November 2012

Low-dose radioiodine ablation with thyrotropin alfa is as effective as high-dose radioiodine ablation in patients with differentiated thyroid cancer and is safer.

Predictive biomarkers are beginning to help physicians assign value to associated therapies in terms of likelihood of benefit and benefit-to-risk profiles for individual patients.

Subcutaneous ketamine administered in conjunction with opioids and conventional adjuvant therapy does not lessen chronic uncontrolled cancer pain, according to the results of a phase III study. The regimen also produces a significant spike in toxicity.

Single-agent cabozantinib has shown promising activity in early-stage trials involving heavily pretreated patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. Researchers are now attempting to find the optimal dose of the drug in this patient population.

Pain is as prevalent in ambulatory oncology patients with common solid tumors as it was nearly two decades ago despite the dramatic increase in opioid prescriptions.

Oncologists should be aware that the need to refer patients between ACO members can raise legal issues for practices and should consider two key laws before participating.

Results of the phase III MISSION trial showed that third- or fourth-line treatment with sorafenib did not improve overall survival in patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer.

New data suggest that dental x-rays obtained frequently at a young age may boost the risk of intracranial meningioma.

The combination of temsirolimus plus bevacizumab was not superior to interferon plus bevacizumab as first-line therapy for patients with clear cell metastatic renal cell carcinoma.

Over the past decade, there has been an explosion of knowledge regarding the fundamental drivers of the malignant phenotype.

Enzalutamide significantly delayed the time to first SRE and significantly improved pain and QOL compared with placebo in men with mCRPC who had received prior docetaxel.

Motesanib combined with carboplatin/paclitaxel does not significantly improve OS versus carboplatin/ paclitaxel alone in patients with advanced nonsquamous non–small cell lung cancer, according to the results of the phase III MONET1 study.

A phase III trial that compared nab-paclitaxel (nab-P; Abraxane) with dacarbazine (DTIC) in patients with metastatic malignant melanoma (MMM) found that nab-P nearly doubled the median time to progression-free survival (PFS).

Researchers have identified a potential predictive marker for survival in cases of metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) treated with bevacizumab (Avastin), suggesting that patients who have the appropriate biomarker could experience a greater benefit when given the drug, whereas others who do not express the biomarker could be spared from receiving unnecessary therapy.

Older women with breast cancer who prefer less input from their physician when deciding on treatment are less likely to receive chemotherapy than women who prefer to rely on their physician to a greater degree, a recent study has found.