Younger patients were more likely than older patients to get guideline- recommended treatment for non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC); conversely, the older the patient, the less likely treatment was provided, according to a large study of veterans that was reported in the May 1 edition of the Journal of Clinical Oncology. Advancing age was the strongest negative predictor of receiving guideline-recommended treatment, regard less of cancer stage and comorbidity.
According to a presentation at the recent European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology (ESTRO) meeting in Barcelona, Spain, oropharyngeal cancers in patients who are positive for the human papilloma virus (HPV) and who never smoked or were light smokers may be treated effectively with radiotherapy alone, potentially sparing these selected patients from additional chemotherapy and its toxicity.
Olaparib maintenance therapy extended progression-free survival (PFS) in women with an aggressive form of platinum-sensitive ovarian cancer with a previous response to platinum-based chemotherapy. Women receiving olaparib lived a mean of 4 months longer and also had a longer time to disease progression than those who had no maintenance therapy. These were the conclusions of a phase 2 study published in the New England Journal of Medicine on April 12, 2012.
Alarge, population-based study found that a significant proportion of female cancer survivors had poor health behaviors compared with women who have not had cancer (Rausch SM, et al. Am J Clin Oncol. 2012;35:22-31).
Failure of remission-induction therapy in pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), although rare, can lead to highly adverse outcomes, but outcomes differ according to type of ALL: B-cell or T-cell, as well as other characteristics (Schrapps M, et al. N Engl J Med. 2012;366:1371-1381).
Oral nutritional interventions do increase nutritional intake and result in weight gain in some malnourished patients with cancer as well as improve some aspects of quality of life (QOL), but do not seem to increase survival, according to a systematic review and meta-analysis of the literature (Baldwin C, et al. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2012;104:371-385).
Teresa is a 45-year-old female recently diagnosed with lobular breast cancer. She has 1 brother, aged 42 years, and 3 children, a 14-yearold son, a 12-year-old daughter, and a 10-year-old daughter. Her father is 65 years of age and has 2 sisters, aged 55 and 62, both of whom have children, and none are reported to have cancer. Her paternal grandparents died in their 80s, and the stated cause was “old age.” Teresa’s mother was reported to have had breast cancer in her late 40s and died from an “abdominal cancer” in her 50s. She had zero siblings. Read More ›
Researchers have documented diverse genetic changes in different parts of the same primary tumor, suggesting that individual tumors harbor a complexity of genetic changes that has not been well appreciated (Gerlinger M, et al. N Engl J Med. 2012;366:883-892). This discovery has implications for personalized medicine directed at genetic changes identified in 1 biopsy of a primary tumor.
For patients with hematologic cancers, an educational DVD about the bone marrow transplant process can explain complex concepts and facilitate discussions with nurses, according to representatives of Be The Match (www.BeTheMatch.org/patients), a program of the National Marrow Donor Program, which is based in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
At the 37th Annual Congress of the Oncology Nursing Society held in New Orleans, Louisiana, Elizabeth A. Murphy, RN, EdD, and Ellen M. Denzen, MS, shared their experience with this teaching approach.
The University of Arizona Cancer Center, located in Tucson, was founded in 1976 as a division of the University of Arizona’s College of Medicine. In 1990, the University of Arizona Cancer Center was designated as a Comp rehensive Cancer Center by the National Cancer Institute (NCI). As such, the center is not only focused on patient care, but also conducts translational and clinical research into the development and delivery of therapies to reduce the morbidity and morphology of cancer. Read More ›
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