News for Patients from the Journal of Clinical Oncology

Below are summaries of research advances in clinical oncology. The information presented in Cancer Advances is the same information the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) provides to cancer physicians, in consumer terms.

Cancer Advances: Two Studies Report Women With Small HER2-Positive Breast Cancers Have an Increased Risk of Cancer Recurrence and Metastasis and May Benefit From Adjuvant Trastuzumab Therapy
November 2, 2009

Two retrospective studies led by researchers in the United States and Italy report that women with HER2-positive breast cancers 1 cm or less in diameter that have not spread to the lymph nodes (“node-negative” tumors) have a risk of recurrence that is two to five times greater than that of women with HER2-negative breast cancers. The U.S. study also identified an increased risk of metastasis among women with small HER2-positive tumors, compared to those with HER2-negative tumors.

Cancer Advances: Study Projects Significant Increases in Cancer Incidence, Especially Among Minorities and the Elderly, by 2030
April 29, 2009

The total number of Americans diagnosed with cancer each year will rise from 1.6 million cases in 2010 to 2.3 million cases annually by 2030, with disproportionate increases among the elderly and minorities says a new study by researchers at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Cancer Advances: Study Finds Association Between Inflammatory Protein and Cancer Risk, Mortality
March 16, 2009

A large Danish study has found that C-reactive protein (CRP)—a blood-based protein that indicates inflammation in the body and is used to predict heart disease risk—may also be associated with the risk of developing cancer and with earlier cancer death.

Cancer Advances: Study Shows Liver Cancer Incidence Has Tripled, but Survival Rates Are Improving
February 17, 2009

A new study has shown that the incidence of liver cancer in the United States tripled between 1975 and 2005. Researchers also found that survival rates improved for patients diagnosed with liver cancer, as more patients were diagnosed at earlier stages, when the disease is more treatable. The study, by researchers at the National Cancer Institute, appears in the February 17, 2009 online edition of the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Cancer Advances: Women with Early-Stage Endometrial Cancer Can Safely Keep Their Ovaries and Avoid Early Menopause
January 26, 2009

In the largest study to date on the safety of ovarian preservation in younger women surgically treated for early-stage endometrial cancer, researchers have found that overall survival rates are similar in women whose ovaries are removed, compared to those whose ovaries are left in place (preserved).

Cancer Advances: Insulin-Related Proteins Predict Risk of Death in People With Colorectal Cancer Treated With Surgery
December 8, 2008

A new study has shown that among people who were treated surgically for early-stage colorectal cancer, blood levels of two insulin-related proteins measured before diagnosis predicted the risk of subsequent death.

Cancer Advances: Study Finds Association Between Hepatitis B and Pancreatic Cancer
September 29, 2008

A new study has shown that evidence of hepatitis B infection was twice as common in people with pancreatic cancer than in healthy controls. This study is the first to report an association between past exposure to the hepatitis B virus and pancreatic cancer, but researchers cautioned that more studies are necessary to evaluate the nature of the link.

Cancer Advances: BRCA Mutations Among Asian-American Women May Be More Common than Predicted
September 8, 2008

Researchers from the U.S. and Canada found that two computer models widely used to determine who should undergo genetic testing for BRCA mutations underpredicted mutation frequency in Asian-American women by 50 percent.

Cancer Advances: Zoledronic Acid Prevents Bone Loss in Premenopausal Women Undergoing Chemotherapy for Breast Cancer
August 18, 2008

A Phase III study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology found that zoledronic acid (Zometa) can prevent bone loss in premenopausal women followed for 12 months undergoing chemotherapy after surgery for early-stage breast cancer. This is the first study to evaluate the use of the drug in premenopausal women with breast cancer, though previous studies have shown similar drugs prevent bone loss during and after chemotherapy in this group.

Cancer Advances: Suicide Risk among People with Cancer
August 11, 2008

Three new studies being published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology (JCO) describe concerning trends suggesting that patients with cancer are more likely to commit suicide or to contemplate taking their own lives, compared with the general population.

