Adjuvant chemotherapy for NSCLC 32
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Ipilimumab for melanoma 35
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VOLUME 1, ISSUE 3
Anthracycline cardiotoxicity 41
AUGUST 2010 ASCOPost.com
Editor-in-Chief, James O. Armitage, MD
Cover Feature
Physician as Patient: A Personal Perspective
PRIMA Study: Rituximab Maintenance in Responders to Chemoimmunotherapy Cuts Recurrence in Follicular Lymphoma
By Richard J. Boxer, MD
By Alice Goodman
R
ituximab (Rituxan) maintenance therapy reduced the risk of recurrence by 50% in patients with follicular lymphoma (FL) who responded to induction therapy with rituximab plus chemotherapy, according to an interim analysis of the Primary Rituximab and Maintenance (PRIMA) phase III study, which compared rituximab maintenance therapy vs observation alone. Maintenance therapy was well tolerated, with little toxicity.
New Standard of Care “Rituximab maintenance after induction with rituximab plus chemotherapy significantly improved outcomes for FL patients. This study provides evidence for a new standard of care for patients with FL who need treatment,” stated Gilles Salles, MD, who is Professor of Medicine at the University of Lyon
Use your smartphone to view the PRIMA study abstract presented at ASCO’s Annual Meeting. See page 42 for more information about using 2D barcodes
in Lyon, France. These results were presented at the 2010 ASCO Annual Meeting.1 FL is the second most common type of lymphoma, and it is usually incurable despite treatment with rituximab plus chemotherapy (chemoimmunotherapy), Dr. Salles explained. FL is typically characterized by recurrence, and the length of remission is shorter with each recurrence. The PRIMA trial was initiated because previous studies suggested that rituximab continued on page 13
Pancreatic Cancer
Combination Therapy Improves Outcomes in Metastatic Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma
A
fter both giving and receiving care, the true meaning of health becomes evident. Besides the sacred oath that physicians take upon entering the medical profession, Hippocrates also wrote, “A wise man should consider that health is the greatest of human blessings, and learn how by his own thought to derive benefit from his illness.”1 We all face the reality of life and death, but few extend the understanding to both themselves and their patients. When I was in the throes of my life-threatening illness, a physician told me that my experiences were meaningless to others because unless it is personal, that knowledge will not change one’s insight. I hope that is not true for all. For 30 years I have been caring for patients with every type of genitourinary disease, but particularly malignancies. In September 1995, I discovered a malignant melanoma on my right knee. It was quickly removed, then widely excised. That was just the beginning. continued on page 28
By Kathleen Louden
A
multiagent chemotherapy regimen should become the new standard front-line treatment of metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma, according to authors of a phase III trial presented at this year’s ASCO Annual Meeting.1 Compared with single-agent gemcitabine (Gemzar), the new treatment, FOLFIRINOX (fluorouracil [5-FU], leucovorin, irinotecan, and oxaliplatin),
FOLFIRINOX for Metastatic Pancreatic Cancer ■■ A combination of fluorouracil, leucovorin,
irinotecan, and oxaliplatin greatly improves survival in patients with metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma.
■■ This combination regimen is an option for
patients with metastatic disease and good performance status who have a normal or near-normal bilirubin level.
produced significantly better outcomes in chemotherapy-naive patients, including an 11.1-month median overall survival (OS), said lead researcher Thierry Conroy, MD, of Centre Alexis Vautrin in Vandoeuvre-les-Nancy, France.
MORE IN THIS ISSUE 2010 ASCO Annual Meeting Coverage Prostate cancer �������������������������������3, 11 Breast cancer ������������������������������������������ 5 Hematology ������������������������������������1, 13 Lung cancer ����������������������������������������� 14 Thierry Conroy, MD
Longest Survival “This is the first time that a phase III trial has shown an 11-month median survival for patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer,” Dr. Conroy said. Patients who received only gemcitabine—the current standard of care—had a median OS of just 6.8 months, which Dr. Conroy said is similar to that reported in prior studies. OS was the primary endpoint for this multicenter study, known as the Prodige 4/ACCORD 11 trial. He presented the
Gastrointestinal cancer ���� 1, 12, 24, 25 A conversation with Dr. Owen O’Connor ������������������������������������ 4 Direct from ASCO ����������������������������19–23 JCO Spotlight: NSCLC ���������������������������� 32
continued on page 12
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