Author: Editor

Dr. Lluis Cecchini of the Hospital del Mar in Barcelona talks about the necessity for patients to become more involved in the management of their disease.

The European Board of Urology recently certified the Urology Department of the Hospital del Mar in Barcelona as a urological training center. Dr. Albert Frances explains the program elements.

The European Board of Urology recently certified the Urology Department of the Hospital del Mar in Barcelona as a urological training center.

Immunotherapy Forum Video #26: Drs. Jared Weiss and Matthew Hellmann answer questions from the audience following their presentations on immunotherapy for lung cancer. Moderated by Dr. Jack West.

At the 2014 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting, Dr Andrew Davies (University of Southampton, Southampton, UK) discusses a phase II/III study comparing the efficacy and safety of lenalidomide versus investigators choice in patients with relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). Studies continue to support the clinical relevance of molecularly distinct subtypes of DLBCL. This programme has been supported by sponsorship from Celgene

At the 2014 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting, Prof Marek Trn?ný (Charles University Hospital, Prague, Czech Republic) discusses the phase 2 SPRINT (MCL-002) study of lenalidomide versus investigators choice in relapsed or refractory mantle cell lymphoma, including the study design; efficacy and safety endpoints; and conclusions. This programme has been supported by sponsorship from Celgene

At the 2014 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting, Prof Martin Dreyling (Ludwig-Maximilians University of Munich, Munich, Germany) discusses novel biologic therapies for the management of patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, including a phase II/III study of lenalidomide versus investigators choice in patients with relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL).

http://cancerGRACE.org/ Immunotherapy Forum Video #24: In Part 1 of 2 videos, Dr. Matthew Hellmann provides an overview of clinical trials currently available to early and late stage lung cancer patients that study single agent immunotherapies (i.e. only one treatment is given).

At the 2014 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting, Dr Jia Ruan (Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY) discusses novel therapeutic combinations that are currently being investigated in the clinic to address the unmet need in mantle cell lymphoma treatment. These therapeutic agents include bortezomib, lenalidomide, ibrutinib and rituximab. This programme has been supported by sponsorship from Celgene

At the 2014 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting, Prof Umberto Vitolo (Città della Salute e della Scienza di Torino, Turin, Italy) discusses novel therapies for mantle cell lymphoma, including biologic approaches with lenalidomide plus rituximab, ibrutinib and ABT-199. This programme has been supported by sponsorship from Celgene

Ted Okon Executive Director of COA conducts an interview with Author Siddhartha Mukherjee, MD and Producer/Director Barak Goodman about the Ken Burns PBS special Cancer:The Emperor of All Maladies. On PBS March 30th, 31st, and April 1st 2015

At the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2014 Congress, Prof Charles Swanton (London Research Institute and University College London, UK) discusses how the increased interaction between basic scientists, clinicians and patients is improving cancer medicine.

At the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2014 Congress, Prof Charles Swanton (London Research Institute and University College London, UK) discusses TRAcking Cancer Evolution through therapy (TRACERx), which is a study that defines lung cancer in both space and time through multiregion and longitudinal tumour sampling and genetic analysis.

At the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2014 Congress, Prof Charles Swanton (London Research Institute and University College London, UK) discusses how we may be able to anticipate tumour evolutionary trajectories for a more proactive approach in clinical practice.

At the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2014 Congress, Prof Jonathan Ledermann (University College London, UK) discusses the collaboration between University College London and the Francis Crick Institute that is hoped to increase the interaction between academia and industry.

At the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2014 Congress, Prof Charles Swanton (London Research Institute and University College London, UK) discusses the importance of understanding the genetic changes of tumour evolution for the development of more effective management options that are tailored to individual genetic profiles this is termed precision medicine.

At the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2014 Congress, Prof Jonathan Ledermann (University College London, UK) discusses recent advances in the management of ovarian cancer, including the use of the poly ADP-ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitor, olaparib, as maintenance therapy for BRCA-mutated ovarian cancer; anti-angiogenic agents, such as cediranib; and immunomodulatory drugs, such as immune checkpoint inhibitors.

Reports emerging data about molecular subtyping of early-stage breast cancer and patients’ risk of disease recurrence Steven C. Shivers, PhD., Charles E. Cox, MD,

Genomic Profiling, African-American Women and Breast Cancer Risk

Gene Called USP9X and Tamoxifen Resistance

Metastatic Breast Cancer – ER-Positive – Dr. Eitan Amir summarizes the latest updates in ER positive breast cancer from the SABCS meeting in 2014

Biology and Pathology Insights – Dr. John Bartlett presented this session as a summary of the topic from original research presented at the SABCS 2014 session

Dr. John Bartlett Theranostic multiparametric tests improve residual risk assessment in early luminal breast cancer

Dr. Eileen Rakovitch A large prospectively-designed study of the DCIS score: Predicting recurrence risk after local excision for ductal carcinoma in situ patients with and without irradiation – presented at the officially licensed Best of SABCS meeting in Toronto.

Surgical Oncology Highlights summarized from the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium sessions, and presented by Dr. Jean-Francois Boileau as part of the licensed Best of SABCS session in Toronto, in January 2015.

Radiation Oncology Highlights – Dr. Eileen Rakovitch summarizing top results from the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium

Advances in Early Breast Cancer (Chemotherapy and Targeted Therapy as well as Endocrine Therapy) are discussed by Dr. Maureen Trudeau from Sunnybrook Cancer Centre, Toronto, Canada

Neoadjuvant Treatment of Breast Cancer – A summary of the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium 2014, during the OncologyEducation licensed meeting in Canada, presented by Dr. Susan Dent

At the 2014 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting, Dr Umberto Vitolo (Città della Salute e della Scienza di Torino, Turin, Italy) discusses recent advances in the management of mantle cell lymphoma, including a maintenance approach for young patients and ibrutinib therapy for relapsed patients.

At the 2014 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting, Dr Simon Rule (Derriford Hospital, Plymouth, UK) discusses recent studies of the Bruton’s tyrosine kinase inhibitor, ibrutinib, in mantle cell lymphoma (MCL), including in patients with relapsed or refractory MCL who progress after bortezomib therapy and mutational analysis of these patients with primary resistance to ibrutinib, and ibrutinib in combination with rituximab.

At the 2014 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting, Prof Anton Hagenbeek (Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, Netherlands) discusses recent investigational advances in chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell immunotherapy for haematological malignancies, including refractory acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL), chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, follicular lymphoma).

At the 2014 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting, Prof John Gribben (Barts Cancer Institute, London, UK) interviews Prof Peter Hillmen (Leeds General Infirmary, UK) about recent advances in the research of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL). The understanding of CLL biology is changing how the disease is managed. Prognostic markers help to identify specific patient subgroups and provide insight disease progression in these groups. New studies in drugs, such as ibrutinib, target cell proliferation.

At the 2014 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting, Dr Simon Rule (Derriford Hospital, Plymouth, UK) discusses recent advances in the management of mantle cell lymphoma (MCL), including rituximab maintenance after autologous stem cell transplantation in younger patients, bortezomib (Velcade)-based combinations, and lenalidomide as a single agent and in combination with rituximab (R-squared).

A summary of the new uses of immunotherapy and biomarkers in the treatment of NSCLC by Dr. Nayer Rizvi

At the 2014 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting, Prof John Gribben (Barts Cancer Institute, London, UK) interviews Prof Peter Hillmen (Leeds General Infirmary, UK) about recent advances in the research of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL). Balancing treatment efficacy versus toxicity is important and there is reference to the CLL10 study. Anti-CD1 monoclonal antibody therapy after completing chemotherapy, the 17p deletion, allogeneic transplants and a ‘chemo-free’ approach are also considered.

At the 2014 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting, Prof Christian Gisselbrecht (St. Louis Hospital, Paris, France) discusses recent advances in the management of patients with mantle cell lymphoma (MCL). Rituximab maintenance after autologous haematopoietic stem cell transplantation resulted in prolonged progression-free survival. Ibrutinib is being considered for frontline treatment in MCL.

At the 2014 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting, Prof Robin Foà (Sapienza University, Rome, Italy) discusses how understanding disease biology leads to targeted therapies in different types of leukaemia, including acute myeloid leukemia (AML), chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).

At the 2014 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting, Dr Rafael Fonseca (Mayo Clinic, Scottsdale, AZ) discusses multiple myeloma and amyloidosis. In multiple myeloma, minimum residual disease (MRD) testing is receiving great interest in the evaluation of treatment and as a prognostic marker. In amyloidosis, proteasome inhibition is emerging as an important novel therapy.

At the 2014 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting, Prof Bertrand Coiffier (Centre Hospitalier Lyon-Sud, Pierre-Benite, France) discusses a phase II trial of interim positron emission tomography (PET) scan-tailored therapy in advanced-stage diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.

Prof Christian Gisselbrecht (St. Louis Hospital, Paris, France) discusses results of recent clinical studies in Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) presented at the 2014 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting, including brentuximab vedotin in combination with other agents, positron emission tomography (PET) for tailored treatment and PD-1 immune checkpoint inhibitors.

