In the United States, large barriers remain for women with cancer who want to preserve their fertility, explained Dr. Levine. For instance, while fertility preservation is available to all women in Sweden under their national health system, many insurance plans in the United States don’t cover it for young cancer patients.
Some patients receive dexamethasone to prevent inflammation in the brain and remain on the medicine indefinitely. But, based on the new findings, it may be time to reevaluate how dexamethasone is used in brain cancer, the researchers suggested.
USA, 19th November 2020. In a comprehensive analysis of patients with cancer who had exceptional responses to therapy, researchers have identified molecular changes in the patients’ tumours that may explain some of the exceptional responses. The results demonstrate that genomic characterizations of cancer can uncover genetic alterations that may contribute to unexpected and long-lasting responses to treatment, according to the researchers. The results appeared in Cancer Cell on Nov. 19. Researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, conducted the study in collaboration with investigators from other institutions, including NCI-designated Cancer Centers. “The majority of patients in this study had metastatic cancers that are typically difficult to treat, yet some of the patient responses lasted for many years,” said Louis Staudt, M.D., Ph.D., director of NCI’s Center for Cancer Genomics, who co-led the study. “Researchers and the doctors who treat these patients have long been curious about the mechanisms underlying these rare responses to treatment. Using modern genomic tools, we can now start to solve these fascinating puzzles”, he added. “As clinical researchers, we have a lot to learn from these patients, and they have a lot to teach us,” said Percy Ivy, M.D., of NCI’s Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis, who co-led the research. “The knowledge gained from studying exceptional responders can help inform how we take care of patients in the future and will help move us closer to the goal of precision oncology.” The retrospective study, which is now closed to accrual, included detailed medical histories and tumour samples from 111 patients with various types of cancer who had received standard treatments, such as chemotherapy. The patients had been identified by NCI’s Exceptional Responders Initiative, a national project launched in 2014 to explore the feasibility of collecting and analyzing the data and biospecimens needed to better understand the biological basis of exceptional responses in cancer. For 26 of the 111 (24%) patients, the researchers were able to identify molecular features that could potentially explain exceptional responses to treatment, such as the co-occurrence of multiple rare genetic changes in the tumour…
Washington DC. 26th May 2020. In a new study, an alternative treatment regimen that is less toxic than standard dose-intensive chemotherapy was found to be highly effective for adults with Burkitt lymphoma across all age groups and independent of HIV status. In addition to being better tolerated, the regimen, called dose-adjusted (DA) EPOCH-R, is already an option for diffuse large B-cell lymphomas and can be administered in an outpatient setting. The findings were published May 26, 2020, in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. The study was led by researchers in the Center for Cancer Research at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, and sponsored by NCI’s Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program. It was conducted at 22 research centres across the country. The DA-EPOCH-R regimen was originally developed by NCI researchers led by Wyndham Wilson, M.D., Ph.D., at the NIH Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. “We knew Burkitt lymphoma is curable with dose-intensive chemotherapy, but that treatment can be acutely toxic for adult patients,” said Mark Roschewski, M.D., of NCI’s Lymphoid Malignancies Branch, who was one of the lead authors on the study. “With this finding, we not only have a potentially curative treatment option for these patients that are less toxic, but one that appears effective for most adults, including elderly patients and those with HIV and other comorbidities who might not be able to receive standard treatment.” Burkitt lymphoma is a rare but aggressive B-cell lymphoma that is more common in children than adults. The dose-intensive chemotherapy that’s been developed to cure Burkitt lymphoma in pediatric patients is much better tolerated by children than adults, who can have severe side effects, especially if they are older or have other serious health conditions, such as being infected with HIV. People living with HIV/AIDS have an increased risk for Burkitt lymphoma. NCI researchers have tested several approaches to determine whether less toxic treatments could still be effective for Burkitt lymphoma in adults. In an earlier pilot study with 30 adult patients treated only at NCI, the DA-EPOCH-R chemotherapy regimen was effective. The DA-EPOCH-R regimen is tailored…
