Oncology News

• UK Variant Spreading in the US as COVID Mutations Raise Stakes The United Kingdom's B117 variant is circulating in at least 24 states, and British mortality data and advanced genomic-sequencing efforts offer key insights as cases rise.
  Medscape Medical News, January 26, 2021
• Global Thyroid Cancer Overdiagnosis in Children and Adolescents The incidence of thyroid cancer among children and adolescents around the world mimics the patterns in adults, which are attributed to an "epidemic of overdiagnosis."
  Medscape Medical News, January 26, 2021
• New Technique Uses Voice to Evaluate Thyroid Nodules An investigational elastography technique for evaluating thyroid nodules uses an ultrasound device held to the throat while an individual vocalises.
  Medscape Medical News, January 26, 2021
• Global Demand for Cancer Surgery Expected to Soar The demand for cancer surgery will soar, along with a demand for surgeons and anesthesists, but perioperative care needs to improve, particularly in lower-income countries.
  Medscape Medical News, January 26, 2021
• Even Patients With Cancer in Remission at Risk for Severe COVID A new study shows that, like patients with active cancer, even patients with cancer that is in remission are at increased risk for severe COVID-19 complications.
  Medscape Medical News, January 26, 2021
• GICS 2021 High Cost of Pancreatic Enzymes a Barrier for Patients With Cancer These products are often essential for the treatment of pancreatic cancer, but out-of-pocket costs for a 30-day supply on Medicare can reach $1000 or more.
  Medscape Medical News, January 26, 2021
• GICS 2021 Triplet Shows 'Promising' Activity in Unresectable/Metastatic CRC Combining an EGFR inhibitor with a pair of checkpoint inhibitors can produce 'promising' activity in certain patients with colorectal cancer, according to an investigator from a phase 2 trial.
  Medscape Medical News, January 25, 2021
• How Much Does Drinking Alcohol Contribute to US Cancer Burden? Alcohol consumption accounts for 4.8% of all cancer cases overall, but this rises to 12.1% of female breast cancer, 11% of colorectal cancer, and more than 45% of mouth and throat cancers.
  Medscape Medical News, January 25, 2021
• SABCS 2020 'Major Advancement' in Preventing Neutropenia, Says Trialist Growth factors have been the standard of care for preventing chemotherapy-induced neutropenia for decades. Could adding a new agent improve efficacy, and what should be the measure of that efficacy?
  Medscape Medical News, January 25, 2021
• ColCORONA: Colchicine Reduces Complications in Outpatient COVID-19 The primary endpoint was not significant in the overall population, but in those with PCR-confirmed COVID, treatment reduced hospitalization, need for ventilation, and death, top-line results show.
  Medscape Medical News, January 24, 2021
• Tool Predicts Severe Toxicity From Chemo in Breast Cancer A new tool for predicting the risk of severe chemotherapy toxicity in older adults with early-stage breast cancer outperforms existing models.
  Medscape Medical News, January 22, 2021
• Adding Liothyronine for Hypothyroidism Doesn't Up Breast Cancer Risk A large Swedish study shows those treated with LT3 in combination with LT4 for hypothyroidism have no greater breast cancer risk than individuals taking LT4 alone.
  Medscape Medical News, January 22, 2021
• GICS 2021 Novel Blood Test Detects Precancerous Colorectal Adenomas A novel multiomics blood test was shown to detect advanced colorectal adenomas at comparable or better rates than currently available stool tests.
  Medscape Medical News, January 21, 2021
• Trump Pardons a Handful of Physicians on His Way Out One of those pardoned was sentenced in a $70 million Medicare fraud scheme.
  Medscape Medical News, January 21, 2021
• Cancer Screenings Rebound After COVID Surge, but Catch-Up Needed A single-institution study shows that cancer screenings rebounded after the first COVID surge, but an expert stresses the need for catch-up and finding missed diagnoses.
  Medscape Medical News, January 21, 2021
• Mental Illness Tied to High Risk of Physical Disease, Death Mental illness in young individuals is associated with a strikingly high risk of subsequent physical illness, disability, and premature mortality, results of a large longitudinal study show.
  Medscape Medical News, January 20, 2021
• GICS 2021 New Standard for Borderline Resectable Pancreatic Cancer Neoadjuvant mFOLFIRINOX was associated with favorable overall survival compared to historical data, but the addition of hypofractionated radiotherapy did not improve outcomes.
  Medscape Medical News, January 20, 2021
• Alert FDA Approves First and Only Treatment for AL Amyloidosis Accelerated approval has been granted to daratumumab in combination with bortezomib, cyclophosphamide, and dexamethasone for treatment of newly diagnosed light chain amyloidosis.
  FDA Approvals, January 20, 2021
• Bemarituzumab FIGHTs Gastric/GEJ Cancers, Improving Survival Adding bemarituzumab to chemotherapy as first-line treatment for advanced gastric and gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) cancers improved survival over chemotherapy alone in the phase 2 FIGHT trial.
  Medscape Medical News, January 19, 2021
• Many ED Visits May Be Preventable for Patients With NSCLC The authors of a study in JCO Oncology Practice note that unplanned hospital visits are among the largest drivers of increased spending in advanced cancer care, accounting for 48% of spending.
  Medscape Medical News, January 19, 2021