January 2011 Briefing - Hematology & Oncology

Here are what the editors at HealthDay consider to be the most important developments in Hematology & Oncology for January 2011. This roundup includes the latest research news from journal articles, as well as the FDA approvals and regulatory changes that are the most likely to affect clinical practice.

In Asians, Many Polyps <10 mm Have Advanced Histology

MONDAY, Jan. 31 (HealthDay News) -- Many polyps smaller than 10 mm in Asian patients have advanced histologic features, so Asian patients with polyps larger than 5 mm should be referred for colonoscopy and polypectomy rather than computed tomography colonography (CTC) surveillance, according to a study published in the January issue of Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology.

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Radiofrequency Ablation, Surgery Equal in Small HCC

MONDAY, Jan. 31 (HealthDay News) -- Overall survival is comparable for patients with small hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) treated with surgical resection (SR) or radiofrequency ablation (RFA), according to a study published in the January issue of Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology.

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Prostate Cancer in Men Over 70 More Aggressive

MONDAY, Jan. 31 (HealthDay News) -- As men age, parameters that are consistent with more aggressive prostate cancer become prevalent, according to research published in the January issue of The Journal of Urology.

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New Device May Help Surgeons Resect Brain Tumors

MONDAY, Jan. 31 (HealthDay News) -- A newly developed optical touch pointer (OTP) used to differentiate between healthy tissue and tumor tissue by means of fiber-optic fluorescence spectroscopy can help surgeons during resection of malignant brain tumors, according to a study published in the January issue of Lasers in Surgery and Medicine.

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Magnetic Resonance Imaging Classifies Liver Cancer

MONDAY, Jan. 31 (HealthDay News) -- Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and histological biopsy analysis are both efficient methods for subtyping hepatocellular adenomas (HCAs), according to a study published online Jan. 12 in Hepatology.

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HIV Patients Tolerate Radiation for Head-and-Neck Cancer

FRIDAY, Jan. 28 (HealthDay News) -- Radiation therapy is relatively well tolerated in appropriately selected patients with HIV, according to a study published in the Jan. 1 issue of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology*Biology*Physics.

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Menopausal Symptoms Linked to Lower Risk of Breast Cancer

FRIDAY, Jan. 28 (HealthDay News) -- Women who experience menopausal symptoms and have increased intensity of hot flushes have a reduced risk of postmenopausal breast cancer, according to a study published online Jan. 6 in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.

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Cancer Patients Unlikely to Seek Help to Quit Smoking

FRIDAY, Jan. 28 (HealthDay News) -- Although most patients diagnosed with cancer report receiving advice to quit smoking, less than half of them actually express an interest in joining a smoking cessation program, according to a study published online Jan. 10 in Cancer.

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Gynecologic Oncologists Improve Patient Survival Rates

FRIDAY, Jan. 28 (HealthDay News) -- Patients with high-risk endometrial cancer, who are under the care of gynecologic oncologists, have improved survival rates, according to a study published online Jan. 24 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

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Resection of Colorectal Liver Metastases Ups Survival

THURSDAY, Jan. 27 (HealthDay News) -- Two-stage resection (TSR) is associated with good outcomes for patients with advanced colorectal liver metastases (CLM) compared to those treated nonsurgically, according to a study published online Jan. 24 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

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Transplantation Risk Factors of Delirium Onset Identified

THURSDAY, Jan. 27 (HealthDay News) -- Pre- and post-transplantation risk factors may be able to assist in identifying patients at risk for delirium onset and severity during the acute phase of myeloablative hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (HSCT), according to a study published online Jan. 24 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

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Smoking Explains Much of Europe's Mortality Gender Gap

THURSDAY, Jan. 27 (HealthDay News) -- Smoking appears to account for 40 to 60 percent of the gender gap in mortality across Europe, according to research published online Jan. 12 in Tobacco Control.