At the 2014 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting, Dr Ola Landgren (Memorial Sloane Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY) discusses the development of therapies with novel monoclonal antibodies in multiple myeloma, including antibodies that target CD38, CS1 and PD-1.

Dr George Follows provides an overview of results of clinical trials in chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) presented at the 2014 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting. He considers the clinical value of maintenance therapy with anti-CD20 monoclonal antibodies in CLL and molecularly defined subtypes of CLL.

At the 2014 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting, Dr Ian Flinn (Sarah Cannon Cancer Institute, Nashville, TN) discusses the preliminary results of a phase Ib study (GP28331) combining GDC-0199 (ABT-199) and obinutuzumab in patients with relapsed/refractory or previously untreated chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL).

At the 2014 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting, Prof Bertrand Coiffier (Centre Hospitalier Lyon-Sud, Pierre-Benite, France) discusses the first interim analysis of the phase III prospective Lyma study of rituximab maintenance versus wait and watch after four courses of rituximab, dexamethasone, cytarabine and cisplatin (R-DHAP) followed by autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) in previously untreated young patients (under 66 years old) with mantle cell lymphoma.

At the 2014 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting, Prof Christian Gisselbrecht (St. Louis Hospital, Paris, France) discusses the molecular approach in managing diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). The molecularly defined DLBCL subtypes, germinal centre B-cell-like (GCB)-DLBCL and activated B-cell-like (ABC)-DLBCL, have important clinical implications.

At the 2014 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting, Dr Ian Flinn (Sarah Cannon Cancer Institute, Nashville, TN) discusses the selective oral inhibitor of phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) delta isoform (P110?), idelalisib, in the management of haematological malignancies, including lymphoma and chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL). Idelalisib is considered in combination with other therapies to enhance efficacy endpoints.

At the 2014 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting, Prof Bertrand Coiffier (Centre Hospitalier Lyon-Sud, Pierre-Benite, France) discusses the final analysis of the RO-CHOP phase Ib/II study of the histone deacetylase inhibitor, romidepsin, in association with cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin hydrochloride, vincristine sulfate and prednisone (CHOP) in previously untreated patients with peripheral T-cell lymphoma.

At the 2014 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting, Prof Anton Hagenbeek (Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, Netherlands) discusses the investigational approaches of brentuximab vedotin, an anti-CD30 antibody conjugated to a cytostatic microtubule-disrupting agent, in the treatment of previously untreated and refractory/relapse patients with Hodgkin lymphoma.

At the 2014 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting, Dr Ian Flinn (Sarah Cannon Cancer Institute, Nashville, TN) discusses a phase I study of the novel PI3k-?,? inhibitor, duvelisib (IPI-145), in patients with relapsed/refractory indolent non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Dr. Sunil Verma and Dr. Nadia Califaretti discuss case studies in breast cancer.

OncologyEducation.com presents: The CONCORD-2 study aimed to initiate worldwide surveillance of cancer survival by central analysis of population-based registry data, as a metric of the effectiveness of health systems, in order to inform global policy on cancer control.

OncologyEducation.com presents: The CONCORD-2 study aimed to initiate worldwide surveillance of cancer survival by central analysis of population-based registry data, as a metric of the effectiveness of health systems, in order to inform global policy on cancer control.

Armando and Jordan Lastra A Fathers Cancer and a Sons Careerbrought to you by The Community Oncology Alliance (COA) and The COA Patient Advocacy Network (CPAN)

Rob Rutigliano Testicular Cancer Would be Devastated if NSHOA closed brought to you by The Community Oncology Alliance (COA) and The COA Patient Advocacy Network (CPAN)

Jeffrey Vacirca, MD – CConquering Cancer Close to Home brought to you by The Community Oncology Alliance (COA) and The COA Patient Advocacy Network (CPAN)

At the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2014 Congress, Dr Susan Galbraith (Vice-President Oncology, AstraZeneca) discusses the National Lung Matrix trial, which is a collaboration between Cancer Research UK, AstraZeneca and Pfizer. This approach aims to improve the interaction between academia and industry, thereby facilitating the development of molecularly defined treatments in lung cancer.

At the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2014 Congress, Dr Susan Galbraith (Vice-President Oncology, AstraZeneca) discusses the ongoing phase I/II AURA study of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitor, AZD9291, in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and disease progression while on a previous continuous treatment with an EGFR inhibitor.

At the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2014 Congress, Dr Rachel Humphrey (Senior Vice President, Head of Immuno-Oncology, AstraZeneca) discusses the anti-programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) monoclonal antibody, MEDI4736, which is being evaluated in phase I/II studies in patients with various advanced solid tumour types. The combination of MEDI4736 with the anti-cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein 4 (CTL-4) monoclonal antibody, tremelimumab, is being studied in patients with non-small cell lung cancer.

At the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2014 Congress, Dr Susan Galbraith (Vice-President Oncology, AstraZeneca) discusses the Study 19 phase II quality of life study of maintenance treatment with the poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitor, olaparib, in patients with relapsed, high-grade, platinum-sensitive ovarian cancer.

At the 2014 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting, Dr Ola Landgren (Memorial Sloane Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY) debates the requirement of intense treatment in relapsed multiple myeloma. Dr Landgren refers to results of the phase III ASPIRE study of carfilzomib, lenalidomide and dexamethasone in relapsed multiple myeloma. Although patient outcomes have improved with these new and milder treatments, there is a need to understand patient subgroups that do not response to these treatments.

At the 2014 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting, Prof Philippe Moreau (University Hospital of Nantes, France) discusses novel agents in the management of multiple myeloma. An open-label, multicentre, phase Ib study of the human anti-CD38 monoclonal antibody, daratumumab, in combination with backbone regimens in multiple myeloma, including bortezomib-dexamethasone, bortezomib-thalidomide-dexamethasone, bortezomib-melphalan-prednisone and pomalidomide-dexamethasone, is ongoing. The phase III ASPIRE study showed that addition of carfilzomib to lenalidomide and dexamethasone versus lenalidomide and dexamethasone in relapsed multiple myeloma resulted in a statistically significant improvement in progression-free survival.

Thomas Mccloskey – Non Hodgkins Lymphoma Care Close to Home brought to you by The Community Oncology Alliance (COA) and The COA Patient Advocacy Network (CPAN)

Yelda Nouri, MD – Cancer Care, an MDs view brought to you by The Community Oncology Alliance (COA) and The COA Patient Advocacy Network (CPAN)

Rick and Carrie Yanez Husband and Wife Diagnosed With Cancer brought to you by The Community Oncology Alliance (COA) and The COA Patient Advocacy Network (CPAN)

Dawn Savarese – What does a Chief Revenue Officer do at NSHOA? brought to you by The Community Oncology Alliance (COA) and The COA Patient Advocacy Network (CPAN)

Ann and Bill An Ovarian Cancer Diagnosis In Sickness and in Health brought to you by The Community Oncology Alliance (COA) and The COA Patient Advocacy Network (CPAN)

George Calcanes – What does the Chief Clinical Officer do at NSHOA brought to you by The Community Oncology Alliance (COA) and The COA Patient Advocacy Network (CPAN)

Marie Ships and Merrianne Van Ness Diagnosed with Lung Cancer Received so much Support from NSHOA & her Sister brought to you by The Community Oncology Alliance (COA) and The COA Patient Advocacy Network (CPAN)

Jeffrey Wong – What does a Pharmacy Techinician do at NSHOA? brought to you by The Community Oncology Alliance (COA) and The COA Patient Advocacy Network (CPAN)

At the 2014 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting, Dr Ola Landgren (Memorial Sloane Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY) discusses the final results from the NCI phase II pilot study of carfilzomib, lenalidomide and dexamethasone in 12 patients with high-risk smouldering multiple myeloma. He assesses the risks and benefits of this therapeutic approach in clinical practice.

Irene Trelfa Clinical Trial Participant: Breast Cancer I feel lucky to be a patient at NSHOA brought to you by The Community Oncology Alliance (COA) and The COA Patient Advocacy Network (CPAN)

Lynn Fitzpatrick – Nurse Educator North Shore Hematology Oncology brought to you by The Community Oncology Alliance (COA) and The COA Patient Advocacy Network (CPAN)         north shore hematology oncology, the community oncology alliance (coa), coa, the coa patient advocacy network (cpan), cpan

Humberto Castro – Given Six Months to Live Now Tells Others Not to Give Up brought to you by The Community Oncology Alliance (COA) and The COA Patient Advocacy Network (CPAN)

Diana Youngs – Everyone the Patient Meets in Community Oncology has Compassion for Patients brought to you by The Community Oncology Alliance (COA) and The COA Patient Advocacy Network (CPAN)

Prof Paul Richardson (Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA) summarises of results of clinical trials in the management of relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma presented at the 2014 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting. Investigational agents discussed include: proteasome inhibitor, carfilzomib; anti-CD38 monoclonal antibody, daratumumab: anti-SLAMF7 monoclonal antibody, elotuzumab; histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor, panobinostat; HDAC6 inhibitor, ricolinostat; immunomodulatory agent, pomalidomide.

