FAIRFIELD, CA – Does trauma play a role in the development of blood cancer? A recent study of wounded warriors sought to answer that question. A presentation at the 61st American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting and Exposition in Orlando recounted that multiple...
VA Conducts Largest Real-World Study of Newer CLL Treatment Options
Research Offers Insight into Evolving Clinical Practice SAN ANTONIO—The massive VA health database revealed unique insights into the treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia in actual clinical practice to a team of researchers based at the South Texas Veterans Health...
Recombinant Shingles Vaccine Appears Safe for Some CLL Patients
BETHESDA, MD – Because of immune dysregulation, chronic lymphocytic leukemia patients are especially vulnerable to infectious complications, including varicella zoster virus reactivation. Both their advanced age and immunocompromised status play a role in higher risk...
Study Finds Discontinuation Rates Too High at VA for Newer CLL Therapies
SALT LAKE CITY -- Novel oral agents (NOAs), such as acalabrutinib, duvelisib, ibrutinib, idelalisib and venetoclax are increasingly used instead of traditional chemoimmunotherapy for chronic lymphocytic leukemia, the most common leukemia in adults. A presentation at...
Veterans Treated for CLL Had Higher Rates of Fungal Infections
LOUIS -- Patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) are susceptible to infections due to impaired immunity, from both complications of disease and treatments. A presentation at the 61st American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting and Exposition in Orlando, FL,...
How Common is Major Hemorrhage in Veterans With CLL?
COLUMBIA, SC – Noting that chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) patients are at increased risk for major hemorrhage (MH), a new study reported incidence of MH in veterans with CLL, as well as risk factors. The study, published in Cancer Medicine, was conducted before...
Initial Use of Ibrutinib Lengthens Next Treatment Time for Veterans with CLL
HORSHAM, PA – Veterans with chronic lymphocytic lymphoma who received ibrutinib as their first line treatment had a longer time to next treatment, according to recently-published research. Authors of the industry study, which was conducted in a real-world veteran...
Assay Used to Investigate Familial Risk of Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia
ROCHESTER, MN – About 10% of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) patients report a first-degree relative with the cancer or a related lymphoproliferative disorder, according to a new study, which emphasized that CLL and its precursor, monoclonal B-cell lymphocytosis...
Testosterone Therapy Increases PSA in 5% of Older Users
HOUSTON – How does testosterone treatment of older hypogonadal men affect prostate specific antigen (PSA) changes? That is the question raised by a study published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. Baylor College of Medicine researchers and...
PSA Bounce Affects Races Differently in Prostate Cancer
RICHMOND, VA -- African American men have historically had poorer prostate cancer biochemical and survival outcomes than Caucasians. The question is why? So asked a new study suggesting that emerging data point to nononcologic factors for much of this disparity. The...
Current, But Not Past, Smoking Increases Prostate Cancer Death Risk
SAN DIEGO – While cigarette smoking is a risk factor for mortality in other genitourinary cancers, which appears to be linked to the accumulation of carcinogens in urine, the link has been less clear with prostate cancer, according to a new study. Researchers from the...
Effective Metrics Help VA Exceed National Goal for Colorectal Cancer Screening
More than four out of five veterans eligible for colorectal cancer screening have been screened, putting the largest healthcare system in the United States among the top performers nationwide in this important metric.
More Options, Better Survival for Veterans With Metastatic Pancreatic Cancer
Pancreatic cancer remains one of the deadliest malignancies in the United States, but new therapies can extend life and improve quality of life for many patients.
Racial Disparities Found in BRCA Testing, Counseling
DURHAM, NC—Despite increases in BRCA mutation testing, racial/ethnic disparities in counseling and testing have persisted for decades, a study argued. The review published in the Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities said its purpose was to summarize recent...
VA Guideline Addresses Dental Management of Head/Neck Cancer Patients
SAN FRANCISCO—Few protocols have been published for the dental management of patients with head and neck cancer to prevent complications from head and neck radiation therapy, according to a new study. The report in the Head & Neck journal pointed out that...
Patients Treated with Thiopurines Have Higher Skin Cancer Mortality
PHILADELPHIA—Treatment with thiopurines is associated with an increased risk of squamous cell carcinoma of the skin in patients with inflammatory bowel diseases. An article in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology discussed results of a study that looked at...
