Category: Oncology

oncology

Bendamustine trumps chlorambucil for unfit patients with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia?

June 21, 2011
wolfgang knauf Bendamustine trumps chlorambucil for unfit patients with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia?

Wolfgang Knauf

LONDON— A change of therapy from chlorambucil to bendamustine was being recommended at the European Haematology Association annual meeting (June 8-12, 2011) for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia who are not fit enough to receive the gold-standard FCR chemo-immunotherapy. In a debate with Professor Peter Hillmen from Leeds University in England Wolfgang Knauf, Professor of Haematology from Frankfurt, Germany, opposed the motion that “chlorambucil is still the chemotherapy of choice” for this patient group.

More news from the EHA congress at http://www.ecancermedicalscience.com.

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Myelofibrosis: dramatic responses to JAK II R inhibitor ruxolitinib

June 15, 2011
srdan verstovsec Myelofibrosis: dramatic responses to JAK II R inhibitor ruxolitinib

Srdan Verstovsec

LONDON—Strikingly successful treatment results were reported in patients with myelofibrosis — a disabling, disfiguring and fatal cancer, for which no therapy has been available up to now — at the European Haematology Association annual meeting held in London (June 8-12, 2011). Srdan Verstovsek from the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Texas tells ecancer radio about his group’s data from a placebo-controlled study investigating treatment with the monoclonal antibody ruxolitinib which inhibits the JAK II enzyme. Organomegaly was reversed and symptoms reduced in the COMFORT I and COMFORT II studies.

More news from the EHA congress at http://www.ecancermedicalscience.com.

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Best supportive care: no longer the obvious choice for elderly patients with acute myeloid leukaemia

April 17, 2011
alan burnett Best supportive care: no longer the obvious choice for elderly patients with acute myeloid leukaemia

Alan Burnett

ROME—Older patients with acute myeloid leukaemia need individualised treatment, according to Professor Alan Burnett from Cardiff University who talked about the differences between treating older as compared with younger patients at the Rome conference on blood cancer in the elderly. For ecancer radio he surveys the options and gives his clinical recommendations.

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Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia: studies give insights into treatment beyond chlorambucil for elderly patients

April 16, 2011
peter hillmen Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia: studies give insights into treatment beyond chlorambucil for elderly patients

Peter Hillmen

ROME—Although combination immunochemotherapy —rather than single agent chlorambucil — is widely used among younger patients with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia as a means of improving outcome, the recommendation to use such combination therapy in older patients has not been so clear, according to Peter Hillmen, Professor of Haematology at the University of Leeds, who discussed this dursing the Rome conference on Blood Cancer in The Elderly. He talks with ecancer radio about the clinical implications of recent study findings.

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Evidence biased medicine should not be used for clinical decision-making in geriatric oncology

April 16, 2011
lodovico balducci Evidence biased medicine should not be used for clinical decision making in geriatric oncology

Lodovico Balducci

ROME—The idea that clinical evidence can be biased was under scrutiny — at the Rome Conference on Blood Cancer In The Elderly — by Professor Lodovico Balducci, Director of the Senior Adult Oncology Program at the Moffitt Cancer Center, University of South Florida, Tampa. He explains to ecancer radio why doctors need to look critically at clinical trial evidence before using it to influence clinical decision-making. He also talks about the need to individualise therapy for older patients with cancer by combining the efforts of different specialists, including care-givers.

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Quiet rationing of cancer drugs discriminates against elderly patients

April 14, 2011
joerg hasford Quiet rationing of cancer drugs discriminates against elderly patients

Joerg Hasford

Un-spoken discrimination against older patients with blood cancer may be happening in hospitals because of “quiet rationing” of the expensive drugs such as tyrosine kinase inhibitors, according to Professor Joerg Hasford from the Department of Epidemiology at the Ludwig-Maximillians University of Munich. He talked with ecancer radio about the evidence he has accumulated from a study — originally designed to look into discrimination against female patients — which he presented to the conference on blood cancer in the elderly held in Rome.