At the 2014 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting, Dr Maria-Victoria Mateos discusses an open-label, multicentre, phase Ib study of the safety, tolerability and dose regimen of the anti-CD38 monoclonal antibody, daratumumab, in combination with backbone regimens in patients with multiple myeloma. Backbone regimens include bortezomib-dexamethasone, bortezomib-thalidomide-dexamethasone, bortezomib-melphalan-prednisone and pomalidomide-dexamethasone.

At the 2014 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting, Dr Jeffery Matous ((Colorado Blood Cancer Institute, Denver, CO) discusses the randomised, open-label, multicentre phase III ASPIRE study of carfilzomib, lenalidomide and dexamethasone versus lenalidomide and dexamethasone in patients with relapsed multiple myeloma.

At the 2014 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting, Dr Jeffery Matous (Colorado Blood Cancer Institute, Denver, CO) discusses combination approaches and novel monoclonal antibodies in multiple myeloma. The phase I MM-008 study is assessing the pharmacokinetics and safety of pomalidomide and low-dose dexamethasone in patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma and renal impairment.

At the 2014 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting, Dr Jeffery Matous (Colorado Blood Cancer Institute, Denver, CO) discusses results of recent clinical studies of brentuximab vedotin (BV) in Hodgkin lymphoma (HL). The phase III AETHERA trial is a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of BV in the treatment of patients at risk of progression following autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT) for HL. A single-arm, two-stage, open-label, phase I/II study is evaluating the safety and efficacy of BV in combination with bendamustine for the treatment of HL in first relapse or refractory patients, prior to ASCT.

At the 2014 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting, Prof Gareth Morgan (University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR; The Institute of Cancer Research, London, UK) discusses high-throughput genetic profiling with an all-molecular diagnostic test for recurrent structural aberrations in multiple myeloma. It is hoped this approach will enable molecular risk-stratified clinical trial design and risk-adapted precision medicine for high-risk patients.

At the 2014 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting, Dr Maria-Victoria Mateos provides an update of a randomised, phase III study, which was initiated in 2007, of lenalidomide plus low-dose dexamethasone versus observation in high-risk smouldering multiple myeloma.

At the 2014 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting, Dr Jean-Jacques Kiladjian (Hôpital Saint-Louis & Université Paris Diderot, Paris, France) discusses a post-hoc analysis of the phase III RESPONSE trial, which compared ruxolitinib and best available therapy in patients with polycythaemia vera and splenomegaly who were intolerant of or resistant to hydroxyurea, to determine if treatment outcomes were influenced by baseline spleen volume.

At the 2014 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting, Dr Barbara Eichhorst (University Hospital, Cologne, Germany) discusses the BCL-2 inhibitor, ABT-199, which has shown high efficacy as monotherapy in high-risk chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) patients. Dose-scheduling modifications address the risk of tumour lysis syndrome. Prospective trials will evaluate ABT-199 in a wider range of CLL patients.

At the 2014 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting, Dr Jean-Jacques Kiladjian (Hôpital Saint-Louis & Université Paris Diderot, Paris, France) discusses using a next-generation sequencing approach to assess the mutational patterns of prognostically-relevant mutations (previously identified in myeloproliferative neoplasms) in calreticulin gene-mutated essential thrombocythaemia (ET) patients during interferon alpha (IFN-?) therapy.

At the 2014 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting, Dr Barbara Eichhorst (University Hospital, Cologne, Germany) discusses the final analysis of the international, randomised, phase III CLL10 study. Frontline chemoimmunotherapy with fludarabine, cyclophosphamide and rituximab (FCR) has superior efficacy (higher complete response rates, more minimal residual disease [MRD] negativity, longer progression-free survival) versus bendamustine and rituximab in previously untreated and physically fit patients with advanced chronic lymphocytic leukaemia.

At the Thirteenth International Kidney Cancer Symposium, Dr Sumanta Pal (City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, CA) discusses papillary renal cell carcinoma (pRCC) and a phase 2 clinical trial on the MET inhibitor, volitinib, in patients with pRCC. Although pRCC comprises 1015% of renal cell carcinoma, current understanding and management of this disease is relatively limited. Inappropriate MET activation in cancer cells may be important in pRCC progression. Volitinib is a novel, selective and potent MET inhibitor. Preliminary clinical trials on volitinib in pRCC are promising. This new phase 2 trial aims to further evaluate the efficacy and safety of…

At ESMO 2014, Prof Tom Powles (Barts Cancer Institute, UK) discusses strategies in the management of kidney cancer. Recent clinical trials have increased interest in immunotherapy for kidney cancer. Results from a phase II study investigating the tyrosine kinase inhibitor, cediranib, in VEGF-resistant metastatic kidney cancer suggests a need for improved biomarkers, but developing clinically relevant biomarkers is challenging. Knowledge in the treatment of common kidney cancer subtypes have been applied in the rare papillary renal cell carcinoma subtype.

At the 2014 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting, Dr David Avigan (Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA) discusses recent investigational advances in the management of multiple myeloma. Novel biological therapies, including proteasome inhibitors and immunomodulatory drugs, have improved patient outcomes, but disease progression remains an issue. An integration of existing approaches, including autologous stem cell transplantation, with newer approaches is recommended. Highlight presentations include topics in anti-CS1 humanized monoclonal antibody, elotuzumab, anti-CD38 monoclonal antibody, daratumumab, PD1-pathway inhibition, tumour vaccines and chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell immunotherapy.

Prof Claire Harrison (Guys and St Thomas NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK) discusses highlights on myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs) from the 2014 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting. A molecular-based approach in MPN studies, which has improved understanding of driver mutations, has rapidly increased recent advances in clinical management. Combinational therapies are in preliminary stages and focus is on the Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitor, ruxolitinib, in combinations that enhance overall patient response. Long-term studies, such as the Evaluation of Xagrid Efficacy and Long-term Safety (EXELS) study, are providing insight in high-risk patients with essential thrombocythemia (ET). Quality of life in…

At the 2014 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting, Dr Denis-Claude Roy (University of Montreal, Montreal, Canada) discusses a phase II trial that evaluated selective photodepletion of recipient-alloreactive T-cells (ATIR) for haploidentical haematopoietic stem cell transplant in patients with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) and acute myeloid leukaemia (AML). ATIR does not cause any grade III/IV graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) and demonstrates promising treatment-related mortality and overall survival rates.

At the 2014 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting, Prof Keith Stewart (Mayo Clinic, Scottsdale, AZ) discusses recent advances in the treatment of multiple myeloma. The phase III ASPIRE study showed that adding the proteasome inhibitor, carfilzomib, to the standard doublet therapy of lenalidomide and dexamethasone resulted in a higher progression-free survival for relapsed multiple myeloma patients. CD38 represents a promising target for monoclonal antibody-based immunotherapy. Novel anti-CD38 monoclonal antibodies, daratumumab and SAR650984, are undergoing clinical investigation.

Stromal tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes(S-TILs): In the alliance N9831 trial S-TILs are associated with chemotherapy benefit but not associated with trastuzumab benefit

SABCS 2014: ECOG 1199 Trial Commentary by Dr. Sunil Verma: Ten year update of E1199: Phase III study of doxorubicin-cyclophosphamide followed by paclitaxel or docetaxel given every 3 weeks or weekly in patients with axillary node-positive or high-risk node-negative breast cancer

SABCS 2014: TNT Trial Commentary by Dr. Sunil Verma: A randomized phase III trial of carboplatin (C) compared with docetaxel (D) for patients with metastatic or recurrent locally advanced triple negative or BRCA1/2 breast cancer (CRUK/07/012)

SABCS 2014: SOFT Trial Commentary by Dr. Sunil Verma: Randomized comparison of adjuvant tamoxifen (T) plus ovarian function suppression (OFS) versus tamoxifen in premenopausal women with hormone receptor-positive (HR+) early breast cancer (BC): Analysis of the SOFT trial

The FERGI phase II study of the PI3K inhibitor pictilisib (GDC-0941) plus fulvestrant vs fulvestrant plus placebo in patients with ER+, aromatase inhibitor (AI)-resistant advanced or metastatic breast cancer Part I results, presented by Dr. Verma

A randomized phase III trial comparing neoadjuvant chemotherapy with weekly nanoparticle-based paclitaxel with solventbased paclitaxel followed by anthracyline/ cyclophosphamide for patients with early breast cancer presented by Dr. Sunil Verma

At the 2014 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting, Dr Catherine Bollard (Children’s National Medical Center, Washington, DC), Dr Philippe Armand (Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA), Dr Craig Moskowitz (Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY), Dr Nicola Gökbuget (University Hospital Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany) and Dr Stephan Grupp (Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA) answer questions from the press.

At a press conference during the 2014 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting, Dr Stephan Grupp (Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA) presents the results of a study that suggests chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells targeting CD19 (CTL019) can elicit durable remissions in paediatric relapsed or refractory acute lymphocytic leukaemia.

At a press conference during the 2014 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting, Dr Joseph Alvarnas (City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA) presents data from the Blood and Marrow Transplant Clinical Trials Network (BMT CTN 0803)/AIDS Malignancy Consortium (AMC-071) trial, which prospectively evaluated overall survival after autologous haematopoietic stem cell transplantation in patients with chemotherapy-sensitive, relapsed or refractory HIV-associated lymphoma, including diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, plasmablastic lymphoma, Burkitt/Burkitt-like lymphoma and Hodgkin lymphoma.