New Trial Looks at Cabozantinib Combo for First Line Advanced HCC Therapy
CHICAGO—No healthcare system has been more affected by the dramatic rise in hepatocellular carcinoma than the VA. In 2000, the VA had 1,361 patients diagnosed with the disease. By 2005, the number of veterans diagnosed with HCC had more than tripled to 4,989,...
Adherence to Oral Cancer Therapies Suboptimal in Single Center Study
CHICAGO—Management of B-cell malignancies is being changed by increasing use of oral targeted agents for therapy. That also is introducing challenges in prescribing practices and communication between patients, their clinicians and pharmacists, according to a report...
Some Mental Health Disorders Lead to Worse VA Lung Cancer Outcomes
CHICAGO—Past research has demonstrated that cancer patients with comorbid mental disorders often have worse outcomes. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death at the in the United States and is the second most-common type of cancer for both male and...
VA Creates Highly Accurate Model for Predicting Lung Cancer Survival
CHICAGO—The profusion of data available through electronic health records and genomic analyses can guide lung cancer treatment—if clinicians can access key points quickly enough. Researchers at the Boston VAMC and their colleagues found a way to sort through all the...
Some Comorbidity Clusters Associated with Lower Survival in Multiple Myeloma
CHICAGO—Multiple myeloma tends to be a disease of older adults, with an average age at diagnosis of 70. By that age, 3 out of 4 Americans have multiple other chronic conditions as well, according to the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Now,...
Adverse Events Linked to Improved Outcomes for Hepatocellular Carcinoma
CHICAGO—Patients may dread the side effects of cancer treatment, but the occurrence of certain adverse events during treatment of advanced hepatocellular carcinoma with cabozantinib predicted improved overall survival and progression-free survival in a retrospective...
Pre-Treatment Cognition Associated with Lung Cancer Survival
CHICAGO—Among geriatric patients with advanced nonsmall cell lung cancer, pre-treatment cognition provides crucial information for “prognostication, decision making, and treatment planning,” according to researchers at the San Francisco VAMC and their colleagues. The...
Ketogenic Diet Might Be Helpful for VA’s Cancer Patients
CHICAGO—Researchers at the Pittsburgh VAMC reported a five-patient case series which indicates that a ketogenic diet may help patients with solid tumor cancers. They presented the cases at the 2019 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting held in Chicago.1...
Half of Patients With Fine Needle Aspiration Need Second Diagnostic Procedure
CHICAGO—Fine needle aspiration can quickly determine whether cancer has spread to pathologically enlarged lymph nodes, but it should not be counted on to diagnose new malignancies or to provide tissue for follow on testing, according to a study published in...
New Combination Boosts Immune Response in Triple Negative Breast Cancer
SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS—A team led by researchers at the San Antonio Military Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston discovered that adding nelipepimut-S to trastuzumab significantly increases immune response in women with triple negative breast cancer. The result potentially...
VA Researchers Find Biomarker for Overall Survival in Prostate Cancer
CHICAGO—Tumors do not respond uniformly to cancer therapy. Typically, drug-sensitive portions diminish, while drug-resistant fractions grow. So, what’s the best way to measure efficacy of treatment? And what measures have the most significance for overall survival?...
No Racial Disparity in Time to Treatment for Colon Cancer in MHS
CHICAGO—Previous studies have indicated that non-Hispanic black adults with colon cancer wait longer between diagnosis and treatment and are less likely to receive guideline-adherent therapy than non-Hispanic white patients. Those disparities do not exist in the...
VA Shows Precision Oncology Feasible, Even in Rural Areas
CHICAGO—The rapid proliferation of targeted therapies has revolutionized cancer care, bringing truly personalized treatment ever closer. Limited access to and use of genomic sequencing, however, has kept many patients from using new medications that could work well...
Meta-analysis Confirms First-Line Benefit of Cabozantinib in Metastatic RCC
CHICAGO—A systematic review comparing results of studies of pazopanib and current first-line treatments for metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC) confirmed the superiority of cabozantinib and nivolumab plus ipilimumab to the older therapy. The meta-analysis was...
