Cancer Currents: An NCI Cancer Research Blog
A blog featuring news and research updates from the National Cancer Institute. Learn more about Cancer Currents.
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Maximizing the Prospects for Progress Against CancerNCI Director Dr. Norman Sharpless highlights some of the important research findings from the 2018 American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting and discusses the rapid pace of progress in cancer research.
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Selumetinib Continues to Show Promise in Children with NF1In a phase 2 clinical trial, the investigational drug selumetinib shrank tumors in some children with the genetic syndrome neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1). The tumors, called neurofibromas, can cause pain, difficulty breathing or walking, and disfigurement.
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Toxin-Based Drug Moxetumomab Pasudotox May Be New Option for Rare LeukemiaPeople diagnosed with hairy cell leukemia (HCL) may have an effective new treatment option, a type of drug called an immunotoxin. Read more about how this treatment, moxetumomab pasudotox, fared in a phase 3 clinical trial in patients with advanced HCL.
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Easing Concerns about Giving Research Study Participants Their Genetic Test ResultsDo cancer study participants want to receive their genetic test results? A recent study involving women with a history of breast cancer tested an approach for returning genetic research results and evaluated the impact those results had on the women.
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New Treatment Approach Could Help Prevent Recurrences of Some Bladder CancersFlushing the bladder with the chemotherapy drug gemcitabine after tumors have been removed surgically may reduce the risk of low-grade bladder cancer returning, according to the results of a large clinical trial.
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Experimental Cancer Drug Metarrestin Targets Metastatic TumorsResearchers have struggled to develop therapies to treat tumors that have spread to other parts of the body. In a new study, researchers tested whether the experimental drug metarrestin can selectively shrink metastases in mouse models of aggressive pancreatic cancer.
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Dabrafenib–Trametinib Combination Approved for Melanoma, Anaplastic Thyroid CancerFDA recently approved the targeted-drug combination to treat patients with advanced melanoma and a subset of patients with a rare and aggressive form of thyroid cancer whose tumors have a specific mutation in the BRAF gene.
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Can Immunotherapy Succeed in Glioblastoma?Despite continued efforts to develop new therapies for glioblastoma, none have been able to improve how long patients live appreciably. Despite some setbacks, researchers are hopeful that immunotherapy might be able to succeed where other therapies have not.
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Some Children with Wilms Tumor Can Receive Less Therapy, Study SuggestsResults from an NCI-sponsored clinical trial may point to an important change in how some children with advanced Wilms tumor, a form of kidney cancer, are treated.
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FDA Approves Second CAR T-Cell Therapy for LymphomaFDA has approved tisagenlecleucel (Kymriah) for certain kinds of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Read about the trial that led to the approval and what the approval means for people with lymphoma.
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FDA Approves Nivolumab and Ipilimumab Combination for Advanced Kidney CancerFDA has approved the combination of two immunotherapy drugs, nivolumab (Opdivo) and ipilimumab (Yervoy), as an initial treatment for some patients with advanced kidney cancer. Learn how this approval will affect patient care.
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Rucaparib Approved as Maintenance Treatment for Some Recurrent Ovarian CancersFDA has expanded its approval of rucaparib (Rubraca) as a maintenance therapy for women with recurrent ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer whose tumors shrank after subsequent treatment with a platinum-based chemotherapy.
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Study Shows Experimental Screening Test Can Detect Endometrial and Ovarian CancersScientists have struggled to come up with a simple test to detect endometrial and ovarian cancers early, when they are most likely to respond to treatment. Can a liquid biopsy test called PapSEEK change that?
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Moving Beyond BMI: Low Muscle Mass May Affect Cancer SurvivalResearchers compared the risk of death for women with breast cancer who had low skeletal muscle mass, or sarcopenia, at the time of their cancer diagnosis and women who had adequate muscle mass.
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Immunotherapy Drugs Expand Treatment Options for Advanced Lung CancerResults from a large clinical trial show combining an immune checkpoint inhibitor with chemotherapy helped some patients with advanced lung cancer live longer than chemotherapy alone. How will this change the lung cancer treatment landscape?
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Cancer Control in American Indian and Alaska Native Populations: A Conversation with Dr. Shobha SrinivasanAmerican Indian and Alaska Native populations are disproportionately affected by certain cancers. In this interview, Dr. Shobha Srinivasan discusses some of these disparities and programs funded by NCI that are helping to address them.
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Take with Food: Study Tests Lowering Dose of Prostate Cancer DrugIn a small clinical trial, researchers compared the efficacy of a much lower dose of the cancer drug abiraterone (Zytiga) taken with a low-fat breakfast with a full dose taken on an empty stomach, as directed on the drug’s label.
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NCI Expands Repository of Cancer Research Models: A Conversation with Drs. Doroshow and EvrardNCI is expanding its Patient-Derived Models Repository (PDMR), which provides cancer research models made directly from human tumor tissue. In this Q&A, Drs. Yvonne Evrard and James Doroshow explain how the new models can help cancer researchers make more rapid progress.
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Brentuximab Approved for Initial Treatment of Advanced Hodgkin LymphomaThe FDA has expanded the approved uses of brentuximab (Adcetris) in people with Hodgkin lymphoma. Under the new approval, brentuximab can be used in combination with three other chemotherapy drugs as an initial treatment in patients with advanced disease.
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Advancing Patient Care Through Focused InnovationNCI Director Dr. Norman Sharpless describes the focus areas of opportunity he has identified that, with enhanced attention from NCI, he believes can accelerate progress in cancer research and care.