Tag Archives: cancer treatment

Increased survival for metastatic prostate cancer with chemotherapy, hormone therapy together

The independent Data and Safety Monitoring Committee overseeing the trial recommended to the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of NIH, that the study results be made public because a recent planned interim analysis showed prolongation in overall survival. Full details from this early analysis will be presented at a scientific meeting in 2014 and in a peer-reviewed publication. The study enrolled 790 men with metastatic prostate cancer between July 2006 and November 2012 in a trial known as E3805. …

Blocking tumor-associated macrophages decreases glioblastoma’s growth, extends survival in mice

The rates of apoptosis, or programmed cell death, were higher in the mice treated with the experimental agent than in the untreated animals that also had high-grade glioblastomas, said Johanna Joyce, Ph.D., of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) in New York City. …

Evidence of savings in accountable care organizations, cancer care

Researchers from The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy & Clinical Practice report that savings may be found in accountable care organizations (ACO) through reductions in hospitalizations. The analysis published in the December issue of the journal Healthcare provides the first empirical evidence on how the shared savings ACO model may affect the cost and experience of care for cancer patients. The researchers looked at the Physician Group Practice Demonstration, which ran from 2005 to 2010 in 10 physician groups, for the best current evidence on the likely effectiveness of accountable care organizations for Medicare beneficiaries…

First in-human trial of endoxifen shows promise as breast cancer treatment

"We achieved up to 60 fold higher levels of endoxifen compared to endoxifen levels achieved with the standard dose of tamoxifen," says Matthew Goetz, M.D., a Mayo Clinic oncologist and lead author of the study. "We have seen evidence for tumor regression in patients who had failed standard hormonal therapies including aromatase inhibitors, fulvestrant and tamoxifen. This is an exciting first step in the development of this drug." Tamoxifen is a hormonal therapy that has been used for over 40 years to reduce the risk of breast cancer recurrence and to prevent breast cancer. …

Geme mutation potential target for diagnosis, treatment of insulinoma

Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors are classified into functional and nonfunctional tumors by hormone secretion and clinical symptoms. Functional PNETs are mainly represented by insulinoma, which secrete insulin independent of glucose and cause hypoglycemia. The major genetic alterations in insulinomas are still unknown. …

Personalizing cancer treatments for youngest patients

Precision medicine constitutes a different method of identifying best treatment options for patients. Instead of prescribing therapy based solely on the organ where the cancer originated, clinicians utilize genomic analysis for a more comprehensive approach. Through a rapid gene sequencing test, the tiniest details of a tumor biopsy are uncovered, sometimes revealing one or more mutations in the patient’s genes. It is the mutations themselves that can be targeted with new or existing drugs. …

Common outcome measures required for neurofibromatosis clinical trials

The (REiNS) Collaboration was formed to achieve consensus regarding the design of clinical trials for treatments of NF and related disorders, with a focus on developing a standard set of appropriate and meaningful outcome measures. "This supplement presents the initial progress of several of the working groups and includes the first series of consensus recommendations for NF clinical trial endpoints by the REiNS International Collaboration," according to an introduction by Dr Scott R. …

Novel cancer cell DNA damage repair mechanism unveiled

The new findings explain partially why cancer cells, unlike normal cells, fail to die as a result of DNA damaging insults, and how this mechanism causes new genetic mutations in cancer cells. This new information directly benefits cancer research. Now that scientists understand the repair mechanism, they are better equipped to develop drug therapies that specifically target cancerous cells. …

Economic factors may affect getting guideline-recommended breast cancer treatment

Women with a break in their insurance coverage had a 3.5-fold higher likelihood of nonconcordance with National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guidelines for radiation therapy and chemotherapy compared with women with uninterrupted coverage. "We found that women who had no insurance at some point during treatment, women with lower incomes compared with those in the highest income categories, and women who held more debt at the time of diagnosis were less likely to receive all of the recommended breast cancer treatments," said Jean A…