Ovarian Cancer

BUFFALO, NY-Survival in patients with ovarian cancer by stage is similar to that of other cancers, William Hoskins, MD, said at the Surgical Oncology Symposium, hosted by Roswell Park Cancer Institute. “However, the vast majority of women are diagnosed with advanced disease, and there are no screening methods available to change this truth. Until screening methods improve, the surgical treatment offered these women is critical to their survival,” said Dr. Hoskins, chief, Gynecology Service, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

Prostate cancer is the most common form of noncutaneous cancer in men in the United States. Despite its prevalence, the natural history of this disease is remarkably heterogeneous. In many patients, the cancer

NEW YORK-Two new strategies for treating advanced ovarian cancer may improve the outlook for this difficult to treat disease. Early data from trials of repeating and sequential doublets of cisplatin (Platinol)-based drug combinations have shown encouraging results, according to presentations at the Chemotherapy Foundation Symposium XVII.

BETHESDA, Md-Four institutions have received SPORE (Specialized Program of Research Excellence) grants from the NCI for ovarian cancer research. The grants, totaling $5.85 million for the first year, went to:

ROCKVILLE, Md-The Food and Drug Administration has approved a new indication for Bristol-Myers Squibb’s Taxol (paclitaxel) for use in the adjuvant treatment of node-positive breast cancer administered sequentially to standard doxorubicin-based combination therapy. The approval does not exclude patients with receptor-positive tumors, even though a subgroup analysis of the supporting data suggested no benefit in this group.

Although endometrial cancer is the most common gynecologic malignancy diagnosed in US women, it has not received the same attention from health care professionals and the lay public as has its more lethal counterpart in the female gonad-epithelial ovarian cancer.

The article by Drs. Dan Labriola and Robert Livingston on possible interactions between dietary antioxidants and chemotherapy, published in the July issue of Oncology (13,1999), is based on a theoretical concern that has proven to be unfounded when actually tested in clinical trials. Contrary to the authors’ assertions, numerous studies, including in vitro experiments, animal trials, and small human trials, have consistently shown an enhancement of tumor kill and patient survival when antioxidants are combined with conventional cancer therapies.

Endometrial carcinoma is the most common gynecologic malignancy in the United States. Most cases are diagnosed at an early stage. However, the outcome for women diagnosed with advanced-stage disease remains poor. The etiology of most endometrial carcinomas stems from the effects of excess estrogen, whether this comes from exogenous or endogenous sources. Differences in epidemiology and presentation suggest the existence of two forms of endometrial cancer: those related to and those unrelated to hormonal stimulation. Most women with endometrial cancer present with abnormal uterine bleeding; endometrial sampling is essential to exclude endometrial carcinoma in such patients. Endometrial cancer is surgically staged, and staging usually includes a hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy. Lymphadenectomy also should be performed in selective cases to better assess disease spread and to evaluate the need for adjuvant therapy. Adjuvant treatment may include the use of radiation, progestins, or cytotoxic chemotherapeutic agents. Several clinical trials are underway to compare these treatment modalities, as well as to determine the optimal combination of active chemotherapeutic agents, such as doxorubicin, platinum agents, and paclitaxel (Taxol). [ONCOLOGY 13(12):1665-1675, 1999]

WASHINGTON-“Cancer crosses party lines and so should the battle against it,” said Rep. Rick Lazio (R-NY), one of seven senators and congresspersons honored by the National Coalition for Cancer Research (NCCR) with its Congressional Champion Awards.

VIENNA, Austria-For Stanley Kaye, MD, of the University of Glasgow, the milestones of the ’90s in the treatment of ovarian cancer were the discovery that taxanes are superior to alkylating agents in combination with platinum and the recognition that the “soft option” carboplatin (Paraplatin) is equivalent in efficacy to cisplatin (Platinol).

NEW YORK-Ovarian cancer is on its way to becoming a chronic disease, William P. McGuire III, MD, said at a press conference of the advocacy group, Ovarian Cancer National Alliance.

SILVER SPRING, Md-The Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC) unanimously recommended that the FDA approve Taxol (paclitaxel for injection, Bristol-Myers Squibb) for use in the adjuvant treatment of node-positive breast cancer administered sequentially to standard doxorubicin-based combination therapy.

