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The microbiome is emerging as a powerful ally to cancer doctors to harness in tandem with curative therapies, especially with allogeneic stem cell transplantation.

Bi-specific T-cell engager promise in B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Audio Journal of Oncology September 9, 2022 By Peter M Goodwin PARIS, France—Particulate air pollution was identified as a key step in malignant transformation from benign DNA to non-small cell lung c

How Babies Use Object Permanence To Get What They Want 2022: A report from the journal: Pediatric Physical Therapy Regina Harbourne PhD, PT, PCS, FAPTA, Associate Professor in the Department of Physic

UK & NETHERLANDS—Following the the AJO Podcast interview with Professor Harry de Koning MD PhD, from the Erasmus University in Rotterdam, who discussed his research published in the New England Jo

Second Study Confirms Lung Cancer CT Screening Cuts Deaths NETHERLANDS—Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam—Research published in the New England Journal of Medicine has confirmed the viabilit

Audio Journal of Oncology SAN DIEGO—The first-line treatment of choice for older patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) should now be single agent ibrutinib according to conclu

Microbiome Diversity Key To Survival After Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation The Audio Journal of Oncology Podcast SAN DIEGO—Overall survival after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant

January 2020 Pediatric Physical Therapy journal highlights the importance of non-billable tasks that are essential to achieving good outcomes. The authors describe how both direct and indirect patient

The “Beat AML” study assesses an algorithm screening for genomic features in order to choose appropriate targeted therapies for individual patients with their specific form of AML

SAN DIEGO—Patients 70 years old and younger with previously untreated chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) lived longer and had progression of their disease delayed when treated with ibrutinib (an irrev

MUNICH—A “salutary lesson” was reported by researchers investigating therapy for oropharyngeal cancer at the 2018 annual congress of the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO). It ca

MUNICH—A leading European oncologist acknowledged the impressive life-extending potential of new drug combinations for metastatic renal cell carcinoma discussed at the 2018 annual congress of the Euro

MUNICH— A doubling of progression free survival (PFS) and objective response rate (ORR) was observed in patients who had their previously untreated advanced renal cell cancer (RCC) treated with a comb

MUNICH— Anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) inhibitors are as effective in “real world” clinical use for treating patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who test positive for ALK ge

MUNICH—The role of poly ADP ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitors for treating newly diagnosed advanced ovarian cancer was under review at the 2018 annual congress of the European Society for Medical On

BRCA1/2 Ovarian Cancer—Three Years Disease Free with First-Line Olaparib MUNICH—An “unprecedented improvement” in progression free survival (PFS) was observed in the randomized controlled

MUNICH— Immunotherapy with the anti programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) checkpoint inhibitor atezolizumab in combination with nab-paclitaxel chemotherapy prolonged progression-free survival (PFS) among

MUNICH—A combination of the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) inhibitor alpelisib plus fulvestrant significantly extended progression free survival (PFS) compared to placebo plus fulvestr

MUNICH—Patients with hormone receptor-positive (HR+) human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative (HER2−) advanced breast cancer who were treated with a combination of the cyclin dependent kina

MUNICH—More than four years median overall survival was reported in patients treated with an inhibitor of anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) for their ALK gene rearranged non-small cell lung cancer (NSC

A negative finding with pembrolizumab points to caution in molecular cancer targeting

BARCELONA—Oral cabozantinib “significantly improved” overall survival (OS) and progression free survival (PFS) compared to placebo in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC) w

BARCELONA—A chemotherapy combination consisting of trifluridine with tipiracil showed a “clinically meaningful and statistically significant” improvement in overall survival (OS) and progr

CHICAGO—A 25 per cent risk reduction for esophageal cancer was found to be associated with prophylactic therapy consisting of a proton pump inhibitor (PPI) and aspirin in the phase three randomized AS

CHICAGO—Patients with resectable and “borderline resectable” pancreatic cancers treated with chemoradiation before surgery (followed by adjuvant chemotherapy) had significantly improved ou

CHICAGO—Patients with newly-diagnosed hormone-sensitive metastatic prostate cancer (mPC) who had prostate radiotherapy (RT) before their androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) lived longer than those trea

CHICAGO—Clinically targetable mutations were identified and patient subgroups pinpointed by whole genome sampling (WGS) of castration-resistant metastatic prostate cancer (mPC) in a study reportedatth

CHICAGO—A gene test that predicts for relapse in women with estrogen receptor positive early breast cancer can identify patients with low-risk disease who could safely avoid extending their endocrine

CHICAGO—Men who had breast-conserving therapy (BCT) including radiation for their early breast cancer lived longer than those who had total or partial mastectomy—with or without radiation—in findings

CHICAGO—A “cluster randomized controlled trial” of treatment for patients with advanced cancers found that the use of standardized geriatric assessments significantly increased the number