At a press conference during the 2014 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting, Dr Craig Moskowitz (Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY) presents results from the phase III AETHERA trial, which evaluated the safety and efficacy of brentuximab vedotin in preventing post-autologous stem cell transplant disease recurrence in Hodgkin lymphoma patients.

At the 2014 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting, Dr David Steensma (Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA), Dr Brent Wood (University of Washington, Seattle, WA), Prof Wendy Stock (University of Chicago Medical Center, Chicago, IL), Dr Christoph Röllig (Universitätsklinikum Dresden, Dresden, Germany), Dr Oliver Ottmann (Goethe-University Hospital, Frankfurt, Germany), Dr Eytan Stein (Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY) and Prof Farhad Ravandi (The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX) answer questions from the press.

At a press conference during the 2014 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting, Prof Farhad Ravandi (The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX) discusses the phase III double-blind randomized controlled multinational VALOR study, which evaluated vosaroxin plus cytarabine versus placebo plus cytarabine in patients with first-relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukaemia.

At a press conference during the 2014 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting, Dr Eytan Stein (Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY) discusses a phase I study of AG-221, an oral, selective, first-in-class, potent inhibitor of the IDH2 mutant metabolic enzyme, in IDH2-mutant acute myeloid leukaemia or pre-leukeamia (including myelodysplastic syndromes, chronic myelomonocytic leukeamia, and myeloproliferative neoplasms).

At a press conference during the 2014 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting, Dr Oliver Ottmann (Goethe-University Hospital, Frankfurt, Germany) discusses a Trial of the European Working Group for Adult ALL (EWALL-PH-02), which evaluated nilotinib and chemotherapy for first-line treatment in elderly patients with de novo Philadelphia chromosome/BCR-ABL1-positive acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.

At a press conference during the 2014 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting, Dr Christoph Röllig (Universitätsklinikum Dresden, Dresden, Germany) discusses the phase II Study Alliance Leukemia (SAL)-Soraml trial, which evaluated sorafenib versus placebo in addition to standard therapy in younger patients (1860 years old) with newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukaemia.

At a press conference during the 2014 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting, Prof Wendy Stock (University of Chicago Medical Center, Chicago, IL) discusses the intergroup trial C10403, which showed that adolescent and young adult patients (1639 years old) with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) had better overall and event-free survival with paediatric regimens compared to historical controls.

At a press conference during the 2014 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting, Dr Brent Wood (University of Washington, Seattle, WA) discusses the phase III Children’s Oncology Group (COG) study AALL0434, which evaluated a standard 4-drug induction followed by response-based risk stratification, as determined by measured levels of minimal residual disease (MRD), in patients with T-lymphocytic leukaemia. Intermediate and high-risk patients were randomised to receive or not receive additional nelarabine chemotherapy and all patients except those who were low-risk received additional radiation therapy.

At a press conference during the 2014 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting, Dr Nicola Gökbuget (University Hospital Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany) presents the results of the single-arm phase II study that evaluated the Bispecific T-Cell Engager (BiTE) antibody construct (anti-CD19) blinatumomab in patients with minimal residual disease B-precursor acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.

At a press conference during the 2014 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting, Dr Craig Moskowitz (Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY) discusses the preliminary results of a phase Ib study evaluating the PD-1 inhibitor, pembrolizumab, in patients with classical Hodgkin lymphoma after brentuximab vedotin failure.

At the 2014 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting, Dr Brad Kahl (University of Wisconsin School of Medicine, Madison, WI), Dr Craig Moskowitz (Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY), Dr Joseph Alvarnas (City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA), Prof Keith Stewart (Mayo Clinic, Scottsdale, AZ), Dr María-Victoria Mateos (Hospital Universitario de Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain) and Prof Thomas Martin (University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA) answer questions from the press.

At a press conference during the 2014 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting, Dr Philippe Armand (Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA) discusses the results of a phase I study evaluating the preliminary efficacy and safety of programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) inhibitor, nivolumab, in patients with relapsed or refractory classical Hodgkin lymphoma.

At a press conference during the 2014 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting, Prof Thomas Martin (University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA) discusses a phase Ib dose escalation trial of SAR650984 (anti-CD38 monoclonal antibody) in combination with lenalidomide and dexamethasone in relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma.

At a press conference during the 2014 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting, Dr María-Victoria Mateos (Hospital Universitario de Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain) discusses the open-label, multicentre, phase 1b study of daratumumab in combination with standard regimens in patients with multiple myeloma. Standard regimens included bortezomib-dexamethasone, bortezomib-thalidomide-dexamethasone, bortezomib-melphalan-prednisone and pomalidomide-dexamethasone.

At a press conference during the 2014 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting, Prof Keith Stewart (Mayo Clinic, Scottsdale, AZ) discusses the randomised, open-label, multicentre phase III ASPIRE study. The results of this study suggest carfilzomib combined with standard multiple myeloma therapy (combination of lenalidomide and dexamethasone) improves treatment responses in patients with relapsed or treatment-resistant multiple myeloma.

Dr Hans Hammers (Johns Hopkins, MD) discusses highlights from the Thirteenth International Kidney Cancer Symposium. Immunotherapies have received significant interest: immune checkpoint inhibitors have the potential to durably control disease. Although significant progress has been made in the clear cell renal cell carcinoma (RCC) subtype, research in therapies for non-clear cell RCC (nccRCC) has been relatively neglected.

At the Thirteenth International Kidney Cancer Symposium, Dr James Brugarolas (University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, TX) discusses the clinical significance of biologically classifying kidney cancer. Advances in genome sequencing methods allowed the identification of a range of mutations in kidney cancer and accordingly, mutation-defined subtypes. Some mutation-defined subtypes are associated with distinct clinical outcomes and therefore support the use of a molecular classification for treatment decisions. This molecular information may also improve clinical trial design through identification of patients who are more likely to benefit from investigational agents.

At the Thirteenth International Kidney Cancer Symposium, Dr James Hsieh (Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, NY) discusses the progress in cancer understanding that has improved clinical management. Advances in technologies, including next-generation sequencing methods, have revolutionised research and clinical approaches.

At the Thirteenth International Kidney Cancer Symposium, Dr James Hsieh (Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, NY) discusses the need for clinical trials in non-clear cell renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and new research in papillary RCC (pRCC). Emerging trials in the non-clear cell RCC subtype, pRCC, are hoped to improve the availability of therapies specifically approved for this disease.

At the Thirteenth International Kidney Cancer Symposium, Dr JianJun Gao (The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, TX) discusses papillary renal cell carcinoma (pRCC) and prospective immunotherapy. pRCC is a relatively uncommon subtype of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) that is distinct from the more common clear cell RCC subtype. It is possible that progress in immunotherapeutic research in clear cell RCC that target common components of the immune system may be clinically applicable for patients with pRCC.

At the Thirteenth International Kidney Cancer Symposium, Dr Abraham Ari Hakimi (Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, NY) discusses recent developments in the research of kidney cancer management. Identification of cancer subtypes through molecular profiling may guide future trial design and management options. Combination therapies have the potential to improve efficacy. There are a variety of online resources for patients interested in participating in clinical trials.

At the Thirteenth International Kidney Cancer Symposium, Dr Laurence Albiges (Gustave Roussy, France) provides an overview of papillary renal cell carcinoma (pRCC) and management options for these patients. pRCC comprises 1015% of renal cell carcinoma and specific therapies are not available. There are two clinically distinct types of pRCC. The more common Type 1 pRCC is associated with a mutation in the MET gene.

At the Thirteenth International Kidney Cancer Symposium, Dr Toni Choueiri (Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, MA) discusses the new AstraZeneca-sponsored Phase 2 clinical trial on the c-Met inhibitor, volitinib, in patients with papillary renal cell carcinoma (pRCC). pRCC is the second most common subtype of renal cell carcinoma and is associated with poor clinical outcomes. Dr Choueiri describes how molecular approaches help direct current research in this field and how inappropriate c-Met activation in cancer cells may be important in pRCC progression. Volitinib is a novel c-Met inhibitor; this Phase 2 trial is an open-label, global and multicentre…

At the Thirteenth International Kidney Cancer Symposium, Prof David Kwiatkowski (Brigham and Women’s Hospital, MA) discusses targeting the mTOR pathway in kidney cancer treatment. It may be clinically necessary to target different proteins, mTOR, TSC1 and TSC2, of the mTOR pathway. Mutations in genes encoding for these proteins correlate with therapeutic response, and this may influence clinical trial design and provide the basis for personalised medicine in kidney cancer.

At the Thirteenth International Kidney Cancer Symposium, Dr James Hsieh (Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, NY) discusses chromophobe renal cell carcinoma (RCC), which comprises 5% of RCC. Chromophobe RCC variants are important determinants in current treatment options. The incidence of incurable, metastatic disease in chromophobe RCC is 5%. Recent studies have improved the molecular understanding of chromophobe RCC and are hoped to direct therapeutic development.

At the Thirteenth International Kidney Cancer Symposium, Dr JianJun Gao (University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, TX) provides an overview of renal medullary carcinoma (RMC). RMC is a rare and aggressive renal cell carcinoma subtype that primarily occurs in African-American patients with sickle cell trait. Although research in RMC has remained in the preclinical stage, it is hoped that significant progress in more common kidney cancer subtypes will provide applicable data that will improve the management of patients with RMC.

