OncoLog MD Anderson's Report to Physicians, 2010-2018

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  OncoLog, Volume 61, Number 03, March 2016

  Bryan Tutt, Sarah Bronson, Jill Deisigne, and K Werner

  • Innovations Decrease Toxic Effects of Radiation Therapy for Mediastinal Tumors from Hematological Malignancies: Anterior mediastinal masses caused by lymphoma or leukemia can be difficult to treat because sensitive tissues in the area are vulnerable to damage from radiation therapy. To treat these tumors while sparing healthy tissue, radiation oncologists at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center use a combination of advanced technologies and new techniques.
  • Transoral Robotic Surgery Enables Less Toxic Treatment of Early Throat Cancers: For decades, many patients with hard-to-reach throat cancers received high-dose radiation and chemotherapy, with their often severe toxic effects, because conventional surgery was highly invasive and disfiguring. Now that minimally invasive robotic surgery can be used to resect cancers of the tongue base and tonsils without causing disfigurement, researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center are learning how this treatment can help minimize the use of radiation and chemotherapy and improve patients' quality of life.
  • Implantable Devices Monitor for Cardiac Events in Cancer Survivors and Patients on Chemotherapy: Cancer survivors are more likely to die from heart disease than cancer, and therefore patients must be closely monitored for heart problems during and after cancer treatment. Such surveillance can be done continuously with new implantable cardia monitoring devices.
  • HOUSE CALL: Colorectal Cancer Screening-Regular screening is key for fighting and preventing colon and rectal cancers
  • USEFULRESOURCES: Clinical Trials Information

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  OncoLog, Volume 61, Number 07, July 2016

  Bryan Tutt, Sarah Bronson, and Laura Russell

  • Improving Rates of Vaccination after Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant: Patients who have undergone a hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) for a hematological cancer usually lose the immunity they had acquired through vaccination. Although guidelines exist for vaccinating immunocompromised transplant recipients, many patients go unvaccinated or do not complete the series of vaccinations. An ongoing initiative at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center is using a multipronged approach to improve rates of vaccination after HSCT.
  • Bone Loss Prevention in Patients with Cancer: Patients undergoing cancer treatment are at an increased risk of fractures because many cancer therapies tend to weaken the bones. Researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center are investigating treatments to -prevent cancer-related bone loss and fractures as well as fracture-related sequelae such as immobility and blood clots.
  • INBRIEF: Experimental Drug LOXO-101 Shrinks Tumors with NTRK Fusions/ Local Consolidative Therapy for Oligometastatic Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Triples Progression-Free Survival/ Immunotherapy Drug Nivolumab Reduces Tumor Burden in Patients with Metastatic Bladder Cancer
  • HOUSE CALL: Common Terms Used In Cancer Surgery- Cancer surgery is done in many ways for many reasons.
  • USEFULRESOURCES: Cancer Treatment Algorithms.

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  OncoLog, Volume 61, Number 05, May 2016

  Bryan Tutt and Katelyn Werner

  • Intratumoral Therapies Offer Novel Cancer Treatment Approach: Injecting cancer treatments such as vaccines and genetically modified bacteria and viruses directly into tumors may shrink or destroy the tumors and stimulate an immune response that attacks tumor cells. These treatments have shown promise in clinical trials, and newer trials are exploring whether such treatments can augment the effectiveness of immunotherapy in patients with metastatic or inoperable disease.
  • High-Risk Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Subtype Targeted in Upcoming Clinical Trial: Early T cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ETP-ALL), an uncommon subtype of T cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL), carries a poor prognosis and low response rate to traditional chemotherapy drugs. But a clinical trial of a targeted agent that shows promise against ETP-ALL will soon be enrolling patients at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
  • HOUSE CALL: What Is Metastasis?-Understanding the spread of cancer
  • INBRIEF: New Staging System Proposed for HPV-Related Oropharyngeal Cancer

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  OncoLog, Volume 60, Number 05, May 2015