CHICAGO—Women and men were treated differently for the same tumor stages of head and neck cancer (HNC) and had different outcomes in a study with patients surveyed over a fifteen-year period in Santa

CHICAGO, IL—Patients whose non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLC) expressed more than one per cent of the programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1) tumor proportion score (TPS) lived longer when treated with the

CHICAGO—Prophylactic contralateral (CLT) breast radiotherapy was associated with significantly fewer and delayed cases of breast cancer in women having standard therapy for their ipsilateral BRCA muta

BARCELONA—Handgrip strength (HGS) was found to be an independent quantitative marker for overall survival among patients with early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) being treated with stereota

BARCELONA—Accelerated partial breast irradiation (ABPI) brachytherapy completed in a single week gave at least as good efficacy and safety as other radiotherapy protocols after breast-conserving thera

BARCELONA—Image-guided adaptive brachytherapy (IGABT) for patients with cervical cancer did not increase risk for ureteral stricture (a rare but feared complication of pelvic radiotherapy) in European

BARCELONA—It is essential to conduct a comprehensive geriatric assessment of patients over 74 with lung cancer before deciding to escalate treatment dose by switching to concurrent chemo-radiotherapy

BARCELONA—The accuracy of radiation targeting using image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT) was significantly associated with overall survival in a study of a large cohort of patients treated with IGRT for t

BARCELONA—Women who develop breast symptoms—especially lumps—between regular mammography screening examinations are up to four times more likely to have a diagnosis of breast cancer soon after than wo

BARCELONA—More pre-menopausal women who have estrogen receptor (ER) positive advanced breast cancer could be spared chemotherapy—according to latest findings from the MONALEESA-7 double-blind randomiz

BARCELONA—A multicenter nationwide Italian study of patients with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) treated with breast conservative surgery (BCS) and whole breast radiotherapy (RT) has updated risk cri

BARCELONA—Not only was breast conserving therapy safer than mastectomy for most low-risk patients in the large randomized EORTC 10041/BIG 03-04 MINDACT trial reported at the 2018 European Breast Cance

OMAHA, NEBRASKA—Children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy achieved improved functioning of the prefrontal cortex regions of their brains in a study using intense exercise sessions—designed as games—in w

BARCELONA—Healthy women with BRCA1 mutations who opted for bilateral prophylactic mastectomy had their lives prolonged in comparison with similar women who did not. But in healthy women with the BRCA2

BARCELONA—Patients treated for BRCA-associated breast cancers could be given more accurate estimates of the risk for developing second primaries of the contralateral breast by combining polygenic risk

ATLANTA—Six months follow up of the Select-D randomized open label multicenter pilot study with 406 patients has confirmed that therapy with the direct oral anticoagulant (DOAC) rivaroxaban was a safe

ATLANTA— In patients with a variety of cancers oral therapy with edoxaban—a direct oral anticoagulant (DOAC)—was just as effective and safe in terms of the risks of recurrent venous thromboembolism (V

ATLANTA—Adding anti-BCL-2 therapy with the small-molecule drug venetoclax (VEN) to standard low-dose cytarabine (LDAC) chemotherapy tripled response rates over historical comparators and extended surv

ATLANTA—Subcutaneous administration of the anti-CD 38 monoclonal antibody daratumumab could help more patients get this emerging therapy more easily for their advanced or recently-diagnosed multiple m

SOURCE: Pediatric Physical Therapy journal ARTICLE “Trends in Attitudes and Practice Patterns of Physical Therapists in Addressing Childhood Obesity in Schools”[url=http://journals.lww.com

Uptake of the Congenital Muscular Torticollis Guidelines Survey findings about the effectiveness of a recently-introduced clinical practice guideline for congenital muscular torticollis therapy are re

NEW YORK— A case series of two children with benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) is reported in Pediatric Physical Therapy journal by Jennifer L. Fay, PT, DPT, NCS, Neurologic Clinical Special

MILAN, Italy—Genomic profiling could help reduce the risk of over-treatment in primary prostate cancer (PC) by identifying patients and healthy individuals whose genes put them at greatest risk of dev

MILAN, Italy—The first choice of therapy for patients with metastatic kidney cancer who have failed VEGF therapy has changed according to experts at the 2016 European Multidisciplinary Meeting

MILAN, Italy—Patients with node-positive prostate cancer being treated with prostatectomy could derive benefit from early multimodality therapy combining androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) with radiot

ARTICLE MILAN, Italy—Genomic testing combined with clinical assessment could be the best way to identify patients with prostate cancer who can benefit from early radiotherapy after prostatectomy, acco

April 15, 2017 Active Surveillance for Renal Cell Cancer MILAN, Italy—Criteria for withholding aggressive therapies early in the course of renal cell cancer were updated at the 2016 European Mu

