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Research Summaries
Using the drop-down menu below, read about highlighted scientific news from ASCO's Annual Meetings since 2002. You can select a specific year and/or a specific topic, such as a type of cancer. Selecting "All" will take you to a complete list of articles that appear under all categories.
The 2013 ASCO Annual Meeting was held May 31-June 4, with research news released starting May 15. The 2014 event will be held May 30-June 3.
To read these summaries categorized into a yearly newsletter, you can also review Cancer Advances: News for Patients from the ASCO Annual Meeting.
Don’t forget to check out audio podcasts and videos about this news, as well. And, in addition to the highlighted studies below, thousands of scientific abstracts are released each year at the ASCO Annual Meeting. To search the entire collection of meeting abstracts, visit ASCO's website.
June 2, 2007
Lower doses of chemotherapy yield survival rates higher than 90% for infants and children with stage III or IV neuroblastoma, a new study finds. Neuroblastoma is a cancer that forms in the nerve tissues in the neck, chest, abdomen, pelvis, or adrenal gland in infants and young children. Although survival rates are generally high with the current standard treatment, the treatment can have long-term side effects, such as heart and kidney damage and hearing loss.
June 2, 2007
A report from Dutch researchers shows that giving radiation therapy to the head lowers the risk of the spread of cancer to the brain and helps patients with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer live longer.
June 2, 2007
Adding shark cartilage extract to standard chemotherapy and radiation therapy for patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer does not extend patients' lives, according to a large phase III clinical trial.
June 5, 2006
Findings from the Study of Tamoxifen and Raloxifene (STAR) trial, one of the largest breast cancer prevention clinical trials ever conducted, show that tamoxifen (Nolvadex) and raloxifene (Evista) both reduce the risk of invasive breast cancer (cancer that has spread into the surrounding breast tissue) by about 50% in women at high risk for the disease.
June 5, 2006
Surgery to remove the ovaries and fallopian tubes in women with mutations (changes) in certain breast cancer genes ( and reduces the risk of developing breast and ovarian cancers, according to a long-term study. This reduction in risk varies according to the type of mutation. For example, women with mutations in the gene have a larger decrease in ovarian cancer risk following the surgery, while those with mutations have a larger decrease in breast cancer risk.
June 4, 2006
A new study from Finland shows that a vaccine (Gardasil) developed to prevent cervical cancer could also prevent cancers of the vagina and vulva associated with the human papillomavirus (HPV), the same virus linked to cervical cancer. According to Jorma Paavonen, MD, Professor and Chief Physician, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Helsinki, and the study's lead author, HPV is present in 80% of the 6,000 cases of vaginal and vulvar cancers diagnosed in the United States each year.
June 4, 2006
Two new drugs, sunitinib (Sutent) and temsirolimus (CCI-779), benefit patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma, a common type of kidney cancer, according to two different clinical trials. Advanced kidney cancer is hard to treat and there is no effective chemotherapy for it. The standard treatment is interferon-a (Roferon) or interleukin-2 or aldesleukin (Proleukin), but these drugs only work in a small number of patients and are associated with serious side effects.
June 4, 2006
Adding thalidomide (Thalomid) to the standard treatment of melphalan (Alkeran) and prednisone (MP, a class of drug similar to cortisone) significantly improves survival for newly-diagnosed patients age 65 and older with multiple myeloma, according to a new study. This is the first and only clinical trial to compare MP and thalidomide with either MP alone or a stem cell transplantation.
June 4, 2006
A new study shows for the first time that modafinil (Provigil), a drug generally used to treat sleeping disorders, improves cognitive functions (such as concentration and attention) and mood and lowers fatigue levels in patients with brain cancer.
June 4, 2006
Findings from a clinical trial show that induction chemotherapy (chemotherapy that is given before other treatment) with docetaxel (Taxotere), cisplatin (Platinol), and fluorouracil (5-FU) reduces the risk of death by 30% for patients with advanced head and neck cancer. Patients were then given weekly chemotherapy together with radiation therapy (chemoradiotherapy) to complete their treatment. This treatment program is referred to as sequential therapy.