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The optimal chemotherapy regimen to be used concurrently with thoracic radiation for locally advanced non-small-cell lung cancer remains uncertain. Studies investigating this question are ongoing.
Incorporating hematopoietic growth factors into chemotherapy regimens is a common method for mitigating toxicity of dose-intensive regimens. A clinical trial has shown that G-CSF can counteract acute toxicities, permitting further dose intensification of induction chemotherapy. However, the effects of these strategies on long-term toxicities and overall survival remain undefined.
An important phase III trial involving transplant-eligible patients with multiple myeloma compared bortezomib and dexamethasone (BzD) induction with the previous standard of care. BzD was associated with a higher overall response and a deeper response to therapy that translated to superior responses following high-dose therapy and autologous stem cell transplantation.
A randomized phase III trial of patients with stage II and III colon cancer showed no benefit of adding bevacizumab to standard adjuvant oxaliplatin plus fluorouracil and leucovorin. Despite suggestive evidence of a short-term benefit, these data and other similar findings dictate that adjuvant bevacizumab should not be used in colon cancer.
This article reviews resistance to chemotherapy in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC), which is a result of mechanisms of resistance specific to prostate cancer and to general mechanisms common to different cancer types. New therapies targeting these mechanisms are outlined and their potential impact in future and ongoing clinical trials is discussed. Knowledge of the mechanisms of drug resistance offers great hope for future effective therapy; however, drug resistance in metastatic CRPC is multifactorial and complex and the development of new medical therapies remains challenging.
TheTP53gene is mutated in 50% of reported cancer cases and the p53 pathway is often partially inactivated in the remaining 50%. Clinical trials assessing agents that exploit the p53 system are ongoing. This Review discusses the mechanism of action of these treatments and the future of p53-based therapy.
Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) can present as an acute leukemia that is aggressive and life threatening or in an indolent form that will not require treatment over decades. A number of methods are available to clinicians for the prediction of disease progression and survival on an individual basis, including clinical staging systems and a plethora of novel molecular and biological factors that correlate with the outcome of CLL. This Review provides a concise discussion of the most important discoveries and gives guidance on how to implement novel prognostic tools in the clinical management of CLL by applying the criteria of evidence, relevance, and simplicity to the selection of prognostic markers.
There has been a growing interest in focal treatment for prostate cancer, although this remains a controversial area. Criticism of focal prostate therapy has been based on the fact that prostate cancer is a multifocal disease. The authors of this Review discuss the clinical and biological implications of multifocal prostate cancer in the context of focal therapy patient selection and treatment planning.
Cancer treatment in young women can lead to reduced fertility—a serious issue for patients who wish to have children. In this Perspectives, Letourneau and coauthors highlight the importance of making sure that oncologists and fertility teams are aware of this issue and work together to educate patients of the risks involved. Furthermore, options for fertility preservation are discussed.
