“Communication is a beautiful thing, and we stress that a lot in our clinic. The longer a patient is on pain medicine, the harder it is to come off of it and the more it’s going to predict issues later on, so we have to continue to be vigilant,†Ms. Edwards
Researchers are evaluating the use of a cluster of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) identified by a Bayesian method from an individual cancer patient to predict the occurrence of treatment-related side effects in that patient. Two unpublished studies have shown that SNPs identified by the Bayesian method have an accuracy of more [ Read More ]
More than 80% of patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma responded to a monoclonal antibody against a cell surface protein expressed by almost all myeloma cells, results of a phase 2 clinical trial showed. All patients received lenalidomide and dexamethasone and were randomized to 10 or 20 mg of [ Read More ]
A drug that targets a previously overlooked mutation led to objective responses in 8 of 14 patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to results of a proof-of-principle study. Some patients had symptomatic relief within days of beginning treatment with crizotinib, Alice T. Shaw, MD, PhD, reported at [ Read More ]
A new appreciation of the pathobiological foundation of mucositis, and the application of genomics to risk assessment, heralds an individualized and more effective approach to intervention for this costly and often disabling toxicity, according to specialists who spoke at a session on mucosal injury during the 2012 Annual Meeting of [ Read More ]
Two studies presented at the 2012 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) suggested that abiraterone acetate (AA; Zytiga), an androgen biosynthesis inhibitor,1,2 has the potential to be used earlier in the course of prostate cancer than its current FDA indication (ie, after failure of chemotherapy in [ Read More ]
Molecularly targeted therapies change the vascular milieu and can cause hypertension, fluid retention, and thromboembolic phenomena. However, the absolute risk of cardiotoxicity is much lower with targeted therapies compared with anthracyclines, stated Michael S. Ewer, MD, from the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, at the recent meeting of [ Read More ]
A preliminary report of a meta-analysis of clinical trials of molecularly targeted therapies shows that they are not benign and can add to the toxicity of standard chemotherapy. In particular, increased rates of oral mucositis and diarrhea are reported with several FDA-approved agents. Increased mucositis seen with bevacizumab and erlotinib [ Read More ]