Blood cancer called acute Leukemia is ‘The most dangerous and life-threatening Cancer’ where early initiation of treatment makes a huge difference in patient outcome. Clinical Presentation of Blood cancer is variable ranging from Incidental detection on blood tests to breathing difficulty and fever. These symptoms trigger Corona testing and Isolation. With the fear of COVID19 lot of patients tend to wait at home until symptoms worsen. In addition to the delay in diagnosis, most patients may suffer from a postponement of chemotherapy, due to a shortage of isolation beds and blood products or the wish to avoid immunosuppressive treatments. Delay in chemotherapy initiation may negatively affect prognosis and miss a chance of cure particularly in young patients. Leukaemia patients could progress to high-risk disease due to acquisition of additional genetic anomalies, and complications due to very high white cell count called hyperleukocytosis. Patients with Blood-related cancers who have steroids as part of their treatment mainly Myeloma Cancer patients can have high chances of severe lung infections and pneumonia with COVID19. For this reason Myeloma autologous bone marrow transplants have differed until Corona pandemic settles. In Lymphoma and Leukaemia, patients need for Transplant has to be discussed on an individual basis based on risk and benefit as delay in treatment can risk their life. Delay in transplant results in the reappearance of a significant minimal residual disease (MRD), a negative impact on overall survival post-transplant is another concern. Blood products shortage especially platelet shortage is the biggest concern during Blood cancer treatment. Volunteer donors are decreasing due to self-isolation, travel restriction and fear of virus transmission. Currently, Red blood cell stocks are reasonable in most blood banks after endorsement by popular celebrities and other political leaders. By donating Platelets donor saves life immediately as platelets are given within 3-4 days after donation due to their short shelf life unlike in Blood donation they are not stored for a long duration. No doubt there is all time need for more regular voluntary donors for platelets. We need a more coordinated programme for blood donors and end-users. Treating Hospitals should have dedicated…
New York. 19th March 2020 : Findings from a phase 2 clinical trial show that the drug selumetinib improves outcomes for children with the genetic disorder neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1). In the trial, selumetinib shrank the inoperable tumors that develop with NF1 called plexiform neurofibromas, and children experienced reduced pain, improved function, and better overall quality of life after receiving the treatment. The trial was led by intramural researchers in the Center for Cancer Research (CCR) at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health. Results of the trial were published March 18, 2020, in the New England Journal of Medicine. “Until now, no effective medical therapies have existed for children with NF1 and plexiform neurofibromas, and it’s been a long journey to find a drug that can help them,” said Brigitte Widemann, M.D., lead author of the study, and chief of CCR’s Pediatric Oncology Branch, which developed and coordinated the trial. “While this is not yet a cure, this treatment is shrinking tumors and it’s making children feel better and have a better quality of life.” The trial was sponsored by the NCI Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program (CTEP) and conducted by the NIH intramural program. Drugmaker AstraZeneca provided the study drug under a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with NCI and supported correlated studies that were part of the trial. The company worked closely with the researchers on the New Drug Application to gather the data that has been submitted by the company to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In addition, the Neurofibromatosis Therapeutic Acceleration Program (NTAP) provided funding to support patient enrollment at participating sites. The trial enrolled 50 children ages 3 to 17 years with NF1-related plexiform neurofibromas in 2015 and 2016. The most common symptoms from the tumors were disfigurement, limitations on strength and range of motion, and pain. The children received selumetinib orally twice a day in 28-day cycles continuously, and assessments were performed at least every four cycles. The researchers used a novel approach to assess outcomes tailored to each patient’s specific tumor-related symptoms, something no prior clinical…
New York 19th March 2020 : A study by researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, offers new insight into genetic alterations associated with osteosarcoma, the most common cancerous bone tumour of children and adolescents. The researchers found that more people with osteosarcoma carry harmful, or likely harmful, variants in known cancer-susceptibility genes than people without osteosarcoma. This finding has implications for genetic testing of children with osteosarcoma, as well as their families. The study was published March 19, 2020, in JAMA Oncology. “With this study, we wanted to find out how many people with osteosarcoma may have been at high risk for it because of their genetics,” said Lisa Mirabello, Ph.D., of NCI’s Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics (DCEG), who led the research. “We not only learned that at least a quarter of the people in the study with osteosarcoma had a variant in a gene known to predispose someone to cancer, we also uncovered variants that had never before been associated with this cancer.” In the study, the researchers looked for harmful (or likely harmful) variants in 238 known cancer-susceptibility genes in DNA samples from 1,244 people with osteosarcoma and compared the frequency of such variants with that in people in a cancer-free control group. They identified a harmful or likely harmful variant in a known cancer-susceptibility gene in 28% of the people with osteosarcoma. By contrast, only 12% of people in the cancer-free control group had such a variant. When the authors looked at a subset of 166 genes that are known to be inherited in an autosomal dominant fashion—that is, where inheriting one alteration from one parent is sufficient to increase cancer risk—they saw harmful or likely harmful variants in about 18% of the patients but only 5% of controls. And another 25% of the patients had a rare variant of uncertain significance that was predicted to be harmful. Patients who had harmful variants were younger at age of osteosarcoma diagnosis, on average, than patients who did not (15.3 years versus 16.9 years). In addition, the youngest children…
