Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Merck and Endocyte Announce Acceptance for Review of European Marketing Authorization Applications for Vintafolide and Companion Diagnostic Etarfolatide for Folate-Receptor Positive Platinum-Resistant Ovarian Cancer
Merck and Endocyte Announce Acceptance for Review of European Marketing Authorization Applications for Vintafolide and Companion Diagnostic Etarfolatide for Folate-Receptor Positive Platinum-Resistant Ovarian Cancer
BusinessWire · Nov. 27, 2012 | Last Updated: Nov. 27, 2012 8:30 AM ET
Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada (NYSE: MRK),
and Endocyte Inc. (NASDAQ: ECYT), today announced that the European
Medicines Agency (EMA) has accepted for review the marketing
authorization application (MAA) filings for the novel investigational
cancer candidate vintafolide (MK-8109/EC145) and investigational
companion diagnostic imaging agent etarfolatide (EC20), for the targeted
treatment of patients with folate-receptor positive platinum-resistant
ovarian cancer in combination with pegylated liposomal doxorubicin
(PLD). Both vintafolide and etarfolatide have been granted orphan drug
status by the European Commission......
Targeting angiogenesis in ovarian cancer (in collaboration with OECI)
Targeting angiogenesis in ovarian cancer (in collaboration with OECI)
Targeting angiogenesis in ovarian cancer (in collaboration with OECI) CME accredited
e-grandround GR224 - 29 November 2012 - 18:15-19:00 CETExpert: Dania Marques, Instituto Português de Oncologia do Porto Francisco Gentil, Porto, Portugal
Discussant: Margaret Hutka, Royal Marsden Hospital, Sutton, United Kingdom
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The live session starts in about 1 days
Access to the live session is open 15 minutes before the start of the session
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Flu deaths reality check - Health - CBC News
Flu deaths reality check - Health - CBC News
"Dr. Michael Gardam, an infectious disease expert at Toronto's University Health Network, says estimates of the number of flu deaths each year "vary a great deal depending on which research paper you read." (CBC)"
Researchers Identify Physiological Evidence of 'Chemo Brain' -- press release
Researchers Identify Physiological Evidence of 'Chemo Brain' -- CHICAGO, Nov. 27, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire
"...Instead
of studying chemotherapy's effect on the brain's appearance, Dr. Lagos
and colleagues set out to identify its effect on brain function. By
using PET/CT, they were able to assess changes to the brain's metabolism
after chemotherapy.
"When
we looked at the results, we were surprised at how obvious the changes
were," Dr. Lagos said. "Chemo brain phenomenon is more than a feeling.
It is not depression. It is a change in brain function observable on
PET/CT brain imaging."...
PR Newswire (http://s.tt/1uWpa)Does communication skills training make a difference to patients' experiences of consultations in oncology and palliative care services?
Does communication skills training make a difference to patients' experiences of consultations in oncology and palliative care services?
Abstract
There is much evidence supporting the efficacy of communication skills training; however, very little of this evidence comes from patient feedback. The primary aim of this pilot study was to evaluate whether the advanced communications skills training improves patients' experience of consultations. Healthcare professionals working in oncology and palliative care services from the North East of England were invited to participate in this study. Interactions between healthcare professionals (n = 21) and patients (n = 1103) were evaluated using the Consultation and Relational Empathy (CARE) Measure, which is a brief questionnaire designed to assess the patients' perceptions of relational empathy in the consultation. Additional demographic variables, such as patient age, length of consultation, familiarity with healthcare professional and overall satisfaction with consultation, were also collected. Healthcare professionals were either part of the intervention group who attended a 3-day communication skills training course or part of the control group who were on the waiting list for training. No differences in the patients' ratings on the CARE measure were found between Time 1 (before training) and Time 2 (after training) for the intervention group. Possible explanations for the findings are explored and implications for communication skills training are discussed.paywalled: Screening Instruments for Depression in Advanced Cancer Patients: What Do We Actually Measure?
