BREAKING NEWS
ASCO Urges KRAS Gene Testing for Colorectal Cancer
The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) recommended today that patients with metastatic colorectal cancer who are candidates for anti-EFGR therapy have their tumors tested for KRAS gene mutations. In a “provisional clinical opinion,” ASCO recommends that patients with mutated forms of the KRAS gene should not receive the drugs cetuximab (Erbitux) and panitumumab (Vectibix), based on recent studies indicating that these drugs are only effective in patients with normal forms of the gene.
NEWS
5-FU-Based Chemotherapy Cures Some Patients with Colon Cancer
Researchers from the Adjuvant Colon Cancer Endpoints (ACCENT) Group used individual patient data from 18 phase III trials of adjuvant fluorouracil-based chemotherapy for colon cancer to show that the regimens provide their survival benefit primarily by reducing the high risk of recurrence within the first 2 years after surgery. Read more > >
Validated Colorectal Cancer Risk Assessment Tool Available Online
Physicians can use the tool to help patients make decisions about screening and careColonoscopy Reduces Death from Cancer in the Left Colon, but Not the Right
Reasons for the difference are not clearPLCO Update Suggests Positive Predictive Value of Prostate Screening Drops over Time
Cancers found at baseline in the study were more aggressive than those found in subsequent screeningsRadiation Plus Hormone Therapy for Locally Advanced Prostate Cancer Improves Survival
Patients experienced similar overall health and quality of life compared to hormone therapy aloneResearchers Learn Why Some Platinum Drugs Are Toxic to Ear Tissue
The study compared cisplatin and oxaliplatin in guinea pigs
COMMENTARY
Director's Update: Resource Digs Deep into NCI's Research Funding
NCI recently launched a newly enhanced Funded Research portal on its Web site. For a decade or more visitors to www.cancer.gov could search the cancer research portfolio, but the enhanced portal now provides consolidated information from varying NCI locations on one site, including funding and other data on NCI's intramural research program. The result is a significant increase in public access to this broader range of data. Read more > >
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IN DEPTH
Special Report: Genome Studies Yield Insights into Childhood Leukemia
Changes to the IKAROS gene may help explain why chemotherapy fails some patients with ALL and could lead to a prognostic test
Spotlight: Looking to Refine HER2-targeted Therapy
Researchers are investigating better ways to identify the best candidates for HER2-targeted therapy
Featured Clinical Trial: Immune System Reconstitution Following Unrelated HSCT and GVHD Prevention
How does the immune system regenerate following hematopoietic stem cell transplantation from an unrelated donor and graft-versus-host disease prevention?
Community Update: ASCO Proposes Strategies for Oncology Workforce Shortage
Utilizing more non-physician practitioners may help meet patient needs
UPDATES
FDA Update
- New Prostate Cancer Drug Approved
- Gardasil Indication for Men Reviewed
- A Warning for Bone Density Drug
CMS Update
- CMS Proposes Expanding Medicare Coverage of PET Scans in Cancer Patients
Notes
- NCI Scientists Receive 2008 HHS Awards
- NCI Holds Annual Intramural Scientific
Retreat - New Issue of CCR Connections Released
- NCI Scientists Receive 2008 HHS Awards
The NCI Cancer Bulletin is produced by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), which was established in 1937. Through basic, clinical, and population-based biomedical research and training, NCI conducts and supports research that will lead to a future in which we can identify the environmental and genetic causes of cancer, prevent cancer before it starts, identify cancers that do develop at the earliest stage, eliminate cancers through innovative treatment interventions, and biologically control those cancers that we cannot eliminate so they become manageable, chronic diseases.
For more information about cancer, call 1-800-4-CANCER or visit http://www.cancer.gov.
NCI Cancer Bulletin staff can be reached at ncicancerbulletin@mail.nih.gov.
