Post-Authorization Activity Table (PAAT) for Adcetris

This table describes post-authorization activity for Adcetris, a product which contains the medicinal ingredient brentuximab vedotin. Based on Health Canada's review, the benefit/risk profile of Adcetris is favourable for: The treatment of patients with Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) after failure of autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT) or after failure of at least two multi-agent chemotherapy regimens in patients who are not ASCT candidates; The treatment of patients with systemic anaplastic large cell lymphoma (sALCL) after failure of at least one multi-agent chemotherapy regimen. Read more here.

EMA recommends granting a marketing authorisation for trametinib and extending indications for sorafenib

The European Medicines Agency Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) has recommended granting a marketing authorisation for trametinib (Mekinist) for the treatment of adult patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma with a BRAF V600 mutation. The CHMP has also recommended adding a new indication to the use of the cancer medicine sorafenib (Nexavar) to treat patients with papillary/follicular/Hürthle cell thyroid carcinoma, refractory to radioactive iodine. Read more here.

Physician, scientist, and author: Siddhartha Mukherjee

In this segment of Medscape One-on-One, Eric J. Topol, MD, talks with Pulitzer Prize-winning author Siddhartha Mukherjee, MD, PhD, about his career as a writer, researcher, and practicing oncologist. Dr. Mukherjee is the author of The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer and is Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Department of Pathology and Cell Biology at Columbia University in New York.

You may watch the video or read the interview transcripts here.

"An intellectual history of cancer", characterized for his book on The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer - interested in reading it when you are not being a physician? Check out this book from your library at the TBCC!

ESMO/BIG curriculum in translational research in breast cancer

The European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) and Breast International Group (BIG) recognised a gap in the formal educational criteria for medical professionals involved in translational research activities in breast cancer. The goal for the trainees is to introduce them to advances and pitfalls in translational research and to facilitate the involvement in translational research. This document served as a basis for the development of the Pre-IMPAKT 2014 Training Course programme. Read more here.

Unemployment common after breast cancer treatment

Nearly one-third of breast cancer survivors who were working when they began treatment were unemployed four years later. Women who received chemotherapy were most affected, according to a new study from the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center. Researchers surveyed woman in Detroit and Los Angeles who had been diagnosed with early stage breast cancer. They narrowed their sample to the 746 women who reported working at the time they were diagnosed. Participants were surveyed about nine months after diagnosis, and then given a follow-up survey about four years later. Read more here.

Y chromosome loss linked to higher cancer risk in men

Researchers at Uppsala University in Sweden have uncovered a correlation between an increased risk of cancer among elderly men due to loss of the Y chromosome. While the loss of Y chromosome has long been considered part of the normal aging process, recent studies have shown that the "Y chromosome actually contains a large number of genes, whose jobs are not fully understood yet."

To read more about this study, click here.

Study mentioned: Forsberg L.A. et al. Mosaic loss of chromosome Y in peripheral blood is associated with shorter survival and higher risk of cancer. Nature Genetics, published online 28 Apr 2014.

Gold nanoparticles help target, quantify breast cancer gene segments in a living cell

Purdue University researchers have developed a way to detect and measure cancer levels in a living cell by using tiny gold particles with tails of synthetic DNA. A team led by Joseph Irudayaraj, professor of agricultural and biological engineering, used gold nanoparticles to target and bind to fragments of genetic material known as BRCA1 messenger RNA splice variants, which can indicate the presence and stage of breast cancer. Read more here.

A gene within a gene contributes to the aggressiveness of acute myeloid leukemia

A small gene that is embedded in a larger, well-known gene is the true leukemia-promoting force usually attributed to the larger host gene, according to a new study by researchers at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute. The larger host gene is called BAALC. The smaller embedded gene is called microRNA-3151. The study investigated the degree to which each of the genes contributes to the development of acute myeloid leukemia. Read more here.

Cancer stem cells linked to drug resistance

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have discovered a molecule, or biomarker, called CD61 on the surface of drug-resistant tumors that appears responsible for inducing tumor metastasis by enhancing the stem cell-like properties of cancer cells. The findings may point to new therapeutic opportunities for reversing drug resistance in a range of cancers, including those in the lung, pancreas and breast. Read more here.

Scientists identify source of most cases of invasive bladder cancer

A single type of cell in the lining of the bladder is responsible for most cases of invasive bladder cancer, according to researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine. Their study, conducted in mice, is the first to pinpoint the normal cell type that can give rise to invasive bladder cancers. Read more here.