Audio Journal of Oncology AMSTERDAM—Women diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) of the breast were found to live longer than women in the general population according to a study from the Neth

Hans Kristensen, Director of the Nuclear Information Project, Federation of American Scientists, Washington DC and co-author of “The Growing Threat of Nuclear War and the Role of the Health Comm

Audio Journal of Oncology, January 2, 2017 COPENHAGEN—Patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLC) expressing the programmed cell-death ligand 1 (PD-L1) protein responded better to ini

COPENHAGEN—Longer progression free survival (PFS) was achieved in patients with ALK-rearranged non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) previously treated with crizotinib randomised to treatment with the se

The Audio Journal of Oncology Reporting from the 2016 Congress of the European Society of Medical Oncology COPENHAGEN—The anti-PD-L1 (programmed cell death ligand-1) immunotherapy agent atezolizumab e

COPENAGEN—Adding the PD-1 (programmed cell death protein 1) antibody pembrolizumab to standard first-line chemotherapy with carboplatin and pemetrexed for previously-untreated patients with advanced n

COPENHAGEN—In a phase I study reported at the 2016 congress of the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) six out of 15 patients with resectable early non-small cell lung cancer had “major

Audio Journal of Oncology COPENHAGEN, Denmark—In a phase 1b study patients with previously untreated stage IV pancreatic cancer responded or derived “clinical benefit” from a regimen in wh

COPENHAGEN, Denmark—Marked prolongation of progression free survival (PFS) in all groups of patients with platinum-sensitive recurrent ovarian cancer was reported at the European Society for Medical O

DESCRIPTION COPENHAGEN, Denmark—The efficacy of endocrine therapy in breast cancer was improved—in the MONALEESA-2 study—by the addition of the cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) 4/6 inhibitor ribociclib t

COPENHAGEN, Denmark—Checkpoint inhibition prolonged life when used as adjuvant therapy among patients with fully resected stage III malignant melanoma in the EORTC 18071 randomized phase III compariso

Side effects from early treatment of low and intermediate risk prostate cancer need to be balanced agains the new finding that mortality is no different during the first ten years irrespective of the

Active monitoring seems to be the safest and most comfortable option for most men with localised prostate cancer according to findings of the big randomised ProtecT study from the UK. Surgery and rad

The superiority of radiotherapy for treating Stage 2A testicular seminoma has been confirmed by a new study. Radiation should now be recommended to avoid present uncertainties—under which chemot

Data showing that whole brain radiotherapy should not be used in patients whose non-small cell lung cancer has metastasized to the brain were reported at the European Respiratory Society 2016 congress

Atrial fibrillation is prevented by exercise and life-long endurance athletes do not face the same elevated risks of stroke and heart disease from the condition as sedentary patients. Leisure and eve

When targeting lung tumors there is a risk of exposing upper parts of the heart unnecessarily to toxic levels of radiation. This can potentially be avoided by more bespoke levels of radiation field c

Although breast conserving therapy has proved of equivalent efficacy to mastectomy in many patients with early breast cancer, mastectomy was associated with longer survival among those with HER2 posit

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands—Some patients with breast cancer could soon be treated with surgery and targeted drugs without the need for chemotherapy—according to findings reported at the 2016 European Brea

The Audio Journal of Oncology tracks down the half dozen leading stories breaking in Turin at ESTRO 2016—the annual meeting of the European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology. Nicolle Rekers MSc.,

BARCELONA—A new pencil beam scanning proton delivery technique—rescanning—could help limit the dose of radiation to surrounding tissues and organs by compensating for tumor motion in the chest caused

BARCELONA—A radiotherapy dose of more than 54 Gy improved survival in children with localized cerebral ependymoma in a large multicenter study from France that looked at the role of age, grade and dos

BARCELONA—For children with intracranial ependymoma and measurable residue after first- or second-line surgery, a hypofractionated radiotherapy boost was feasible and improved local control—in a study

BARCELONA—A sub-group analysis of a phase-III randomized study looking at women with early breast cancer found that patients aged 70 years or older who were treated with accelerated partial breast irr

BARCELONA—In patients with previously irradiated locally recurrent prostate cancer, salvage high-dose-rate brachytherapy (HDRB) was an effective and safe treatment option. The 3rd ESTRO Forum (April 2

BARCELONA—The finding from the phase-III ARCON trial presented at the 3rd ESTRO Forum that: Accelerated radiotherapy with carbogen and nicotinamide (ARCON) significantly improved outcomes for patients

BARCELONA—Accelerated radiotherapy with carbogen and nicotinamide (ARCON) significantly improved regional control while maintaining excellent speech and swallowing for a majority of patients with adva

BARCELONA—There was no improvement in biochemical progression free survival among patients who had their high-risk localized prostate cancers treated with elective pelvic nodal irradiation compared wi