In 2020, American Oncology Institute will create 2020 Nyla Volunteers across 13 states in India American Oncology Institute announces the launch of its exclusive Campaign for ‘Cancers in Women’- NYLA, a movement for early detection and prevention of Cancers in Women Hyderabad, February 09, 2020: American Oncology Institute (AOI), South Asia’s leading chain of cancer hospitals, has unveiled an exclusive campaign called Nyla, a movement for early detection and prevention of Cancers in Women, on the occasion of World Cancer Day across 8 states in India. Chief Guest Dr Namrata Singh, a physiotherapist and avid biker, who is undertaking an all India Bike ride to sensitise women about cancers; Dr Babaiah, Medical Director, American Oncology Institute (AOI); Dr Vijay Vemuri, Regional Director – South & COO; Dr Sudha Sinha, Sr. Medical Oncologist, AOI and Dr M Ravikiran, Facility Director – Operations, American Oncology Institute; formally launched NYLA, on last Tuesday at American Oncology Institute, Hyderabad. In India, around 5.8 lakh new cases of cancers were diagnosed in women in 2018. Breast cancer accounts for 25-32% of all female cancers. Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer and accounted for 16.5% of newly diagnosed cancer cases in women in the year 2018. Ovarian Cancer is the third leading cancer and accounted for about 6.2% of all cancers among women in our country. Breast (27.7%) Cervix Uteri (16.5%) Ovary (6.2%) and Colorectum (3.4%) cancers together account for more than half of all cancers in women. Many of these cancers can be detected early and are highly curable in the early stages. Therefore, it is important to step up and educate our community about cancers in women. Negligence and ignorance are causing a growing number of women to lose the battle to cancer. Early detection can help more women win the battle against cancer. American Oncology Institute (AOI) announced the launch of NYLA – a movement for early detection and prevention of cancers in women namely Breast Cancer, Cervical Cancer, Ovarian Cancer, Uterine Cancer and Colorectal Cancer. The word ‘NYLA’ is of Arabic origin and means a ‘winner’. Dr Namrata Singh, a…
World Cancer Day – February 4, 2020 February 4, 2020, will mark the 20th anniversary of World Cancer Day, an annual event meant to raise cancer awareness and encourage governments, oncology societies, nongovernmental organizations, businesses, and individuals to take action against the global impact of the disease. This has been formed in recognition to make progress in cancer prevention, provide better access to cancer care, and to have better outcomes of survival. The goals address impact on human life, human suffering and productivity. The emphasis is on providing access of quality cancer care to all. There is Global Rise in Cancer Burden in spite of progress in care in past 2 decades. The global cancer burden is estimated to grow to more than 29 million cases annually by 2040, assuming global rates in 2018 remain the same. Cancer is the leading or second-leading cause of death in 91 countries worldwide, and that the global cancer cases is expected to increase by 60% in 2040. That global rise in cancer burden is expected to continue to disproportionately affect low- and middle-income countries, where, in 2012, 65% of all cancer deaths globally occurred. This percentage is expected to increase to 75% by 2030. In addition to cancer medicines, radiotherapy is a main pillar of cancer treatment, and more than 50% of patients requiring radiotherapy in low- and middle-income countries do not have access to this treatment. Lack of trained professionals too is an issue. World Cancer Day theme 2020 The “I Am and I Will” campaign is the theme for World Cancer Day across 3 years from 2019 to 2021, and it’s a theme to drive bigger impact on raising public awareness of cancer. We need to gather together individuals, communities, organizations, schools, business enterprises, and hospitals in various cities to make cancer awareness possible. This year, the 20th anniversary of World Cancer Day promises to be the year that ignites greater dialogue and action to accelerate the reduction of unnecessary deaths from cancer globally. Lack of access to oncology care is a major factor in the nearly 10 million deaths from…
