Clinical Trial Results - Cancer Currents Blog
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Extensive Lymph Node Surgery Does Not Increase Survival in MelanomaA conservative approach to lymph node removal surgery may be best for people with melanoma that has spread from the skin to one or a small number of nearby lymph nodes, new results from a large international clinical trial suggest.
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Abiraterone Improves Survival for Some Men with Hormone-Sensitive Prostate CancerIn two large clinical trials, adding the hormone-blocking drug abiraterone to androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) allowed men with metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer to live longer than men who were treated with ADT alone.
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CAR T Cells: Expanding into Multiple MyelomaResults from two early-phase trials presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting suggest that an immunotherapy using genetically engineered immune cells may be effective in patients with advanced multiple myeloma.
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Biomarker Test Could Reduce Unnecessary Biopsies to Detect Prostate CancerFindings from a new study show testing for two biomarkers in urine may help some men avoid an unnecessary biopsy to detect a suspected prostate cancer.
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Less Chemotherapy May Be Best Choice for Some Patients with Colon Cancer, Study ShowsA shorter course of chemotherapy following surgery may be preferred to longer treatment for some patients with colon cancer, results of an international collaborative study suggest.
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HPV Vaccination Linked to Decreased Oral HPV InfectionsA study of more than 2,600 young adults found that the prevalence of oral infection with four HPV types, including two cancer-causing types, was 88% lower in those who reported receiving at least one dose of an HPV vaccine than in those not vaccinated.
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Study Identifies Genetic Mutations in Tumors From 10,000 Patients with Metastatic CancerResearchers at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center have reported the results of an initiative to characterize the genetic mutations in tumors from more than 10,000 patients with advanced cancer treated at the center.
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Intensive Pre-Stem Cell Transplant Regimen May be Best for Younger Patients with AML, MDSResults from a large phase III clinical trial suggest that a highly intensive preparatory regimen should be used for younger patients with acute myeloid leukemia or myelodysplastic syndromes preparing to undergo an allogeneic stem cell transplant.
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Counseling Improves Survivorship Plan Implementation for Low-Income Breast Cancer SurvivorsIn a randomized trial, low-income women who role-played talking with their doctor about their survivorship care plan in a counseling session reported receiving more of their recommended care than women who did not get counseling.
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Collection of Patient-Reported Outcomes Feasible in Cancer Clinical TrialsCancer patients, even those who are undergoing difficult treatments, are willing to devote time to completing thorough assessments of the side effects they encounter in clinical trials, a new study finds.
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Nanoparticles Create Effective CAR T Cells in Living MiceResearchers have developed a method to genetically engineer cancer-fighting immune cells in living animals using nanoparticles that carry DNA. The new study shows that the resulting immune cells, known as CAR T cells, eliminated leukemia in mice.
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Blinatumomab Extends Survival for Patients with Advanced ALLPatients with previously treated acute lymphoblastic leukemia who received blinatumomab, which encourages the immune system to kill cancer cells, lived longer and experienced fewer side effects than patients given standard chemotherapy.
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Researchers Use CRISPR Gene-Editing Tool to Help Turn Immune Cells against TumorsUsing a new tool for editing genomes, known as CRISPR, researchers have genetically engineered immune cells and improved the ability of these cells to kill cancer cells in mice.
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Combination Therapy Improves Survival for Some Men with Recurrent Prostate CancerLong-term results from an NCI-sponsored clinical trial suggest that adding androgen deprivation therapy to radiation therapy can improve survival for some men with recurrent prostate cancer.
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Three-Drug Combination Extends Survival for Patients with Multiple MyelomaA phase III clinical trial demonstrates that adding the drug bortezomib to a commonly used two-drug regimen extends survival in patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma.
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New Therapy Benefits Patients with Neuroendocrine TumorsResults from a clinical trial suggest that 177Lu-Dotatate may soon be a new treatment option for some patients with advanced neuroendocrine tumors.
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Less-Frequent Zoledronic Acid Treatment Effective at Preventing Bone Metastasis ComplicationsIn a clinical trial involving patients with metastatic cancer, administration of zoledronic acid every 12 weeks was as effective at preventing skeletal-related events caused by bone metastases as administration every 4 weeks.
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Ibrutinib Relieves Chronic Graft-Versus-Host Disease SymptomsThe targeted cancer therapy ibrutinib can effectively treat the symptoms of chronic graft-versus-host disease, a common and serious complication of allogeneic stem cell transplants, findings from a small clinical trial show.
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For Some Breast Cancer Survivors, Drug May Reduce Treatment-Related Joint PainResearchers have found that duloxetine (Cymbalta®), a drug most commonly used to treat depression, may also reduce joint pain caused by aromatase inhibitors in some women being treated for early-stage breast cancer.
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New Targeted Therapies Show Promise for Treating Advanced GISTTwo new targeted therapies have shown promise in patients with gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) that have developed resistance to standard therapies.
