been an important tool in nonclinical research. Recently, however, the potential clinical value of the technique was demonstrated in a patient with acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) that was hard to identify (Welch JS, et al. JAMA. 2011;305: 1577-1584).

Results of a phase 3 trial comparing that drug with the investigational agent vemurafenib show promise for patients with BRAF V600E mutation (Chapman PB, et al. N Engl JMed. 2011; 364:2507-2516).