EORTC and SIOG update expert opinion on management of elderly patients with NSCLC

The European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer - Cancer in the Elderly Task Force and Lung Cancer Group - along with the International Society for Geriatric Oncology have updated their 2010 recommendations on managing treatment for elderly patients with non-small cell lung cancer. The update includes recommendations for screening, surgery, adjuvant chemotherapy and radiotherapy, treatment of locally advanced and metastatic disease as well as new data on patient preferences and geriatric assessment. Read more here.

Biomarker enrichment strategies

A recent article considers which clinical trial designs and analysis strategies are appropriate for use in phase III, biomarker-driven, randomised clinical trials, on the basis of pre-existing evidence that the biomarker can successfully identify patients who will respond to the treatment. In the article, authors describe enrichment strategies based on the use of prognostic biomarkers to separate a population into subgroups with better and worse outcomes, regardless of treatment. Read more here.

FDA approves ramucirumab for gastric cancer or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved ramucirumab (Cyramza) to treat patients with advanced gastric cancer or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma. It is a fully human monoclonal antibody of the IgG1 class, directed against the vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR2). Ramucirumab is intended for patients with unresectable or metastatic disease after treatment with a fluoropyrimidine- or platinum-containing therapy. Read more here.

European Medicines Agency alerts EU healthcare professionals after vials of falsified anti-cancer medicines identified

The European Medicines Agency has issued alerts with the latest information related to the stolen vials of trastuzumab (Herceptin) and pemetrexed (Alimta) in Italy. The vials, some of which (in case of trastuzumab) were tampered with, were later re-introduced illegally into the supply chain in some countries. The situation goes beyond European Union (EU) and national current practices for handling quality or product defects; these are extraordinary circumstances driven by criminal activities that require special measures and strong collaboration from authorities across the EU. Read more here.

Aspirin halves colon cancer risk in people who carry specific gene: study

Aspirin can reduce the risk of colon cancer by half, but only in people who carry high levels of a specific type of gene, a study released Wednesday found. Researchers previously were aware that non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as aspirin could reduce colorectal cancer risks, but they did not understand why some saw a benefit and others did not, according to the study. Scientists studied tissues from people who developed colon cancer while on an aspirin regimen then set out to understand why people with a particular gene appeared to get a protective benefit from aspirin and others did not. Read more here.

Nurses' experience key to better patient care, study says

Patients may get the best care when treated in hospital units staffed by highly experienced nurses, a new study shows.

Researchers analyzed data from more than 900,000 patients admitted over four years to U.S. Veterans Administration hospitals and found that for each one-year increase in the average tenure of registered nurses in a hospital unit, patients spent 1.3 percent less time in the hospital.

The study appears in the current issue of American Economic Journal: Applied Economics:
Human Capital and Productivity in a Team Environment: Evidence from the Healthcare Sector

Cancer trial alert - A study of CH5424802/RO5424802 in patients with ALK-rearranged non-small cell lung cancer

This non-randomized, open-label, multicentre study will evaluate the safety and efficacy of CH5424802/RO5424802 in patients with ALK-rearranged non-small cell lung cancer who failed crizotinib treatment. In Phase I, cohorts of patients will receive escalating doses of CH5424802/RO5424802 orally twice daily. In Phase II, patients who failed crizotinib treatment will receive the recommended phase II dose (600 mg) daily in two oral doses.

Need to know what trials are currently undergoing? You can sign up for new trial alert here.

Dana-Farber researchers uncover link between Down syndrome and leukemia

Although doctors have long known that people with Down syndrome have a heightened risk of developing acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) during childhood, they haven’t been able to explain why. Now, a team of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute investigators has uncovered a connection between the two conditions. In a recent study, the researchers track the genetic chain of events that links a chromosomal abnormality in Down syndrome to the cellular havoc that occurs in ALL. Read more here.

Alcohol consumption from a cancer perspective

Cancer Risk Factors in Ontario: Alcohol, the third report in the Cancer Risk Factors in Ontario series, provides: Detailed information on the prevalence and distribution of alcohol consumption in Ontario, with special attention to the recommendation related to alcohol from the World Cancer Research Fund/American Institute for Cancer Research; Estimates of the cancer burden in the province related to alcohol consumption; Information on socio-demographic differences in alcohol consumption, including consumption among Ontario’s off-reserve Aboriginal population. Read the report here.

