Darcy Lewis

Articles by Darcy Lewis

New Study Finds That 2.5% of Follicular Thyroid Carcinomas Are MSI-High

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A comprehensive effort to assess the prevalence of microsatellite instability in a large series of malignant thyroid tumors comprising all major histologic subtypes has found that the overall prevalence of MSI in follicular thyroid cancer is 2.5%. The study also found that MSI is either entirely absent or rare in other histology subtypes of thyroid carcinoma.

The efficacy of osimertinib does not significantly vary according to the body size variables of patients with T790M-positive non&ndash;small cell lung cancer who progress on prior EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors, according to findings from a new study published in <em>Thoracic Cancer</em>.<br /> &nbsp;

Researchers have defined a clinically and biologically distinct subgroup of tumors within germinal center B-cell&ndash;like diffuse large B-cell lymphoma characterized by a gene expression signature of high-grade B-cell lymphoma with&nbsp;<em>MYC&nbsp;</em>and&nbsp;<em>BCL2&nbsp;</em>and/or&nbsp;<em>BCL6&nbsp;</em>rearrangements, according to a study published in the&nbsp;<em>Journal of Clinical Oncology</em>.

The first attempt to quantify therapy-related myelodysplastic syndrome or acute myeloid leukemia in the era of widespread platinum-based chemotherapy has found that tMDS/AML risks were statistically significantly elevated after chemotherapy for 22 of 23 solid cancers, according to a new study in <em>JAMA Oncology.</em>

A new retrospective analysis of 640 newly diagnosed patients with follicular lymphoma found that patients who had achieved partial remission after 4 or more cycles of bendamustine plus rituximab experienced improved duration of response on maintenance rituximab compared with patients who received no maintenance treatment or who were in complete remission following induction with bendamustine plus rituximab.

Nivolumab With Sunitinib or Pazopanib Proves Too Toxic in Early RCC Trial

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Treatment with the immune checkpoint inhibitor nivolumab demonstrated dose-limiting toxicities when combined with the tyrosine kinase inhibitors sunitinib or pazopanib to treat advanced or metastatic renal cell carcinoma, according to the results of a phase I parallel cohort dose escalation trial. However, both combinations showed encouraging preliminary antitumor activity.

Conventional Views May Not Apply to All Triple-Negative Breast Cancers

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Clinicians need to consider the inherent heterogeneity of each case of triple-negative breast cancer during diagnosis and treatment planning, said Stuart J. Schnitt, MD, because not all cases present the same way. During the 2018 Lynn Sage Breast Cancer Symposium, Schnitt&nbsp;reviewed the conventional views of TNBC and emphasized that they may not fit all cases of TNBC.

Dose Escalating Ruxolitinib May Limit Drug-Related Anemia in Myelofibrosis

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Beginning ruxolitinib (Jakafi) therapy at lower doses may limit the anemia frequently seen early in treatment in patients with myelofibrosis while still providing clinical benefits like improvements in splenomegaly, according to the results of a 24-week open-label phase II dose escalation study.

VR-CAP Regimen Improves Survival Over R-CHOP in Mantle Cell Lymphoma

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Using the VR-CAP regimen instead of R-CHOP significantly improved median overall survival in previously untreated newly diagnosed patients with mantle cell lymphoma who were not eligible for transplant, according to results from the long-term follow-up phase of a randomized, open-label, phase III trial.

Adding thalidomide to induction and maintenance therapy in stem cell transplant-eligible, newly diagnosed patients with multiple myeloma improved event-free survival and progression-free survival compared with standard chemotherapy drugs and interferon alfa, according to a long-term follow-up analysis from a phase III open-label randomized trial.

Burstein Examines Predictive Value in Genomic Tests for Breast Cancer

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Genomic assays and signatures are increasingly being used as a prognostic indicator for guiding treatment decisions, according to Harold J. Burstein, MD, PhD. During a presentation at the 2018 Lynn Sage Breast Cancer Symposium in Chicago, he explained that many of these tests can also be used as predictive indicators.

Use of Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes Expanding in Breast Cancer

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The role of&nbsp;tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) is expanding in cancer care, necessitating a more involved role for pathologists to quantify immune infiltrates,&nbsp;K.P. Siziopikou, MD, PhD, suggested during a presentation at&nbsp;the 2018 Lynn Sage Breast Cancer Symposium.

Patients with HER2-positive, microsatellite instability-high (MSI-H), and <em>NTRK</em> gene fusion-positive breast cancer likely benefit more than others from molecular profiling. In a presentation at the 2018 Lynn Sage Breast Cancer Symposium in Chicago, Illinois,&nbsp;Sledge discussed the growing use of molecular profiling, especially for metastatic cancers, as well said the decreasing cost of sequencing.