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Top Medical News
Nivolumab significantly prolongs survival in East Asian patients with advanced nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC) previously treated with platinum-based chemotherapy when compared with docetaxel, according to data from the CheckMate 078 trial.
Supplementation with folic acid and vitamin B12 potentially contributes to an increased risk of colorectal cancer, according to data from the B Vitamins for the Prevention of Osteoporotic Fractures (B-PROOF) trial.
Detection of overall and index prostate cancer is comparable in three Tesla multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with and without an endorectal coil, a study has found. However, the endorectal coil subcohort has markedly higher detection of posterior and peripheral prostate cancer, as well as detection of anterior and transition zone prostate cancer.
Use of abemaciclib in combination with a nonsteroidal aromatase inhibitor (AI) in the initial therapy of patients with HR-positive, HER2-negative advanced breast cancer leads to a substantial improvement in progression-free survival and objective response rate compared with a nonsteroidal AI alone, according to data from the phase III MONARCH 3 trial.
Obesity, diastolic blood pressure (DBP), and fasting insulin levels can influence the risk of renal cell carcinoma (RCC), according to a Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis.
No association exists between physical activity and the risk of urological cancer, according to a population-based prospective study in Japan.
Though the use of antidepressants after diagnosis is widespread among colon cancer patients, it does not appear to increase the risk of recurrence, reports a new study.
Special Reports
In March 2018, sublingual fentanyl citrate (SLF; Abstral®, Menarini) was made available in Malaysia. SLF is a rapid-onset opioid (ROO) indicated for the management of breakthrough cancer pain (BTcP) episodes in patients that are opioid-tolerant. In July 2018, Menarini organized an expert meeting, aptly named Malaysian Collaborative Meeting of Pain Specialists to Improve Oncology Management (MY-COMPASSION), comprising of key figures in anaesthesiology, palliative care and oncology to discuss current insights into local BTcP management. Below are highlights from the meeting.
Comprehensive genomic profiling (CGP) has emerged as a key driving force behind personalized cancer care. With the wealth of data available with CGP, medical oncologists now have in their armamentarium a tool that could enable them to provide patients with the optimum treatment. At a Roche Foundation Medicine-sponsored symposium held at the 2018 European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress in Munich, Germany, a panel of experts reviewed key data on CGP, with a focus on the treatment of advanced cancers.
Recently, a Roche-sponsored dinner symposium was held in conjunction with the launch of atezolizumab (Tecentriq®, Roche) at Royale Chulan, Kuala Lumpur. Important insights into the evolving treatment landscape of anticancer treatment, and the increasingly prominent role of immunotherapy were gathered from a distinguished panel, including Dato’ Dr Mohamed Ibrahim, Professor Dr Rolf A. Stahel, Dr Voon Pei Jye, and Associate Professor Dr Tho Lye Mun. Here are the highlights of the meeting.
In advanced-stage, newly diagnosed classical, CD30-positive Hodgkin lymphoma (HL), front-line therapy has resulted in durable remission rates in up to 70–90% of patients, although approximately 25–30% of advanced stage HL patients are refractory or relapse following first-line treatment with ABVD (adriamycin, bleomycin, vinblastine, dacarbazine) chemotherapy.1–3 The standard of care for patients with relapsed or refractory (r/r) classical HL is salvage therapy using second-line high-dose chemotherapy (HDCT), followed by autologous haematopoietic stem cell transplant (ASCT) in eligible patients, which can induce a complete remission (CR) in about 50% of patients.4 Nevertheless, the prognosis of patients who relapse after the salvage HDCT/ASCT is exceedingly poor, with a median survival duration of approximately 1.2 years.5
At a recent dinner symposium held during the Abstral® Grand Launch at Le Meridien Putrajaya, Dr Michael Überall spoke on the management of breakthrough cancer pain (BTcP) and highlighted the role of sublingual fentanyl ([SLF], Abstral®; A. Menarini Pte Ltd) in the optimization of BTcP in cancer patients.
At the recent American Society of Haematology Annual Meeting 2017, Professor François-Xavier Mahon reviewed recent studies related to tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) cessation in patients with chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) who have achieved sustained deep molecular response (DMR).
ABSTRAL - Fentanyl citrate 100 mcg, 200 mcg and 400 mcg SL tab - A. Menarini
Conference Reports
The addition of the monoclonal antibody andecaliximab to nivolumab or a chemotherapy regimen (modified FOLFOX6*) did not provide survival benefit in patients with pretreated metastatic or untreated HER2-negative gastric/gastroesophageal (G/GEJ) adenocarcinoma, according to data presented at ASCO GI 2019.
The addition of the investigational, humanized IgG4* monoclonal antibody tislelizumab to chemotherapy was generally well-tolerated and generated favourable antitumour activity in patients with advanced gastric/gastroesophageal (G/GEJ) cancer and oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), according to data presented at ASCO GI 2019.
The combination of paclitaxel and FOLFOX led to an improvement in progression-free survival (PFS) compared with FOLFOX alone among chemotherapy-naïve patients with advanced gastric cancer, according to results from the phase II FNF-004* trial presented at ASCO GI 2019.
Neoadjuvant chemotherapy with gemcitabine plus S-1 has been shown to improve overall survival (OS) in patients with resectable pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma in a Japanese study.
Second-line treatment with pembrolizumab is shown to significantly improve overall survival (OS) vs chemotherapy in patients with advanced or metastatic oesophageal cancer in the phase III KEYNOTE-181 study.
Recent research has revealed various potential biomarkers for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC), but several challenges remain in fully utilizing them in clinical practice.
Combination immunotherapy with the PD-L1 inhibitor durvalumab and the CTLA-4 inhibitor tremelimumab has been shown to improve overall survival (OS) in patients with advanced colorectal cancer (CRC) who failed all standard therapies.
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