Maintenance Therapy May Delay Lung Cancer Growth
A new study has shown that maintenance therapy with the cancer drug pemetrexed delays by 50% the time it takes for advanced non-small cell lung cancer to progress. The approach appears to significantly increase the amount of time that patients have before their cancer progresses without increasing additional side effects.
Protein Biomarkers May Indicate Early-Stage Pancreatic Cancer
A blood protein that reliably indicates early-stage pancreatic cancer has been discovered, according to research published in the Public Library of Science. Researchers believe that these results are a breakthrough in the application of proteomic technologies and mouse models to cancer biomarker discovery.
Single-Dose Carboplatin May Be Effective for Early Testicular Cancer
A study showing that a single dose of carboplatin chemotherapy is as effective and less toxic than radiation therapy in preventing recurrence after surgery for early-stage testicular cancer was presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting in Chicago, IL. The research reported that in men with surgically resected stage 1 seminoma, a single dose of carboplatin chemotherapy is as effective as two to three weeks of radiation therapy in preventing recurrence and is much less toxic.
Obesity May Prevent Screening for Breast, Cervical Cancer
A review of the literature examining obesity as an obstacle to screening for breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer has found that women who are obese are less likely to than women with healthy weights to obtain recommended screening for breast and cervical cancer. The literature regarding obesity and colorectal cancer screening adherence was mixed, with some studies reporting an inverse effect of body size on screening behavior and others reporting no effect.
KRAS Status Predicts Response to Cetuximab for Metastatic Colorectal Cancer
Patients with advanced colorectal cancer who do not have mutant forms of the gene KRAS in their tumors are most likely to benefit from the monoclonal antibody cetuximab and chemotherapy, compared to patients who have tumors that contain a mutated form of the gene, according to a new study presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting in Chicago, IL. This means that patients whose tumors have the mutant form of the gene should not receive the treatment because they are unlikely to benefit from it and should be spared the side effects and cost.
For more details about these news stories, see Just In and New Treatments, New Hope in the August issue.
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