New gene variant found that increases the risk of colorectal cancer from eating processed meat

A common genetic variant that affects one in three people appears to significantly increase the risk of colorectal cancer from the consumption of processed meat. Lead author, Jane Figueiredo, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Preventive Medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California, explained that eating processed meat is associated with an increased risk of colorectal cancer and for about a third of the general population who carry this genetic variant, the risk of eating processed meat is even higher compared to those who do not. Read more here.

Chronic inflammation linked to high-grade prostate cancer

Men who show signs of chronic inflammation in non-cancerous prostate tissue may have nearly twice the risk of actually having prostate cancer than those with no inflammation, according to results of a new study led by researchers from the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center. The link between persistent inflammation and cancer was even stronger for men with so-called high-grade prostate cancer — those with a Gleason score between 7 and 10 — indicating the presence of the most aggressive and rapidly growing prostate cancers. Read more here.

Study identifies a likely key driver of colorectal cancer development and progression

A new study identifies a molecule that is a probable driving force in colorectal cancer and suggests that the molecule could be an important target for colorectal cancer treatment and a valuable biomarker of tumor progression. The researchers demonstrate that miR-135b is present at abnormally high levels in both mouse and human colorectal (CRC) tumors. The overexpression can be induced by mutations in either well-known oncogenes or tumor-suppressor genes that frequently occur in CRC, the researchers say. Read more here.

Body mass index associated with breast cancer, regardless of body shape

A study of predominantly white women finds a larger waist circumference is associated with higher risk of postmenopausal breast cancer, but not beyond its contribution to BMI. The study, by American Cancer Society researchers, fails to confirm previous findings that body shape itself is an independent risk factor for breast cancer. Read more here.

Does a more refined categorisation of tumour response and/or progression improve prediction of overall survival in RECIST 1.1?

In a recent analysis by the RECIST Working Group, EORTC researchers had explored whether a more refined categorisation of tumour response or various aspects of progression could improve prediction of overall survival in the Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumours (RECIST) database. They found that modelling target lesion tumour growth did not improve the prediction of overall survival above and beyond that of the other components of progression. Read more here.

Anti-cancer medicines availability study

Study objectives: to provide European health authorities with data on the availability of licensed anti-neoplastic medicines across Europe. This ESMO study is conducted under the auspices of the ESMO Emerging Countries Committee in collaboration with the World Health Organization, the Kings College London Institute of Cancer Policy, the Union for International Cancer Control, and the European Society of Oncology Pharmacy (liaising with the European Association of Hospital Pharmacy). Read more here.

Patient centered perspective initiatives in Canada

A newly released background document on Patient Centered Perspective Initiatives funded by the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer this month outlines the goal of the Patient Experience through Patient-reported Outcomes Initiative is to improve the patient experience across the cancer journey through standardized measurement that accelerates optimal care and measures impact (health-related outcomes for patients) across Canada.

See the document here.

Canine cancer study aimed at improving survival for humans and dogs

With a Innovation Grant from the Canadian Cancer Society, a University of Saskatchewan research team will treat dogs with drug-resistant lymphoma to uncover the reasons for this resistance and to identify ways to reverse it. "The cancer we’re studying – lymphoma – is very similar to human non-Hodgkin lymphoma. It’s spontaneous and responds to drug therapy. The same therapies are used, and both the canine and human cancers develop similar drug resistance,” says study leader Dr Troy Harkness, a molecular geneticist and professor at the university. “Because dogs age faster than humans, their disease advances more quickly and we are able to observe results that much sooner.”
Read more here.

Gene panel effectively screens dozens of genes for cancer-associated mutations

As many as 10 percent of women with a personal or family history of breast or ovarian cancer have at least one genetic mutation that, if known, would prompt their doctors to recommend changes in their care, according to a new study by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine. Read more here.

In-depth focus on effective cancer control and care in China, India, and Russia

The Lancet Oncology has published a major new Commission examining the challenges to effective cancer control in China, India, and Russia – which together experience 46% of all new cancers worldwide, and account for more than half (52%) of all cancer deaths globally. The Commission was led by Professor Paul Goss, of Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, USA, in collaboration with over 40 leading cancer experts from the regions studied, and across the world. Read more here.

