State of the art and future directions in the systemic treatment of medullary thyroid cancer
Purpose of review
Systemic treatment is the only therapeutic option for patients with progressive, metastatic medullary thyroid cancer (MTC). Since the discovery of the rearranged during transfection (RET) proto-oncogene (100% hereditary, 60–90% sporadic MTC), research has focused on finding effective systemic therapies to target this mutation. This review surveys recent findings.
Recent findings
Multikinase inhibitors are systemic agents targeting angiogenesis, inhibiting growth of tumor cells and cells in the tumor environment and healthy endothelium. In the phase III EXAM and ZETA trials, cabozantinib and v...
Source: Current Opinion in Oncology - December 5, 2021 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: ENDOCRINE TUMORS: Edited by Christiane Jungels Source Type: research
Editorial introductions
No abstract available (Source: Current Opinion in Oncology)
Source: Current Opinion in Oncology - December 5, 2021 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: EDITORIAL INTRODUCTIONS Source Type: research
Advances in myelodysplastic syndrome
Purpose of review
In this review, the focus is on the most recent improvements in diagnosis, prognostication and therapy of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and on their relevance for clinical management.
Recent findings
Analytical methods to refine cytogenetic and molecular assessment of MDS have been proposed, improving prognostic stratification obtained from integration of clinical and genomic data. Novel agents with very different mode of action, as single drugs or added to HMA backbone, show promising clinical results in LR-MDS and HR-MDS. Luspatercept has obtained approval given the fact that in transfusion...
Source: Current Opinion in Oncology - October 23, 2021 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: HEMATOLOGIC MALIGNANCIES: Edited by Miguel A. Sanz and María-Victoria Mateos Source Type: research
The road to chemotherapy-free treatment in chronic lymphocytic leukaemia
Purpose of review
The treatment landscape of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) has tremendously evolved in the last decades, from chemo to chemoimmunotherapy (CIT) and, eventually, to pathway inhibitors that target critical pathways for leukaemic cells survival. Also, treatment goals are moving towards achieving undetectable minimal residual disease with little toxicity.
Recent findings
We performed a thorough review of the history of treatment approvals by both the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA). This review especially focuses on therapies that are currently approve...
Source: Current Opinion in Oncology - October 23, 2021 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: HEMATOLOGIC MALIGNANCIES: Edited by Miguel A. Sanz and María-Victoria Mateos Source Type: research
Maintenance therapies in acute myeloid leukemia: the renaissance of an old therapeutic concept
Purpose of review
Disease relapse remains the major cause of death in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and is driven by the persistence of leukemic cells following induction chemotherapy or allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant (allo-HCT). Maintenance therapies to extend the duration of remission and to improve survival have been proposed for several years with mixed results but have experienced a renaissance recently.
Recent findings
The oral hypomethylating agent CC-486 has been the first agent to show an overall survival (OS) benefit compared with observation in AML patients in remission followin...
Source: Current Opinion in Oncology - October 23, 2021 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: HEMATOLOGIC MALIGNANCIES: Edited by Miguel A. Sanz and María-Victoria Mateos Source Type: research
Geriatric assessments and frailty scores in multiple myeloma patients: a needed tool for individualized treatment?
Purpose of review
Multiple myeloma is a disease of elderly adults. Improvement in survival has occurred because of biological insights and novel agents. Therapeutic options involve choices today, thus have become more complex. Demographics have led to an increased number of elderly patients and age may be associated with a poorer outcome but is not the only prognostic predictor today.
Recent findings
To evaluate patients’ health status rather than their chronological age alone, frailty scores and functional geriatric assessments are used to identify prognostic groups, avoid adverse events, compare clinical tri...
Source: Current Opinion in Oncology - October 23, 2021 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: HEMATOLOGIC MALIGNANCIES: Edited by Miguel A. Sanz and María-Victoria Mateos Source Type: research
The role of autologous stem-cell transplantation in multiple myeloma in 2021
Purpose of review
In this review, we discuss the most important aspects of the role of high-dose melphalan (HDM) and autologous stem-cell transplantation (ASCT) in the treatment of multiple myeloma (MM).
Recent findings
Almost 40 years after the publication of the first study on safety and efficacy of HDM and ASCT in MM patients, and despite the introduction of several drugs and combinations with various targets on the plasma cell and the surrounding microenvironment, HDM–ASCT still stands as a standard of care for the upfront treatment of newly diagnosed MM patients. Indeed, all attempts to replace HDM–ASCT...
Source: Current Opinion in Oncology - October 23, 2021 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: HEMATOLOGIC MALIGNANCIES: Edited by Miguel A. Sanz and María-Victoria Mateos Source Type: research
The changing landscape for patients with relapsed/refractory acute myeloid leukaemia
Purpose of review
The treatment of patients with relapsed or refractory (R/R) acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) has been an unequal challenge for many decades. Although significant progress has been made in the discovery of the mechanisms underlying the molecular pathogenesis of the disease, more than 50% of AML patients still die, mostly from relapsed disease. Currently, the only potential curative option for patients with R/R AML remains allogeneic bone marrow transplantation in second complete remission, which is far being easy to achieve, mainly for patients with primary induction failure or older than 65 years. The ...
