How did the 2012 U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommendation against the prostate specific antigen screening for prostate cancer affect practice at the VHA?
BH3 Mimetics Combos Targeting MCL1, BCL2 Might Help Treat Melanoma
AURORA, CO – Patients with melanoma who are refractory to or ineligible for immune checkpoint blockade have an urgent need for effective treatments. A report in the journal Cancers (Basel) noted that includes patients who lack BRAF-V600E/K mutations and is often the...
Prognosis Beginning to Improve for T-cell Lymphoma Patients
LONG BEACH, CA – Among hematological malignancies, T-cell lymphomas have an extremely poor prognosis. A new review suggested that might be changing with unusual paths to cure. An article in the Lancet Haematology pointed out that, over the last three decades, little...
Discovery Explains Neurotoxicity With Certain CAR T Cell Immunotherapy
PHILADELPHIA — A new discovery might help explain the cause of neurotoxicity in patients undergoing CD19 directed CAR T cell immunotherapy. A report in the journal Cell discussed how new research uncovered the previously unknown presence of CD19 — a B cell molecule...
Servicemembers Usually Diagnosed With Lung Cancer Earlier Than Civilians
Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer death in the United States, killing more than 150,000 people each year. Lung cancer also poses a particularly high risk to servicemembers and veterans.
CLL, Lymphoma Treatments Might Be Effective in Some Melanoma Cases
AURORA, CO – Noting the urgent need to develop treatments for patients with melanoma who are refractory to or ineligible for immune checkpoint blockade, including patients who lack BRAF-V600E/K mutations, a new study suggested some possible options. The report in...
NHL, Some Other Cancers, Reduced With Early ART in HIV-Positive Patients
OAKLAND, CA – Cancer is a significant problem for patients diagnosed with HIV. indicates that earlier initiation of antiretroviral therapy (ART) in persons living with HIV (PLWH) can reduce cancer incidence, but it has not been clear which cancer types are affected. A...
Erectile Dysfunction Medications Appear to Lower Some Colorectal Cancer Risks
COLUMBIA, SC—PDE-5 inhibitors are approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat erectile dysfunction, but a new study suggested that the drugs also might be a viable chemopreventive agent for some types of cancer. The article in Clinical and Translational...
Promising Options Identified for AML Treatment After Initial Treatment Failure
CHICAGO – Because of limited treatment options after the failure of initial therapy, clinical management of acute myeloid leukemia remains a challenge for clinicians. One area of significant interest, according to a report in the journal Blood, has been therapeutic...
VA Dramatically Reduces ESA Use for Cancer-Related Anemia
COLUMBIA, SC -- Erythropoiesis-stimulating agents were indicated for use in patients with cancer who receive noncurative myelosuppressive chemotherapy, with the intention of mitigating symptoms and side effects to decrease the need for red blood cell transfusions....
Lymphoma Rates Drop With Better Rheumatoid Arthritis Treatment at VA
SEATTLE -- High systemic inflammatory activity is suspected to be a major risk determinant of lymphomagenesis, and past epidemiological studies have consistently demonstrated a link between rheumatoid arthritis and the incidence of lymphoma. A study in RMD Open -...
ART Has Changed the Cancers Associated with HIV
New York—Antiretroviral therapy transformed infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) from a death sentence to a chronic condition, along the way changing virtually everything about the disease, including its association with cancer. For years, specific...
Acute Kidney Injury Risk With Stem Cell Transplant
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation can be a life-saving therapy for many patients with cancer, as well as patients with some nonmalignant hematologic disorders, such as aplastic anemia, sickle cell disease, and certain congenital immune...
Is Radiation Therapy Linked to Second Cancer Diagnoses?
STANFORD, CA – How likely is a second cancer diagnosis after primary cancer treatment with 3-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3DCRT), intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT), or proton beam radiotherapy (PBRT) for lymphoma and other cancers? Researchers from...
Circulating Stromal Cells Could Serve as Solid Tumor Biomarkers
A type of circulating stromal cell, CAMLs arise as part of an innate immune response, which could make them useful for predicting the presence of cancer. That would be particularly useful as the cells can be isolated from peripheral blood, making a test non-invasive.
How Uterine Cancer Manifests Differently in Black, White Women
Black women are more likely to die of uterine cancer than white women, even though the incidence rate is the same between the two groups.
Timely Care Not Received by Many Rural Veterans with Colorectal Cancer
For many rural patients, receiving timely, quality cancer care remains difficult. Challenges include transportation hurdles, financial constraints, a lack of providers, and minimal access to clinical trials. As a result, while cancer incidence rates are lower in rural areas, cancer mortality rates are higher.
VA Rapidly Adopted Novel Agents for Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia
In 2015, the American Society of Clinical Oncologists (ASCO) named the transformation of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) the Cancer Advance of the Year.