Patients with breast cancer who have vitamin D insufficiency have a 45% increased likelihood to develop grade 3 or higher chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) with paclitaxel, researchers reported in the Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network. The findings identify a racial disparity because the increased risk was more common among Black patients (who are more likely to have vitamin D insufficiency), where it more often linked to sensory CIPN.
In a clinical trial of 65 patients with metastatic or recurrent Merkel cell carcinoma who had not previously received systemic therapy for advanced disease, treatment with retifanlimab-dlwr (Zynyz™) achieved a 52% overall response rate and 18% complete response rate, leading the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to grant it accelerated approval in March 2023.
Unavailability of necessary drugs, supplies, and equipment—including an increasing number of lifesaving drugs with no viable alternatives—because of shortages are “making it nearly impossible to provide safe, high-quality patient care in a fiscally responsible manner,” healthcare professionals across a variety of disciplines reported on a 2023 ECRI and Institute for Safe Medication Practices survey.
On January 19, 2024, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved erdafitinib (Balversa®) for the treatment of adult patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma (mUC) with susceptible FGFR3 genetic alterations, as determined by an FDA-approved companion diagnostic test, whose disease has progressed on or after at least one line of prior systemic therapy. Erdafitinib is not recommended for the treatment of patients who are eligible for and have not received prior PD-1 or PD-L1 inhibitor therapy.
On January 19, 2024, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that it is adding a boxed warning to the denosumab (Prolia®) prescribing information about the significant risk of developing severe hypocalcemia in patients with advanced chronic kidney disease. The warning and new labeling contain information to help reduce that risk, including appropriately selecting patients for denosumab treatment, increased monitoring of blood calcium levels, and other strategies.
Developing new scientific questions and cutting-edge analytical tools, promoting better research collaboration, and propelling new discoveries in treatment and care, the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI’s) Childhood Cancer Data Initiative granted administrative supplements to fund eight new studies in December 2023.
One in five patients experiences anxiety or depression at some point during their cancer journey, and those with a concurrent mental health condition have an increased risk of death and shorter life span compared to the general population. Despite that stark reality, mental health conditions have been frequently undertreated in patients with cancer.
Most patients with cancer experience at least one nutrition-related symptom in the outpatient setting but say they’re not having nutrition conversations with their cancer care team—yet providers think they are. The contrary reports came from study findings researchers published in the Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing.
First isolated in 2001, the BRIP1 (BRCA1 interaction protein C-terminal helicase 1) gene encodes for homologous recombination repair and facilitates DNA single- and double-strand break repair during DNA replication.
Just 17% of adult Americans received the updated COVID-19 vaccine as of early December 2023, and “that’s not enough,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Mandy Cohen, MD, told the U.S. Congress.