Clinical Oncology News - May 2009 - Digital Exclusive Edition

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McMahon Publishing

Advances in Cancer Care CLINICALONCOLOGY.COM • MAY 2009

FDA NEWS

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• Everolimus approved for advanced kidney cancer. • Bevacizumab granted accelerated approval for glioblastoma. • System for treating skin manifestations of CTCL approved.

HEMATOLOGIC DISEASE

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Dexamethasone reduces relapses in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia. SOLID TUMORS

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Higher dose of fulvestrant may improve outcomes in patients with breast cancer.

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For locally advanced breast cancer, neoadjuvant trastuzumab to become standard of care. CLINICAL TRIALS

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A list of Phase II and III trials initiated within the past 30 days. S PE C I AL O FF ERS

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Information on how to order our popular pocket guides and wall charts such as Cancer Therapeutic Regimens.

PET Is Powerful Tool for Staging Bladder Cancer

Chemo-Related Cardiotoxicity Not Managed Appropriately

Orlando, Fla.—Positron emission tomography (PET) scanning is more accurate than computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) alone for determining the extent of disease in patients with bladder cancer, according to a new study. Data, presented at the 2009 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium (abstract 239), revealed that fluorodeoxyglucosepositron emission tomography (FDGPET) has excellent sensitivity and specificity in detection of metastatic bladder cancer and can provide additional diagnostic information that may significantly enhance clinical management. PET scans found more disease than CT or MRI in 40% of cases when recurrence was suspected and scans helped avoid see BLADDER, page 16

C. difficile Infection On the Rise in Cancer Patients Washington—Clostridium difficile infections (CDIs) are on the rise in cancer patients, prolonging hospital stays and increasing morbidity and mortality rates, according to a new study. The study also suggests that clinicians should consider therapies other than metronidazole, the standard therapy, for patients with severe CDI. “This problem is on the rise, and it is becoming a bigger problem across the country. It is going to affect our cancer patients, and we are probably going to see a worse outcome in this immunocompromised population,” said study investigator Roy Chemaly, MD, MPH, associate professor of medicine and

WWW.CMEZONE.COM

see CLOSTRIDIUM, page 6

Did you win the Ipod Touch? See page 13.

Orlando, Fla.—Patients with cancer who develop chemotherapy-related left ventricular (LV) dysfunction often are not appropriately treated or referred for a cardiology consultation, especially if they have asymptomatic LV dysfunction. Only half of symptomatic patients were referred to a cardiologist for their LV dysfunction, according to a retrospective

analysis reported at the 58th annual meeting of the American College of Cardiology (ACC; abstract 1033-202). “There is a very large disconnect, unfortunately, between oncologists and cardiologists,” said Ronald Witteles, MD, senior author of the study and assistant professor of medicine at Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif. see VENTRICULAR, page 6

POLICY & MANAGEMENT

Multidisciplinary, Nurse Navigator Program Excels in GI Cancer Care San Francisco—Patients with gastrointestinal cancer seen within a multidisciplinary care program required significantly fewer clinic visits before beginning treatment and received quicker access to treatments. This is the finding from a novel program that involves a nurse navigator at the Vermont Cancer Center in Burlington. A more structured approach to the management of patients with pancreatic, esophageal, gastric, liver and biliary tract cancers has allowed for more timely evaluation and treatment in a highly coordinated

fashion, thanks mainly to the efforts of a nurse navigator. The program was described at the 2009 American Society of Clinical Oncology Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium by Nicole Messier, RN, nurse navigator, and the surgeon who pushed for the development of the program, Laurence E. McCahill, MD, physician-researcher and surgical oncologist, both of the Upper GI Multidisciplinary Clinic at Vermont Cancer Center. Ms. Messier, who has experience in see MULTIDISCIPLINARY, page 3

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