ASCO Annual Meeting

Chicago, IL—In a cohort of patients at risk for colorectal cancer (CRC), the majority were willing to pay some out-of-pocket (OOP) expenses for genetic testing, Fox Chase Cancer Center researchers reported in a poster that was presented at the 2012 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting and earned an ASCO Merit Award.

Chicago, IL—Older patients with cancer and Medicare coverage often incur greater out-of-pocket (OOP) expenses compared with their counterparts without cancer.

Approximately 1 in 5 patients with cancer who are undergoing radiotherapy as part of their treatment can count on unexpected hospital stays—adding an economic and clinical burden on the patient and on the healthcare system, according to an analysis by Nabeel H. Arastu, BS, and colleagues at the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University, Greenville, NC, which was presented at the 2012 ASCO meeting.

Chicago, IL—The novel androgen receptor–signaling inhibitor enzalutamide, also known as MDV3100, significantly prolonged overall survival (OS), slowed disease progression, and improved quality-of-life (QOL) measures in men with castration-resistant prostate cancer after docetaxel failure, according to results from a large phase 3 clinical trial.

Chicago, IL—Canadian researchers reported a finding at the 2012 American Society of Clinical Oncol ogy meeting that runs contrary to what other researchers have observed in the majority of studies.

Chicago, IL—At the 2012 American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting, attendees flocked to sessions on the treatment of melanoma to hear about the next generation of agents that are building on the success achieved with the BRAF inhibitor vemurafenib (Zelboraf), and the immunotherapy drug ipilimumab (Yervoy), which have added new treatment options where, not long ago, none existed.

Chicago, IL—Abiraterone acetate (Zytiga) delays disease progression when used with prednisone before chemotherapy in men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, said Charles J. Ryan, MD, Associate Professor of Clinical Med icine, Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of California, San Francisco, who reported a planned interim analysis of a phase 3 study at the 2012 meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

In men with metastatic prostate cancer, especially those with minimal disease spread, continuous rather than intermittent hormonal therapy should be considered the preferred therapy, according to the results of a large multicenter phase 3 international trial.

Chicago, IL—The novel antibody drug conjugate trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1) significantly extended progression-free survival (PFS) and was very well tolerated in the first results of the international EMILIA trial, which were presented at the 2012 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting.

Chicago, IL—“Precision medicine” is the new catch phrase in oncology, and examples of it were evident across the vast halls of McCormick Place at the 2012 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting.