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Next-generation deep sequencing was used to determine the mutational status of hotspot regions in 340 adults and children with B-cell precursor ALL. The frequency of adult vs child mutations was significantly higher (20.2% vs 7.6%). The most commonly mutated genes were TP53, JAK2, CRLF2, PAX5, LEF1, and IL7R, respectively. Significantly lower overall survival and event-free […]

Patients with previously untreated BRAF V600E/K–mutant metastatic melanoma were enrolled in this double-blinded phase III study of combination dabrafenib and trametinib (n = 211) vs dabrafenib plus placebo monotherapy (n = 212). Here, the authors here look at the efficacy and safety data following ≥36 months of follow-up. The 3-year progression-free survival was 22% in

Blockade of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) with cetuximab or panitumumab monoclonal antibodies is effective in a subset of colorectal cancers (CRCs), but the efficacy of these therapeutic agents can be limited due to the emergence of resistances. At relapse, the majority of patients develop RAS mutations, while a subset acquires EGFR extracellular domain

Chromosome instability within lung cancer tumors increases the risk of recurrence or death and may help forecast recurrence long before standard tests, according to a study published online April 26 in the New England Journal of Medicine and Nature. In this study, tumor samples from 100 patients with non-small-cell lung cancer who had not previously

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted the accelerated approval to a treatment for patients whose cancers have a specific genetic feature (biomarker). Keytruda (pembrolizumab) is indicated for the treatment of adult and pediatric patients with unresectable or metastatic solid tumors that have been identified as having a biomarker referred to as microsatellite

On a recent study that analyzed patients between 17 and 93 years of age (N = 1592), who were participants in the ECOG-ACRIN trials, the influence of the most common monosomies (5, 7, and 17) within monosomal karyotype (MK+)/complex karyotype (CK+) acute myeloid leukemia (AML) was investigated. Most MK+ patients (93%) were found to be

In a retrospective study, researchers evaluated the impact of specific KRAS mutations among 392 patients with advanced and recurrent colorectal cancer. They detected KRAS mutation in 42.9% of tumors and found that KRAS mutation was predictive of overall survival (HR, 1.54; P = .005). Specifically, worse overall survival was associated with KRAS codon 12 mutations

In a recent study, HER2-overexpressing early breast cancer patients who had received neoadjuvant trastuzumab were included to evaluate whether pathologic complete response (pCR) to neoadjuvant trastuzumab is dependent on the level of HER2 amplification. Absolute HER2 and chromosome 17 centromere (CEP17) were measured by in situ hybridization analysis, and associations were examined between HER2/CEP17 ratio

In patients with Philadelphia chromosome-positive (Ph+) acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) treated with chemotherapy plus a tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI), the prognostic impact of additional chromosomal abnormalities (ACAs) is not well-established. In a recent study the prognostic impact of individual ACAs was evaluated in 152 patients with Ph+ ALL receiving first-line intensive chemotherapy plus either imatinib

A recent study to determine the impact of revised ASCO/CAP 2013 HER2 guidelines on the clinical practice of pathologists and oncologists, revealed that 2013 guidelines increase the detection of HER2 positive cases, without introducing significant difference in discordance rate of the IHC and FISH assays. The retrospective analysis was done on 1739 invasive breast carcinoma