Oncology

Within 5 years of a breast cancer diagnosis, patients are at an increased risk of developing thyroid cancer, according to a new study, which was presented at the Endocrine Society's 97th annual meeting.

Commissioned by The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, the results of the study help make the case for placing limits on out-of-pocket costs for patients that would relieve their financial burden without a significant impact to insurers.

A study, published in the journal Cancer, found that women with a family history of both breast and prostate cancer among first-degree relatives have an almost 2-fold increase in risk of developing breast cancer themselves.

One of the criticisms, which came from ASCO, points to the absence of consideration for patient heterogeneity that can result in physicians being penalized for providing patient-centered treatment.

While sunitinib failed as adjuvant treatment in advanced kidney cancer, this phase 2 study presented at the ongoing annual meeting of The Endocrine Society found that in patients with advanced thyroid cancer, sunitinib treatment resulted in median progression free survival of about 8 months. The authors think their results create sufficient evidence to initiate a phase 3 trial of the drug in thyroid cancer patients.

New oncology payment models, 340B pricing and disproportionate share hospitals, and the significant difference in reimbursement rates for cancer care services are just some of the challenges faced by community oncology clinics. How do patients make informed decisions on where to go for care?

The study, conducted at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute found that the benefits of these personalized cancer products are reported much more frequently than are the limitations.

The study, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology found that the 5-year survival with ipilimumab (18.2%) was double that with placebo (8.8%) and roughly double the historical survival rate of patients with stage IV melanoma (approximately 10%).

A guideline has been issued that outlines the use of 3-D computed tomography-based radiation therapy planning and volumetric image guidance to more effectively treat pediatric Hodgkin lymphoma and to reduce the radiation dose to normal tissue, thus decreasing the risk of late side effects.

Harold Varmus, MD, who has led the National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health for nearly 5 years, announced today that he will step down from his post, effective March 31, 2015.

AbbVie will spend about $21 billion to buy leukemia drugmaker Pharmacyclics in its first major deal attempt since walking away from a $55 billion takeover of Shire last fall.

The FDA announced today that it has approved Opdivo (nivolumab) for use in NSCLC patients who have progressed on or after platinum-based chemotherapy.

Brain tumor patients who are uninsured or use Medicaid stay hospitalized longer and develop more medical complications than those with private insurance, University of Florida Health researchers have found.

While the pharmaceutical industry has always justified the billions spent on developing a candidate drug molecule, the process has definitely seen some important changes. This article evaluates whether these revolutionary changes have influenced drug development for the better.

The technique, L-COSY, monitors biochemical changes in tissue and could improve the management of women at risk of breast cancer, such as those carrying mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2.

The study in Health Affairs published by Samir Soneji, PhD, an assistant professor at Dartmouth's Geisel School of Medicine and The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy & Clinical Practice, found that despite a sharp rise in healthcare spending,caner mortality rates are very high in the US compared to Western Europe.

The use of adjuvant systemic therapy for localized gastrointestinal stromal tumors has significantly increased over time, a new study published in the American Journal of Clinical Oncology, has found, and patients treated with the therapy have better survival than those treated with surgery alone, researchers say.