October 2013

A Dutch team is recommending the continued use of primary granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) prophylaxis throughout all chemotherapy cycles in women with early breast cancer who are at high risk of febrile neutropenia (FN).

The Malignant Melanoma Program at Wake Forest Baptist Health employs a multidisciplinary approach for the management of patients with all stages of this disease. The goals of the program are centered on unequivocal excellence in all areas of care for patients with malignant melanoma.

New analyses of the BOLERO-2 trial found that everolimus and exemestane produced significantly longer progression-free survival than placebo and exemestane in several previously unstudied patient subgroups.

Women with HER2-positive early breast cancer favor subcutaneous over intravenous (IV) administration of trastuzumab (Herceptin).

Infinity Pharmaceuticals of Cambridge, Massachusetts, began its efforts to produce innovative cancer treatments 12 years ago.

A majority of Americans-patients, physicians, hospital executives, business leaders, and elected officials- are bearing witness to the beginning of a change in healthcare reimbursement and delivery that rivals the introduction of the Medicare system in 1965.

The notion of commandeering the immune system to treat cancer actually dates back more than a century with intratumoral bacterial injections to try and elicit tumor regression.

The criteria that are presently used to determine whether patients with non-small cell lung cancer may be suitable for treatment with the ALK inhibitor crizotinib may overlook some patients who may benefit from the drug.

Several protocols of novel immune and targeted agents show promise alone and in combination, including monoclonal antibodies, immune therapies, and newer proteasome inhibitors.

Forty percent of cases of colorectal cancer may be prevented if patients at average risk for the disease undergo a screening colonoscopy every 10 years

Choosing what tests to order for each patient's cancer and then collecting individual samples for those tests has become complex and time consuming-which is why Foundation Medicine expects a big market for FoundationOne.

Molecular testing and novel therapies have revolutionized the management of metastatic melanoma in recent years.

At the recent NCCN 8th Annual Congress on Hematologic Malignancies, Michael Millenson, MD, Fox Chase Cancer Center, discussed considerations in selecting second- and third-generation tyrosine-kinase inhibitors for the management of chronic myelogenous leukemia

Patients with DCIS who received an MRI added to mammography before or immediately after receiving a lumpectomy did not experience an improvement in the rate of disease recurrence

Drugs targeting B-cell receptor signaling pathways are improving outcomes for patients with B-cell lymphomas; these novel agents include idelalisib and ibrutinib, and are considered a breakthrough for CLL and other B-cell lymphomas.