At the Thirteenth International Kidney Cancer Symposium, Dr Hans Hammers (Johns Hopkins, MD) encourages kidney cancer patients to take an active role in health care. Currently, a strategic and patient-tailored approach is recommended in kidney cancer management. Dr Hammers discusses how clinical trials represent opportunities for patients to access new medicines and further therapy development.

At the Thirteenth International Kidney Cancer Symposium, Dr Hans Hammers (Johns Hopkins, MD) discusses the Phase 1 clinical trial that studied the immune checkpoint inhibitors, nivolumab and ipilimumab, in metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC). The primary endpoint was to access safety and tolerability, and the secondary endpoint was to access efficacy. Overall, side effects were manageable and objective response was greater than previously reported with nivolumab monotherapy. These findings directed a subsequent Phase 3 trial.

At the Thirteenth International Kidney Cancer Symposium, Dr Elizabeth Plimack (Fox Chase Cancer Center, PA) discusses highlights from the Thirteenth International Kidney Cancer Symposium. This meeting provides a forum for a varied audience with an interest in renal cell carcionoma (RCC) to exchange information that will help direct future research. The new immunotherapies that target the immune basis of cancer may have clinical applicability in both clear cell and non-clear cell RCC. It is also important to target the unique components of the RCC subtypes. Patients are encouraged to learn about clinical trials and participate if appropriate.

At the Thirteenth International Kidney Cancer Symposium, Dr Elizabeth Plimack (Fox Chase Cancer Center, PA) discusses prospective immunotherapy in kidney cancer management. Newer immunotherapeutic agents have demonstrated efficacy and are expected to be approved for kidney cancer soon. Collaborations between different drug manufactures have facilitated progress in combination therapies.

At the Thirteenth International Kidney Cancer Symposium, Dr Sumanta Pal (City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, CA) discusses his research on stool microbiome. Although in preliminary stages, research in kidney cancer patients suggests that protective bacterial species of the stool microbiome may protect against cancer therapy-induced diarrhoea.

At the Thirteenth International Kidney Cancer Symposium, Dr Toni Choueiri (Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, MA) provides an overview on current strategies in kidney cancer management. Focus in this field is moving away from VEGF and mTOR inhibitors. Current topics of interest include novel targets, acquired mechanisms of therapy resistance and immune checkpoint inhibitors. In lieu of biomarker availability for predicting therapy response, genetic sequencing methods are used to guide research in new combination therapies.

At the Thirteenth International Kidney Cancer Symposium, Dr Abraham Ari Hakimi (Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, NY) discusses the current understanding of sarcomatoid renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Sarcomatoid RCC is an aggressive subtype of RCC and presents significant clinical challenges. Modern technologies, including whole-genome sequencing, are hoped to improve the understanding of this disease biology, which ultimately guides treatment and improves disease management.

At the Thirteenth International Kidney Cancer Symposium, Carolyn Konosky (Kidney Cancer Association, IL) encourages kidney cancer patients to have an active role in health care. The Kidney Cancer Association website offers a variety of resources for patients.         thirteenth international kidney cancer symposium, international kidney cancer symposium, kidney cancer patients to have an active role,

At the Thirteenth International Kidney Cancer Symposium, Carolyn Konosky (Kidney Cancer Association, IL) provides an overview of the Kidney Cancer Association, which aims to progress and disseminate understanding of kidney cancer. These meetings provide a forum for different audiences with an interest in kidney cancer to exchange information that contributes to future research.

Latest Lung Cancer Updates from ESMO 2014 – Chemotherapy Advances by Dr. Sunil Verma

Latest Lung Cancer Updates from ESMO 2014 – Advances in ALK Positive NSCLC by Dr. Sunil Verma

Dr. James Brugarolas, M.D., Ph.D. Kidney Cancer Program Leader Associate Professor of Internal Medicine & Developmental Biology University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center discusses RCC Classification at the Kidney Cancer meeting in Chicago

Bernard J. Escudier, M.D. accepts the 2014 Eugene P. Schonfeld Award at the Kidney Cancer meeting in Chicago

Dr. Hiral D. Parekh, M.D. discusses Cost Analysis of an Initial Observation Approach in Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma at the Kidney Cancer meeting in Chicago

Dr. Laurence Albiges, M.D., Ph.D. discusses Differential expression of c-MET between primary and metastatic sites in clear cell Renal Cell Carcinomas (ccRCCs) at the Kidney Cancer meeting in Chicago.

Dr. Andre P. Fay, M.D. discusses Whole-Exome Sequencing Predicting Two Extreme Phenotypes of Response to VEGF-targeted Therapies in Patients with Metastatic Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma (mRCC) at the Kidney Cancer meeting in Chicago

Dr. Joshua Lang, M.D., M.S. discusses Development of Pharmacodynamic Biomarkers in Circulating Renal Cancer Cells at the Kidney Cancer meeting in Chicago

Dr. Andrew G. Winer discusses Tumor Purity and Immune Cell Infiltration as a Prognostic Risk Predictor for Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma (ccRCC)

Dr. David Kwiatkowski talks about The mTOR signaling pathwayWho responds to rapalogs and why? at the Kidney Cancer meeting in Chicago.

Dr. Harriet Kluger, M.D.Associate Professor Yale Cancer Center discusses The Met Pathway as a Target in RCC at the Kidney Cancer meeting in Chicago

Dr. David F. McDermott discusses Immune correlates and long-term follow-up of a Phase Ia study of MPDL3280A, an engineered PD-L1 antibody, in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) at the Kidney Cancer meeting in Chicago

Dr. Thai Ho, M.D., Ph.D.Mayo Clinic Arizona discusses The Evolving Role of Chromatin and Epigenetics in RCC at the Kidney Cancer meeting in Chicago

Dr. Toni K. Choueiri discusses Risk Factors and a Model to Predict Toxicity-related Treatment Discontinuation in Patients with Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma (mRCC) Treated with Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF)-Targeted Therapy: Results from the International Metastatic RCC Database Consortium (IMDC)

Dr. Sumanta K. Pal, MD;1 Min Li, PhD;2 Xiwei Wu, PhD;3 Paul Frankel, PhD2   1Department of Medical Oncology, City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, Duarte, CA; 2Department of Biostatistics, City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, Duarte, CA; 3Department of Molecular & Cell Biology, City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, Duarte, CA discusses Bacteriomic profiling reveals potential etiology for vascular endothelial growth factor-tyrosine kinase inhibitor (VEGF-TKI)-related diarrhea in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) at the Kidney Cancer meeting in Chicago

Dr. Georg A. BjarnasonDivision of Medical OncologySunnybrook Odette Cancer CentreAssociate Professor, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto discusses Dose Reduction or Treatment Interruption Pro: Treatment Interruption and individualized dose/schedule alterationIndividualized Sunitinib as an example? at the Kidney Cancer meeting in Chicago

Dr. David I. Quinn MBBS (Hons) PhD FRACP FACP Associate Professor of Medicine Chief, Section of GU Medical Oncology Division of Medical Oncology Medical Director, Norris Cancer Hospital & Clinics Co-Leader, Developmental Therapeutics Program Member, USC Institute of Urology Kenneth J. Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center Keck School of Medicine University of Southern California discusses Dose Reduction or TreatmentInterruption: Pro Dose Reduction at the Kidney Cancer meeting in Chicago

Dr. Frede Donskov, M.D., PhD Chair, Danish Renal Cancer Group, DARENCA Aarhus University Hospital Denmark discusses Toxicity as a Biomarker at the Kidney Cancer meeting in Chiacgo

Suzanne L. Topalian of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center discusses Biomarkers for PD-1 checkpoint inhibition at the Kidney Cancer meeting in Chicago

Dr. Drew Pardoll of Johns Hopkins discusses Basic Concepts and Future Horizons in Cancer Immunotherapy at the Kidney Cancer Meeting in Chiacgo

Elizabeth R. Plimack MD MS Director, Genitourinary Clinical Research Associate Professor, Department of Hematology/Oncology discusses Combination immunotherapy + VEGF targeted therapy is the optimal systemic strategy for metastatic RCC at the Kidney Cancer Meeting in Chiacgo

M. Dror Michaelson, MD PhD MGH Cancer CenterBoston, MA discusses how TKIs are the Optimal Front-Line mRCC Treatment

Dr. Michael B. Atkins, MD Deputy Director, Georgetown-Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center discusses the Optimal Front-Line Treatment for mRCC

Toni K. Choueiri, MD Clinical Director and Kidney Cancer Center Director The Lank Center for Genitourinary Oncology Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Brigham and Womens Hospital presents Clinical Trials in non-clear cell RCC: ESPN, ASPEN and beyond at the Kidney Cancer Association meeting in Chicago 2014

Ari Hakimi MD Assistant Professor Urologic Oncology Affiliate Department of Computational Biology MSKCC presents Genomic Characterization of Sarcomatoid Clear Cell RCC at the Kidney Cancer Association meeting in Chicago 2014