Report highlights the need for culturally safe cancer care in Inuit communities

Although relatively unknown to past generations, cancer has become the second-highest cause of death in the Inuit population and is having a profound effect on patients, their families and communities.

A new report released Monday on April 14, 2014 examines cancer control for Inuit across Canada and provides a baseline against which progress can be measured over the coming years.

The Inuit Cancer Control in Canada Baseline Report provides context for the cancer pathway for Inuit and includes information on promising practices across the cancer control continuum. It looks at the patient experience from screening and diagnosis through to survivorship or palliative care, as well as challenges experienced by Inuit patients throughout their cancer journey.

Study in mice shows that an aggressive type of breast cancer is linked to an inflammatory protein

Aberrant expression of an inflammatory protein, nitric oxide synthase 2 (NOS2), may enhance the progression and metastasis of an aggressive and less common form of breast cancer, known as the estrogen receptor-negative type of disease. In this work, NCI scientists used tumor xenografts (human tumor cells transplanted into mice) to mimic an aggressive tumor microenvironment that included inflammation, nutrient deprivation and hypoxia. Read more here.

A meta-analysis of first generation EGFR TKIs vs. chemotherapy in patients with wild type EGFR non-small cell lung cancer

A meta-analysis of 11 clinical trials with 1605 included patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), harbouring wild type (WT) epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), shows that previous treatment with chemotherapy compared with first generation EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) is associated with improvement in progression-free survival (PFS), but not with improvement in overall survival. Read more here.

A subset of breast cancer patients most likely to benefit from neoadjuvant regimen with Pan-HER inhibitor neratinib

I-SPY 2 study mechanism efficiently evaluates agents in biomarker-defined patient subsets. In a modest number of patients, its adaptive randomisation strategy successfully identified a biomarker signature for further development of pan-HER inhibitor, neratinib. A neoadjuvant regimen of standard chemotherapy and neratinib was beneficial for hormone receptor (HR)-negative, HER2-positive patients with primary breast cancer, according to data presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2014 (5-9 April, San Diego, USA). Read more here.

Post-Authorization Activity Table (PAAT) for Pomalyst

This PAAT describes post-authorization activity for Pomalyst, a product which contains the medicinal ingredient pomalidomide. Based on Health Canada's review, the benefit/risk profile of Pomalyst is considered favourable, in combination with dexamethasone (Pomalyst+LD-dex), for patients with multiple myeloma (MM) for whom both bortezomib and lenalidomide have failed and who have received at least two prior treatment regimens and have demonstrated disease progression on the last regimen. Read more here.

Cervical cancer vaccine program in England a success

Upon analyzing the test results of more than 4000 young women, British researchers at Public Health England have determined that the national vaccination program, launched in England in 2008, has resulted in a drop in HPV infection rates among young sexually active women (aged 16-18) to 1 in 15. In addition to the infection-reducing benefits of this immunization program, it is believed that herd-immunity is also occurring as a result of this initiative, whereby "vaccination of a large population affords some protection against infection to those in the population who are not vaccinated." To read more about this study, presented on April 14, 2014 at the Society for General Microbiology annual conference in Liverpool, England, click here.

Wait times for priority procedures in Canada, 2014

Canadians have indicated that waiting too long for care is the largest barrier to accessing health services. As a result, policy-makers made reducing wait times and improving access to care a high priority in Canada. This report provides comparative wait time information for procedures in the five priority areas set by the first ministers in 2004, including radiation therapy. Read the full report here.

Cervical screening in Ontario

The Ontario Cervical Screening Program 2012 Report, released in 2014, builds on the 2003–2008 report. Nine new indicators, including histology and colposcopy data, are reported for the first time. These additional data provide a more complete picture of Ontario’s performance in cervical cancer screening, highlighting the program's strengths and areas of focus for future improvement. Socio-demographic factors have been calculated for most indicators in the report, including information about the potential effects of age, income, rural versus urban residence, immigrant status and community size on program performance. Download the full report here.

Cancer’s thirst for copper can be targeted

Drugs used to block copper absorption for a rare genetic condition may find an additional use as a treatment for certain types of cancer, researchers at Duke Medicine report. The researchers found that cancers with a mutation in the BRAF gene require copper to promote tumor growth. These tumors include melanoma, the most dangerous form of skin cancer that kills an estimated 10,000 people in the United States a year, according to the National Cancer Institute. Read more here.

