Halaven approved for advanced soft tissue cancer

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Halaven for advanced liposarcoma, a type of soft tissue cancer.  As the first chemotherapy drug shown to improve survival, Halaven was administered to 140 patients with liposarcoma in clinical studies; average survival period was 15.6 months compared to 8.4 months for those who were administered another chemotherapy drug.

To read more about this study, click here.

Canadian Cancer Registry (CCR) detailed information for 2012

On October 23, 2015 the Canadian Cancer Registry (CCR) published their data on the cancer incidence from all provincial and territorial cancer registries in Canada.

The primary objective of the CCR is to provide a national database of information that can be used to produce standardized and comparable statistics for cancer incidence and survival data for each primary type of cancer. Read more here.

Study finds stool test effective for detecting colon cancer

On January 25, 2016, A new study finds that tests for blood in the stool can consistently detect colon cancer when used on an annual basis, and they are effective even in the second, third and fourth years of screening.

The researchers said these findings suggest that the stool test could be a reasonable screening alternative to colonoscopy -- currently considered the gold standard for colon cancer screening. Read more here.

Patient reported outcomes empower patients to be active partners in their care

Symptoms of a cancer diagnosis are not just physical. Patients often have concerns that affect their health but are seldom talked about with their care teams. The impact of their cancer can also be felt emotionally and mentally, in ways less apparent to physicians. The patient’s perspective is key in such situations.
The Partnership’s Person-Centred Perspective (PCP) program and its Patient Reported Outcomes (PROs) Initiative aim to improve the patient experience across the cancer journey, with the goal of all jurisdictions establishing a measurement and reporting cycle for the patient experience by 2017. Read more here.

Rationale for anti-OX40 cancer immunotherapy

In the January 2016 edition of the EJC, authors from the Gustave Roussy Cancer Centre, Villejuif, France present their rationale for anti-OX40 immunotherapy for the treatment of cancer. Lead author, Sandrine Aspelaugh, explains why blocking the OX40 molecule could become an important new approach in immunotherapy in the EJC’s January podcast. Read more here.

Personal care plans tied to better follow-up in breast cancer survivors

On January 15, 2016 a new study finds that personalized care plans may lead to better health outcomes for low-income breast cancer survivors.

Follow-up care for cancer survivors includes managing the long-term side effects of treatment and monitoring for tumor recurrence, among other things. An individualized care plan can help breast cancer survivors follow those recommendations, the researchers said. Read more here.

FDA approves alectinib for ALK-positive non-small cell lung cancer

On December 11, 2015 the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved alectinib (Alecensa®) for some patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with mutations in the ALK gene.

The agency granted an accelerated approval for alectinib for patients whose cancer is no longer responding to the ALK-targeted agent crizotinib (Xalkori®) or who are unable to tolerate further treatment with crizotinib because of side effects. Read more here.

Nerve damage from chemotherapy may affect cancer survivors for years

A new study conducted at the Oregon Health and Science University in Portland, indicates that peripheral neuropathy, a form of nerve damage, can persist in patients for years after chemotherapy treatment.  In the Oregon study conducted on 463 female cancer survivors, 45% had "symptoms of nerve damage, such as loss of feeling in their hands and feet."  This can cause an increased risk of falls.

Click here to read more about this study, presented on January 16, 2016 at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting in San Francisco.

Palliative care in critical condition: Canadian Cancer Society

The Canadian Cancer Society released a report on Tuesday January 12th 2016 on the state of care across the country. In its findings, the society said critically ill patients are falling through the cracks of the health care system and improvements are needed to address the patchwork of service that exists. In the absence of national standards, individual jurisdictions are left to develop their own policies, programs and guidelines that result in inconsistent and inadequate palliative care, the report said.

Read more here.

The full report is available from the Canadian Cancer Society website.

Aspirin may decrease death from prostate cancer

A study conduced at the Harvard Medical School in Boston suggests that regular aspirin intake may lower the risk of dying from prostate cancer.  According to lead researcher Dr. Christopher Allard, urologic oncology fellow at Harvard, it is too early to recommend aspirin as a prevention method for lethal prostate cancer, however due to its cardiovascular effects, "regular aspirin intake after prostate cancer diagnosis decreased the risk of prostate cancer death by almost 40%."

Click here to read more about this study, findings of which were presented at the January 4th meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO)