Vol. 17/No. 8

Early intervention has increasingly become the new standard of care for many patients with breast cancer, with an ever-growing collection of phase III trials currently exploring several novel or improved approaches.

Although therapeutic options for renal cell carcinoma have expanded dramatically during the past decade, oncologists are faced with considerable complexity in selecting the right course of treatment for the individual patient.

We’re talking about a certain type of “more”— more intervention earlier and more effectively in the natural history of a malignancy in order to prevent a recurring or metastatic manifestation of a cancer.

With the FDA emphasis on personalized medicine for patients with orphan diseases, the National Cancer Institute has recently awarded a Neuroendocrine Tumor Specialized Program of Research Excellence to the Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Iowa to fund both basic and clinical research on neuroendocrine tumors.

Robert S. Kerbel, PhD, discussed the evolving landscape of VEGF targeting and some of the unique challenges posed by the strategy.

Talimogene laherparepvec (T-VEC; Imlygic), an oncolytic viral immunotherapy approved for patients with melanoma, is being evaluated in a presurgical setting in a phase II clinical trial that may help set the stage for expanding the toolkit of neoadjuvant options for patients with the malignancy.

Next-generation sequencing efforts focusing on the most common form, head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, are illuminating the hidden complexities of its genome.

The delivery of antineoplastic therapy via the intravenous route is a long-standing, critical, and well-coordinated component of oncology practice. But what happens when a novel treatment strategy is introduced into the oncology arena that challenges this traditional drug infusion paradigm?

Emerging agents targeting the PD1/PD-L1 pathway and the process of angiogenesis are shaping up to be promising options to break a 30-year drought in new therapies for patients with progressive metastatic urothelial bladder cancer.