HPV as a primary screening tool in women 25 years and older for risk assessment of cervical cancer

Three-year follow-up data from the ATHENA trial indicate that human papilloma virus (HPV) primary screening with triage to colposcopy based on genotyping and reflex cytology provides a more sensitive cervical screening strategy than cytology and is more efficient than cotesting. The results were presented at the Plenary session, entitled “Innovative and Practice Changing Concepts in Gynecologic Oncology”, of the 45th Annual Meeting on Women’s Cancer, organised by the Society of Gynecologic Oncology (22-25 March, 2014, Tampa, USA). Read more here.

Double-headed motor protein offers new targets in cancer treatment

The structure of a key part of the machinery that allows cells to divide has been identified by researchers at the University of California, Davis — opening new possibilities for throwing a wrench in the machine and blocking runaway cell division in cancer. "The structure of kinesin-5 is unexpected, and the implications are big — it allows us to target it, for example in various forms of cancer," said Jawdat Al-Bassam, assistant professor of molecular and cellular biology at UC Davis, who led the project. Read more here.

NCI intramural research highlighted at 2014 AACR meeting

At this year’s annual American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) meeting in San Diego there were plenary talks by two NCI intramural scientists -- Steven Rosenberg, M.D., and Louis Staudt, M.D., Ph.D. Dr. Rosenberg, chief of NCI’s Surgery Branch, focused on the curative potential of adoptive T-cell therapy in his presentation. B-cell associated cancers and the challenges in treating them were the focus of the presentation by Dr. Louis Staudt, head of NCI’s Molecular Biology of Lymphoid Malignancies Section. Read more here.

Gene sequencing project discovers mutations tied to deadly brain tumors in young children

The St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital-Washington University Pediatric Cancer Genome Project has identified new mutations in pediatric brain tumors known as high-grade gliomas (HGGs), which most often occur in the youngest patients. The discoveries stem from the most comprehensive effort yet to identify the genetic missteps driving these deadly tumors. The results provide desperately needed drug development leads, particularly for agents that target the underlying mutations. Read more here.

Tumor suppressor gene TP53 mutated in 90 percent of most common childhood bone tumor

The St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital—Washington University Pediatric Cancer Genome Project found mutations in the tumor suppressor gene TP53 in 90 percent of osteosarcomas, suggesting the alteration plays a key role early in development of the bone cancer. The discovery that TP53 is altered in nearly every osteosarcoma also helps to explain a long-standing paradox in osteosarcoma treatment, which is why at standard doses radiation therapy is largely ineffective against the tumor. Read more here.

Statement on forthcoming changes in NCI's clinical trials programs

In keeping with the recommendations outlined in the IOM report and with the advice of clinical scientists from across the country, NCI has created a new National Clinical Trials Network (NCTN). The NCTN will improve the speed and efficiency of cancer clinical trials, using fewer but larger groups of investigators and distributing resources in a more effective way. Read more here.

No prognostic effect of HPV on the outcome of primary radiotherapy in advanced non-oropharyngeal cancers

Patients with oropharyngeal cancer who are positive for the human papilloma virus (HPV-positive) have a good prognosis, but until now the effect of HPV status on the prognosis of tumours located elsewhere in the head and neck area was unknown. Danish researchers have now shown that HPV status appears to have no prognostic effect on the outcome of primary radiotherapy in head and neck cancer outside the oropharynx. It was a topic of the award lecture, based on analysis of 1606 patients, and presented by Dr Pernille Lassen from the Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark at the ESTRO 33 Congress in Vienna, Austria (4-8 April 2014). Read more here.

Combination of palbociclib and letrozole shows promising results in first-line treatment of ER-positive, HER2-negative advanced breast cancer

A combination of palbociclib, a selective inhibitor of cyclin-dependent kinases (CDK) 4 and 6, and aromatase inhibitor letrozole demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in progression-free survival (PFS) in a phase II trial of first-line treatment for ER-positive, HER2-negative advanced breast cancer, according to Dr Richard Finn, an associate professor of medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He presented the study results at AACR Annual Meeting 2014 (5-9 April, San Diego, USA). Read more here.

Post-Authorization Activity Table (PAAT) for Istodax

The PAAT describes post-authorization activity for Istodax, a product which contains the medicinal ingredient romidepsin. Istodax (romidepsin for injection), an antineoplastic agent, is indicated for the treatment of patients with relapsed/refractory peripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTCL) who are not eligible for transplant and have received at least one prior systemic therapy. Read more here.