BARCELONA – For patients with locally advanced cervical cancer, combining intracavitary and interstitial (IC/IS) brachytherapy techniques should be the benchmark treatment. That’s accordin

BARCELONA – The 3rd European Society for Radiotherapy & Oncology Forum — ESTRO — was held this year in Barcelona featuring all aspects of the radiation oncology field. Oncology Times report

BARCELONA—Men with intermediate- or high-risk prostate cancer who were treated with low dose rate prostate brachytherapy (LDR-PB) were twice as often cancer-free at five years compared to those given

BARCELONA – Brachytherapy with or without external beam radiation improved survival in patients with early-stage, inoperable endometrial cancer. That’s according to findings of a populatio

GENEVA— The IGNITE study from Chinese researchers has demonstrated how plasma—and not just tissue samples—could be used to distinguish patients with non-small cell lung cancer who could benefit from E

GENEVA—An alternative way of testing for mutated EGFR in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer was validated in research presented at the European Lung Cancer Conference by Martin Reck MD

GENEVA— Almost one in four patients with advanced lung cancer in Europe, Asia and the US are not receiving EGFR test results before being started on treatment—according to a report presented at the Eu

GENEVA—Findings from the retrospective EURAF study suggest that many patients with BRAF-mutant lung cancers could benefit from treatment with BRAF inhibitors, although specific studies need to be done

GENEVA—Two thirds of patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer that had failed first line anti-EGFR therapy responded to a new drug: AZD9291 according to findings discussed at the European Lun

GENEVA—Reviews of CD8-positive T-cell infiltration as an independent prognostic biomarker in resected non-small cell lung cancer, and the potential of checkpoint inhibitor therapy for mesothelioma aft

GENEVA—First or second-line chemotherapy with cisplatin-pemetrexed or gemcitabine does not preclude the use of checkpoint inhibitor therapy for mesothelioma later on—according to research presented at

GENEVA—The use of combinations including checkpoint inhibition with other immunotherapies, other targeted therapies and chemotherapy was discussed at the European Lung Cancer Conference by Martin Reck

GENEVA—The recent success of treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors suggests that immunotherapy could presently move center stage to play a leading role in fighting non-small cell lung cancer—the

GENEVA—Evidence presented at the 2015 European Lung Cancer conference from the large SQUIRE multicenter open label study points to the fact that older patients with squamous non small cell lung cancer

GENEVA—Toxicities from targeted agents used in lung cancer differ from those encountered with other drugs but can be managed successfully if recognized early and treated. At the European Lung Cancer C

GENEVA—The potential for using vaccines as important weapons against non small cell lung cancer has not yet been realized according to Johan Vansteenkiste MD PhD, an oncologist and professor of medici

VIENNA—Three key targetable pathways for breast cancer treatment were assessed at the St Gallen Breast Cancer Conference by Clifford Hudis, MD, Chief of the Breast Medicine Service at Memorial Sloan-K

VIENNA—Obesity and insulin resistance were named as important targets for primary prevention of breast cancer by Pamela J. Goodwin, MD, MSc, FRCPC, Professor of Medicine and Director of the Marvelle K

VIENNA—The bone microenvironment was regarded as a worthy target for breast cancer treatment in comments at the St Gallen Breast Cancer Conference from Michael Gnant MD, a Professor and Director of th

VIENNA—At the St Gallen Breast Cancer Conference BCL-2 was named as a therapeutic target for patients with hormone-receptor positive breast cancer by Geoffrey J Lindeman BSc(Med) PhD, from the Univers

VIENNA—Because harnessing the immune system is now proven as a way of managing breast cancer, clinicians should consider the role of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes, according to Giuseppe Curigliano MD

VIENNA—Understanding the emerging genomic landscape of breast cancer needed international research including large molecular screening projects—according to Peter Campbell MD PhD, head of Cancer Genet

VIENNA—With actionable genomic alterations already being targeted by some existing approved drugs in patients with breast cancer genomic analysis was being hailed at the St Gallen Breast Cancer Confer

VIENNA—For women with premenopausal breast cancer the benefits of using the most adjuvant endocrine treatment needs to be weighed against additional side effects—according to Marco Colleoni MD from th

VIENNA—Despite the proliferation of genetic tests for breast cancer recurrence risk these cannot yet reliably be used to predict late recurrences. So said Daniel Hayes MD, Clinical Director of the Bre

VIENNA—Estrogen receptor negative breast cancer might be prevented by strategies under investigation including HER2-targeting, vaccination and treatment with metformin or retinoids. Powel Brown MD, Ch

VIENNA—Latest research on breast cancer prevention was reported at the 20125 St Gallen breast cancer conference in a session concluded by Jack Cuzick, PhD, Director of the Wolfson Institute of Prevent

