Blog posts will resume week of July 12, 2021

 Dear all Grey Horizon readers, 

Postings will resume the week of July 12, 2021.  

Thank you - take care and stay well 

Blood test for early detection of cancer support screening use

 A recent study published in Annals of Oncology has concluded that a blood test purported to detect over 50 different types of cancer "is accurate enough to be rolled out as a multi-cancer screening test among people at higher risk of the disease, including patients aged 50 years or older, without symptoms." According to study first author, Dr. Eric Klein, chairman of the Glickman Urological and Kidney Institute in Cleveland, finding conducted on 15.254 participants from 142 clinics across North America, early detection of common cancers via a blood test is a viable option for communities with poor access to medical facilities, 

To read more about this study, click here. 

Study mentioned:  

1. “Clinical validation of a targeted methylation-based multi-cancer early detection test using an independent validation set”, by Eric Klein et al. Annals of Oncology. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annonc.2021.05.806

Should people over age 75 be screened for colorectal cancer?

 

According to a recently published article in JAMA Oncology, "people over age 75 who were screened for colorectal cancer had a 40% lower risk of dying from the disease."  While new recommendation by the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) explain the benefits of starting colorectal cancer screening at age 45 instead of 50, a new study conducted at the Massachusetts General Hospital suggests that a subsequent decade of screening individuals aged 76-85 is beneficial.  While study co-lead Dr. Andrew Chan, professor of medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, explains that screening for colorectal cancer beyond age 75 should be made on a case-by-case basis, findings from this study on 56,000 people 75 years of age and older showed that "risk of dying from colorectal cancer was reduced by more than a third in people...who had been screened by colonoscopy or sigmoidoscopy." 

To read more about this study, click here. 

Metronomic capecitabine as adjuvant therapy provides compelling evidence in locoregionally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma

 A study conducted at the Sun Yet-sen University Cancer Center in Guangzhou, China, and recently presented at the 2021 ASCO Annual Meeting (June 4-8, 2021), indicated that "patients with loco regionally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) experienced improved failure-free survival (FFS) and other survival outcomes with metronomic capecitabine."  Study results showed that metronomic capecitabine was not as toxic as other adjuvant therapies and thereby "significantly improved failure-free survival compared with observation."

To read more about this study, click here.  

Sources mentioned: 

Chen Y-P, Liu X, Zhou Q, et al. Metronomic capecitabine as adjuvant therapy in locoregionally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma: a multicentre, open-label, parallel-group, randomised, controlled, phase 3 trial. The Lancet, Published online 7 June 2021. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(21)01123-5

Kerbel RS, Andre N. Adjuvant metronomic chemotherapy for locoregionally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma. The Lancet, Published online 7 June 2021. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(21)01240-X 

Ma J, Chen Y-P, Zhou Q, et al. Metronomic capecitabine as adjuvant therapy in locoregionally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma: A phase 3, multicenter, randomized controlled trial. J Clin Oncol 2021;39(suppl 15; abstr 6003). DOI: 10.1200/JCO.2021.39.15_suppl.6003

Efficacy and safety of adjuvant nivolumab for high-risk muscle-invasive urothelial carcinoma after radical surgery

Findings from the CheckMate 274 study, a phase III, multi centre, double-blind randomized trial determining the efficacy of adjuvant nivolumab in patients with high-risk muscle-invasive urothelial carcinoma was recently published by Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre in New York.   While study investigators plan additional follow-up to assess overall survival, study results have shown that disease-free-survival "was longer with adjuvant nivolumab than with placebo in the ITT population." 

To read more about this study, click here. 

Source mentioned: Bajorin DF, Witjes JA, Gschwend JE, et al. Adjuvant Nivolumab versus Placebo in Muscle-Invasive Urothelial Carcinoma. N Engl J Med 2021;384:2102-2114. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa2034442.

Protective HPV vaccine-induced antibody titres can be detected up to 12 years after vaccination

 2 recently completed phase III trials in Finland indicated that "protective HPV vaccine-induced antibody titres" can be detected as long as 12 years after the HPV vaccine is first administered.  The Finish studies determined that 51 (15%) of the 339 quadrivalent vaccine recipients had "no detectable HPV18 neutralizing antibodies 2 to 12 years after vaccination."  

To read more about this study, click here. 

Source mentioned: Colaҫo Mariz F, Gray P, Bender N, et al. Sustainability of neutralising antibodies induced by bivalent or quadrivalent HPV vaccines and correlation with efficacy: a combined follow-up analysis of data from two randomised, double-blind, multicentre, phase 3 trials. The Lancet Infectious Diseases; Published online 31 May 2021; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(20)30873-2