Lisa Miller

Articles by Lisa Miller

Treatment with trastuzumab (Herceptin) has shown such a benefit in the treatment of patients with HER2-positive breast cancer that it is now the standard of care despite its association with cardiotoxicity. As such, researchers have taken to searching for ways to lessen or prevent the incidence of cardiac events in trials with trastuzumab. 

An expert panel, consisting of the College of American Pathologists, American Society for Clinical Pathology, and the American Society of Clinical Oncology issued comprehensive, evidence-based guidelines for clinicians and pathologists regarding the testing of HER2 status for patients with gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma. 

The presence of both PD-L1&ndash;positive and CD8+ cells may help to predict response in patients with non&ndash;small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated with durvalumab (MEDI4736), according to findings presented during a late-breaking abstract session at the <em>SITC 31st Annual Meeting &amp; Associated Programs</em>. Sonja Althammer, PhD, presented on the correlation between improved survival rates to durvalumab treatment and high CD8+ and PD-L1+ cell densities.&nbsp;

Liver metastases have long led to a poor diagnosis&nbsp;for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer&nbsp;(mCRC), especially when the metastases&nbsp;are unresectable. However, an increasing number of&nbsp;adjunct techniques can treat the liver until surgery&nbsp;becomes possible, and there are also alternatives to&nbsp;surgery for nonresectable patients.

Deciding the sequencing order of therapies for patients with ALK-positive non&ndash;small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is a challenge, as new information on next-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) comes to light, says Robert Doebele, MD, PhD. Testing for ALK translocations can help to determine which therapies NSCLC patients should be receiving, but questions regarding the sequencing of ALK inhibitors still remain.

TNFSF11, also known as RANKL, shows potential as a genetic pathway in the prevention of breast cancer for women carrying BRCA1 mutations. Early study findings, published in Nature Medicine, show that a drug currently used in the treatment of osteoporosis, denosumab (Xgeva)-an inhibitor of RANKL-could also be used for the prevention and delay of tumor growth for BRCA1-mutation carriers.

Gastric cancers with high-level clonal FGFR2 gene amplification responded to AZD4547, a selective FGFR inhibitor, in a phase II open label trial of previously treated, advanced FGFR amplified cancer. Yet tumors with multiple FGFR1 genes, low level or subclonal amplification of FGFR2 did not respond similarly to the drug.