Neupogen (filgrastim) and Neulasta (pegfilgrastim) - Risk of Capillary Leak Syndrome

Amgen Canada Inc., in consultation with Health Canada, would like to inform you of important new safety information concerning the risk of Capillary Leak Syndrome (CLS) associated with the granulocyte colony stimulating factors (G-CSF) NEUPOGEN and NEULASTA. Cases of Capillary Leak Syndrome (CLS) have been reported in:
a. patients undergoing chemotherapy who were receiving NEUPOGEN or NEULASTA, and
b. donors undergoing peripheral blood progenitor cell mobilization who were receiving NEUPOGEN.
Read more here.

Stanford study finds that blood test could provide rapid, accurate method of detecting solid cancers

Maximilian Diehn, MD, PhD, assistant professor of radiation oncology from Standford University School of Medicine, shares senior authorship of a paper describing a technique that is sensitive enough to detect just one molecule of tumor DNA in a sea of 10,000 healthy DNA molecules in the blood.

More details from Standford School of Medcine News.

Study mentioned:
Nat Med. 2014 Apr 6. doi: 10.1038/nm.3519. [Epub ahead of print]
An ultrasensitive method for quantitating circulating tumor DNA with broad patient coverage.

Cancer patients should focus on present: expert

Staying in the present sounds simple, but it's not easy, especially for cancer patients. Read more about Dr. Linda Carlson from today's Leader-Post.

BUSULFEX (busulfan) 6 mg/mL injection - potential for particulate matter in 10 mL vials

Otsuka Canada Pharmaceutical Inc. in consultation with Health Canada would like to inform you of a potential risk of black particulate matter in vials of BUSULFEX® (busulfan) 6 mg/mL Injection. BUSULFEX® (busulfan) Injection is indicated for use in combination with other chemotherapeutic agents and/or radiotherapy as a conditioning regimen prior to hematopoietic progenitor cell transplantation, including: acute lymphocytic leukemia, acute non-lymphocytic leukemia, acute myeloid leukemia, chronic myeloid leukemia, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease, multiple myeloma, and myelodysplastic syndrome. Read more here.

ZELBORAF (vemurafenib) - association with liver problems

Hoffmann-La Roche Limited (Roche Canada), in consultation with Health Canada, would like to inform you of important new safety information regarding the risk of Drug Induced Liver Injury (DILI) reported with ZELBORAF. ZELBORAF is indicated as a monotherapy for the treatment of BRAF V600 mutation-positive unresectable or metastatic melanoma. A validated test is required to identify BRAF V600 mutation status. Read more here.

CDC grand rounds: global tobacco control

This is part of a series of occasional MMWR reports titled CDC Grand Rounds. These reports are based on grand rounds presentations at CDC on high-profile issues in public health science, practice, and policy. This issue discusses the tobacco industry and public health interventions and strategies designed to reduce tobacco use. Read more here.

Poisoning linked to e-cigarettes up sharply in the U.S.: report

There’s a new wrinkle in the debate over the safety of electronic cigarettes. New U.S. data show that the number of poisonings linked to e-cigarettes is rising sharply, fuelling calls for more research to determine how – and if – to regulate the products. A report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that the number of calls received by poison control centres in relation to e-cigarettes rose from one a month in September, 2010, to 215 a month in February, 2014. Read more here.

Read the MMWR report here.

Breast cancer drug shows promising results

Researchers say that a new type of drug can help prevent advanced breast cancer from worsening, potentially providing an important new treatment option for women and a blockbuster product for Pfizer. In a clinical trial, the drug cut in half the risk that cancer would worsen, or progress, researchers said here Sunday. The median time before the disease progressed or the woman died was 20.2 months for those who received the drug, compared with 10.2 months for the control group. Read more here.

Person-Centred Toolkit and Resources

The Person-Centred Care Toolkit includes resources for those establishing, providing, or receiving supportive care cancer services. Specific tools and resources are targets to health care providers and to those dealing with cancer, their families and friends. View a collection of clinical practice guidelines related to palliative care. For example:

Cancer Care Ontario Symptom Management Tools

Essential reading on palliative care

On April 4, 2014, Cancerview.ca from the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer provides an essential list of articles on what quality palliative care looks like.

Some of the references include:

Heyland D.”What matters most in end-of-life care: perceptions of seriously ill patients and their families.” Canadian Medical Association Journal (2006); 174(5):827-633.

