BOSTON—Since early in the COVID-19 pandemic, physicians have been aware of the greater risk posed by the SARS-CoV-2 virus to patients with compromised immune systems. Among patients with multiple myeloma (MM), more than 30% died of the virus in early waves before the...
Novel Agents Supplant Chemotherapy as 1L CLL Therapy in VA
For years, chemotherapy provided the only hope for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).
VA Researchers Illuminate a New Blood Cancer, a Novel Type of CLL
In the case of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) with prolymphocytic progression, a newly defined and very rare type of cancer, the scale of the VA and the number of patients it treats with leukemia allowed VA researchers to describe the characteristics and progression of the disease and begin to understand how it responds to current therapies.
Adjuvant Chemotherapy for All Stage II or III NSCLC? VA Study Urges Caution
Patients with non-metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) face a substantial risk of recurrence and death from the disease even after potentially curative surgical resection.
Recommendations Could Standardize Care for VA Patients With AML, CLL
The VA has committed to providing quality oncology care, with the establishment of the National Oncology Program and a system of excellence designed to spread best practices in cancer care to VA facilities around the country.
VA Research Provides Insight into Quality of Life After Blood, Marrow Transplant
Patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) face difficult choices if their cancer recurs. Without treatment, survival is a matter of months.
Achieving Treatment-Free Remission in CML: Best Approaches, Best Candidates
In less than two decades, the advent of targeted therapies transformed chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) from a death sentence with a five-year survival rate of just 22% to a chronic condition with five-year survival exceeding 90%.
VA Researchers Develop AI-based Tool to Predict Post-transplant Relapse in AML
Despite advances in treatment, acute myeloid leukemia (AML) remains the most deadly blood malignancy, with a five-year survival rate of 26% for people over age 20.
Matched Siblings Are the Optimal Allo-HCT Donors for MDS Patients
Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), a condition linked to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune for some veterans, are the second common indication for an allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant (Allo-HCT.)
Black MDS Patients Appear to Have Better Overall Survival Than Whites
Certain veterans who were stationed at Camp Lejeune, NC, between Aug. 1, 1953, and Dec. 31, 1987, have a presumptive service connection to aplastic anemia and other myelodysplastic syndromes because of exposure to contaminated water.
For the Sixth Year, MDS World Awareness Day Coming Up This Month
The annual MDS World Awareness Day is designed to raise awareness of myelodysplastic syndromes. The rare group of blood cancers occurs when the blood-forming cells in the bone marrow become abnormal.
New Center at NYU Will Focus on How Social Factors Might Affect Veterans Using Telehealth for Cancer
As part of a larger initiative, a center will be established at New York University to determine how social factors might affect the delivery of telehealth for cancer care.
VA Researchers Suggest Non-Hispanic Black Men Might Need More Frequent PSA Screening to Reduce Risk of Prostate Cancer-Specific Mortality
The benefits of annual prostate-specific antigen screening (PSA) appear to vary by race, decreasing the risk of prostate cancer-specific mortality among non-Hispanic Black men but not non-Hispanic white men, according to a new veteran study.
Pediatric ALL Survivors Have High Follow-Up Screening Rates in MHS
Does universal access to healthcare make any difference in health screening for pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) survivors?
SBRT Linked to Less Toxicity Than Limited Resection But More Fatigue
NEW YORK – For the estimated one-fourth of early-stage lung cancer patients not medically fit for lobectomy, limited resection and stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) are seen as alternative treatments. “Given the equipoise on the effectiveness of the two...
Should USPSTF Lung Cancer Screening Recommendations Be Expanded?
WASHINGTON, DC – In 2021, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommended annual lung cancer screening with low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) for adults aged 50 to 80 years who have a 20-pack-year smoking history and currently smoke or have quit within the past...
Biomarkers Can Stratify outcomes in Some ICI-Treated NSCLC Patients
NEW HAVEN, CT – In non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), there are limited predictive biomarkers for anticancer immunotherapy. Proposed as candidate biomarkers for immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) in patients with advanced NSCLC are tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes...
Veterans With CLL/SLL Have Suboptimal Adherence to New Therapies
Suboptimal adherence to new therapies for chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL)/small lymphocytic leukemia (SLL), as well as related costs and healthcare resource use, demonstrate unmet needs in real-world treatment of the blood cancers, according to a new review.
Comorbidities Affect When Adjuvant Chemotherapy Is Optimal in NSCLC
While veterans with locoregional non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) might find adjuvant chemotherapy beneficial, the risks might outweigh the benefit for some of them.
Survival Affected by Lack of Equitable Access to Pre-Operative NSCLC Care
The VHA appears to fall short in providing equitable access to pre-operative care, which is associated with worse short- and long-term outcomes in clinical stage I non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to a recent report.
VA Frailty Index Identifies Older NSCLC Patients at High Risk
The VA’s Frailty Index (VA-FI) was created to identify patients at high risk of unfavorable outcomes. A new study sought to determine how it works with older patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
Could Adding a Checkpoint Inhibitor Improve Response to Belamaf in Multiple Myeloma?
INDIANAPOLIS—A number of drugs have recently been approved or are in clinical trials for treatment of relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma. Among them, belantamab mafodotin (Belamaf) has demonstrated the ability to eliminate myeloma cells both by direct cytotoxicity...
Quality Measures “Markedly Improve” NSCLC Surgery Outcomes for Veterans
LOUIS -- Surgery remains the first choice treatment for stage 1 non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) for patients who can withstand it. As a result, most patients with early stage disease and their physicians opt for surgery. A new study asks: Could establishment of a...
What Matters in Survival, Treatment of Lymphoid Cancers?
Oncologists balance the most effective treatment against the likelihood of adverse effects for every patient with cancer. Generally, the assumption is that older patients and those with more comorbidities and poorer performance status will experience more negative effects, including potentially fatal toxicity, from aggressive treatment. A study presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting in June calls into question this assumption for at least some patients and specific malignancies.
A Rare Cancer Prompts Sleuthing at the VA; New Options for MDS
VA researchers solved a mystery involving younger veterans who developed unusual and deadly cancers. They determined that patients currently using certain drugs, thiopurines, had triple the risk of myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML) on an adjusted basis compared to those never exposed. The risks resolved with discontinuation.
Repeat Lung-Cancer Screening Continues to Fall Behind for Rural Veterans
Repeat lung cancer screening lags among rural veterans and could help explain known disparities in outcomes, according to a new study.
Military, Veterans More Likely to Be Screened for Many Types of Cancer
While some cancer diagnoses are disproportionately high among VA patients, the cause does not appear to be inadequate screening, according to a new study.
Monitor Cancer Survivors for Thyroid Disorders
Patients who survive cancer often face second malignant neoplasms (SMN), which are among their most serious long-term adverse health conditions.
Study Finds Disparities in VA Prostate Cancer Care
African-American men are disproportionately affected by prostate cancer, but it remains unclear whether racial and ethnic disparities occur in equal-access settings at the national level.
Smoking After Lung Cancer Surgery Cuts Survival
Continuing to smoke after surgical treatment for lung cancer has a strong detrimental effect on overall survival, according to a new veterans’ study.
