August 2011, Vol 2, No 5

Chicago, IL—The potential of 2 novel agents still in clinical trials, and 1 drug that was recently approved, offer new hope to patients with metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC), a disease with a dire prognosis and few good current treatment options.

Chicago, IL—The “big news” in metastatic ovarian cancer presented at ASCO 2011 involved the investigational poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitor olaparib, which prolonged progression-free survival (PFS) by nearly 4 months versus placebo.

Chicago, IL—A cost analysis presented at ASCO 2011 and performed at the University of Toronto, Odette Cancer Center, Ontario, showed that the emerging combination regimen that includes oxaliplatin (Eloxatin), irino tecan (Camptosar), fluorouracil (Adrucil) and leucovorin (FOLFIRINOX) is not cost-effective when considered within the framework of a willingness-to-pay threshold of $100,000 per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY).

Chicago, IL—The use of high-dose methotrexate (HD-MTX) has demonstrated a significant improvement in event-free survival in patients with pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) at 5 years compared with the standard regimen.

Chicago, IL—Whole genome sequencing was the topic of a session at the 2011 ASCO annual meeting in which specialists discussed the implications of “genome-forward medicine” in lung cancer.

Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) has traditionally been an important tool in nonclinical research. Recently, however, the potential clinical value of the technique was demonstrated in a patient with acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) that was hard to identify (Welch JS, et al. JAMA. 2011;305: 1577-1584).

Results of a phase 3 trial comparing that drug with the investigational agent vemurafenib show promise for patients with BRAF V600E mutation (Chapman PB, et al. N Engl JMed. 2011; 364:2507-2516).

Black women who undergo mastectomy or lumpectomy for advanced breast cancer have shorter survival duration than their white, Hispanic, and Asian counterparts, regardless of whether they undergo radiation therapy after the procedure, according to a new study (Martinez SR, et al. Cancer. Epub ahead of print. June 20, 2011).

A new large clinical trial funded by the National Cancer Institute has demonstrated the best approach to therapy for men with intermediaterisk, early-stage prostate cancer that can prolong survival.

The FDA has issued a warning to healthcare providers against substituting breast thermography formammography in screening for breast cancer.