instantly generates dosage plan, avoids potentially crucial delay DALLAS – Jan. 27, 2020 – Artificial intelligence can help cancer patients start their radiation therapy sooner – and thereby decrease the odds of the cancer spreading – by instantly translating complex clinical data into an optimal plan of attack. Patients typically must wait several days to a week to begin therapy while doctors manually develop treatment plans. But new research from UT Southwestern shows how enhanced deep-learning models streamlined this process down to a fraction of a second. “Some of these patients need radiation therapy immediately, but doctors often have to tell them to go home and wait,” says Steve Jiang, Ph.D., who directs UT Southwestern’s Medical Artificial Intelligence and Automation (MAIA) Lab. “Achieving optimal treatment plans in near real time is important and part of our broader mission to use AI to improve all aspects of cancer care.” Radiation therapy : A common form of cancer treatment Radiation therapy is a common form of cancer treatment that utilizes high radiation beams to destroy cancer cells and shrink tumors. Previous research shows that delaying this therapy by even a week can increase the chance of some cancers either recurring or spreading by 12-14 percent. Such statistics motivated Jiang’s team to explore methods of using AI to improve multiple facets of radiation therapy – from the initial dosage plans required before the treatment can begin to the dose recalculations that occur as the plan progresses. Jiang says developing a sophisticated treatment plan can be a time-consuming and tedious process that involves careful review of the patient’s imaging data and several phases of feedback within the medical team. Study published in Medical Physics A new study from the MAIA Lab on dose prediction, published in Medical Physics, demonstrated AI’s ability to produce optimal treatment plans within five-hundredths of a second after receiving clinical data for patients. Researchers achieved this by feeding the data for 70 prostate cancer patients into four deep-learning models. Through repetition, the AI learned to develop 3D renderings of how best to distribute the radiation in each patient. Each model…
DALLAS – Jan. 13, 2020 – Researchers at the Kidney Cancer Program at UT Southwestern Medical Center’s Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center have developed what could be the most complete catalog of clear cell renal cell carcinoma, the most common type of kidney cancer. Known as ccRCC, this cancer is marked by a high variability in tumors, which makes it challenging to guess how aggressive the disease might be. These latest findings, appearing online at EBioMedicine, will enable clinicians to better predict an individual patient’s prognosis, including whether and how the cancer may evolve and spread. “Clear cell renal cell carcinoma is the poster child of tumor heterogeneity as multiple, different populations of cells with different methods of behavior can be found in any particular tumor,” says Payal Kapur, M.D., a professor of pathology and urology at UT Southwestern, co-leader of pathology for the Kidney Cancer Program, and a co-author of the study. “Some of these cells develop aggressive traits and spread whereas others do not really progress, and it can be quite different from patient to patient.” In the years since the Human Genome Project, technologies for deciphering the genetic code have vastly improved, enabling scientists to decode the genetic sequence of individual patients and their tumors. While much knowledge has been gleaned from this type of research, this approach has not reached clinical practice as it is expensive and requires specific expertise, says Qi Cai, M.D., Ph.D., an assistant professor of pathology and first author of the study. Using tissue staining techniques that have been widely used for more than a century, Kapur and her team analyzed tumor samples from 549 patients. Specifically, they characterized how the cells are arranged within the tumor, what each individual cell looks like and how the tumor interacts with the surrounding tissue. They measured 33 parameters that they defined within these three categories. Then, to see if these tumors were able to grow in a foreign site, the team implanted tiny tumor samples into the kidneys of mice. Analyzing information about drug treatments the patients had received and how well they…
The treatment involved expertise of multiple specialities including Liver transplant, Oncology & Cardiac teams
Clinical trial eligibility criteria are designed to limit risks to study participants. But, according to Dr. Gerber, these criteria may be excessive in places.
leukemia relapse survival rate children : Immunotherapy drug improves outcomes for some children with relapsed leukemia. Chemotherapy can produce severe side effects.
Breast cancer is a malignant tumor – a tumor with the potential to invade other tissues or spread to other parts of the body.
Tests for inherited genetic mutations can provide women diagnosed with ovarian or breast cancer with important information that can have implications for family members and potentially guide treatment decisions and longer-term screening for second cancers.
For women with the most common type of early-stage breast cancer and high scores on the Oncotype DX test, receiving chemotherapy with hormone therapy after surgery can lead to excellent long-term outcomes.
Men may be more likely than women to die after being diagnosed with breast cancer, particularly during the first 5 years after diagnosis, a new study suggests.
For many children with advanced forms of neuroblastoma, receiving two separate stem cell transplants as part of their treatment is more beneficial than receiving one.
Selpercatinib (LOXO-292) is a targeted therapy that works by inhibiting the activity of abnormal RET proteins. The drug is an oral therapy that patients take as a pill.
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