ASCO Releases Studies From Upcoming Annual Meeting

Main Category: Cancer / Oncology
Article Date: 19 May 2008 - 3:00 PDT

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The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) released the vast majority of its nearly 4,300 abstracts which will be presented at its upcoming 44th Annual Meeting. Six abstracts from those released were highlighted in a special presscast earlier today. The abstracts, released today at 9:00pm (EDT) may be accessed on-line at ASCO's Web site, http://www.asco.org.

"Treating cancer is about both treating the disease and caring for the individual patient. The studies highlighted today address the full range of cancer care - from new therapies to managing the long-term effects of treatment," said Richard L. Schilsky, MD, president-elect of ASCO and professor of medicine at the University of Chicago, who co-moderated the briefing.

"As the new cancer research we released this year shows, there is quite a bit to be excited about," said Julie Gralow, MD, chair of ASCO's Cancer Communications Committee and associate professor of medicine at the University of Washington, who moderated the briefing with Dr. Schilsky. "But as a nation we face two critical challenges to advancing cancer care - stalled federal funding for cancer research and limited access to high-quality cancer care. If we don't start reinvesting soon, the current pace of progress will be jeopardized. As a result, fewer patients will benefit from scientific advances."

Study findings include:

- Women with vitamin D deficiency at the time of breast cancer diagnosis were more likely to experience spread (metastasis) of their cancer and more likely to die, compared to women with adequate vitamin D levels; moreover, more than a third of women with breast cancer had deficient levels of vitamin D.

- The number of mastectomies performed at Mayo Clinic Rochester increased 13 percent in three years among women with early-stage breast cancer, and women who received breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) before surgery were more likely to undergo mastectomy than those who did not.

- A major study of more than 14,000 survivors of childhood cancers found survivors are five to ten times more likely than their healthy siblings to develop heart disease in early adulthood.

- In a significant lung cancer advance, a study found that maintenance therapy with the anti-cancer drug pemetrexed (Alimta) delays the time it takes for advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) to progress.

- Giving combination chemotherapy every two weeks is more effective than every three weeks in patients with Ewing's sarcoma, and does not increase side effects.

- A set of 15 genes may predict the aggressiveness of early-stage non-small cell lung cancer and identify patients who might benefit most from chemotherapy after surgery.

For consumer-oriented information on these studies and more than 120 cancer types and cancer-related syndromes, please refer your readers to ASCO's oncologist-vetted patient website, http://www.cancer.net.

American Society of Clinical Oncology