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Joining forces against cancer
September 17, 2008In cancer therapy, the best results are often achieved by combining treatments such as chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgery. This multidisciplinary approach is the focus of special symposia at the meetings of the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) and the European Society for Therapeutic Radiology (ESTRO) taking place in Sweden this month.
"We are at a crucial moment in our fight against cancer," said ESMO President Prof. Jose Baselga. "We have never before made so much progress in our fight to eradicate cancer as a cause of death, and multidisciplinary treatment is a key factor in this success."
New data presented at the 33rd ESMO Congress, 12-16 September 2008, Stockholm, Sweden also highlight the benefits of combined treatments:
Phase II trial of pazopanib before surgery in early lung cancer
Pazopanib, a new oral angiogenesis inhibitor, has demonstrated interesting activity in difficult to treat non-small-cell lung cancer, US researchers report. In a phase II trial, 30 out of 35 patients treated with preoperative pazopanib for a minimum of two weeks saw their tumor size shrink by up to 85%.
"This is a positive result that will be explored further," said Prof. Nasser Altorki from Weil Medical College of Cornell University in New York. "To my knowledge, no other results on the effect of angiogenesis inhibitors in early stage operable lung cancer have been published. The results presented here with pazopanib indicate a highly active drug in this setting and further development in lung cancer is underway to fully understand the value of this drug in this disease."
Chemotherapy, radiotherapy and cetuximab in head and neck cancer
Treating locally advanced head and neck cancers with an alternating regimen of chemotherapy and radiotherapy, plus cetuximab, has shown promise in a phase II trial, Italian researchers report.
Their trial in 45 patients combined chemotherapy with fluorouracil and carboplatin given on weeks 1, 4 and 7 of treatment, with radiotherapy administered daily on weeks 2-3, 5-6 and 8-10. Cetuximab was also added weekly. "Both complete response rate and long-term results compare favorably with the best reported in the literature," Dr. Marco Merlano from the S. Croce General Hospital in Cuneo reports. 30 patients experienced a skin toxicity that the authors attribute to an interaction between the treatments, and 2 patients died from toxicities, they report.
Zoledronic acid added to adjuvant endocrine therapy prevents breast cancer recurrences
One-third of breast cancer recurrences in pre-menopausal women can be prevented by adding zoldronic acid to treatment with endocrine therapy combined with anastrazole or tamoxifen.
These results, reported for the first time recently, show that "we can positively impact the fate of our cancer patients by influencing the microenvironment of micro-metastases by relatively simple means," says lead author Prof. Michael Gnant from the Medical University of Vienna.
The study results are included in the ESMO "Oncology Highlights" session in Stockholm. The findings will be expanded with new data from a multivariate analysis of the variables affecting disease-free and recurrence-free survival, Professor Gnant said.
European Society for Medical Oncology
Phase II trial of pazopanib before surgery in early lung cancer
Pazopanib, a new oral angiogenesis inhibitor, has demonstrated interesting activity in difficult to treat non-small-cell lung cancer, US researchers report. In a phase II trial, 30 out of 35 patients treated with preoperative pazopanib for a minimum of two weeks saw their tumor size shrink by up to 85%.
"This is a positive result that will be explored further," said Prof. Nasser Altorki from Weil Medical College of Cornell University in New York. "To my knowledge, no other results on the effect of angiogenesis inhibitors in early stage operable lung cancer have been published. The results presented here with pazopanib indicate a highly active drug in this setting and further development in lung cancer is underway to fully understand the value of this drug in this disease."
Chemotherapy, radiotherapy and cetuximab in head and neck cancer
Treating locally advanced head and neck cancers with an alternating regimen of chemotherapy and radiotherapy, plus cetuximab, has shown promise in a phase II trial, Italian researchers report.
Their trial in 45 patients combined chemotherapy with fluorouracil and carboplatin given on weeks 1, 4 and 7 of treatment, with radiotherapy administered daily on weeks 2-3, 5-6 and 8-10. Cetuximab was also added weekly. "Both complete response rate and long-term results compare favorably with the best reported in the literature," Dr. Marco Merlano from the S. Croce General Hospital in Cuneo reports. 30 patients experienced a skin toxicity that the authors attribute to an interaction between the treatments, and 2 patients died from toxicities, they report.
Zoledronic acid added to adjuvant endocrine therapy prevents breast cancer recurrences
One-third of breast cancer recurrences in pre-menopausal women can be prevented by adding zoldronic acid to treatment with endocrine therapy combined with anastrazole or tamoxifen.
These results, reported for the first time recently, show that "we can positively impact the fate of our cancer patients by influencing the microenvironment of micro-metastases by relatively simple means," says lead author Prof. Michael Gnant from the Medical University of Vienna.
The study results are included in the ESMO "Oncology Highlights" session in Stockholm. The findings will be expanded with new data from a multivariate analysis of the variables affecting disease-free and recurrence-free survival, Professor Gnant said.
European Society for Medical Oncology
First case of successful ovarian tissue transplantation between two, nonidentical sisters
A woman, whose ovaries had failed due to damage caused by chemotherapy and radiotherapy, has received a successful ovarian transplant from her genetically non-identical sister.
Hopes raised for cancer survivors who wish to be fathers
A study at the University of Edinburgh into the fertility of men who have survived chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatment for childhood cancer and leukaemia shows that despite generally low sperm counts , the DNA carried by their sperm appears to be undamaged, posing no increased risk of cancer or congenital defects to their children. And new techniques in assisted reproduction can be safely offered to help these men become fathers. In an article published recently in The Lancet, the research team confirmed that radiation and chemotherapy treatment for cancer may lead to infertility. They studied a group of 33 male survivors of childhood cancer, ranging in age from 16 to 35, who had been tr
Combined Chemotherapy and Radiotherapy for Cervical Cancer Could Increase Survival (p 781)
A systematic review of randomised trials in the past two decades published in this week’s issue of THE LANCET concludes that women given concurrent chemotherapy and radiotherapy for cervical cancer could have an increased survival-rate of 12% compared with patients treated with radiotherapy alone. Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer affecting women, and is the main cause of cancer mortality in less-developed countries. Around 80% of women are treated with radiotherapy alone; however, the chemotherapeutic agent cisplatin is effective for treating metastatic cervical cancer, and is thought to enhance the effects of radiotherapy. John Green and colleagues from Liverpool Unive
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