Risk Strategy Requirement Change For Low Platelet Counts Drugs, Nplate And Promacta - FDA
12/08/2011
The FDA approved changes to the Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies (REMS) for both Nplate (romiplostim) and Promacta (eltrombopag). According to an FDA-initiated review of the current information, Nplate and Promacta still pose certain safety risks, but certain restrictive requirements of the REMS programs are no longer required to ensure that the drugs' benefits outweigh their risks...
Brachytherapy Doubles Mastectomy Risk And Complications
12/08/2011
A breast cancer patient who undergoes brachytherapy has double the chance of losing her breasts compared to one who is treated with whole-breast irradiation, researchers from the MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, explained at SABCS (34th Annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium). Brachytherapy is radiation treatment given by placing radioactive material directly in (or near) the target...
Diabetes And Obesity Increase Breast Cancer Risk
12/08/2011
A report at The San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, held Dec. 6-10, 2011, looked at cancer risks associated with having Diabetes or being Obese. The Swedish study has shown that Obesity or Diabetes after the age of 60 significantly increase the possibility of developing breast cancer...
The mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitor everolimus given with the aromatase inhibitor exemestane markedly boosts progression-free survival (PFS) in post-menopausal women with advanced breast cancer compared with hormonal therapy alone, according to updated results of the phase III Breast Cancer Trials of Oral Everolimus (BOLERO)-2 study reported at the 34th Annual S...
Steps Women Can Take To Lower Breast Cancer Risk, Report
12/08/2011
A new Institute of Medicine (IOM) report released on Wednesday concludes there are some evidence-based steps women can take to reduce their risk of developing breast cancer associated with environmental factors...
Prostate Cancer - Androgen Deprivation Therapy Does Not Raise Cardiovascular Death Risk
12/08/2011
A study published in the December issue of JAMA shows that even though earlier investigations suggested that androgen deprivation therapy designed to inhibit the production of male sex hormones for the treatment of prostate cancer may increase mortality risk from cardiovascular causes, researchers of a meta-analysis of previous randomized trials did not find any links to men wi...
Bowel Cancer Screening Working Up To A Point, Results Of First Million Tests In England
12/08/2011
The NHS bowel cancer screening programme in England is on track to cut bowel cancer deaths by 16%, according to an analysis of the first 1.08 million faecal occult blood tests, but there are concerns that the current method is not picking up diseases as well on the right side of the body as on the left. A paper on the analysis appeared online in the journal Gut on 7 December...
Researchers Link 'Epigenetic' Changes To Inflammation-Induced Colon Cancer
12/08/2011
Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center scientists report that sharp rises in levels of reactive oxygen molecules, and the inflammation that results, trigger biochemical changes that silence genes in a pattern often seen in cancer cells. The researchers confirmed this gene-silencing effect in mice that develop inflammation-induced colon cancer. The study, reported Nov...
Oral Bisphosphonate Did Not Improve Prognosis For Patients With Breast Cancer
12/08/2011
Results from a German study demonstrated no improvement in disease-free survival among patients with breast cancer who were treated with dose-dense chemotherapy and the bisphosphonate ibandronate. Volker Möbus, Ph.D...
Obesity Linked To Worse Outcomes In Early Breast Cancer Treatment
12/08/2011
Obesity is associated with worse outcomes overall in early-stage breast cancer, researchers reported at the 2011 CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, held Dec. 6-10, 2011. Obesity was linked to shorter time to recurrence (TTR), disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS)...