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Stand Up To Cancer innovative research grant winners discuss melanoma resistance to a small molecule anti-cancer drug and sleeping cancer cells

April 10, 2011
roger lo sridhar ramaswamy Stand Up To Cancer innovative research grant winners discuss melanoma resistance to a small molecule anti cancer drug and sleeping cancer cells

Roger Lo and Sridhar Ramaswamy

ORLANDO—Awards of $750 000 each were announced at the AACR annual conference in Orlando of Innovative Research Grants, given by the organisation: Stand Up To Cancer to allow some of the best and brightest young researchers to step out of their comfort zones and attempt to make major breakthroughs with bold research projects. Two of the grant winners — Sridhar Ramaswamy from Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and Roger Lo from UCLA in Los Angeles — talk with eCancer radio about their work and the importance of the awards.

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Rare inherited skin cancer is controlled by inhibiting the hedgehog pathway

April 10, 2011
ervin epstein Rare inherited skin cancer is controlled by inhibiting the hedgehog pathway

Ervin Epstein

ORLANDO—A rare inherited form of skin cancer — basal cell nevus syndrome — has been controlled by an inhibitor of the “hedgehog” molecular pathway in a study reported to the American Association for Cancer Research annual meeting held in Orlando. Ervin Epstein, Senior Scientist at the Children’s Hospital of the Oakland Research Institute in California, presented the first drug study in man to harness the anti-hedgehog pathway for treating cancer. He talks with ecancer radio about the importance of his group’s findings.

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Blocking two molecular pathways simultaneously gives better anti-tumour activity

April 10, 2011
johanna bendell Blocking two molecular pathways simultaneously gives better anti tumour activity

Johanna Bendell

ORLANDO—Evidence that cancer could be controlled more effectively by blocking two molecular pathways simultaneously was reported at the American Association for Cancer Research annual meeting in Orlando, Florida. Johanna Bendell from the Sarah Cannon Research Institute in Nashville, Tennessee discusses her group’s findings in research using inhibitors of both the P13K-AKT-mTOR and RAS-RAF-MEK pathways in a group of patients with a range of different advanced solid tumours.

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Psychosocial issues: high priority for managing elderly patients with cancer

April 4, 2011
luzia travado Psychosocial issues: high priority for managing elderly patients with cancer

Luzia Travado

ROME—The use of comprehensive psychological assessment of elderly patients with haematological malignancies to look at cognitive and psychological functioning — along with physical factors — was being urged at the European Expert Forum on Blood Cancer in the Elderly held in Rome. Luzia Travado from Portugal talked with ecancer radio about the psychological techniques she uses, which can improve outcomes.

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Co-morbidity scoring, not age, to guide therapy for chronic lymphocytic leukaemia

April 4, 2011
clemens wendtner Co morbidity scoring, not age, to guide therapy for chronic lymphocytic leukaemia

Clemens Wendtner

ROME—Co-morbidities and cytogenetic markers in older patients with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia can be used as an accurate guide to selecting therapy rather than using age cut-offs, according to Clemens Wendtner, Professor of Medicine and Research Director of the Laboratory of Immunotherapy at the University of Cologne, Germany, who addressed the European Expert Forum on Blood Cancer in the Elderly in Rome. He tells ecancer radio about the potential for treating many fit older patients with the most effective regimens rather than consigning them to older alternatives.

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Genetic change detection: key for selecting best therapy for older patients with myelodysplastic syndrome

April 4, 2011
francesc sole Genetic change detection: key for selecting best therapy for older patients with myelodysplastic syndrome

Francesc Solé

ROME—Testing for the genetic changes predicting prognosis is a key method for choosing the right therapy for your elderly patient with myelodysplastic syndrome according to Francesc Solé, Chief of the Laboratory of Cytogenetics at the Hospital del Mar in Barcelona. He tells ecancer radio about the importance of using gene tests to help define risk in older patients.

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