For many women under 40 years of age with breast cancer, surgery to remove the cancerous lump and accompanying radiation therapy seem to be the best option for eradicating the disease and preserving the natural breast. However, for women who carry a damaged version of the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene, thus predisposing them to breast cancer, such treatment may be insufficient. Researchers at Jefferson Medical College have found that these women are at greater risk years later of either relapsing or developing new tumors than are similarly treated women who do not carry one of these genes.

A landmark study showed that a new drug combination-paclitaxel (Taxol) and carboplatin (Paraplatin)-is better for the treatment of advanced ovarian cancer because it is significantly less toxic in patients. The combination also maintained the

Combination chemoradiation, alone or as an adjuvant to surgery, has been shown to improve treatment outcomes in a number of human malignancies, but may be limited by normal tissue toxicities. A primary challenge in

The Gynecologic Cancer Foundation, along with the American Hospital Association, has declared September 1999 the first annual Gynecologic Cancer Awareness Month. Each year, 82,000 women in the United States (ie, 1 in every 25 women) are

New treatment strategies for small-cell lung cancer patients are required, as there have been few developments in the past 20 years. Paclitaxel (Taxol) has been shown to be effective in non–small-cell lung cancer when given in

Despite a response rate of only 9%, single-agent carboplatin (Paraplatin) produced the best 1-year survival rate with the lowest toxicity in a five-arm Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group study of cisplatin (Platinol)

In an attempt to further improve the quality of life and prognosis of patients with non–small-cell lung cancer, several clinical strategies exist to evaluate newer chemotherapy agents for this disease. Several of these

ROCKVILLE, Md-Doxil (doxorubicin HCl liposome injection, ALZA Corporation) has won accelerated FDA approval of its supplemental New Drug Application for the treatment of metastatic ovarian cancer refractory to both paclitaxel (Taxol)- and platinum-based chemotherapy regimens. Accelerated approval requires the company to conduct additional research to demonstrate that the drug is associated with clinical benefit. Doxil, a liposomal formulation of doxorubicin, is currently approved for use in AIDS-related Kaposi’s sarcoma.

Since its approval by the FDA in 1992, paclitaxel (Taxol) has been widely used in the treatment of ovarian cancer. Surgical debulking has also been proven to increase survival in women with this disease.

ROCKVILLE, Md-The FDA has approved Ethyol (amifostine for injection) as a therapy to decrease the incidence of moderate-to-severe xerostomia in patients undergoing postoperative radiation treatment for head and neck cancer. The approval came only 2 weeks after the Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC) recommendation.

SAN FRANCISCO–Ovarian cancers associated with mutations in the BRCA gene have a different underlying biology than nonhereditary cancers and may respond better to treatments not routinely applied in ovarian cancer, according to a study reported at the 30th Annual Meeting of the Society of Gynecologic Oncologists.

Some factors that lead to the development of breast cancer are similar to those responsible for the development of ovarian cancer, say the authors of a new study. Consequently, women who survive breast cancer, especially those under the age of

SAN FRANCISCO-Women who have survived breast cancer are at increased risk for subsequent ovarian cancer, and this risk is especially high in women diagnosed with breast cancer before age 50 and in African-American, Asian, and Hispanic women, according to data presented at the 30th Annual Meeting of the Society of Gynecologic Oncologists.

Depression serious enough to affect daily functioning occurs in one of every five patients who have epithelial ovarian cancer, according to data presented at the 30th Annual Meeting of the Society of Gynecologic Oncologists. Diane Bodurka-Bevers, MD, and her colleagues at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center studied this problem in 275 patients with ovarian cancer.

NEW ORLEANS-When talking with women about their personal risk of developing breast cancer, “terms such as relative risk are not very useful,” Patricia Kelly, PhD, said at the American Society of Breast Disease annual meeting, co-sponsored by the Ochsner Medical Foundation, New Orleans.

The physician-patient relationship is based on effective communication. In oncology, higher expectations for communication are driven by increased media attention to cancer, patient-directed pharmaceutical advertising, and

BALTIMORE-Physicians must help patients sort through the many diagnostic, predictive, and therapeutic alternatives raised by genetic testing, a trio of genetic specialists from Johns Hopkins said at a meeting on clinical cancer genetics and genetic testing.

SAN FRANCISCO-Five-year survival was significantly better for women with advanced-stage ovarian cancer diagnosed from 1988 to 1994 than for those diagnosed from 1983 to 1987, according to research presented at the 30th Annual Meeting of the Society of Gynecologic Oncologists. This improvement is thought to be due to increased use of surgical debulking and adjuvant platinum/paclitaxel (Taxol).