Screening Instruments for Depression in Advanced
Abstract
BACKGROUND:
Patients in a palliative care trajectory frequently suffer from depression. To distinguish depression from normal sadness, the use of screening instruments could facilitate the diagnostic process. However, in palliative care, screening instruments may not discern physical symptom burden from psychological distress, due to the high number of physical symptoms in palliative patients.OBJECTIVES:
The aim of this study was to explore physical symptom burden and psychological distress in patients with advanced cancer in relation to scores on screening instruments for depression.METHODS:
Patients with advanced cancer were asked to fill out the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II), Beck Depression Inventory Primary Care (BDI-PC), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), and Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale Short Form (MSAS-SF). The relationship between scores on screening tools for depression and different physical symptom clusters was explored.RESULTS:
In the sample of 65 patients, screening instruments for depression correlated highly with different somatic symptom clusters. The BDI-II cognitive subscale was the only scale that was not significantly correlated with any of the somatic symptom clusters.CONCLUSION:
Screening tools for the detection of depression in patients with advanced cancer may not provide an accurate evaluation of depression. These tools seem to measure physical symptom burden as well, especially when patients suffer from symptoms of the clusters fatigue/anorexia/cachexia, neuropsychology, debility, or pain. In this study, the BDI-II cognitive subscale seems to differentiate best from somatic symptom burden.Taking the starch out of hereditary colorectal cancer (patients with Lynch Syndrome/CAPP2 study) ) : The Lancet Oncology
Taking the starch out of hereditary colorectal cancer : The Lancet Oncology
"In the current report, Mathers and colleagues reported no effect of fibre alone on cancer risk in patients with Lynch syndrome.1"
open access: Primary Human Ovarian Epithelial Cancer Cells Broadly Express HER2 at Immunologically-Detectable Levels
PLOS ONE: Primary Human Ovarian Epithelial Cancer Cells Broadly Express HER2 at Immunologically-Detectable Levels
"We conclude that HER2 is broadly expressed in established and primary ovarian carcinomas. Despite the wide range of HER2 expression, all OvCas were sensitive to recognition by genetically modified T cells bearing an anti-HER2 CAR indicating that the surface expression of HER2 is sufficient for the induction of potent immune responses. We postulate that HER2-directed immunotherapeutic strategies may have beneficial effects in patients with ovarian carcinoma, including many of those who are negative according to routinely applied immunohistochemistry on tumors resected at primary surgery. However, careful design and testing is needed to understand how to safely apply HER2 targeted approaches for the treatment of patients with HER2-expressing ovarian carcinomas."
Monday, November 26, 2012
Checkups find lots of new problems but don't cut morbidity/mortality
Checkups find lots of new problems but don't cut morbidity/mortality
"Our online search didn’t turn up very many other mainstream news organizations that knew about or cared enough about this study to report it."
open access: Prevalence of depression in adults with cancer: a systematic review
Prevalence of depression in adults with cancer: a systematic review
implications
Depression is an important and potentially fatal but treatable complication of cancer. As well as having substantial effects
on quality of life, depression contributes to non-adherence to medical treatments [53]. In order to plan effective services, we need accurate estimates of its prevalence in clinically meaningful subgroups of
cancer patients.
Despite a large number of relevant
publications, it was striking that few studies met our basic quality
criteria and we, therefore,
currently lack adequately precise and useful
data on the prevalence of depression in clinically relevant subgroups of
cancer
patients. Studies that used expert interviewers
to diagnose depression were more consistent in their findings and
reported
a lower prevalence than studies that used less
expert interviewers. Finally, we wish to make a plea for an improvement
in
the quality of the research published in this
area and suggest that the quality criteria used in this review, along
with the
use of expert interviewers, are a prerequisite
for the funding and publication of future studies on this topic.
Adjuvant bevacizumab in colon cancer: where did we go wrong? : The Lancet Oncology
Blogger's Note: since Avastin was first used in colorectal cancer clinical trials it is noteworthy to view these longer term results as they may apply to other solid tumors (such as ovarian cancer)
Adjuvant bevacizumab in colon cancer: where did we go wrong? : The Lancet Oncology
Saturday, November 24, 2012
open access: Germline truncating-mutations in BRCA1 and MSH6 in a patient with early onset endometrial cancer
Germline truncating-mutations in BRCA1 and MSH6 in a patient with early onset endometrial cancer
Conclusions
Although carriers of mutations in both MMR and BRCA genes are rare in Caucasian populations and anamnestical and histopathological findings may guide clinicians to identify these families, both syndromes can only be diagnosed through a complete gene analysis of the respective genes.
Complete remission of recurrent ovarian clear cell carcinoma by chemotherapy with bevacizumab, trabectedin and oxaliplatin
Complete remission of recurrent ovarian clear cell carcinoma by chemotherapy with bevacizumab, trabectedin and oxaliplatin
Abstract
Clear cell
carcinoma of the ovary has shown an exceedingly chemo-resistant
phenotype, especially in cases that are recurrent or refractory to
previous therapy. Also, progression-free survival was less than 6
months, even in the patients that achieved response when they were
treated with conventional anti-cancer cytotoxic agents. We present a
case with recurrent and refractory ovarian clear cell carcinoma that
achieved complete remission using a combination of bevacizumab,
trabectedin and oxaliplatin. The progression-free interval of the
patient is over 30 months, and she is still receiving the combination
therapy without toxicities of more than grade 2.
