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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 is set for May 31-June 4, with research news beginning to be released on May 15 at 6pm Eastern. Additional research will be released each day of the meeting.
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 3, 2012
A long-term study shows that a combination of bendamustine (Treanda) and rituximab (Rituxan) keeps two uncommon types of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), indolent (slow-growing) lymphoma and mantle cell lymphoma, from worsening longer than standard chemotherapy. Bendamustine and rituximab are drugs called targeted therapies. Targeted therapy is a treatment that targets the cancer's specific genes, proteins, or the tissue environment that contributes to cancer growth and survival.
May 16, 2012
In an early study with the targeted therapy drug crizotinib (Xalkori), researchers found that it stopped the growth of neuroblastoma, anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL), and inflammatory myofibroblastic tumors (IMT), and in some instances, removed all signs of the cancer.
May 20, 2010
Recent research shows that patients with follicular lymphoma who received the drug rituximab (Rituxan) for two years as maintenance therapy were less likely to have a recurrence (return of cancer after treatment). Maintenance therapy is longer-term treatment given after initial treatment to keep the cancer from returning.
May 31, 2009
Researchers found that a vaccine called BiovaxID delayed the return of a type of B-cell lymphoma, called follicular lymphoma, by about 14 months for patients whose lymphoma was in remission (the temporary or permanent absence of disease) after treatment with prednisone (multiple brand names), doxorubicin (Adriamycin), cyclophosphamide (Cytoxan, Clafen, Neosar), and etoposide (VePesid, Toposar) - a combination called PACE. The BiovaxID vaccine is made for each patient using proteins that are found on the person's lymphoma cells. It is made from the cells collected during removal of the lymph nodes (tiny, bean-shaped organs that help fight infection). These cells are then processed to create antibodies, which are substances made by the body to help fight infection. These antibodies are designed to kill the patient's own lymphoma cells and are returned to the patient in the form of a vaccine.
June 5, 2004
Three new studies suggest that adding rituximab (Rituxan), a monoclonal antibody therapy, to chemotherapy is an effective treatment for several types of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). Monoclonal antibodies are laboratory-made substances that recognize and attach to specific proteins (called antigens) on the outside of lymphocytes (white blood cells). Rituximab binds to an antigen on lymphoma cells called CD20. Researchers think that this action helps the body's immune system destroy the cancer cells.