September 2015

Social deprivation and gender affects incidence of Hodgkin lymphoma in children and young adults

Vienna, Austria: Living in overcrowded conditions appears to protect children and young adults against developing a particular type of Hodgkin lymphoma (HL), a cancer that originates from the lymphocytes (white blood cells). This protective effect seems to suggest that infections earlier in life may stimulate the immune system to deal with future infections and cancerous […]

A cancer diagnosis while pregnant should not lead to treatment delay or pregnancy termination

Vienna, Austria: Women who are pregnant when diagnosed with cancer can start treatment for their disease immediately and do not need to terminate their pregnancy due to worries over the effects of therapy on the development of their child. In a special session on cancer in pregnancy at the 2015 European Cancer Congress [1] on […]

First ‘targeted’ treatment for small cell lung cancer shows promise

Vienna, Austria: Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is an aggressive disease that is difficult to treat and is frequently only diagnosed when it has spread to other parts of the body (metastasised). Five-year survival rates in SCLC, which accounts for about 14% of all lung cancers, are very low, at only six percent. But US […]

Drug combination improves progression-free survival in melanoma patients regardless of genetic status, age and spread of disease

Vienna, Austria: Patients with advanced melanoma skin cancer survive for longer without their disease progressing if they have been treated with a combination of two drugs, nivolumab and ipilimumab, than with either of these drugs alone. New results show that these patients also do better regardless of their age, stage of disease and whether or […]

Hormonal therapy could prevent ovarian failure and preserve fertility in women with breast cancer

Vienna, Austria: Young women undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer may be more likely to remain fertile if they also receive hormonal treatment, according to new research presented to the 2015 European Cancer Congress [1]  and published simultaneously in Annals of Oncology [2]. Researchers told the Congress that the addition of treatment with a so-called luteinising […]

Post diagnosis aspirin improves survival in all gastrointestinal cancers

Vienna, Austria: Aspirin improves survival in patients with tumours situated throughout the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, results from a large study in The Netherlands show. This is the first time that survival data from patients with tumours in different GI locations have been analysed at the same time; previously, only one type of cancer, usually colorectal, […]

A combination of two targeted therapies results in melanoma patients living significantly longer: new results

Vienna, Austria: Latest results from a trial of a combination of two targeted therapies (dabrafenib and trametinib) to treat advanced melanoma have shown that patients are living significantly longer on the combined therapy than patients treated with another drug, vemurafenib, when used alone. Professor Caroline Robert, of the Institut Gustave Roussy, Paris, France, told the […]

Nivolumab improves the proportion of lung cancer patients alive after more than a year

Vienna, Austria: Patients with a type of lung cancer called non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer (non-SQ NSCLC) have limited treatment options and a dismal prognosis once their disease has advanced and initial treatment with platinum-based chemotherapy has failed. Second-line treatment is usually with another chemotherapy drug, such as docetaxel or pemetrexed. Recent results have shown […]

Treatment of elderly patients with breast cancer varies between different countries throughout Europe

Vienna, Austria: First results from the largest international comparison of the treatment of elderly patients with breast cancer have shown there are substantial differences in the use of surgery, hormone therapy and chemotherapy between European countries. The European Registration of Cancer Care (EURECCA) study [1] compared the treatment patterns of 119,125 patients aged 70 and […]

Discovery of differences between tumours of younger and older colorectal cancer patients may lead to better treatments

Vienna, Austria: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is on the rise among younger patients. Although some of the younger-onset cases can be explained by hereditary factors, the majority arise spontaneously. Researchers have now found that tumours in younger colorectal cancer patients may be molecularly distinct from those of older patients, and that these differences are related to […]