ORLANDO—Adjuvant chemotherapy was found to extend life in patients with locally advanced bladder cancer in research reported to the 2015 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium. Matt Galsky MD from the Tisch

SAN FRANCISCO—The ability of cancer cells to evolve clonally into molecularly distinct strands needs to be considered when selecting targeted therapies to treat renal cancer, according to Dr Tom Powle

SAN FRANCISCO—New research has shown the alpha-emitting drug radium 233 to be a “benign” therapy with no major toxicities — while effectively targeting bone metastatic disease and increasi

SAN FRANCISCO— The orally administered androgen receptor blocker enzalutamide significantly extended both overall survival and radiographically determined progression-free survival in men whose metast

SAN FRANCISCO— A recently discovered molecular prognostic biomarker for clear-cell renal cell cancer has been validated and shown to indicate a four-fold increase in risk of adverse cancer-specific su

SAN FRANCISCO— Plasma and tumor biomarkers including FGF, C-KIT and VEG-F were found to yield prognostic information which could help guide therapies, according to research findings presented at the 2

SAN FRANCISCO—The length of time from nephrectomy up until the diagnosis of metastatis has been confirmed as prognostic for patients whose renal cell carcinoma was treated with targeted therapies — ju

SAN FRANCISCO— Gleason score at initial diagnosis was not predictive of response to abiraterone in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer in a pooled analysis of three trials of

SAN FRANCISCO— Four out of ten patients whose metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer had already been treated with abiraterone responded to further ‘new generation’ androgen depri

SAN FRANCISCO—A “guided missile” approach to treating metastatic, castration-resistant, taxane-refractory prostate cancer demonstrated success at the 2014 ASCO Genitourinary Cancers Sympos

SAN FRANCISCO—Orteronel — a non-steroidal selective inhibitor of 17,20-lyase — did not achieve a significant improvement in overall survival in 1099 patients randomised to treatment with this “a

NEW ORLEANS—A new oral tyrosine kinase inhibitor drug — idelalisib — has proved effective — and to have low toxicity — in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL). Richard Furman MD from Weil

The rare, fatal lympho-proliferative condition: Multicentric Castleman’s Disease — MCD — could soon be treatable following findings announced at the American Society of Hematology annual meeting

LONDON— Researchers have shown that endometrial cancer — and hopefully ovarian cancer too — could potentially be detected much earlier than at present — or even prevented altogether — by looking for &

NEW ORLEANS—High remission rates with extended survival are being achieved in patients who had failed all other therapies — including allogeneic stem cell transplantation — for their acute lymphoblast

AMSTERDAM— New hopes for smokers with lung cancer were raised at the 2013 European Cancer Congress here by research findings from France, Spain and the USA using a new form of immunotherapy to treat r

AMSTERDAM— Organized screening for prostate cancer using the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test does more harm than good, according to the findings of a French study reported here at the 2013 Europe

AMSTERDAM—Women with HER-2 positive metastatic breast cancer had significantly improved time to progression with fewer side effects after treatment with the antibody-drug conjugate T-DM1 compared to c

AMSTERDAM—Women with HER-2 positive metastatic breast cancer had significantly improved time to progression with fewer side effects after treatment with the antibody-drug conjugate T-DM1 compared to c

LONDON— Intraoperative radiotherapy given at the time of lumpectomy was found to be ‘non-inferior’ to the use of conventional post-operative whole breast external beam radiotherapy and had

AMSTERDAM—Screening men and women for colorectal cancer (CRC) with either fecal occult blood testing (FOBT) or endoscopy markedly lowered disease incidence and mortality in a study of screening patter

AMSTERDAM—Locoregional radiotherapy to the internal mammary and medial supraclavicular lymph nodes in women who had already been treated successfully for their breast cancer with standard regimens — i

AMSTERDAM—Long term survival — three to ten years — in nearly a quarter of patients with unresectable, metastatic or locally advanced melanoma treated with the cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen 4 (CTLA-4

IN THIS EDITION: Oral VEGF inhibitor, cediranib, extends life in refractory ovarian cancer Screening has halved colorectal cancer mortality in Europe Diabetes associated with increased risk of inciden

AMSTERDAM—A molecularly-directed approach to treatment decision-making with patients who have metastatic cancers of unknown primary site was being urged at the 2013 European Cancer Congress by researc

AMSTERDAM—The 2013 European Cancer Congress heard that new treatments could extend survival in patients with advanced and metastatic melanoma greatly beyond what has been the norm. Dr. Dirk Schadendor

AMSTERDAM—Postoperative radiotherapy to the internal mammary and supraclavicular lymph nodes in women whose breast cancer has been successfully treated and are at low risk of relapse could save lives

AMSTERDAM—People with diabetes have an increased risk of developing and dying from certain cancers, according to a meta-analysis with two million patients reported at the 2013 European Cancer Congress