RCP report: Cancer patients in crisis- responding to urgent needs
RCP report: Cancer patients in crisis- responding to urgent needs
Index Summary:
Introduction
Background
The objectives
The patients
The patient’s journey
The professionals
Methodology ........
Box 1 Guide to the report
The aim of this report is to promote patient-centred care, improve clinical practice, and support physician education and training. It is addressed to all professionals who encounter the acutely unwell patient with cancer in any setting and the commissioners of services.
• The executive summary is intended as a stand-alone document to provide an overview and the key recommendations that have been derived from the work.
• Chapter 1 highlights the issues for patients, carers and professionals through the difficulties that individuals have encountered.
• Clinical decision making is the focus of three main sections. One relates to the patient in a community setting (Chapter 2) and the second to the patient presenting to acute care services (Chapter 3). There are themes common to both, with necessary repetition so that each can be
used separately by community-based and acute care-based teams. Chapter 4 discusses principles of shared decision making with the patient, including situations where capacity is in question. All
these principles highlight key points to be considered and promote contingency planning for emergencies. A patient-held tool for emergency planning has been developed by the patient and carer representatives, with input from other groups (see Appendix 4). Decision aids for use by
professionals in the community and acute settings are given in Appendix 3.
• The risks associated with development of an acute problem for patients with cancer are reviewed in
Chapter 5. Proposals for standards of care and some suggestions for quality measures are outlined.
• Implications for education and training are detailed in Chapter 6.
Thursday, November 22, 2012
open access: Ovarian Cancer, Version 3.2012 NCCN Guidelines (text version)
Ovarian Cancer, Version 3.2012
- Abstract
- Overview
- Screening Tests for Diagnosing Ovarian Cancer
- Diagnostic Tests for Assessing Pelvic Masses
- Primary Treatment Using Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy
- Primary Adjuvant Treatment Using Bevacizumab in Combination With Chemotherapy
- Therapy for Recurrent Disease
- Management of Drug/Hypersensitivity Reactions
- Summary of the Major Updates
Preoperative HE4 expression in plasma predicts surgical outcome in primary ovarian cancer patients: Results from the OVCAD study
Preoperative HE4 expression in plasma predicts surgical outcome in primary ovarian cancer patients: Results from the OVCAD study
Abstract
Epithelial
ovarian cancer (EOC) is the major cause of death due to gynecological
malignancies. The most important prognostic factors are residual tumor
mass after surgery and platinum-response. No predictive biomarkers are
available to identify patients who will benefit from standard treatment.
Aim of our study was to analyse the role of HE4 in predicting surgical
and clinical outcome in primary EOC.
Methods
In
the European multicentric project "OVCAD", 275 consecutive patients
with primary EOC were enrolled. Patients were eligible if radical
cytoreductive surgery was performed and platinum-based chemotherapy was
applied. Plasma and ascites samples were collected before or during
surgery. HE4 and CA125 was determined using ELISA and Luminex technique,
respectively.
Results
Median
age at first diagnosis was 58 years (range 18 - 85 years). Most
patients presented with advanced stage disease, FIGO III or IV (94.6%),
grade II-III (96%) and serous histology (86.2%). In most cases a
complete cytoreduction to no residual tumor mass was achieved (68.4%).
Higher plasma HE4 levels correlated with poor surgery outcome in terms
of macroscopically residual tumor mass (p < 0.001) and
platinum-resistance (p = 0.009). Plasma CA125 and the risk index (HE4
and CA125) were independent predictive factor for surgical outcome
(p = 0.001, OR = 3.37, 95%CI = 1.61-7.06 and p < 0.001, OR = 6,041,
95%CI = 2.33-15.65, respectively). FIGO stage III was independent
predictive factor for platinum response (p = 0.039, OR = 0.436,
95%CI = 0.198-0.960).
Conclusions
The
presented data are showing that the combination of HE4 and CA125
expression in plasma might predict the surgical outcome in EOC and by
this may have prognostic impact on PFS and OS.
Highlights
►
The combined use of CA125 and HE4 outperforms CA125 or HE4 as a single
predictive marker
► The combined use of CA125 and HE4 optimizes the separation of residual tumor mass-risk groups.
► Results should be validated in further multicentric studies
► The combined use of CA125 and HE4 optimizes the separation of residual tumor mass-risk groups.
► Results should be validated in further multicentric studies
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