  Sarah Bronson, Bryan Tutt, and U. Arizor

  • Algorithm for Treating Advanced Ovarian Cancer Increases Complete Resection Rate: Most ovarian cancers have spread beyond the ovary by the time they are diagnosed, and they often recur even after responding to primary treatment. Researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center aim to improve patient outcomes by changing the standard approach to newly diagnosed advanced ovarian cancer.
  • Clinical Trials Explore Systemic Treatments for Brain Metastases from Breast Cancer: Brain metastases from breast cancer are difficult to treat because many of the systemic drugs that are effective against breast cancer cannot cross the blood-brain barrier. But researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center are working to overcome this challenge and are testing new systemic treatments for breast cancer brain metastases in three clinical trials.
  • HOUSE CALL: Tips for Communicating with Health Care Providers-Preparing for appointments can help you get the answers you need
  • INBRIEF: Sentinel Lymph Node Mapping Identifies Node-Positive, High-Risk Endometrial Cancer

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  OncoLog, Volume 60, Number 02, February 2015

  Sarah Bronson, Bryan Tutt, and N. Danckers

  • Natural Killer Cell Therapy May Augment Treatment of Hematological Cancers: Tough cancer treatments can severely weaken the body's natural ability to attack cancer cells. To improve immune recovery and function in patients who have undergone these treatments, especially those who may later receive a stem cell transplant, researchers are turning to natural killer cells that have been expanded in the laboratory.
  • Concurrent Treatment of HIV and Cancer Improves Survival Outcomes: Concurrent HIV and cancer present special challenges in the clinic, regardless of which disease is diagnosed first. The simultaneous treatment of HIV and cancer is complicated by patients' weakened immune systems, the lack of routine HIV screening, and interactions between drugs. Infectious disease specialists at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center routinely treat HIV in cancer patients and are discovering ways to overcome these challenges.
  • HOUSE CALL: Facts About Radiation-Radiation exposure comes from many sources
  • INBRIEF: Sleeping Beauty Gene Therapy Shows Promise Against B Cell Malignancies

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  OncoLog, Volume 60, Number 09, September 2015

  Sarah Bronson, Bryan Tutt, and K. Nair

  • Enhanced Surgical Recovery Programs Improve Perioperative Outcomes for Cancer Patients: For patients undergoing cancer surgery, potential complications and long recovery times can delay the delivery of additional life-saving therapy. To improve patients' perioperative outcomes and clear the way for timely administration of additional therapies, several surgical teams at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center gave begun using enhanced surgical recovery programs (ESRPs).
  • New Treatments for Respiratory Viruses in Immunocompromised Patients: Viral respiratory infections are a major concern for immunocompromised patients, in whom such infections are difficult to treat and can lead to pneumonia and even death. Although few treatment options for such infections have been available, clinical trials of promising new therapies are now enrolling immunocompromised patients with two common respiratory viruses: respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and parainfluenza virus (PIV).
  • INBRIEF: 14-3-2Q Protein Prevents Tumor-Promoting Metabolic Reprogramming/miR-506 MicroRNA May Help Overcome Chemotherapy Resistance in Ovarian Cancer
  • HOUSE CALL: Types of Drugs Used to Treat Cancer: Cytotoxic, targeted, and immunotherapy drugs have different functions and side effects

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  OncoLog, Volume 60, Number 04, April 2015

  Jill Deisigne, Joe Munch, Bryan Tutt, and Sarah Bronson

  • Multidisciplinary Globe-Sparing Treatment for Lacrimal Gland Carcinoma Preserves Vision and Minimizes Morbidity: Until recently, the treatment of lacrimal gland carcinoma almost always required removal of the eye. But for some patients with these tumors, globe-sparing surgery followed by radiation therapy can preserve vision and decrease ocular morbidity and facial disfigurement.
  • Novel Trial Design Streamlines Development of Breast Cancer Therapies: Developing a cancer-fighting drug can take around a billion dollars and a dozen or more years. Even then, fail in clinical trials. To identify effective cancer therapies more quickly and efficiently, researchers have tuned to an innovative clinical model in which multiple treatments are investigated simultaneously and the study design is adapted as patient data accrue.
  • Targeted Therapy for High-Risk Melanoma May Forestall Recurrence: Although targeted agents have been approved for the treatment of metastatic melanoma, such agents typically are not used in patients with earlier-stage, respectable disease who have a high risk for recurrence. But a clinical trial of targeted therapy before and after surgery aims to prolong recurrence-free survival for patients with respectable high-risk melanoma.
  • HOUSE CALL: Interpreting Health News-Common mistakes in medical reporting

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  OncoLog, Volume 60, Number 08, August 2015