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Modified Immunotherapy Approach Shows Promise for LeukemiaResearchers have developed an immunotherapy approach that uses immune cells whose natural cancer killing abilities have been enhanced in the lab. In a small clinical trial, the treatment led to remissions in about half of patients with acute myeloid leukemia.
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Avelumab Induces Sustained Tumor Responses in Some Patients with Rare Skin CancerIn a phase II clinical trial, some patients with metastatic Merkel cell carcinoma whose cancer has progressed despite treatment with chemotherapy had durable tumor responses to the immunotherapy drug avelumab.
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Olanzapine Helps Prevent Nausea and Vomiting Caused by ChemotherapyA drug currently used to treat several psychiatric conditions can help prevent nausea and vomiting in patients receiving chemotherapy, a large clinical trial showed.
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Extended Adjuvant Therapy Beneficial for Some Women with Breast CancerResults from a recent clinical trial showed that extending adjuvant therapy with an aromatase inhibitor to 10 years after initial treatment can have important benefits for postmenopausal women with early-stage hormone receptor–positive breast cancer.
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Early-Stage Cancer Trials Support Promise of Precision Medicine, ImmunotherapyEncouraging findings from several early-stage clinical trials featured at the 2016 American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting support the promise of precision medicine and immunotherapy.
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Trials Produce Practice-Changing Results for Brain CancerResults from two clinical trials show that treating patients with the chemotherapy drug temozolomide in addition to radiation therapy increased overall and progression-free survival.
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After Rising for Decades, Thyroid Cancer Incidence StabilizesAfter rising steadily since the 1990s, the incidence of thyroid cancer in the United States may be leveling off, according to an analysis of data from NCI’s SEER program.
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Pembrolizumab Shows Promise in Patients with Rare Form of Skin CancerIn a small clinical trial, more than half of the patients with an aggressive form of skin cancer called Merkel cell carcinoma responded to the immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab.
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Sunitinib and Sorafenib Ineffective as Adjuvant Therapies for Kidney CancerResults from a recent clinical trial show that post-surgical therapy with two anti-angiogenesis drugs does not improve progression-free survival for patients with kidney cancer and may cause serious side effects.
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Drug Combination Shrinks Duodenal Polyps in People with Familial Adenomatous PolyposisIn a small clinical trial of people with an inherited condition that greatly increases gastrointestinal cancer risk, a two-drug combination shrank precancerous lesions in the duodenum.
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Video Intervention Helps Prepare Patients to Participate in Cancer Clinical TrialsPatients who took part in a tailored, video-based educational program had a better understanding of and fewer concerns about participating in clinical trials than patients who received text-based educational.
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Two Drugs Show Efficacy against Common Form of LeukemiaReports from early-stage trials of two new oral drugs provide hope for patients with high-risk chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
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Oncolytic Virus Therapy Shows Benefit in Patients with MelanomaIn a large clinical trial, the oncolytic virus therapy T-VEC improved the durable response rate and median survival in patients with advanced melanoma.
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Study Finds Storytelling Helps Overcome Cervical Cancer Screening DisparitiesUsing a storytelling approach to educate women about cervical cancer screening eliminated disparities in attitudes toward screening and behavior, according to a new study.
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Adjuvant Chemotherapy Modestly Improves Survival in Some Men with Prostate CancerGiving some men with prostate cancer chemotherapy after standard treatment with radiation and hormone therapy modestly improves how long they live, according to results from a new NCI-funded clinical trial.
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The Playing Field for Cancer Checkpoint Inhibitors Is ExpandingThe list of cancers that may be susceptible to checkpoint inhibitors is quickly expanding, according to findings from clinical trials presented at the ASCO annual meeting.
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Whole Brain Radiation for Some Patients with Brain Metastases Worsens Cognitive DeclineIn some patients with cancer that has spread to the brain, whole brain radiation following radiosurgery causes more severe cognitive decline and does not improve survival compared with radiosurgery alone, a new study has found.
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Trial Yields Positive Data on Pembrolizumab for Lung Cancer, Potential Response BiomarkerFindings from an early phase clinical trial may point to a biomarker that identifies patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer most likely to respond to the immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab (Keytruda®).
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HPV Vaccine Effective Against Infection at Multiple Sites, Provides Partial Protection in Women with Previous InfectionsA new study from NCI researchers finds that the HPV vaccine protects young women from infection with high-risk HPV types at the three primary anatomic sites where persistent HPV infections can cause cancer. The multi-site protection also was observed at lower levels in previously HPV-exposed women.
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Immune-Based Treatment Shows Promise against Metastatic Cervical CancerIn an early phase NCI clinical trial, two patients with metastatic cervical cancer had a complete disappearance of their tumors after receiving treatment with a form of immunotherapy called adoptive cell transfer.
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Treatment Helps Preserve Fertility for Some Women with Breast CancerIn a large clinical trial, giving a hormone-suppressing drug helped some younger women with breast cancer get pregnant after completing cancer treatment.