Singer P. “Quality End of Life Care: Patients Perspectives” Journal of the American Medical Association (1999);;281(2):163-16

Temel JS et al. “Early Palliative Care for Patients with Metastatic Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer.” New England Journal of Medicine (2010); 363:733-742.

Chochinov HM. “Dignity and the essence of medicine: the A,B, C, and D of dignity conserving care.” British Medical Journal (2007); 335 (7612): 184-187.

Chochinov HM. “Dignity in Care: Time to Take Action” Journal of Pain and Symptom Management (2013); S0885-3924(13)00452-1

Scapiro R et al. “Living and Dying Well with Cancer: Successfully Integrating Palliative Care and Cancer Treatment.” Missoula, Montana: Promoting Excellence in End of Life Care (2003).

Latimer E J. “Ethical care at the end of life.” Canadian Medical Association Journal (1998); 158:1741-7.

Brazil K et al. “Service Preferences Among Family Caregivers of the Terminally Ill.” Journal of Palliative Medicine (2005); 8(1): 69-78.

Large majority of Canadians open to discussing end-of-life care

More Than 80 per cent of Canadians say they’re comfortable talking about end-of-life care issues, according to a research survey commissioned by Saint Elizabeth.

View fact sheet.

View info graphic here.

Latest Canadian data: Cost effectiveness of palliative Care: A review of the Literature

In the current environment of rising health care costs and concerns about the sustainability of publicly funded health care, policy makers are paying more attention to the costs associated with the last year of life.

A more cost-efficient strategy may be to integrate a palliative approach to care throughout the health care system.

Read more from the report by Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association.

End-of-Life Hospital Care for Cancer Patients

This report aims to provide a better understanding of the experiences of cancer patients at the end of their lives. It is of important value to Canadians and to those responsible for improving the care delivered to patients suffering from cancer. This study uses administrative data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) to examine the use of hospital services in the last month of life by cancer patients who died in acute care hospitals.

DNA test may reveal risk of prostate cancer's return

A new DNA test conducted at the Princess Margaret Cancer Center in Toronto is able to identify prostate cancer patients at high risk for a return of their cancer. Using DNA from biopsy samples taken before patients undergo surgery or radiation therapy, "the test is about 80% accurate in predicting which men have a high or low risk of their cancer returning within two years." According to study author Robert Bristow, cancer returns in 30-50% of patients due to spreading outside the prostate and thus being undetected during initial treatment. This test thus allows for additional treatment to be offered to these patients beyond the prostate area alone. For more information on this study, presented on April 5, 2014 at the European Scoeity for Radiotherapy and Oncology meeting in Vienna, click here

Global Opioid Policy Initiative Project

The Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer (MASCC) has published an interview with Associate Professor Gregory Crawford from the Mary Potter Foundation and the University of Adelaide, in Australia in which he discusses the results of a large study on international opioid use in the relief of cancer pain. Read more here.

Complex benefits and harms of mammography require individualized approach

A comprehensive review of 50 years’ worth of international studies assessing the benefits and harms of mammography screening suggests that the benefits of the screening are often overestimated, while harms are underestimated. And, since the relative benefits and harms of screening are related to a complex array of clinical factors and personal preferences, physicians and patients need more guidance on how best to individualize their approach to breast cancer screening. Read more here.

Lack of insurance coverage a barrier to lung cancer screening

The majority of current and former smokers would welcome screenings for lung cancer if their insurance covered the spiral computed tomography scans, according to research from Roswell Park Cancer Institute and the Medical University of South Carolina. More than 1,200 adult current smokers and former smokers were surveyed about their attitudes toward lung cancer screening using spiral CT scans. Read more here.

Likely culprit in spread of colon cancer identified

New research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville has implicated a poorly understood protein called PLAC8 in the spread of colon cancer. While elevated PLAC8 levels were known to be associated with colon cancer, the researchers now have shown that the protein plays an active role in shifting normal cells lining the colon into a state that encourages metastasis. Read more here.

Genetic mutations predispose to familial melanoma

Researchers have discovered that people with mutations in a POT1 (protection of telomeres 1) gene were extremely likely to develop a hereditary form of melanoma. About 1 in 20 patients with melanoma have a strong family history of the disease. In these patients, pinpointing the genetic mutations that drive disease development allows to identify those who should be part of melanoma surveillance programmes. Read more here.