  Stephanie Deming, Bryan Tutt, and K. Nair

  • New Gene Therapy for Bladder Cancer Shows Promise: A gene therapy that stimulates interferon production within the body may prove to be effective against high-risk, early-stage bladder cancer when standard treatment fails.
  • Vaccine Helps T Cells Target Sarcomas, Melanomas and other Tumors: A vaccine that delivers an antigen to dendritic cells, in turn activating killer T cells that can target specific cancers, is the subject of two ongoing clinical trials,
  • INBRIEF: Glypican-1 Shows Promise as a Biomarker for Pancreatic Cancer/Stereotactic Ablative Radiation Therapy for Stage I Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer May Offer Survival Benefit
  • HOUSE CALL: Prostate Cancer Screening-Who should get screened and when

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  OncoLog, Volume 60, Number 07, July 2015

  Kathryn L. Hale, Bryan Tutt, and K. Stuyck

  • Emergency Care for Cancer Patients: Medical problems that may seem routine in patients without cancer often mean something different or have a different cause in cancer patients and may be much more serious, requiring urgent treatment. Managing these problems promptly and effectively is a challenge faced by all cancer centers.
  • Immunotherapy Trials Offer Hope to Patients with High-Risk or Metastatic Cancer: Although the cure rate for the breast cancer has risen steadily in recent decades, recurrent or metastatic disease remains difficult to control. To fight metastatic breast cancer and forestall the recurrence of high-risk primary disease, researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center are using various techniques to boost the body's immune system. Clinical trials of many of these therapies are already under way.
  • HOUSE CALL: Hospital Patient Advocates Provide Support-Advocates serve as liaisons between hospitals and patients

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  OncoLog, Volume 60, Number 10, October 2015

  Joe Munch, Bryan Tutt, Jill Deisigne, and K. Nair

  • New Targeted Therapy Offers Hope to Patients with Blastic Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cell Neoplasm, Related Diseases: The treatment of common hematological malignancies is based on reams of study data and years of physician experience with the diseases. But such information is often limited for rare, little-researched blood cancers like blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm (BPDCN). This situation may soon change, thanks to the discovery of a new molecular target, which has led to a spate of innovative treatment approaches and the first dedicated clinical trials for this uncommon malignancy.
  • Laparoscopic Free Omental Lymphatic Flap Transfers Offer a Powerful Alternative for Lymphedema Treatment: Armed with new laparoscopic and microsurgical techniques, surgeons are revisiting the use of omental flaps to safely and effectively treat lymphedema in breast cancer patients.
  • Naproxen Shows Potential for Chemoprevention in Patients with Lynch Syndrome: People with Lynch syndrome face a high risk of colorectal cancer. But researchers think that reducing this risk may be as easy as taking a daily over-the-counter pill.
  • HOUSE CALL: Preparing for a Hospital Stay- What to bring-and what to leave at home-to make your stay more pleasant
  • INBRIEF: Beta-Blockers May Prolong Ovarian Cancer Patients' Survival

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  OncoLog, Volume 60, Number 11 - 12, November - December 2015

  Joe Munch, Bryan Tutt, and C. Graber

  • Multidisciplinary Treatment Maximizes Outcomes for malignant Tumors of the Anterior Skull Base: Malignant tumors of the anterior skull base occur in a delicate area but often need aggressive treatment. Determining the best course of therapy for patients with these tumors takes a multidisciplinary effort.
  • Management of Eyelid and Conjunctival Tumors with Preservation of Slight, Function and Cosmesis: Tumors of the eyelid and extent of disease, and which treatments, if any, are needed after surgical excision depends on several factors, including the potential for metastasis.
  • HOUSE CALL: "Other" Health Risks from Smoking-Besides cancer, tobacco causes many diseases.

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  OncoLog, Volume 60, Number 03, March 2015

  Bryan Tutt, Kathryn L. Hale, and K. Stuyck

  • Small Cell Lung Cancer Studies May Increase Treatment Options: Despite advances in treating many cancers, the standard treatment of small cell lung cancer has remained unchanged for decades. But researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center are exploring several new approaches to treat small cell lung cancer.
  • Improved Maintenance Therapy Promotes Myeloma patients' Quality of Life After Stem Cell Transplantation: High-dose chemotherapy followed by autologous stem cell transplantation can prolong survival for patients with multiple myeloma. However, patients remain at a high risk of relapse even after transplantation. Maintenance therapy can extend remission in these patients, and clinical trials at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center are exploring new maintenance regimens to further improve patients' outcomes.
  • Primary Tumor Resection may Be Overused in Patients with Metastatic Colon Cancer: Primary tumor resection may be overused in patients with newly diagnosed stage IV colorectal cancer, according to the findings of a new study from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
  • HOUSE CALL: How Hospital Chaplains Help-Chaplains help patients and families deal with emotional and spiritual concerns.