Jianjun Gao, MD, PhD Department of Genitourinary Oncology MD Anderson Cancer Center presents Molecular Characterization of Renal Medullary Carcinoma at the Kidney Cancer Association meeting in Chicago 2014

Gabriel G. Malouf, MD, PhD Assistant professor Department of medical oncology Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, Paris, France discusses Translocation Renal Cell Carcinomas: Molecular insights and Future Directions at the Kidney Cancer Association meeting in Chiacgo 2014

Laurence Albiges, MD, PhD Lank Center for Genitourinary Oncology presents Papillary Renal Cell Carcinoma at the Kidney Cancer Association meeting in Chicago 2014

James Hsieh MD PhD MSKCC Translational Kidney Cancer Research Program (TKCRP) presents13thIKCS Chicago Rare Kidney Cancer:Chromophobe RCC at the Kidney Cancer Association meeting in Chicago 2014

Michael L. Blute Sr. MD Chief Urology MGH Walter S. Kerr Jr. Professor of Surgery Harvard Medical School presents Case Presentations Kidney Cancer Association meeting in Chicago 2014

Michael L. Blute Jr of MD Anderson presents the Recurrence After Surgery in Non-metastatic RCC with Thrombus; Risk Factors From A Contemporary Multicenter Analysis at the Kidney Cancer Association meeting in Chicago 2014

Stephen H. Culp, M.D., Ph.D. Assistant Professor, Department of Urology discusses Cytoreductive Nephrectomy at the Kidney Cancer Association meeting in Chicago 2014

Sarah P. Psutka MD Fellow in Urologic Oncology Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN presents the Latest On IVC Tumor Thrombus at the Kidney Cancer Association meeting in Chicago 2014

Jonathan Coleman, MD Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center Weill – Cornell University Medical College presents Kidney Cancer Management:The Role of Lymph Node Dissection at the Kidney Cancer Association meeting in Chicago 2014

At the iwNHL 2014, Prof Francesco D’Amore (Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark) interviews Dr Elaine Jaffe (National Cancer Institute, Maryland, USA) and Prof Laurence de Leval (IUP Institut universitaire de pathologie, Lausanne, Switzerland) about their involvement at this workshop. Dr Jaffe describes the important abnormal contribution of B-cell proliferation in angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma and other T-cell lymphomas of follicular T-helper cell derivation. As a result, a neoplastic precursor cell is speculated. Prof de Leval describes recent sequencing discoveries in peripheral T-cell lymphomas that have provided new insight in tumour understanding.

Thomas D. Atwell, MD presents Ablation of larger and recurrent tumors at the Kidney Cancer Association meeting in Chicago 2014

R. Houston Thompson, MD of the Mayo Clinic presents NCCN and AUA GUIDELINES FOR RCC: DO THEY EFFECTIVELY CAPTURE RECURRENCES FOLLOWING NEPHRECTOMY? at the Kidney Cancer Association meeting in Chicago 2014

Joel Prince of The University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health presents Patient and Tumor Characteristics Predict Indeterminate Renal Mass Biopsy Findings

Jose A. Karam, MD Assistant Professor Department of Urology MD Anderson presents Locally Advanced RCC: Neoadjuvant Targeted Therapy

Tony Finelli MD, MSc, FRCSC GU Site Lead, Princess Margaret Cancer Center GU Lead, Cancer Care Ontario Associate Professor, University of Toronto presents Quality Indicators in Kidney Cancer Care at the Kidney Cancer Assoication meeting in Chicago 2014

Lara Barbara – Breast Cancer Survivor NSHOA Treats Patients with Chemo and Hugs brought to you by The Community Oncology Alliance (COA) and The COA Patient Advocacy Network (CPAN)

Michael Murray – Primary Goal for Everyone at NSHOA is Patient Care brought to you by The Community Oncology Alliance (COA) and The COA Patient Advocacy Network (CPAN)         medical oncology, nshoa, the community oncology alliance (coa), coa, the coa patient advocacy network (cpan), cpan

Dr. Ron Burkes commenting on the results of the Lux-Lung8 Trial from ESMO 2014

Dr. Natasha Leighl, lead study author, on the newsiest results on the activity of pembrolizumab in lung cancer

Dr. Edith Perez speaking on the expanded results of the ALTTO breast cancer trial

Dr. Sunil Verma providing a comprehensive update on the latest lung cancer updates from ESMO 2014

Don Marx – Care for Today, Research for Tomorrow brought to you by The Community Oncology Alliance (COA) and The COA Patient Advocacy Network (CPAN)

Dr. Tewari at ESMO 2014 on latest advanced cervical cancer therapies

Dr. Teresa Petrella and Dr. Catalin Mihalcioiu speaking on combination therapies in melanoma.

Mark Levine – CFO North Shore Hematology Oncology Focused on Patient Care brought to you by The Community Oncology Alliance (COA) and The COA Patient Advocacy Network (CPAN)

Immuno-Oncology: Shaping the Present, Transforming the Future and Raising the Bar in Oncology – from Best of ASCO Canada 2014

Nicole Gregory – The Chief Commercial Officer – What we do for our Patients brought to you by The Community Oncology Alliance (COA) and The COA Patient Advocacy Network (CPAN)

Michael Mitrani – Guiding Patients Through the Benefits Maze brought to you by The Community Oncology Alliance (COA) and The COA Patient Advocacy Network (CPAN)

Timothy A. Masterson, MD Assistant ProfessorDepartment of UrologyIndiana University Medical Center and Vitaly Margulis MD Associate Professor of Urology of UT Southern Medical Center debate the Debate: Partial Nephrectomy v. RADICALNephrectomy for T1b/2a tumors

Nicholas G. Cost, M.D.Assistant Professor, Department of Surgery, Division of Urology University of Colorado School of Medicine discusses Hereditary Syndromes in Kidney Cancer: Beyond VHL at the Kidney Cancer Association meeting in Chicago

Brian Shuch, MD Assistant Professor of Urology and Radiology Yale School of Medicine presents Management of Kidney Cancer in Young Patients at the Kidney Cancer Association meeting in Chicago

E. Jason Abel MD, FACS of the University of Wisconsin presents Renal mass biopsy for risk stratification in RCC: benefits and limitations at the Kidney Cancer Association meeting in Chicago.

Mark Purdue, PhDOntario Institute for Cancer Research discusses Epidemiology and Genomics of Renal Cell Carcinoma at the Kidney Cancer Association meeting in Chicago

Projecting Individual Probability for Developing Renal Cell Cancer presented by Xifeng Wu, MD, PHD, Professor and ChairDepartment of Epidemiology Betty B. Marcus Chair in Cancer Prevention Director, Center for Translational and Public Health Genomics at the annual Kidney Cancer Association meeting in 2014

At the iwNHL 2014, Dr Rafael Fonseca (Mayo Clinic, Arizona, USA) interviews Prof Keith Stewart (Mayo Clinic, Arizona, USA) and Prof Leif Bergsagel (Mayo Clinic, Arizona, USA), all doctors with an interest in myeloma, about the application of myeloma biology and therapies in lymphoma. Prof Stewart describes tumour heterogeneity and suggests a parallel between myeloma and indolent follicular lymphoma, where the presence of a more aggressive tumour subclone may have significant clinical implications. Prof Bergsagel describes the contribution of MYC to tumour heterogeneity and poor prognosis. Targeting the interaction between the immune system and tumour may provide new therapies.

At the iwNHL 2014, Prof John Gribben (Barts Cancer Institute, London, UK) interviews Prof Wolfram Brugger (University of Freiburg, Villingen-Schwenningen, Germany) and Dr Myron Czuczman (Roswell Park Cancer Institute, New York, USA) about the current and future clinical application of targeted or chemotherapy-free therapies in lymphoma. They discuss their experiences and some of the challenges of these therapies in clinical practice. It is emphasised that targeted therapies should not necessarily be used as standalone approaches. Combinations of targeted therapies and conventional therapies should be considered, and emerging clinical trials investigating combinations are described. The use of patient’s age to determine…

At the iwNHL 2014, Dr Steven Rosen (City of Hope National Medical Center, California, USA) describes the progress made in understanding the biology and management of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Now, there is need to consider new drug combinations to maximise efficacy. Alternatives to chemotherapy including biologic approaches and future research directions including in precision medicine are examined.

At the iwNHL 2014, Dr Mathias Rummel (Justus-Liebig University-Hospital, Gießen, Germany) describes his research investigating the use of bendamustine plus rituximab in treating indolent and mantle-cell lymphomas, highlighting the clinical implications of his long-term findings. He also presents an overview of the progress in other treatment strategies. He concludes with a description of the current and prospective treatment strategies for indolent lymphomas.

At the iwNHL 2014, Prof John Gribben (Barts Cancer Institute, London, UK) interviews Prof Randy Gascoyne (British Columbia Cancer Agency, Vancouver, Canada) about the significance of the lymphoma microenvironment in tumour biology and therapy. Understanding the biology of the lymphoma microenvironment may allow rational therapeutic targeting. Emerging clinical studies in this field are reviewed. The immune system is presented as a potential and attractive target to disrupt the interaction between the tumour and non-tumour microenvironment cells, with a focus on lenalidomide and rituximab immunotherapy.

