Treatment Options

Adenocarcinoma of the Pancreas Bookmark

Curated by Editor in Chief George Lundberg, MD:

“Pancreatic cancer is the tenth most common cancer in men and the ninth most common in women, but it is the fourth leading cause of cancer deaths, being responsible for 7% of all cancer-related deaths in men and 8% in women.”

To learn more about pancreatic cancer, check out this comprehensive, credible, authoritative, up-to-date description and discussion from Medscape. (Free registration may be required to view the content.)

Long-Term Survival in Glioblastoma Bookmark

Curated by Editor in Chief George Lundberg, MD:

When overall clinical trial results are presented as “medians,” obviously, the same number of patients lived longer as did those who lived less long than the median. It can be useful to study the “tail” of the long survivors for clues of combinations of treatments that  may help others. A July 2019 Journal of Neuro-Oncology paper explores this topic.

Brainstem Gliomas Bookmark

Curated by Editor in Chief George Lundberg, MD:

A brainstem glioma is a very serious disease that is rare and mostly affects children. Diffuse pontine intrinsic glioma  (DPIG) is one type of brainstem glioma. For an authoritative, up-to-date, detailed, comprehensive, and unbiased overview of brainstem gliomas, check out this presentation and discussion. (You may be required to register for free to view it.)

Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM) Bookmark

Curated by Editor in Chief George Lundberg, MD:

Most malignant brain tumors are gliomas, which begin in nerve-supporting cells known as glial cells. “Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most common and most malignant of the glial tumors,” according to this comprehensive presentation about GBM. Check it out for an authoritative, up-to-date, detailed, unbiased perspective. (You may be required to register for free to view the presentation.)

Nuclear Medicine Therapy Shows Long-Term Effectiveness for Malignant Neuroendocrine Tumors Bookmark

Excerpt from the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging:

“A 12-year retrospective clinical study of patients who received peptide receptor radionuclide therapy (PRRT) for malignant neuroendocrine tumors demonstrates the long-term effectiveness of this treatment, which also allows patients to maintain a high quality of life. The study is featured in the April issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine.

“While PRRT has been used for more than 20 years to treat patients with inoperable or metastatic somatostatin receptor–positive tumors, knowledge of long-term outcomes has been limited. A number of clinical studies have demonstrated PRRT’s efficacy, and the overall response rate (including complete response, partial response, minor response, and stable disease) is about 70-80 percent for the two most commonly used radiopharmaceuticals: yttrium-90 (⁹⁰Y)-DOTATOC (best suited for treating larger tumors) and lutetium-177 (¹⁷⁷Lu)-DOTATATE (preferred for smaller tumors). For patients who respond to PRRT, the prognosis is generally favorable, with a median time to disease progression of three to four years.”

Go to full article published by the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging on April 26, 2019.

If you’re wondering whether this story applies to your own cancer case or a loved one’s, we invite you to get support from Cancer Commons.

FDA Expands Pembrolizumab Indication for First-Line Treatment of NSCLC (Tps ≥1%) Bookmark

Excerpt:

“On April 11, 2019, the Food and Drug Administration approved pembrolizumab (KEYTRUDA, Merck Inc.) for the first-line treatment of patients with stage III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who are not candidates for surgical resection or definitive chemoradiation or metastatic NSCLC. Patients’ tumors must have no EGFR or ALK genomic aberrations and express PD-L1 (Tumor Proportion Score [TPS] ≥1%) determined by an FDA-approved test.

“Pembrolizumab was previously approved as a single agent for the first-line treatment of patients with metastatic NSCLC whose tumors express PD-L1 TPS ≥50%.”

Go to full article published by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on April 11, 2019.

If you’re wondering whether this story applies to your own cancer case or a loved one’s, we invite you to get support from Cancer Commons.

Pembrolizumab Shows Durable Benefit as Third-Line Treatment of Advanced Small Cell Lung Cancer Bookmark

Excerpt:

“Pembrolizumab demonstrated antitumor activity and induced durable responses in patients with advanced small cell lung cancer who had received two or more previous lines of therapy, according to pooled data from two KEYNOTE trials presented at American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting.”

Go to full article published by Healio on April 3, 2019

If you’re wondering whether this story applies to your own cancer case or a loved one’s, we invite you to get support from Cancer Commons.

Many Elderly Patients with Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma Benefit from Targeted Therapies Bookmark

Article from Medical Xpress curated by Editor in Chief George Lundberg, MD, who notes: 

Ageism (bias against the elderly) is a real issue in the selection of patients to be included in clinical trials. A new study demonstrates how such bias may harm the elderly with renal cell carcinoma.

Go to full article published by Medical Xpress.

If you’re wondering whether this story applies to your own cancer case or a loved one’s, we invite you to get support from Cancer Commons.