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  OncoLog, Volume 60, Number 06, June 2015

  Bryan Tutt, Joe Munch, and U. Arizor

  • New Breast Imaging Modalities Show promise for Cancer Screening and Staging: New technology to supplement digital mammography may improve breast cancer screening and diagnosis. Although some of these new imaging modalities are still under development, others are already in clinical use as adjuncts to mammography for breast cancer screening and staging.
  • Addressing Sexual Dysfunction in Cancer Survivors: Cancer treatments carry a host of side effects that can affect patients' ability to have and enjoy sex. The sexual dysfunction arising from these side effects, which include functional changes, can often be addressed, but uncovering sexual dysfunction can prove challenging.
  • HOUSE CALL: Dental Hygiene and Care Before, During, and After Cancer Treatment-Measures to protect oral health
  • INBRIEF: New Assay Could Lead to Earlier Ovarian Cancer Detection

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  OncoLog, Volume 60, Number 01, January 2015

  Bryan Tutt, Markeda Wade, Bryan Tutt, and N. Danckers

  • Simultaneous Resection of Liver and Lung Metastases from Colorectal Cancer Eliminates Need for Second Surgery: Patients with colorectal cancer metastases to the liver and one or both lungs often face the unwelcome prospect of two operations and two recovery periods. But a novel surgical approach enables the liver and lung lesion resections to be performed during the same operation.
  • Some Breast Cancer Patients May Benefit from Shorter Course of Whole-Breast Irradiation: A shorter course of radiation therapy at higher doses per fraction than the standard regimen could reduce side effects and improve quality of life for some patients with breast cancer.
  • IMPACT2 Study Tests Benefits of Personalized Cancer Treatment based on Molecular Profiling: Molecular profiling has the potential to revolutionize cancer medicine by helping clinicians select treatments based on the genomic characteristics of each patient's tumor. But for most types of cancer, this potential has yet to be verified by a randomized clinical study-in which treatment selection based on tumor molecular profiling-is now enrolling patients with metastatic solid tumors at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
  • HOUSE CALL: Telling Your Child About Your Cancer-Open, honest communication helps children cope

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  OncoLog, Volume 59, Number 04, April 2014

  Zach Bohannan, Joe Munch, and J. Delsigne

  • New fat Grafting Technique Improves Aesthetic Outcomes Following Head and Neck Reconstructive Surgery: A new gat grafting technique is enabling reconstructive surgeons to maximize aesthetic outcomes following major reconstruction for head and neck cancer treatment-related defects
  • INBRIEF: Invasive Bladder Cancer Subtypes Resemble Breast Cancer Subtypes
  • New Kinase Inhibitors Hold Promise for Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia, Other B-Cell Malignancies: New targeted therapies against chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) are eliciting overall response rates similar to those achieved using standard chemoimmunotherapy but with fewer toxic effects
  • HOUSE CALL: Animal-Assisted Therapy- Interacting with pets helps recovery

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  OncoLog, Volume 59, Number 10, October 2014

  Sarah Bronson, Kathryn L. Hale, Roberto Molar-Candanosa, and K. Stuyck

  • New Drugs for Myeloproliferative Neoplasms Ease Suffering and Extend Life: A new class of drugs has redefined treatment for patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms by easing their symptom burden while extending their lives
  • Neoadjuvant Targeted Therapy May Offer Multiple Benefits for Patients with Locally Advanced Renal Cancer: Despite definitive treatment with nephrectomy, locally advanced renal cancer recurs in 20%-30% of patients, substantially reducing their chance for long-term survival. To prevent such recurrences and prolong survival, urologic oncologists are studying the integration of targeted molecular therapies with surgical treatments
  • New Combination Therapy Offers Potential to Cure FLT3-ITD Acute Myelogenous Leukemia: A new combination therapy using plerixafor, granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF), and sorafenib may lead to lasting remissions-and possibly even a cure-for patients with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) carrying the internal tandem duplication (ITD) mutation in the Fms-like tyrosine kinase 3 (FLT3) gene
  • HOUSE CALL: Symptoms of Cancer-Lasting symptoms can mean cancer or other diseases

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  OncoLog, Volume 59, Number 02, February 2014