At the iwNHL 2014, Prof John Gribben (Barts Cancer Institute, London, UK) interviews Prof Randy Gascoyne (British Columbia Cancer Agency, Vancouver, Canada) about the significance of the lymphoma microenvironment in tumour biology and therapy. Improved trial designs, consideration of clinical variables and use of higher resolution approaches are recommended to overcome current research limitations in this field.

At the iwNHL 2014, Prof John Gribben (Barts Cancer Institute, London, UK) interviews Prof Randy Gascoyne (British Columbia Cancer Agency, Vancouver, Canada) about the significance of the lymphoma microenvironment in tumour biology and therapy. The interaction between tumour cells and non-tumour cells has been increasingly recognised to contribute to disease progression.

Prof John Gribben (Barts Cancer Institute, London, UK) chairs a discussion with Dr Wyndham Wilson (National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, USA), Prof Anton Hagenbeek (Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, Netherlands), Prof Michael Pfreundschuh (University of Saarland, Homburg-Saar, Germany) and Dr Myron Czuczman (Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, USA) about the highlights from day two of the 12th iwNHL. The group discusses the value of a multidisciplinary approach in cancer management. Understanding of myeloma biology and therapies is proposed to be applicable to NHL; specifically, there is an emerging paradigm of tumour subclones that facilitate drug resistance. Implications of investigational lymphoma therapies are…

Prof John Gribben (Barts Cancer Institute, London, UK) chairs a discussion with Prof Randy Gascoyne (British Columbia Cancer Agency, Vancouver, Canada), Dr Wyndham Wilson (National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, USA) and Dr Myron Czuczman (Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, USA) about the highlights from day one of the 12th iwNHL. There is an increasing recognition of the lymphoma microenvironment in influencing tumour progression and clinical outcomes. In peripheral T-cell lymphomas, progress in understanding the interaction between tumour cells of origin and non-tumour cells may allow rational and novel therapeutic targeting. Future treatment options for patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma who…

At the iwNHL 2014, Prof Michael Pfreundschuh (Saarland University Medical School, Homburg, Germany), Dr Rich Fisher (Fox Chase Cancer Center, Pennsylvania, USA) and Prof Christian Gisselbrecht (Hôpital Saint-Louis, Paris, France) discuss the biology and management of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). Dr Fisher describes the difficulties in defining and managing patients who are not cured by standard therapy. The classification of DLBCLs is an important consideration for research studies and clinical management. Double-hit lymphomas have poor prognosis and management options are discussed. Prof Gisselbrecht describes important recent advances in treatment options for different DLBCL subtypes. Future research directions and their…

At the iwNHL 2014, Prof Susan OBrien (MD Anderson Cancer Center, Texas, USA) and Prof Eva Kimby (Karolinska Institutet, Huddinge, Sweden) provide an overview of mantle cell lymphoma. Current treatment strategies are discussed. There is a focus on ibrutinib therapy for patients who relapse after first-line therapy and a comparison is made with its use in treating chronic lymphocytic leukaemia. Future trial and clinical directions are also examined.

At ESMO 2014, Dr Jennifer Temel is interviewed about the results of a phase III trial investigating the use of anamorelin in NSCLC patients with anorexia and cachexia. She discusses the next steps for anamorelin with a focus on regulatory approval and impact in clinical practice.

At ESMO 2014, Prof Tony Mok presents the results of the IMPRESS trial. This phase III trial showed that continuation of gefitinib with chemotherapy versus chemotherapy alone provided no significant improvement in progression-free survival in patients with EGFR mutation-positive lung cancer who previously failed to respond to first-line gefitinib.

At ESMO 2014, Prof Sandra Swain presents the results of the CLEOPATRA trial. This phase III trial in patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer showed that treatment with pertuzumab combined with trastuzumab plus docetaxel (pertuzumab group) significantly improved overall survival versus placebo combined with trastuzumab plus docetaxel treatment (control group). Median overall survival in the pertuzumab group was increased by 15.7 months versus the control group.

During a press conference at ESMO 2014, Prof Frédéric Amant, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium, discusses his study on the impacts of mental and cardiac development in children who are exposed to chemotherapy or radiotherapy while in the womb.

At ESMO 2014, Prof Johan F. Vansteenkiste summarises the results of the MAGRIT trial, a phase III trial which showed that MAGE-A3 cancer immunotherapy did not increase disease-free survival in patients with resected NSCLC.

During a press conference at ESMO 2014, Dr Jean-Pascal Machiels, Cliniques Universitaires St. Luc, Brussels, Belgium, presents the results of a Phase III study looking at the impact of afatinib versus methotrexate upon progression-free survival in patients with head and neck cancer after failure of platinum-based chemotherapy.

During a press conference at ESMO 2014, Dr Bernardo Leon Rapoport, The Medical Oncology Centre Rosebank, Johannesburg, South Africa, presents the results of a Phase III study on the use of rolapitant for the prevention of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting in patients receiving cisplatin-based chemotherapy.

During the Saturday press conference at ESMO 2014, Professor David Currow describes results of Phase III data showing that a new drug, anamorelin, improves appetite and body mass in patients with advanced lung cancer, who are suffering cancer anorexia and cachexia. In the ROMANA studies, patients with unresectable stage III or IV non-small cell lung cancer with cachexia were randomized to receive either 100 mg anamorelin or placebo, given orally each day for 12 weeks. For those patients taking anamorelin, lean body mass and body weight were significantly increased. Professor Currow mentions that patients did not experience improvements in their…

Results of the MPACT Trial (weekly nab-paclitaxel plus gemcitabine versus gemcitabine alone) in patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer will be reviewed, with emphasis on patient selection and neuropathy management. The webinar was delivered by Dr. Malcolm Moore, Program Head, Medical Oncology and Hematology, Director, McCain Centre for Pancreatic Cancer; Professor, Department of Medicine and Pharmacology, University of Toronto.

The objective of this webinar was to provide an overview of the available front-line therapeutic options for patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer and compare the relative effectiveness and potential side effect profiles of different chemotherapeutic regimens.

A study published online in the August 2014 edition of the Annals of Surgical Oncology shows that BluePrint (Agendia Inc) proves to be superior to conventional subtyping for analyzing breast cancer before surgery. [1] The study, which will also be published in the October print edition of the journal, is part of the ongoing Neoadjuvant Breast Registry Symphony Trial (NBRST, pronounced “N-breast”).[2][3] These finding may eventually change the way physicians evaluate and treat breast cancer. The researchers concluded that the BluePrint genomic test provides more accurate information about the molecular subtype of a specific breast cancer, compared to the use…

Tamoxifen (Soltamox/Nolvadex®; AstraZeneca), an antagonist of the estrogen receptor ? in ER?-positive breast cancer has been effective in most patients. The drug has been used for more than 40 years to treat breast cancers that are hormone-receptor positive. As an adjuvant therapy tamoxifen improves overall survival. Its widespread use is thought to have made a significant contribution to the reduction in breast cancer mortality seen over the last decade. [1] However, resistance to tamoxifen is a clinically significant problem. So far, the mechanisms responsible for tamoxifen resistance remain elusive. Results from a study funded by the Dutch Cancer Society (KWF)…

The immune system has the ability to recognize tumors and to stop or control their development through a process known as immunosurveillance. The PD-1 checkpoint pathway plays a key role in modulating the immune system. This video describes how tumor cells exploit the PD-1 checkpoint pathway and evade the immune response, leading to tumor growth. Immuno-oncology

For more free video updates go to www.oncologyeducation.com Incorporation of Bv into anthracycline and taxane containing adjuvant therapy does not improve IDFS or OS in pts with high risk HER2- breast cancer. Bv did increase AEs but no unexpected AEs were encountered. Longer duration therapy is unlikely to be feasible given the high rate of early discontinuation due to all causes.

To view more free videos – visit www.oncologyeducation.com Profiling of protein expression, gene copy variations and mutations identified clinically relevant alterations in 99% of sarcomas. Given the overexpression of TOPO2 in approximately 50% of sarcomas, its utility as a biomarker of sensitivity to anthracyclines should be studied, especially in relation to TP53 status in a tumor. Trials of agents like mTOR and PI3K inhibitors could benefit from designs in which patient selection is based on PTEN loss or PIK3CA mutations instead of sarcoma histology. The prognostic implications of the co-existence of TP53 mutations and PTEN loss in sarcomas is yet…

For additional free GI/Colorectal Cancer video updates, please go to www.oncologyeducation.com Chemo/CET and chemo/BV equivalent in OS in pts KRAS wt (codons 12 + 13) MCRC; either is appropriate in first line. Overall OS of 29 + mos and 8% long-term survivors confirms progress in MCRC. The preference for FOLFOX limits chemotherapy comparison. Expanded RAS and other molecular and clinical analyses may identify subsets of pts who get more or less benefit from specific regimens.

Dr Kenneth Anderson (Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, USA) chairs a discussion with Prof Gareth Morgan (The Royal Marsden Hospital, London, UK) and Prof Paul Richardson (Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA) at Myeloma 2014 about the treatment of myeloma. They discuss the trends in therapy they expect to see in the next decade and provide a response to the definitions workshop.

