Latest Conference Articles

Dr. Cutsem on Challenges of Targeted Therapies in Gastric Cancer

Eric Van Cutsem, MD, PhD of University Hospitals Gasthuisberg/Leuven, Leuven, Belgium, discusses the use of trastuzumab for the treatment of advanced HER2-positive gastric cancer.

FOLFOXIRI Plus Bevacizumab Superior as Frontline mCRC Regimen

Intensifying the chemotherapy component of a standard first-line bevacizumab-containing regimen reduced the risk of death by about 20% and doubled the 5-year overall survival (OS) rate among patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC).

Surveillance Could Be a Viable Option for Select Patients With Rectal Cancer

A 'watch and wait' surveillance approach may allow certain patients with rectal cancer to achieve excellent outcomes without immediate surgery.

Higher Vitamin D Levels Improve Survival for Patients With mCRC

Patients with newly diagnosed metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) who had higher levels of vitamin D in their blood lived a median of 8 months longer and experienced greater disease-free survival after their cancer treatment.

Ramucirumab Improves Survival in Second-Line mCRC

Second-line treatment with the VEGFR2 inhibitor ramucirumab (Cyramza) combined with standard FOLFIRI extended survival by 1.6 months versus FOLFIRI alone in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC), according to results from the phase III RAISE trial.

Dr. Gradishar Discusses the Results of the BOLERO-1 Trial

William J. Gradishar, MD, Betsy Bramsen Professorship of Breast Oncology, Professor in Medicine-Hematology/Oncology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, discusses the BOLERO-1 Trial.

Dr. Chlebowski on How Weight Loss Improves TNBC Survival

As few as five pounds of weight loss can make a significant difference for patients with triple-negative breast cancer, says Rowan Chlebowski, MD, PhD, a medical oncologist at the Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at the Harbor-UCLA Medical Center.

Dr. LaCasce on Treating Relapsed/ Refractory Hodgkin Lymphoma with Brentuximab Vedotin Combo

Ann LaCasce, MD, a lymphoma specialist at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, discusses the use of brentuximab vedotin and bendamustine in combination for the treatment of patients with relapsed or refractory Hodgkin lymphoma.

Dr. Park on Using CD19-Targeted CAR T Cells as Treatment for ALL

Jae H. Park, MD, attending physician, Leukemia Service, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses a trial presented at the 2014 ASH Annual Meeting that explored CD19-targeted T cells as treatment for patients with relapsed, refractory B- cell ALL.

Duvelisib Produces Responses in Indolent Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma

Duvelisib (IPI-145), an inhibitor of PI3K-δ and PI3K-γ signaling, had a favorable risk:benefit profile in patients with relapsed/refractory indolent non-Hodgkin lymphoma (iNHL) in a phase I study, reported Ian Flinn, MD, PhD

Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor Shows Promise in AML

Treatment with the TKI sorafenib in combination with standard chemotherapy increased event-free survival by 11.3 months compared with standard chemotherapy plus placebo in patients with newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia.

Gene Test Predicts DCIS Recurrence Risk

A 12-gene test for breast cancer recurrence after ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) distinguished high- and intermediate- risk patients from those with a low risk

Women With Triple-Negative Breast Cancer May Reap Greater Survival Benefit From Nutrition Intervention

Findings from a long-term analysis of the Women's Intervention Nutrition Study (WINS) show that the deaths of women with hormone receptor–negative breast cancers were reduced by up to 54% when they followed a program to reduce their dietary fat intake, which could provide benefit for patients with triple-negative breast cancer.

HR-Negative Subgroup Data Offer Silver Lining to Everolimus Frontline Failure in BOLERO-1

Frontline treatment with everolimus (Afinitor) combined with trastuzumab (Herceptin) and paclitaxel failed to delay disease progression versus trastuzumab and paclitaxel alone in patients with HER2-positive advanced breast cancer

Upfront Fulvestrant Improves Survival Over Anastrozole in HR-Positive MBC

Fulvestrant (Faslodex) improved overall survival (OS) by 5.7 months compared with anastrozole as a frontline treatment for postmenopausal women with HR-positive metastatic breast cancer

Dr. Nanda On Pembrolizumab Potential for TNBC

Rita Nanda, MD, assistant professor of medicine and associate director of the Breast Medical Oncology Program at the University of Chicago, discusses the potential of pembrolizumab (Keytruda) for the treatment of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). A recent small-scale trial showed treatment response for 18.5% of patients with PD-L1 positive TNBC.

Dr. Sikov on Bevacizumab or Carboplatin Impact On TNBC Subtype

Dr. Cuzick on Decreasing Breast Cancer Risk With Tamoxifen

Chemo Adds No Benefit to Bisphosphonate In Older Breast Cancer Patients

Older patients with moderate- or high-risk breast cancer had a similar disease-free survival with the bisphosphonate therapy ibandronate alone or in combination with capecitabine.

Tamoxifen's Sustained Power to Prevent Breast Cancer in High-Risk Women Confirmed

Five years of tamoxifen continues to offer protection against breast cancer, reducing the risk of breast cancer by 29% in otherwise healthy women at high risk of the disease who have been followed now for 16 to 22 years.

Ovarian Suppression Emerges as "Practice-Changing" Option for Younger, Premenopausal Breast Cancer Patients

Women with HR+ breast cancer who remained premenopausal after receiving chemotherapy had a lower risk of disease recurrence when adding ovarian suppression to adjuvant exemestane or-to a lesser extent-tamoxifen, compared with standard tamoxifen alone, according to results from the phase III SOFT trial.

TNBC Subtype Responds Favorably to Neoadjuvant Bevacizumab

The addition of bevacizumab (Avastin) to standard neoadjuvant chemotherapy significantly improved pathologic complete response (pCR) rates in women with basal-like breast cancer compared with non-basal-like subtypes.

Dr. Francis on the Benefits of Ovarian Suppression for Younger Women

Nab-Paclitaxel Wins Neoadjuvant Taxane Battle in Breast Cancer Trial

Nab-paclitaxel (Abraxane) proved markedly more effective than conventional paclitaxel as part of a neoadjuvant regimen for patients with high-risk early breast cancer in a large German study presented at the 2014 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

Dr. Weigert on Cancer Screening for Women With Dense Breasts

Dr. Edith Perez on Immune Checkpoint Inhibition in TNBC

Edith A. Perez, MD, the deputy director at large for the Mayo Clinic Cancer Center, discusses the potential for immune checkpoint blockage as treatment for patients with advanced breast cancer.

Pembrolizumab Elicits Antitumor Responses in TNBC

The PD-1 inhibitor pembrolizumab has demonstrated promising clinical activity with an acceptable safety profile in heavily pretreated patients with recurrent metastatic triple-negative breast cancer.

Early Data Find the PI3K Inhibitor Pictilisib Benefits a Subset of Patients With MBC

The addition of the investigational PI3K inhibitor pictilisib to fulvestrant in patients with metastatic breast cancer yielded some intriguing findings in the phase II FERGI study.

Chemo Alone May Be Optimal in HER2-Positive Patients With High TIL Levels

Among HER2-positive breast cancer patients treated with chemotherapy alone, women with high levels of stromal tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes had an 80% lower likelihood of disease recurrence compared to those with lower TIL counts.

BCL-2 Inhibitor Venetoclax Demonstrates Activity in Pretreated AML

Some patients with heavily treated acute myelogenous leukemia benefited from treatment with the BCL-2 inhibitor venetoclax (ABT-199).