  Sarah Bronson, Kathryn L. Hale, Bryan Tutt, and M. Yeoman

  • New Approaches Revolutionize the Treatment of Advanced Melanoma: Recent breakthroughs in immunotherapy and targeted therapy have improved outcomes for patients with advanced melanoma
  • Comprehensive Tobacco Treatment Approach Helps Patients Quit on Their Terms: Kicking a tobacco habit is a formidable task. Quitting tobacco after a diagnosis of cancer, can be even more difficult
  • Targeted Drug Shows Promise Against Advanced Breast Cancer: Adding the experimental kinase inhibitor palbociclib to standard hormonal therapy may delay disease progression in patients with advanced breast cancer that is estrogen receptor (ER) positive and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER@) negative
  • HOUSE CALL: Avoiding Food-Drug Interactions: Some foods and medicines don’t mix
  • INBRIEF: PKM2 Identified as Potential Prognostic Marker for Glioblastoma

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  OncoLog, Volume 59, Number 07, July 2014

  Sarah Bronson, Joe Munch, Bryan Tutt, and K. Stuyck

  • Side Effects of Targeted Molecular Agents Vary According to Mechanism of Action: The main side effects of cytotoxic chemotherapy are notorious. But the side effects of newer, targeted molecular agents are less well known, so patients receiving such drugs may not know what to expect and may require additional guidance from physicians
  • INBRIEF: Study Finds Less Frequent Bisphosphonate Treatment Equivalent to Standard Regimen
  • RAS Mutation Status May predict Outcomes After Surgery for Colorectal Cancer Liver Metastases
  • HPV Test Does Not Replace Pap Test for Cervical cancer Screening: The recent approval of a human papillomavirus (HPV) test for cervical cancer screening has created confusion within the medical community about appropriate screening guidelines
  • HOUSE CALL: Advance Directives Make Patient's Wishes Known- Types of advance directives and their functions

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  OncoLog, Volume 59, Number 06, June 2014

  Jill Deisigne, Luanne Jorewicz, and K. Stuyck

  • New Agents Hold Promise for Patients With Advanced Thyroid Cancer: New agents are expanding treatment options for patients with advanced thyroid cancer-not only the papillary variant but also the less common medullary and differentiated variants of the disease
  • Surgical Options for Lymphedema: Lymphedema of the extremities, whether from cancer treatment or other causes, typically is not curable. But advances in surgical techniques are reducing or eliminating symptoms for many patients
  • INBRIEF: Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy Improves Survival in Head and Neck Cancer Patients/ Research Findings Could Lead to Blood Test for Cancer-Related Gene Defects/ Tumor-Suppressing Protein May Help Predict Survival in Some Breast Cancer Patients
  • HOUSE CALL: Sleep Problems in Cancer Patients-Sleep disorders can be managed

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  OncoLog, Volume 59, Number 09, September 2014

  Stephanie Deming, Bryan Tutt, Joe Munch, and Jill Deisigne

  • Biomarker-Driven Clinical Trials may Improve Personalized Treatment for Patients With Lung Cancer: Innovative clinical trials that assign patients to treatment arms based on tumor biomarkers could lead to increase treatment options for patients with lung cancer
  • New Antibody-Chemotherapy Combinations Show Promise Against Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia: Two investigational agents-inotuzumab and ofatumumab-shows promise when combined with cytotoxic chemotherapy drugs for the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in adults
  • Deep Inspiration Breath Hold Protects Against Radiation-Induced Cardiotoxicity in Patients With Left-Sided Breast cancers: Patients with lest-sided breast cancers have an increased risk of heart damage from adjuvant radiation therapy given after lumpectomy or mastectomy
  • HOUSE CALL: Books Can Help Patients Deal With Cancer-Fiction and nonfiction can provide encouragement and education
  • INBRIEF: Large-Scale Molecular Data Analysis Yields Multiple Benefits

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  OncoLog, Volume 59, Number 08, August 2014