AMSTERDAM—Whether triple anti-thrombotic therapy should be accepted as generally the optimal approach for treating patients at high risk of having a myocardial infarction was scrutinised in a debate a

AMSTERDAM — The SAVOR-TIMI 53 study in 16 000 patients has confirmed the efficacy of the DPP-4 inhibitor, saxagliptin, for controlling glycaemia in type II diabetes but has failed to show a benefit in

AMSTERDAM—Whether triple anti-thrombotic therapy should be accepted as generally the optimal approach for treating patients at high risk of having a myocardial infarction was scrutinised in a debate a

CHICAGO—Findings from an expanded phase I study in 107 patients with metastatic melanoma suggest that PD-1 inhibition with the novel agent nivolumab could bring extended remissions. Sarah Maxwell hear

CHICAGO— Overall survival improved by more than two-thirds in patients with metastatic melanoma randomised to have GM-CSF added to their ipilimumab therapy. A phase II study in 245 previously treated

PARIS—The fifth in an annual series of multi-sector Worldwide Innovative Networking (WIN) symposia — dedicated to the advancement of personalised medicine — was held here from July 10th to 12th to pro

CHICAGO—A new approach to dealing simultaneously with several of the identified molecular processes taking place in cancer has brought new prospects for extending life in patients with advanced non sm

CHICAGO—Adding cetuximab to first-line irinotecan chemotherapy for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer gave a median four months advantage in overall survival as compared with adding bevacizuma

CHICAGO—Patients with oropharyngeal cancer pose no risk of passing HPV infection to their spouses or partners — according findings presented at the 2013 meeting of the American Society of Clinical Onc

CHICAGO—The first drug to hold advanced uveal melanoma in check — doubling progression-free survival — was announced at the 2013 American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting in Chicago. Dr Richard Ca

LUGANO, SWITZERLAND—Sarah Maxwell and Peter Goodwin report from the 2013 European Multidisciplinary Conference on Thoracic Oncology

LONDON—New and comprehensive data showing that millions of cases of breast cancer could be avoided by treating women at high risk of the disease — but who are not yet ill — with the class of drugs kno

WASHINGTON DC—Doctors taking the unusual step of combining two experimental drugs to treat cancers in patients who have mutated BRCA — the gene conferring susceptibility to breast, ovarian and some ot

WASHINGTON DC—Laboratory evidence that giving patients intermittent rather than continuous treatment with cancer drugs could help them overcome drug resistance in cancers such as melanoma was presente

WASHINGTON DC—A new blood test has detected drug-resistant mutations reliably in patients with gastrointestinal stromal tumour (GIST) helping to guide therapy when first-line drugs had failed. This wa

WASHINGTON DC—Gene expression and molecular pathways in head and neck cancer have been identified with reference to The Cancer Genome Atlas in research presented at the American Association for Cancer

WASHINGTON DC—Patients with metastatic breast cancer who are HER-2 positive could potentially be treated with the anti-HER-2 conjugated drug, trastuzumab-emtansine (T-DM1), alone — without needing to

WASHINGTON DC—A new type of immunotherapy has helped patients with advanced ovarian cancer who had no other therapeutic options. In a study reported to the 2013 conference of the American Association

CAMBRIDGE, UK—A new blood test promises quicker assessment of treatment efficacy in patients with metastatic breast cancer. Dr Dana Tsui and colleagues from the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute,

CAMBRIDGE, UK—A new blood test promises quicker assessment of treatment efficacy in patients with metastatic breast cancer. Dr Dana Tsui and colleagues from the Cancer Research UK Institute at Cambrid

Walking a dog most days could cut down your risk of having a recurrence of breast cancer, according to research presented at the St Gallen conference on Primary Therapy of Early Breast Cancer in Switz

ST GALLEN, SWITZERLAND—Bisphosphonates have an important part to play in managing breast cancer according to research reported at the 2013 St Gallen conference on “Primary Therapy of Early Breas

ST GALLEN, SWITZERLAND—The controversy about the effectiveness of mammographic screening was aired at the 2013 conference on “Primary Therapy of Early Breast Cancer” by Dr Donald Berry of

ORLANDO, FLORIDA—Patients with low-risk prostate cancer are more likely to die with their disease than of it, according to Dr Ayal Aizer from the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, the Dana-Farber Ca

ORLANDO, FLORIDA—Men over 75 were safely and effectively treated for their metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer with the androgen receptor inhibitor enzalutamide in the Phase III AFFIRM stu

ORLANDO, FLORIDA—A decision to delay surgery or radiotherapy for early prostate cancer is in the best interests of most patients according to research presented to the 2013 Genitourinary Cancers Sympo

ORLANDO, FLORIDA—Patients receiving radiotherapy for high-risk node-negative prostate cancer benefit as much from 18 months of androgen blockade as from the usual 36 months — but have fewer side effec