Cancer Advances: Significant Proportion of Husbands Told that Wife's Cancer Was Incurable Late or Not at All, According to Swedish Study
July 8, 2008

A study conducted in Sweden found that more than 40 percent of widowers in that country whose wives had died from cancer four or five years earlier reported they were either never told that their spouse’s cancer was incurable, or they heard this information during the last week of her life. Eighty-six percent of widowers believed next-of-kin should be told immediately when a wife’s cancer is incurable, including 71 percent of the men who said they did not recall being told this information. The study, which is the largest to explore this topic, was published online in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Cancer Advances: Women 80 and Older Benefit from Mammography, but Few Are Screened
April 21, 2008

In the first study to assess mammography in women 80 and older, researchers found that having regular mammograms significantly decreases the risk of being diagnosed with late-stage breast cancer, but only about one-fifth of women in this age group receive them regularly. The study, which was published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, also showed that each mammogram that was performed in these older women was assocated with a further reduction in the risk of being diagnosed with late-stage disease.

Cancer Advances: Letrozole Reduces Risk of Breast Cancer Recurrence and Metastasis Even If Started Years after Tamoxifen
March 10, 2008

A multicenter phase III clinical trial has reported that the drug letrozole cuts the risk of breast cancer recurrence and spread by more than 60 percent in postmenopausal women with early-stage disease who completed five years of tamoxifen therapy one to seven years earlier. The study was published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology (JCO).

Cancer Advances: Extent of Cancer Risk Reduction through Ovary Removal Depends on BRCA Mutation Type
February 11, 2008

In a new study, researchers have shown that the extent of cancer risk reduction resulting from the procedure varies according to the type of genetic mutation women have. The researchers, from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, University of Pennsylvania and nine other institutions, found that women with mutations in the BRCA2 gene have nearly twice the reduction in breast cancer risk following the surgery compared to women with BRCA1 mutations. The study was published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology (JCO).

Cancer Advances: Just Four Months of Hormone Therapy Can Delay Prostate Cancer Growth by Up to Eight Years with Fewer Side Effects
January 2, 2008

Researchers have found that just four months of hormonal therapy before and with standard external beam radiation therapy slowed cancer growth—especially the development of bone metastases— by as much as eight years, and increased survival in older men with potentially aggressive (“high-risk”) prostate cancer. The study was published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology (JCO).

Cancer Advances: Ashkenazi Ovarian Cancer Patients with BRCA Mutations Live Longer Than Those with Normal Gene
January 1, 2008
While women who have mutations in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes are more likely to develop breast and ovarian cancer, a new study finds they may be more able to survive ovarian cancer.  Israeli investigators have found that Ashkenazi Jewish women with ovarian cancer who have mutations in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes lived longer than Ashkenazi Jewish ovarian cancer patients without these mutations. The study was published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology (JCO).

Cancer Advances: More Women Are Choosing Double Mastectomy Even When Breast Cancer Is Confined to a Single Breast
October 22, 2007

A new study reports a 150 percent increase between 1998 and 2003 in American women opting to have both breasts removed when cancer has been found in only one breast-a procedure called "contralateral prophylactic mastectomy (CPM)." This is the first study to examine this issue on a national level. The study was published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology (JCO).

Cancer Advances: Exercise and Yoga Can Improve Quality of Life and Physical Fitness in Women with Early-Stage Breast Cancer
September 4, 2007

Two studies report that exercise and yoga can help maintain and in some cases improve quality of life in women with early-stage breast cancer. Both studies were published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology (JCO).

Cancer Advances: Partners of Cancer Survivors at Risk for Depression, Other Quality of Life Issues Over the Long Term
April 6, 2007

A new study shows that partners of cancer survivors suffer many of the same stresses as cancer survivors themselves, but receive less care and attention for them. The results of the study, which examined long-term quality of life issues for the partners of patients who received blood and marrow transplants (BMT) as part of their cancer treatment, are being published online April 10 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology (JCO).

Cancer Advances: Recent Declines in Breast Cancer Death Rates Greatest in Women Under 70 and Women with Estrogen-Sensitive Tumors
April 2, 2007

A new study shows that recent declines in breast cancer death rates have been most significant among women with estrogen receptor (ER)-positive tumors and women younger than 70. The results of the study are being published online April 2 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology (JCO).