Dr Anderson (Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, USA) chairs a discussion with Prof Palumbo (University of Torina, Torina, Italy), Prof Gareth Morgan (The Royal Marsden Hospital, London, UK), and Prof San Miguel (University Hospital, Salamanca, Spain) at Myeloma 2014 about the treatment of Myeloma. They discuss novel targets and the treatment of high risk disease, and immune based therapy, and provide new insights in drug sensitivity and resistance.

Prof Keith Stewart (Mayo Clinic, Scottsdale, USA) chairs a discussion with Prof Gareth Morgan (The Royal Marsden Hospital, London, UK), Dr Leif L. Bergsagel (Mayo Clinic, Scottsdale, Arizona), and Prof Antonio Palumbo (University of Torina, Torina, Italy) at Myeloma 2014, about the treatment of myeloma. They discuss the clinical implications and strategies to overcome clonal heterogeneity, genomics and practice, early treatment, immune based therapy, and new insights in IMiD drug sensitivity and resistance.

Dr Ola Landgren from Memorial Sloan Kettering, New York, USA, tells the European Medical Journal about the possible enormous value of minimal residual disease (MRD) monitoring in multiple myeloma (MM) as a potential new end-point in MM clinical trials, and as a marker of therapeutic response.

Dr Ola Landgren from Memorial Sloan Kettering, New York, USA, summarises recent plethora of data in patients with newly diagnosed myeloma. A key recent advance is to treat patients more aggressively earlier with three drug combinations. He outlines latest views on MRD (minimal residual disease), and highlights the promising findings in older patients .

Dr Ola Landgren from Memorial Sloan Kettering, New York, USA, summarises recent plethora of data in patients with newly diagnosed myeloma. A key recent advance is to treat patients more aggressively earlier with three drug combinations. He outlines latest views on MRD (minimal residual disease), and highlights the promising findings in older patients .

Dr Ola Landgren from Memorial Sloan Kettering, New York, USA, speaks to the European Medical Journal from the 19th Congress of the European Haematology Association (EHA) meeting about the changed definition of multiple myeloma. A result of a 2-day workshop of the international myeloma working group before the EHA meeting, the definition now includes three additional criteria which are explained. Dr Landgren explores the reason for the altered definition and implications for clinical practice.

Speaking to the European Medical Journal from the 19th Congress of the European Haematology Association (EHA) meeting, Prof. John Seymour from Sir Peter MacCallum, Department of Oncology, Australia, outlines the three presentations at the meeting updating clinicians on the latest findings with ABT199 , an investigational B-cell lymphoma 2 (BCL-2) selective inhibitor. Firstly, he outlines the results from the monotherapy dose-escalation study, which has completed recruitment (n=105) and shown positive clinical findings. Secondly , he summarises the findings from the step-wise programme developed to avoid tumour lysis syndrome with ABT199. Thirdly , Prof. Seymour discusses the promising early data from…

Dr Kenneth Anderson, Multiple Myeloma Boston 2014 congress round-up

Prof. Peter Hillmen from Leeds Teaching Hospital, Leeds, UK, gives an update on the phase III results from the RESONATE study in 391 patients with relapsed refractory chronic lymphoid leukemia (CLL). Prof Hillmen outlines the PFS and OS results that showed the significant benefits of ibrutinib over ofatumumab. He comments on single vs. combination therapy with ibrutinib in CLL.

Speaking to EMJ from the 19th Congress of the European Hematology Association (EHA 19) meeting, Prof. Paul Richardson , Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, USA, discusses results seen from the breakthrough PANORAMA1 study, a global randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase III study of panobinostat in combination with bortezomib and dexamethasone in patients with relapsed multiple myeloma. He outlines the primary end-point results and side effects observed, and comments on the clinical meaningfulness of these HDAC trial results. Results of sub-sets of higher risk groups are also discussed, and Prof Richardson comments on new data with ricolinostat (ACY-1215) in multiple myeloma. Keywords: EMJ Relapsed…

Prof. Simon Rule from Plymouth Hospital, UK, discusses data presented at EHA19 on the second-generation oral BTK inhibitor, ONO-4059. One study presented relates to CLL; the other to non-Hodgkins lymphoma (NHL). In both studies, ONO-4059 shows promising results that might allow it to compete with ibrutinib. He also outlines the benefits seen with ibrutinib in several haematological cancers, and a poster showing two-year ibrutinib toxicity data.

Prof. Valeria Santini, University of Florence Medical School, Italy, highlights novel mutational and genetic studies in MDS presented atEHA19 which might in the future translate into clinical benefits. One involves a significantly sensitive and sophisticated prognostic scoring system; another involves gene expression in MDS that may allow the classification of patients according to prognosis. Keywords: Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS) Prof. Valeria Santini University of Florence Medical School Genetic studies in MDS EHA19

Prof. Stephan Stilgenbauer from University of Ulm, Germany, defines ultra high-risk CLL (chronic lymphocytic leukemia) and comments on its implications for patients. He outlines highlights from ASCO 2014 and EHA 2014 in CLL, addressing the latest data with ibrutinib from the RESONATE trial, and on resistance issues observed with ibrutinib. He also comments on the use of single vs. combination agents in CLL – including new treatments such as ibrutinib, idelalisib, and ABT199. Keywords: EMJ Ultra high-risk CLL Ibrutinib Prof. Stephan Stilgenbauer University of Ulm Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) ASCO 2014 EHA 2014 RESONATE trial Ibrutinib Idelalisib ABT199

Held annually in South Florida every January, The Symposium on Clinical Interventional Oncology (CIO) features a concentrated 2-day program renowned for its originality, patient-care focus and dynamic learning format. CIO focuses on highlighting the most viable and sought-after treatments in interventional oncology while shining a spotlight on current best practices and previewing developments on the horizon. CIO is the must-attend symposiumof the year for IO novices and expert learners searching to stay on the brink of innovation of contemporary techniques, methodologies and technological advances. Join your peers and attend North Americas fastest growing meeting in the IO arena. We look…

When it comes to EGFR and lung cancer, is a mutation good or bad? Dr. Joel Neal of Stanford University Medical Center explains why non-mutated genes are called “wild type.” February 2014.

Prof David Cameron from The Edinburgh Cancer Research Centre is committed to identifying potential new approaches to treating and preventing breast cancer. We caught up with him at EBCC9 in Glasgow to find out what’s new for breast cancer patients. He tells us about ongoing research as well as some of the findings that were being presented at the congress.

A retrospective study of the effect of extending mammography to age 75 was performed in the Netherlands to use data emerging from the change of policy shifting age-based mammography to 75 in 1999. More early stage tumours were detected but just as many cases of late-stage disease were discovered as before, implying that screening had not eliminated them and was not yielding a benefit. Further analysis confirmed that the harmful effects of over-treatment in this age group were outweighing any potential benefits of cancer detection. Dr. Liefers concluded that age-based screening is failing these patients who should receive mammography on…

A detailed analysis of risk factors including genomic markers of women with breast cancer has revealed that three-year mammographic screening is insufficient for around half of all women who could be candidates for annual screening. This is good news for regions where annual screening is the norm as it suggests a potential saving by screening less frequently in one subgroup, but perhaps less welcome news in countries such as the UK where three-year screening is recommended.

A massive Oxford meta-analysis they have completed has shown that adjuvant radiotherapy gives absolute benefits in terms of progression-free and overall- survival in women with breast cancer who have one, two, or three involved axillary lymph nodes clarifying a long-held uncertainty. Up to now four or more nodes has been a status known to benefit from R/T, while node-zero did not confer any benefit from R/T. The effect is surprisingly large and is just as strong among women who received either chemotherapy or endocrine therapy extending considerably the application of adjuvant radiotherapy.

Dr Poortmans presented a late breaking abstract at a workshop on the regional control of breast cancer, along with speakers from Denmark, Canada and the UK. His abstract was on the updated results of his groups EORTC ROG and BCG phase III trial22922/10925 confirming the benefits of chest irradiation for patients with early breast cancer irrespective of their axillary nodal status. One of the key new points the data were presently able to confirm was that such regional radiotherapy extends life not only in chemotherapy-naïve patients, but also in those who have received extensive systemic therapy.

Dr. Mark Socinski is a Professor of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. In this video, he answers common questions about the role of the PD-1 checkpoint pathway in normal immune function and tumor immune evasion.

7° Riunione Nazionale A.I.G. Associazione Italiana GIST Onlus Bologna, 29 marzo 2014

Gestione degli effetti collaterali delle terapie e delle complicanze post-chirurgiche 7 ° Riunione Nazionale AIG Associazione Italiana GIST Onlus Bologna, 29-03-2014

Stato dell’arte e ricerca clinica attuale (SECONDA PARTE) 7 ° Riunione Nazionale AIG Associazione Italiana GIST Onlus Bologna 29 marzo 2014

Il percorso della ricerca nei GIST in laboratorio. 7° Riunione Nazionale A.I.G. Associazione Italiana GIST Onlus Bologna, 29 marzo 2014

7° Riunione Nazionale A.I.G. Associazione Italiana GIST Onlus Bologna, 29 marzo 2014

Caso clinico 3: terapia con Regorafenib in terza linea di trattamento. 7° Riunione Nazionale A.I.G. Associazione Italiana GIST Onlus Bologna, 29 marzo 2014

7° Riunione Nazionale A.I.G. Associazione Italiana GIST Onlus Bologna, 29 marzo 2014