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Breast Implants May Be Associated With Rare Cancer

WEDNESDAY, Jan. 26 (HealthDay News) -- Saline or silicone gel-filled breast implants may be associated with anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced today. The agency requested that health care professionals report any confirmed cases of the disease in women with implants.

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Electronic Health Records May Not Improve Care Quality

WEDNESDAY, Jan. 26 (HealthDay News) -- Electronic health records (EHRs) and clinical decision support (CDS) do not appear to improve the quality of clinical care, according to a study published online Jan. 24 in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

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False-Positive Mammogram Results Affect Quality of Life

TUESDAY, Jan. 25 (HealthDay News) -- Women who receive false-positive results from routine breast cancer screenings may experience a low quality of life and feelings of anxiety for at least one year, according to a study published online Dec. 20 in the British Journal of Surgery.

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ASCO Issues Statement on Advanced Cancer Care

TUESDAY, Jan. 25 (HealthDay News) -- The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) has issued a policy statement that recommends steps to ensure that physicians initiate discussions about palliative care and treatment options shortly after patients are diagnosed with advanced cancer. The statement has been published online Jan. 24 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

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Smoking Tied to Modest Increase in Breast Cancer Risk

TUESDAY, Jan. 25 (HealthDay News) -- Active smoking has a modest effect on the risk of developing breast cancer, according to a study published in the Jan. 24 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.

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Anti-Estrogens May Slow Lung Cancer Progression

MONDAY, Jan. 24 (HealthDay News) -- Women with breast cancer who are treated with anti-estrogens have a lower lung cancer mortality rate than the general population, according to a study published online Jan. 24 in Cancer.

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Research Questions Smoking-Melanoma Link

MONDAY, Jan. 24 (HealthDay News) -- The inverse relationship between cigarette smoking and melanoma is not statistically significant after adjustment for factors including ultraviolet (UV) exposure and number of sunburns, according to a report in the January issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.

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Follow-Up Programs Tied to Early Melanoma Detection

FRIDAY, Jan. 21 (HealthDay News) -- Including patients at high risk for melanoma in follow-up programs can result in detection of early-stage disease, and a lower percentage of primary care physicians than dermatologists perform full-body skin examinations on patients, according two studies published in the January issue of the Archives of Dermatology.

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Depression in Cancer Patients Less Common Than Thought

FRIDAY, Jan. 21 (HealthDay News) -- Depression and anxiety may be less common in cancer patients than previously thought, but mood disorders still occur in a substantial number of patients in various hospital settings, according to research published online Jan. 19 in The Lancet Oncology.

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Radiotherapy Increases Risk of Death From Cardiac Disease

THURSDAY, Jan. 20 (HealthDay News) -- Radiotherapy may increase the long-term risk of death from cardiovascular disease, especially in women with left-sided breast cancer who are treated with contemporary tangential breast or chest-wall radiotherapy, according to a study in the Jan. 25 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

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Detecting Occult Lymph Node Metastases Has Little Benefit

WEDNESDAY, Jan. 19 (HealthDay News) -- Occult metastases are prognostic variables in patients with breast cancer who have negative sentinel lymph node biopsies, but the difference in five-year outcome is very small, according to a study published online Jan. 19 in the New England Journal of Medicine.

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Basal-Like Breast CA Equally Aggressive for Different Races

WEDNESDAY, Jan. 19 (HealthDay News) -- Basal-like breast cancer is not more aggressive among African-American individuals than whites; however, in patients with luminal A cancer, African-American women experience worse outcomes, according to a study published in the Dec. 15 issue of Clinical Cancer Research.

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Global Mesothelioma Rates Underreported

TUESDAY, Jan. 18 (HealthDay News) -- Worldwide, one case of mesothelioma goes unreported for every four or five that are reported, according to an estimate based on available data on asbestos use and mesothelioma cases published online Jan. 6 in Environmental Health Perspectives.