When to consider doxorubicin alone or in combination with ifosfamide for the treatment of advanced or metastatic soft tissue sarcoma?

A study conducted by the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) Soft Tissue and Bone Sarcoma Group and published in Lancet Oncology does not support administration of intensified doxorubicin and ifosfamide regimen for palliation of advanced or metastatic soft tissue sarcoma, unless the treatment objective is to shrink the tumour. Read more here.

Next generation ALK inhibitor for ALK-rearranged non–small cell lung cancer

A new drug ceritinib appears to be effective against advanced ALK-positive NSCLC, both in tumours that have become resistant to crizotinib and in those never treated with it, with mostly mild and manageable side effects. The results of a phase I clinical trial conducted at centers in 11 countries are reported in the New England Journal of Medicine. Read more here.

PRESTIGE study: Goserelin given every 12 vs. 4 weeks in premenopausal women with ER-positive advanced breast cancer

Non-inferiority of goserelin 10.8 mg given every 12 weeks over 3.6 mg administered every 4 weeks has been demonstrated in premenopausal breast cancer patients with oestrogen receptor (ER)-positive tumours. Suppression of serum oestradiol to postmenopausal level was also confirmed with goserelin given every 12 weeks, according to the results of study presented by Dr Kim HJ of the ASAN Medical Center, Seoul, Korea at 9th European Breast Cancer Conference (EBCC-9) held in Glasgow, Scotland from 19 to 21 March 2014. Read more here.

European Lung Cancer Conference, March 2014

The European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) has published a number of news articles and videos based on results presented at the 2014 European Lung Cancer Conference. Access the ELCC 2014 website here.

IARC Working Group report on HPV vaccine trials

This 2014 report represents the views and expert opinions of an IARC Working Group that met in France in 2013. The Group reviewed the evidence as to whether it might be appropriate to use a virological end-point, rather than a disease end-point such as cervical intraepithelial neoplasia of grade 2 or worse (CIN2+), as the primary end-point for some future clinical efficacy trials, and the circumstances under which immunobridging trials might be sufficient for licensure. Read the full report, Primary end-points for prophylactic HPV vaccine trials, here.

Certain genetic variants may help identify patients at increased risk of bladder cancer recurrence

A new study suggests that certain inherited DNA sequences may affect a bladder cancer patient's prognosis. These findings may help physicians identify sub-groups of high risk bladder cancer patients who should receive more frequent screenings and agressive treatment and monitoring. "The genetic markers that we found could potentially be useful for individually tailoring surveillance and treatment of bladder cancer patients," said principal investigator Angeline S. Andrew, PhD, Assistant Professor of Community and Family Medicine and the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth and a member of the Norris Cotton Cancer Center. Read more here.

UNC researchers show cancer chemotherapy accelerates ‘molecular aging’

Physicians have long suspected that chemotherapy can accelerate the aging process in patients treated for cancer. Using a test developed at UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center to determine molecular aging, UNC oncologists have directly measured the impact of anti-cancer chemotherapy drugs on biological aging. Read more here.

Oncology Nursing E-journals to support your practice

Happy Oncology Nursing Day!

Have you had a chance recently checking in your library website and see what e-journals are available from your finger tips to support your patient care? Any questions? Contact us!

Report shows older Canadians less likely to receive recommended cancer treatments than younger patients

The 2014 Cancer System Performance Report

reveals that some older Canadians with colon, lung or breast cancer are not receiving guideline-recommended radiation and chemotherapy at the same rate as younger patients with these cancers.

This report was developed by the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer. Here are some details contained in the new report about age-related differences in treatment, along with findings related to end-of life care:

- The use of post-surgical chemotherapy to treat colorectal cancer was close to 80% for patients under age 60, but dropped to below 50% for patients over 70.
- Only 40% of breast cancer patients aged 80 years and over received radiation therapy following breast conserving surgery as recommended by national guidelines, compared to 85% of patients younger than 80 with the same disease.

Time, trust and transparency keys to minority biospecimen collection

Blood and tumor specimen collection from cancer patients is critical to research into new, more personally targeted therapies. But biospecimen collection among diverse populations lags far behind that of whites. In work aimed at boosting these collection rates, researchers at UC Davis and collaborators at three other institutions found that Asian, African and Hispanic Americans are open to donating specimens for research when clinicians and scientists adopt the right strategies. Read more here.