ORLANDO, FLORIDA—Patients with low-risk prostate cancer are more likely to die with their disease than of it, according to Dr Ayal Aizer from the Brigham and Women’s Hospital,

ORLANDO, FLORIDA—Patients receiving radiotherapy for high-risk node-negative prostate cancer benefit as much from 18 months of androgen blockade as from the usual 36 months

Headlines: – Pr James Versalovic : Microbial ecology of the gastrointestinal tract – Pr Francisco Guarner : Gut microbiota and the immune system education – Pr Fernando Aspiroz : Gut

Other headlines: – CABG should remain the standard of care for patients with multivessel coronary artery disease – Determinants of weight gain from intensive glucose-lowering treatment &#8

Other headlines: – Raised incidence of HPV-associated cancers in the past 35 years in the United States. – Two new anticoagulants for the extended treatment of patients with unprovoked ven

Other headlines: – Deep Brain Stimulation proved effective on motor skills and quality of life in patients at early stages of Parkinson’s disease. – Folic acid supplementation during

Other headlines: – Combining transcranial direct current stimulation and medication reinforces both. – Lipoprotein A is risk factor for aortic stenosis. – TB vaccine candidate was po

Other headlines: – Women catch up with men on smoking death risks. – Weight loss with gastric-band surgery durable beyond 10 years. – 18 professions associated with adult onset asthm

Other headlines: – Patients with HIV ought to be treated with antiretroviral as soon as possible, whatever their CD4 cell count. – An early short course of antiretrovirals delays need for

– DENGUE FEVER: Vaccine gives some protection against three out of four virus serotypes. Other headlines – Breast cancer: “hidden HER2 positivity” detected by gene sequencing.

– HTA: Renal denervation lowers blood pressure independently of drugs Other headlines – CML:patients with T 315 I mutation respond to ponatinib – Eat, drink and be merry: tomorrow yo

LOS ANGELES—Half of young adults who had multiple, elevated, blood pressure results on recent outpatient visits to the doctor, went home without a hypertension diagnosis. Research presented at the 201

LOS ANGELES—Regardless of climate, there are more deaths from heart-related issues in winter-time than in the summer. Results from a 12-year US population based study with over 220,000 people were pre

LOS ANGELES—Looking older than your chronological age is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease — at least among white Caucasians — according to a study of over ten thousand Danish people from the g

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS—The UK TACT2 trial, looking at over 4 000 patients with early breast cancer, has confirmed that modern chemotherapy is very effective, and continues to contribute to very high cure

ATLANTA, GEORGIA—A “third generation” tyrosine kinase inhibitor — ponatinib — has succeeded in controlling chronic myeloid leukaemia and Philadelphia-positive acute lymphoblastic leukaemia

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS—Women with breast cancer under the age of 35 respond very well to neo-adjuvant chemotherapy as the first line of attack against their disease, according to research from the German

ATLANTA, GEORGIA—Arsenic could play a key role in perfecting gentle but curative regimens for acute promyelocytic leukaemia, according to Italian researchers reporting to the 2012 American Society of

ATLANTA, GEORGIA—The new tyrosine kinase ibrutinib has shown “profound activity” in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia—according to research presented at the American Society of H

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS—Patients with local or regional recurrences of breast cancer, should be treated with chemotherapy as well as surgery and

ATLANTA, GA—Solid confirmation of target hematocrit to minimise clotting risks in polycythemia vera has been presented at the American Society of Hematology annual meeting and simultaneously published

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS—Three weeks of radiotherapy rather than five — and lower overall doses of radiation — were just has as effective for treating breast cancer in the UK START trial conducted among 445

ATLANTA—Results from the first large study of a vaccine for dengue fever — in 4000 Thai children — show that it is safe to use and effective — raising immunity to three out of the four “serotype

Other headlines: – Hypofractioned radiotherapy safe and effective for early breast cancer. – Chromosomal microarray slowly making its way into prenatal diagnosis. – Dose-response rel

Other headlines: – Automated phone and email reminders increase prescription adherence. – Routine health checks do not benefit the general population. – New tyrosine kinase inhibitor

ATLANTA—Schistosomiasis — also known as bilharzia — could be eliminated from Africa and elsewhere by using two actions together: making simple improvements in sanitation and hygiene and treating infec

ATLANTA—Schistosomiasis — also known as bilharzia — could be eliminated from Africa and elsewhere by using two actions together: making simple improvements in water-supply sanitation and hygiene and

Other headlines: – Long-term benefits of pallidal neurostimulation in patients with severe idiopathic dystonia. – Long term survival benefits of endovascular repair similar to those of ope

ATLANTA—The RTS,S/AS01 candidate malaria vaccine — being tested in seven African countries — is safe, and gave protection to a third of all babies vaccinated between the ages of six and 12 weeks durin