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Western Diet Linked to Aggressive Breast Cancer

TUESDAY, Jan. 18 (HealthDay News) -- A Western diet high in fat and cholesterol may be linked to larger, faster-growing tumors that metastasize more easily in mice predisposed to breast cancer, according to a study published in the January issue of the American Journal of Pathology.

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Adjuvant Breast Cancer Therapies Offer Similar Survival

TUESDAY, Jan. 18 (HealthDay News) -- Adjuvant breast cancer therapy with an aromatase inhibitor (exemestane) alone, or used following tamoxifen, offers similar disease-free survival rates but different side-effect profiles, according to a study published online Jan. 18 in The Lancet.

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Predictors of Discharge Status After Cystectomy Identified

MONDAY, Jan. 17 (HealthDay News) -- Predictors of discharge status after radical cystectomy (RC) include sociodemographic factors, preoperative performance status, comorbidities, and perioperative factors, according to research published in the January issue of The Journal of Urology.

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Poor Pre-Op Nutrition Tied to Mortality Risk After Cystectomy

FRIDAY, Jan. 14 (HealthDay News) -- Nutritional deficiency, as measured by preoperative weight loss, serum albumin, and body mass index (BMI), is a strong predictor of poor overall survival and 90-day mortality in patients undergoing radical cystectomy (RC) for urothelial carcinoma, according to research published in the January issue of The Journal of Urology.

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CDC Report Highlights Important Health Disparities

THURSDAY, Jan. 13 (HealthDay News) -- Among Americans, disparities in income, race and ethnicity, gender, and other social attributes have an impact on whether an individual is healthy or ill or will die prematurely, according to a report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, released as a supplement to the Jan. 14 issue of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

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MRI During Chemotherapy IDs Subtypes of Breast Cancer

THURSDAY, Jan. 13 (HealthDay News) -- Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can be used to monitor response during neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC), and it is effective in triple-negative or human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive breast cancer, according to a study published online Jan. 10 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

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Non-Conventional Radiotherapy May Reduce Dry Mouth

THURSDAY, Jan. 13 (HealthDay News) -- Parotid-sparing intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) is less likely than conventional radiotherapy to result in dry mouth in patients treated for head and neck cancer, according to research published online Jan. 13 in The Lancet Oncology.

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Men More Open to HPV Vaccine If Framed As Averting Cancer

THURSDAY, Jan. 13 (HealthDay News) -- Men are more willing to receive the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine when they learn that it also prevents HPV-related cancers as opposed to solely genital warts, according to research published in the August issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.

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Cost of Cancer Care May Increase 39 Percent by 2020

THURSDAY, Jan. 13 (HealthDay News) -- Estimates and projections of the medical cost of cancer care in the United States through 2020 indicate that this cost may increase by at least 27 percent and potentially up to 39 percent, according to research published online Jan. 12 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

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Behavioral Therapy Reduces Incontinence After Surgery

TUESDAY, Jan. 11 (HealthDay News) -- Behavioral therapy may help to significantly reduce persistent postprostatectomy incontinence, according to a study published in the Jan. 12 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

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Cancer Patients' Sleep Issues Linked to Smoking, Anxiety

TUESDAY, Jan. 11 (HealthDay News) -- Lung cancer patients should be assessed for sleep disturbances, anxiety, smoking, and alcohol consumption, according to a study published in the January issue of Journal of Addictions Nursing.

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FDA Warns of Morphine Sulfate Oral Solution Overdose

TUESDAY, Jan. 11 (HealthDay News) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Roxane Laboratories have notified health care professionals of serious adverse events and deaths associated with accidental overdose of morphine sulfate oral solutions, especially with the high potency (100 mg per 5 mL) product. In most cases, solutions ordered in milligrams (mg) were mistakenly interchanged for milliliters (mL) of the product.

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Burnout Levels Particularly High in Residents

MONDAY, Jan. 10 (HealthDay News) -- The incidence of burnout and risk for burnout are high in physicians, particularly residents, and more than a quarter of anesthesiology chairs meet criteria for high burnout, according to two articles published in the January issue of Anesthesiology.