  Kathryn L. Hale, Bryan Tutt, Sunita Patterson, and R. Molar-Candanosa

  • Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors Show Promise Against Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma, Other Difficult-to-Treat Cancers: A decade ago, oncologists had little to offer most patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC). However, a breakthrough discovery that has already changed the treatment of metastatic melanoma is showing promise against other metastatic cancers-including metastatic RCC-and giving patients new hope for long-term survival
  • Clinical Study Offers Definitive Local Treatment of Bone Metastases from Breast Cancer: Metastatic breast cancer carries a poor prognosis, and most systemic treatments for metastatic disease aim to slow its progression rather than to cure it. In a select group of patients, however, systemic treatment combined with definitive local treatment of the metastatic tumors can offer long-term progression-free survival-and perhaps a cure
  • New Scoring System for Hepatic Reserve Could Help in Planning Treatment for Hepatocellular Carcinoma: An innovative test for evaluating hepatic reserve may improve clinicians' ability to predict prognosis and select appropriate therapy for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)
  • INBRIEF: Needle Biopsy Underused in Breast Cancer Diagnosis
  • HOUSE CALL: Managing Stress After cancer Treatment- Communication helps cancer survivors cope with stress

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  OncoLog, Volume 59, Number 01, January 2014

  Joe Munch, Jill Delsigne, and M. Yeoman

  • Addressing Fertility Issues in Cancer Patients: For some newly diagnosed cancer patients, whether they will be able to have children after treatment is the furthest question from their minds-until the risks of therapy bring it front-and-center
  • INBRIEF: Intensity-Modulated Proton Therapy May Reduce Side Effects of Oropharyngeal Carcinoma Treatment
  • Medical Advances Improve Bile Duct Cancer Treatment: Cholangiocarcinoma, the most common bile duct cancer, is a clinically silent disease in its early stages; patients usually present with advanced disease, which carries a poor prognosis
  • HOUSE CALL: Weight Loss Tips for Breast Cancer Survivors-Losing excess weight has multiple benefits

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  OncoLog, Volume 59, Number 05, May 2014

  Bryan Tutt, Therese Bevers, and Zach Bohannan

  • New Treatments may Improve Outcomes for AL Amyloidosis Patients: AL amyloidosis-a rare, potentially fatal disease-has no approved treatments. The ''standard'' treatments are prescribed off-label, and few clinical trials have compared their effectiveness
  • Dialog: Screening Mammography Reduces Breast Cancer-Related deaths
  • 'Sleeping Beauty'' Technique Modifies T Cells to Treat B Cell Malignancies: A novel technique that helps the patient's own immune system find and destroy cancer cells could extend remission times for patients with B cell lymphomas and leukemias
  • INBRIEF: Analysis Suggests Need to Revise Low-Grade Glioma Classification, Treatment/Combination of Antiangiogenic Drugs Shows Activity Against Solid Tumors/ Computed Tomography Predicts Chemotherapy Response in Pancreatic Cancer
  • Screening Mammography for Breast Cancer Saves Lives: MD Anderson recommends most women being screening mammography at age 40

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  OncoLog, Volume 59, Number 03, March 2014

  Bryan Tutt, Joe Munch, and K. Stuyck

  • Expanding the Use of Laparoscopic Liver Resection: Minimally invasive surgical resection of liver tumors once was used only in select patients with easily accessible lesions located in the anterior of the liver. However, recent improvements in surgical techniques and the use of preoperative imaging have made laparoscopic approaches possible for even compels liver resection
  • Physicians Refining Lung Cancer Screening Program: Lung cancer screening with low-dose computed tomography (CT) has been shown to reduce the rate of lung cancer-specific mortality in people at high risk for the disease
  • Should the Primary Tumor Be Treated in Patients With Metastatic Prostate Cancer?: Researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center hope to determine whether treating the primary tumor has any oncologic benefit in patients with metastatic prostate cancer
  • HOUSE CALL: Vaccines That Prevent Cancer- Hepatitis B and HPV vaccines protect against cancer-causing viruses

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  OncoLog, Volume 59, Number 11-12, November-December 2014

  Bryan Tutt, Sunita Patterson, and S. Moreau

  • Striving to Improve Treatments for Uveal Melanoma: Although primary uveal melanoma can be effectively treated with radiation or surgery, patients with metastatic disease-or those at high risk for metastases-have few proven options. But specialists in medical oncology, radiation oncology, ophthalmology, surgery, and traditional research are working to improve those options
  • Beyond Diabetes: Metformin May Have Broad Utility in Cancer: Metformin, an inexpensive drug that has been prescribed for diabetes for decades, may also be useful in preventing or treating several types of cancer
  • HOUSE CALL: Smoking Cessation-Medications help smokers quit
  • INBRIEF: Vaccine Explored to Reduce Risk of HER2-Positive Breast Cancer Recurrence