ATLANTA—Efficacy of the RTS,S malaria vaccine for children — vaccinated between six and 12 weeks age — checked-in at around 30 per cent in preliminary findings from Africa released at the American Soc

LOS ANGELES—A more powerful back-up drug for patients intolerant to statins was announced at the American Heart Association 2012 Scientific Sessions. A monoclonal antibody called: AMG 145 against a pr

LOS ANGELES—A recombinant form of the human hormone relaxin — active in pregnancy to optimise the mother’s cardiovascular capacity — may help patients hospitalised for acute heart failure, accor

LOS ANGELES—Direct infusions of human HDL — to speedily boost HDL levels —could be an answer to preventing re-infarction in patients who’ve just had a heart attack and are at high risk of having

Other headlines: – Tapering, TNF-inhibitor drugs is possible in people with rheumatoid arthritis in remission. – TNF-inhibitors reduce the need for hospitalisation and surgery. – Pat

LOS ANGELES—Aspirin has a new role: in preventing recurrent thromboembolism among patients who are not candidates for anti-coagulation — according to conclusions from the ASPIRE study reported to the

LOS ANGELES—The “polypill” — a multi-drug pill — combining diuretic, ACE inhibitor, beta-blocker, statin and aspirin — brings even more benefit when it’s targeted at patients who are

LOS ANGELES—The optimal revascularisation strategy for patients with diabetes and multi-vessel coronary disease was confirmed to be coronary artery bypass grafting rather than PCI at the American Hear

Other headlines: – New monoclonal antibody reduces LDL-cholesterol in statin-intolerant patients. – Aspirin effective for extended treatment of venous thromboembolism. – Breast cance

BANGKOK—60 million lives could be saved — most of them in low- and middle-income countries — by taking effective measures to combat any future pandemic of influenza.

BANGKOK AND PHNOM PENH—Protecting the planet from infections such as influenza is the mission of a dedicated team of scientists working for the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine workin

PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA—Scientists from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine are working along the Thai-Cambodian border: the ‘epicentre’ of resistance to artemisinin combina

LONDON—Double-action preventive therapy for pregnant women could prevent the large numbers of stillbirths and neonatal deaths presently being caused by malaria and

LONDON—A man with no legs and only one arm and a boy crippled by polio have been instrumental in steering a Red Cross team’s work in Afghanistan. The ICRC’s head of Orthopaedics in Kabul,

LONDON—A case report in The Lancet has highlighted the threat of fake drugs for malaria — the subject of intensive research at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. Dr Harparkash Kaur

LONDON—The health impact of diet and physical activity may play a part in the marked ethnic differences in type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease in the UK according to research reported at the Lo

LONDON—People are now routinely using the internet to find out about health conditions and to share their own experiences with others with similar diagnoses. This is a radical change in how people exp

SINGAPORE—Two important universities are teaming-up to face the challenge of the most significant threats to global health today. The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and the Saw Swee

LONDON—A detailed economic analysis suggests that billions of dollars could be saved from health-care budgets around the world if people cycled an average of around three kilometres a day and doubled

RIO DE JANEIRO and LONDON—A call for action on global health has been made in an article published by The Lancet medical journal about the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development held in

LONDON—One in twenty deaths in English hospitals could be prevented according to research published in the British Medical Journal Quality and Safety. Dr Helen Hogan of the London School of Hygiene &#

LONDON—Family planning is a key priority for fulfilling global development goals, according to researchers writing in a special series of The Lancet medical journal coinciding with the London Summit o

CHICAGO—The outgoing president of ASCO, Dr Michael Link from Stanford University School of Medicine in California, answers questions from Peter Goodwin about the progress achieved in cancer clinical s

CHICAGO—Findings from a Phase III trial show that initial single-agent therapy with a new oral drug called afatinib prolongs progression- free survival in patients with advanced lung adenocarcinomas t

CHICAGO—At the Plenary Session of ASCO Maha Hussain MD, FACP of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor presented results from a long-term, multicenter Phase III international clinical trial comparing

STOCKHOLM—The first specialist in pediatric oncology ever to hold office as President of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, Dr Michael Link — Professor of Pediatrics at Stanford University Sch

The experience of pilgrims going to Mecca can help prepare London to host a healthy Olympic Games, according to Dr Ahmad Moolla the London medic and researcher who organised a special expert panel dis

Visitors and resident Londoners are at very low risk of getting ill during the 2012 Olympic Games. This is the conclusion of Dr Val Curtis Director of the Hygiene Centre at the London School of Hygien

LONDON—Top medical experts met at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine for an “expert panel discussion” on mass gatherings medicine — which assessed the state of knowledge

LONDON—Britain’s Health Protection Agency has been planning to make sure everybody enjoys good health in London during the Olympic Games. At a discussion forum held at the London School of Hygie