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Quality-of-Life Reporting Methodology May Fall Short

MONDAY, Jan. 10 (HealthDay News) -- Quality-of-life (QOL) measurements are frequently taken into account in trials for breast cancer, but an updated review and analysis of the literature suggests the reporting methodology has room for improvement; the research has been published online Jan. 7 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

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Abstral Approved for Adults With Cancer Pain

MONDAY, Jan. 10 (HealthDay News) -- Fentanyl (Abstral) tablets have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to help opioid-tolerant adults with cancer manage breakthrough pain.

National Institute on Drug Abuse

Region Affects Race Disparity in Colorectal Cancer Screening

MONDAY, Jan. 10 (HealthDay News) -- Colorectal screening among the nonwhite population in the United States appears to vary according to region compared to whites, who have little geographic variation in colorectal screening, according to a study published online Jan. 15 in Cancer.

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Physical Activity Lowers Risk of Colon Cancer Death

MONDAY, Jan. 10 (HealthDay News) -- People who participate in long-term physical activity have a decreased risk of death from colon cancer, according to a study published in the December issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.

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KRAS Mutations Predictive of CRC Treatment Failure

THURSDAY, Jan. 6 (HealthDay News) -- Individuals with KRAS mutations treated with anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (anti-EGFR)-based therapy for advanced colorectal cancer (CRC) appear to experience reduced survival and higher treatment failure rates, according to a review published in the Jan. 4 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.

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High Folate Levels Tied to Silenced Tumor Suppressors

THURSDAY, Jan. 6 (HealthDay News) -- Higher blood levels of folate may result in the methylation of two tumor-suppressing genes in colorectal tissue, according to research published in the December issue of Cancer Prevention Research.

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Familial Risk for Fatal Cancer As High As for Incident Cancers

THURSDAY, Jan. 6 (HealthDay News) -- Familial risks for fatal cancers appear to be at least as high as those for incident cancers for several common cancers, according to a study published online Jan. 4 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

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Iniparib Increases Survival in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer

WEDNESDAY, Jan. 5 (HealthDay News) -- The addition of iniparib, a poly(adenosine diphosphate-ribose) polymerase inhibitor, to chemotherapy appears to increase survival and improve clinical benefit in patients with metastatic triple-negative breast cancer, according to research published online Jan. 5 in the New England Journal of Medicine.

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Exercise Linked to Lower Mortality in Prostate Cancer

WEDNESDAY, Jan. 5 (HealthDay News) -- Among men with prostate cancer (PCa), physical activity appears to be associated with lower overall mortality risk and a lower risk of PCa mortality, according to a study published online Jan. 4 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

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FDA: Equivalence Reviews Required for Tobacco Products

WEDNESDAY, Jan. 5 (HealthDay News) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced today that certain tobacco products, including cigarettes, roll-your-own tobacco, and all smokeless products, introduced or changed in the United States after Feb. 15, 2007, must be reviewed by the agency. In its newly published guidance, the agency says that any company marketing a tobacco product must prove that the product is "substantially equivalent" to products commercially available on Feb. 15, 2007.

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Bevacizumab Tied to Congestive Heart Failure Risk

WEDNESDAY, Jan. 5 (HealthDay News) -- Bevacizumab appears to be associated with a significantly increased risk of congestive heart failure (CHF) among patients with breast cancer, according to research published online Jan. 4 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

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Colonoscopy Offers Strong Protection Against CRC

TUESDAY, Jan. 4 (HealthDay News) -- Colonoscopy may be associated with a strongly reduced risk for colorectal cancer (CRC), with risk reduction observed for both left-sided and right-sided CRC, according to research published in the Jan. 4 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.

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Estrogen May Promote Spread of Head and Neck Cancer

TUESDAY, Jan. 4 (HealthDay News) -- Estrogen appears to induce the expression of genes that ultimately promote the development of head and neck cancers, according to research published in the January issue of Cancer Prevention Research.

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