Ben Leach

Articles

Immediate Impact Anticipated From Neoadjuvant Pertuzumab

November 27th 2013

The new indication for pertuzumab (Perjeta) as part of a three-drug neoadjuvant regimen for patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer marks the first time the FDA has authorized a therapy based on pathologic complete response.

Misdiagnoses and Sequencing in Melanoma

November 5th 2013

After decades with few available therapies, a flurry of FDA drug approvals has provided oncologists with a variety of options for treating patients with advanced melanoma.

Perioperative Breast MRI Does Not Lower Recurrence Risk for Early-Stage Patients

October 24th 2013

Patients with DCIS who received an MRI added to mammography before or immediately after receiving a lumpectomy did not experience an improvement in the rate of disease recurrence

A Leader in Both Research and Practice

October 15th 2013

Few of ASCO's past presidents were faced with the multitude of challenges that arose during the presidency of Sandra M. Swain, MD, who is medical director of the Washington Cancer Institute at Medstar Washington Hospital Center and a professor of Medicine at Georgetown University, and is currently ASCO's immediate past president.

Promising TH-302 Results Accelerate Sarcoma Study

September 25th 2013

The list of agents currently available to treat soft-tissue sarcoma is rather short, with no drugs being approved on the basis of an improvement in overall survival in approximately 20 years.

New Data May Dispel Safety Concerns With 5-ARI Use in Prostate Cancer Prevention

September 19th 2013

The Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial, conducted from January 1997 to February 2003, demonstrated that the 5Î±-reductase inhibitor (5-ARI) finasteride reduced the risk of developing prostate cancer in men being regularly screened for the disease

PAM50 Demonstrates Added Clinical Value in Predicting Recurrence Risk

September 19th 2013

The PAM50 test, designed to determine a risk of recurrence score for patients with breast cancer, adds significant prognostic information to clinical decision making and might be superior to other risk assays.

Ofatumumab Receives Breakthrough Therapy Designation for Earlier Use in CLL

September 16th 2013

The monoclonal antibody ofatumumab has received Breakthrough Therapy designation from the FDA that could allow for earlier use in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

In Historic Vote, ODAC Suggests Approval of Neoadjuvant Pertuzumab Regimen

September 12th 2013

The FDA's Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee voted 13-0 with one abstention in support of pertuzumab in combination with trastuzumab and docetaxel for patients with HER2-positive breast cancer in the neoadjuvant setting.

FDA Panel Set to Vote on Milestone Neoadjuvant Pertuzumab Combo

September 11th 2013

The hope for many targeted therapies is that they will eventually be used in patients with earlier stage disease; for the breast cancer drug pertuzumab (Perjeta), that hope is being put to the test.

Updated Phase III Data Show Radium-223 Significantly Improves Survival, Extends Time to First SRE

September 10th 2013

An updated analysis of the results of a phase III clinical trial showed that radium-223 dichloride (Xofigo) significantly improved overall survival and delayed time to the first skeletal-related event in patients with metastatic prostate cancer.

Investigational Vaccine Fails to Extend Disease-Free Survival in Certain Patients with Advanced Melanoma

September 5th 2013

The investigational MAGE-A3 immunotherapeutic did not significantly extend disease-free survival (DFS) in certain patients with postsurgical melanoma when compared with a placebo in a phase III study.

Sorafenib Receives Priority Review for Rare Thyroid Cancer

August 27th 2013

The FDA has given priority review designation to sorafenib for the treatment of locally advanced or metastatic RAI-refractory differentiated thyroid cancer.

CA-125 Monitoring Shows Benefit in Early Detection of Ovarian Cancer

August 26th 2013

A two-pronged approach that includes carbohydrate antigen 125 (CA-125) testing proved highly accurate in screening women for ovarian cancer, including aggressive forms of the disease.

Study Shows Benefit of High-Dose IL-2 in Melanoma Brain Metastases

August 23rd 2013

High doses of interleukin-2 could be used to treat patients with melanoma whose disease has metastasized to the brain, potentially expanding options in a population facing a grim prognosis.

Pazopanib Less Toxic Than Sunitinib in RCC

August 22nd 2013

Patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma could experience a greater quality of life and the same treatment benefit with pazopanib as opposed to sunitinib.

Ruxolitinib Plus Capecitabine Improves Survival in Pancreatic Cancer

August 21st 2013

Adding ruxolitinib to capecitabine significantly improved the survival rate of a subgroup of patients with recurrent or treatment-refractory pancreatic cancer compared with patients in the same population who received capecitabine alone.

Ovarian Cancer Chemoresponse Assay Demonstrates Utility

August 20th 2013

The use of a chemoresponse assay to assess therapy choices for patients with recurrent ovarian cancer correlated with dramatic improvements in overall survival and progression-free survival.

Subgroup Analysis: Certain Patients May Benefit More From Eribulin

August 19th 2013

A subgroup analysis from a phase III study showed that certain patients may benefit more from eribulin than capecitabine, and quality of life data suggest that patients may prefer eribulin because of a lower frequency of certain adverse events.

Experts Discuss Manipulation of T Cells for Therapy in Hematologic Malignancies

August 16th 2013

Finding new ways of manipulating the body's own defenses to better combat various hematologic malignancies is yielding some interesting results and could represent a very promising new field of care for patients dealing with these disorders.