Survival Improvement Seen With Bevacizumab in Ovarian Cancer
April 1st 2015Treatment with bevacizumab (Avastin) plus chemotherapy resulted in a non-statistically significant improvement in overall survival (OS) of nearly 5 months compared with chemotherapy alone for women with platinum-sensitive recurrent ovarian cancer.
#CancerFilm on PBS: Our Interview With Siddhartha Mukherjee, MD
March 31st 2015The premiere last night of "Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies," a three-part film by acclaimed documentary filmmaker Ken Burns lit up twitter last night, with patients, survivors, practitioners, researchers, advocates, and more sharing their thoughts on the first episode.
Smoking, Alcohol Use Affect Feeding Tube Duration in Head and Neck Cancer Patients
March 30th 2015A new study has found that current smoking and heavy alcohol consumption appear to be risk factors for prolonged use of a gastrostomy tube (GT, feeding tube) in patients with head and neck cancer who are undergoing radiotherapy or chemoradiotherapy.
High Fitness Level in Older Men Associated with Lower Risk of Some Cancers
March 27th 2015A new study has shown that men with a high fitness level in midlife are not only at a lower risk of developing lung and colorectal cancer, they're also at a lower risk of dying from cancer if they're diagnosed later in life.
Top 12 Tips for Finding Financial Help
March 24th 2015Are you looking for financial assistance with direct medical costs (co-pays, deductibles), related non-medical costs (transportation, gas, child care) or daily living expenses (rent, utilities)? With effort and persistence, you can find some help.
Practicing Stress Management Improves Long-Term Mood, Quality of Life in Women with Breast Cancer
March 23rd 2015Results of a follow up study have shown that when women were taught stress management techniques early in their breast cancer treatment, their mood and quality of life continued to improve up to 15 years later.
NCCN Updates Ovarian Cancer Clinical Practice Guidelines
March 20th 2015Recent advancements in the treatment of ovarian cancer, including surgical techniques, the approvals of bevacizumab and olaparib, and intraperitoneal chemotherapy (IP), have led the National Comprehensive Cancer Network to make changes to their clinical practice guidelines in its 20th annual edition.
Prostate Cancer Screening: "Yes, No, or Maybe?"
March 18th 2015The continuing contentious debate about screening for prostate cancer remains top of mind among the public and lay press, but, Leonard G. Gomella, MD, told attendees at the 8th International Prostate Cancer Congress, the decision to screen or not to screen boiled down to "using common sense, shared decision making, and choosing the right patients to screen."
NO STOMACH FOR CANCER: Founded by a Family, for the Empowerment of Families
March 13th 2015Karen Chelcun Schreiber was first touched by gastric cancer in 1982, when her mother Elaine died of the disease at age 52. She was impacted again in 2007 when her brother Greg was diagnosed with Stage IV gastric cancer. He was 56.
Brentuximab Vedotin Delivers Unprecedented Posttransplant PFS Benefit in Relapsed Hodgkin Lymphoma
March 11th 2015Following treatment with high-dose chemotherapy and stem cell transplant, patients with relapsed and difficult- to-treat Hodgkin lymphoma who received brentuximab vedotin had an unprecedented 50% higher likelihood of continuing to experience progression- free survival (PFS) at 2 years.
FDA Safety Alert Warns Against Use of Treanda with CSTDs
March 11th 2015The FDA has issued a safety advisory warning healthcare professionals not to use Treanda (bendamustine HCl) Injection with closed system transfer devices (CSTDs), adapters, and syringes containing polycarbonate or acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS).
Study Finds Weight and Muscle Loss With Cabozantinib for Advanced Thyroid Cancer
March 10th 2015Tyrosine-kinase inhibitors (TKIs) are a mainstay of therapy for patients with advanced thyroid cancer, more than doubling progression-free survival. Unfortunately, their use is limited not only by gastrointestinal adverse events (AEs), such as diarrhea and anorexia, but also by significant weight loss, which has been reported in 10% to 50% of patients treated with TKI therapies.
Higher Risk of Thyroid Cancer Among Those With Breast Cancer History
March 10th 2015According to a recent retrospective cohort analysis of a large national database, patients with a history of breast cancer have a higher risk of developing thyroid cancer than do the general population, particularly if they receive adjuvant radiation therapy.