Source: Current Opinion in Oncology - October 23, 2021 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: HEMATOLOGIC MALIGNANCIES: Edited by Miguel A. Sanz and María-Victoria Mateos Source Type: research
Mutational burden and immune recognition of gliomas
Purpose of review
Recent evidence suggests high tumor mutational burden (TMB-H) as a predictor of response to immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) in cancer. However, results in TMB-H gliomas have been inconsistent. In this article, we discuss the main pathways leading to TMB-H in glioma and how these might affect immunotherapy response.
Recent findings
Recent characterization of TMB-H gliomas showed that ‘post-treatment’ related to mismatch repair (MMR) deficiency is the most common mechanism leading to TMB-H in gliomas. Unexpectedly, preliminary evidence suggested that benefit with ICB is rare in this populati...
Source: Current Opinion in Oncology - October 23, 2021 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: BRAIN AND NERVOUS SYSTEM: Edited by Marc Sanson Source Type: research
Treatment of anaplastic gliomas: evidences and controversies
Purpose of review
Evolving molecular data have led to a new and advanced grading system of anaplastic glioma. In everyday practice, physicians have to translate evidence from old clinical trials into evidence meeting the reclassified tumor types.
Recent findings
New biomarkers allow the identification of anaplastic glioma with relatively poor prognosis and with prognosis similar to glioblastoma. An update with molecular analysis of the phase 3 CATNON trial demonstrates the benefit of adjuvant temozolomide (TMZ) to be dependent on the mutational status of isocitrate dehydrogenase. In the ongoing debate on the opt...
Source: Current Opinion in Oncology - October 23, 2021 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: BRAIN AND NERVOUS SYSTEM: Edited by Marc Sanson Source Type: research
Current treatments of medulloblastoma
Purpose of review
The biological knowledge and the new biopathological classification of medulloblastoma subtypes have dramatically changed the therapeutic indications, taking into account not only age and staging but also biopathological risk criteria. This review covers the multidisciplinary approach including surgery, radiation oncology and medical treatments.
Recent findings
The neurosurgical management of tumor-related hydrocephalus has been modified by the introduction of third ventriculostomy. The initial complete excision is no longer always the first choice, to preserve neurological function. The recent...
Source: Current Opinion in Oncology - October 23, 2021 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: BRAIN AND NERVOUS SYSTEM: Edited by Marc Sanson Source Type: research
Pediatric brain tumors as a developmental disease
Purpose of review
Brain tumors are the most frequent solid cancer in the pediatric population. Owing to the rarity of environmental clues about their origin, it is tempting to consider these neoplasms as developmental processes gone awry. Our review will explore the heuristic power of this hypothesis and the influence of these findings on the clinical management.
Recent finding
A more accurate description of cancer predisposition syndrome has shown their frequent association with developmental abnormalities. Several genes involved in pediatric brain tumor oncogenesis are involved in developmental processes. Mode...
Source: Current Opinion in Oncology - October 23, 2021 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: BRAIN AND NERVOUS SYSTEM: Edited by Marc Sanson Source Type: research
Current emerging MRI tools for radionecrosis and pseudoprogression diagnosis
Purpose of review
This review aims to cover current MRI techniques for assessing treatment response in brain tumors, with a focus on radio-induced lesions.
Recent findings
Pseudoprogression and radionecrosis are common radiological entities after brain tumor irradiation and are difficult to distinguish from real progression, with major consequences on daily patient care. To date, shortcomings of conventional MRI have been largely recognized but morphological sequences are still used in official response assessment criteria. Several complementary advanced techniques have been proposed but none of them have been v...
Source: Current Opinion in Oncology - October 23, 2021 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: BRAIN AND NERVOUS SYSTEM: Edited by Marc Sanson Source Type: research
Open questions and controversies in the systemic treatment of breast cancer
Purpose of review
Personalized therapy has revolutionized our approach to breast cancer (BC). Patient selection strategies and new biomarkers are the basis for increasingly complex diagnostic and therapeutic algorithms. In this short review, we discuss recent developments in breast oncology, focusing on controversial topics with relevance for clinical practice.
Recent findings
The use of gene expression signatures to guide adjuvant therapy in hormone receptor-positive tumors and personalized strategies for systemic treatment of early stage HER2-positive disease represent significant advances. Additionally, the c...
Source: Current Opinion in Oncology - October 23, 2021 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: BREAST CANCER: Edited by Giuseppe Curigliano Source Type: research
Genetic testing in patients with triple-negative or hereditary breast cancer
Purpose of review
In recent years there has been a dramatic evolution in the clinical utility of genetic testing with expanding therapeutic implications for individuals with breast cancer who harbor a germline mutation in BRCA1/2. As these therapeutic opportunities expand and evolve, this requires the clinical and research community to rethink the approach to genetic testing for individuals with breast cancer.
Recent findings
Genetic testing is evolving from traditional testing models based on pretest counseling with the aim of identifying hereditary and individual risk for purposes of screening and risk reducti...
Source: Current Opinion in Oncology - October 23, 2021 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: BREAST CANCER: Edited by Giuseppe Curigliano Source Type: research
