Discussion, Learning Points and Take Home Messages Should all metastatic NSCLC tumors undergo genotyping? Ramaswamy Govindan took the “Yes” side of this debate and focused on a number of important clinical trials that examined the value of EGFR inhibitors in advanced NSCLC patients who were either very likely to be EGFR mutation-positive or who were… more

 Scope Cachexia is common in patients with advanced cancer and has a profound impact on their quality of life, symptom burden, and sense of dignity. Weight loss is associated with more chemotherapy-related side effects, fewer completed cycles of chemotherapy and decreased survival. Although cachexia is still under-recognized by physicians, this is likely to change with… more

 David Steensma recently served as one of the Chairs of our Great Debates & Updates in Hematologic Malignancies meeting in New York City. He participated during the meeting in one of the debates regarding the timing of mutational analysis in CML. I feel that some of the information from his CML slide set is definitely… more

 Is aspirin as good as FOLFOX4 in the adjuvant therapy of colon cancer? A recent article in the British Journal of Cancer (BJC 106:1564) reports that taking two aspirin daily after being diagnosed with colon cancer can reduce the risk of dying from colon cancer by 30%. At ASCO 2009, the MOSAIC investigators reported that… more

 FDA approves pazopanib for Soft Tissue Sarcomas On April 26th the FDA approved Votrient (pazopanib) for advanced soft tissue sarcomas previously exposed to systemic chemotherapy. This approval was based on the results of the Phase III, randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled trial known as PALETTE. 369 patients were randomized in a 2:1 fashion to pazopanib or… more

 RET fusion genes identified as potential oncogenic driver in lung adenocarcinomas Two reports in the March issue of Nature Medicine report the discovery of a fusion gene in lung adenocarcinomas that is exclusive of other known oncogenic drivers in NSCLC, including EGFR, KRAS, BRAF, EML4-ALK and HER2. Investigators from the Dana Farber Cancer Institute and… more

This year’s NOCR Annual Meeting was once more held at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. The meeting featured “Mobile Slide Viewing” where attendees were able to bring the presenter’s slides up on their own laptops or iPADs at their places during the meeting. This made viewing the slides much easier than straining to read the… more

The Gastrointestinal Cancer Symposium 2012 in San Francisco, from the perspective of a medical oncologist called “ASCO GI” revealed some interesting results of clinical trials in gastrointestinal malignancies to the public, some of which might change standards of care in the near future. Colorectal Cancer After many years of drought in the development of novel… more

Regorafenib in advanced CRC Axel Grothey from the Mayo Clinic-Rochester reported for a group of international investigators on the results of the multicenter phase III CORRECT trial. Heavily pre-treated metastatic colorectal cancer patients with relapsed/refractory disease were randomized 2:1 to regorafenib, a multikinase inhibitor, plus Best Supportive Care or Placebo plus BSC. The primary endpoint… more

The 2012 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium which is jointly sponsored by ASCO, ASTRO and the SUO was held in San Francisco in early February. The meeting is typically divided into three days covering prostate cancer on day 1 urothelial and germ cell neoplasm on day two with renal cancer covered on the final day. Prostate Cancer… more