Articles related to CHEMOTHERAPY

The encouraging results of the phase 3 ORIENT-11 trial, which included 397 patients with previously untreated, locally advanced metastatic non-squamous NSCLC without sensitizing EGFR or ALK aberrations, were published in the Journal of Thoracic Oncology.

The case reported is based on a 53-year-old woman who presented to her gastroenterologist with symptoms of bowel obstruction and right upper quadrant pain. Based on her age and excellent performance status, aggressive treatment with a triplet chemotherapy regimen of oxaliplatin, irinotecan, 5-fluorouracil, and leucovorin (FOLFOXIRI) in combination with the anti–vascular endothelial growth factor receptor antibody bevacizumab was begun.

A late-breaking abstract from the ASH Annual Meeting & Exhibition. In this double-blind, placebo-controlled, international study of 879 patients (median age: 65 (range 19–80) years; IPI 3–5 (62%)), the pola-R-CHP combination demonstrated a 27% reduction in the relative risk of disease progression, relapse, or death compared with R-CHOP, with a similar safety profile in the first-line treatment of patients with DLBCL.

DLBCL is increasingly being recognized as a heterogeneous disease with distinct molecular subtypes. This has challenged the rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (R-CHOP) treatment paradigm in recent years, as several DLBCL subtypes have inferior survival after standard R-CHOP therapy. So how do you choose? In this review the authors conclude with proposed clinical management scenarios in which DA-R-EPOCH may be preferred, including some for patient populations in which the use of R-CHOP vs. DA-R-EPOCH is controversial.

Publication: ASH Clinical NewsOriginal Source: Journal of the National Care InstituteDesign: Assessment of longitudinal changes in memory, attention, and executive function in men and women with lymphoma (n=248; 62.5% male) prior to and six months after initiation of chemotherapy. A group of age- and sex-matched people without cancer was used as a control arm (n=212; 59% male).Results: At baseline, patients with lymphoma self-reported significantly more issues on the FACT-Cog scale (perceived cognitive impairment [PCI] and total scores) compared with sex-matched controls (p<0.05). In addition, patients with lymphoma reported significantly more attentional difficulty (p=0.01) and significantly greater PCI (p<0.03).

Reference Source: JAMA Network OpenDesign: Retrospective study of 8,953 patients from the National Cancer Database; compared the use of definitive treatment between 2004 and 2014 of 1,280 young adults (YAs, aged 18-39 years); 3,937 patients aged 40-64 years; and 3,756 patients age 65+.Results: Amputation – 8.1% (YAs), 5.5% (40-64), 5.3% (65+). Chemotherapy – 39.4% (YAs), 29.5% (40-64), 9.3% (65+). Radiation – 59.3% (YAs), 69.1% (40-64), 63.4% (65+). Unique to young adults, clinical stage II disease vs. stage I disease and positive surgical margins were not associated with the use of radiation.