[Corrections] Correction to Lancet Oncol 2017; 18: e354 –63
Carvalho C, Glynne-Jones R. Challenges behind proving efficacy of adjuvant chemotherapy after preoperative chemoradiation for rectal cancer. Lancet Oncol 2017; 18: e354 –63—In this Review, the second sentence of the Abstract should read “Additional improvements have been reported in three phase 3 colon cancer trials when oxaliplatin was added to fluoropyrimidines, although the effect was mainly on disease-free survival.” This correction has been made to the online version as of Feb 28, 2018 (Source: The Lancet Oncology)
Source: The Lancet Oncology - March 1, 2018 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: Corrections Source Type: research
[Correspondence] Low-dose CT for lung cancer screening – Authors' reply
We agree with Ruano-Ravina and colleagues that stopping smoking is the most effective measure for reducing lung cancer mortality. However, even if optimal smoking cessation could be achieved in all current smokers, former smokers would still be at high risk of developing lung cancer. Nowadays, low-dose CT is the only screening method that has been proven to be capable of detecting lung cancer at an early, curable stage.1 Furthermore, low-dose CT screening is considered to be a so-called teachable moment, and several trials have shown that smoking cessation is increased when combined with CT screening. (Source: The Lancet Oncology)
Source: The Lancet Oncology - March 1, 2018 Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: John K Field, Marjolein A Heuvelmans, Anand Devaraj, Claus P Heussel, David R Baldwin, Rozemarijn Vliegenthart, Stephen W Duffy, Matthijs Oudkerk Tags: Correspondence Source Type: research
[Correspondence] Low-dose CT for lung cancer screening
Even though we three are citizens of the European Union (EU) and the USA, physicians, and authors of multiple guidelines and evidence reviews concerning lung cancer screening,1 –5 we don't presume to speak on behalf of our countries. This trait distinguishes us from Oudkerk and colleagues who called their Policy Review the European position statement on lung cancer screening,6 and, in the abstract, “this European Union (EU) position statement”. Readers of The Lancet Oncology may be unaware that the Policy Review by Oudkerk and colleagues does not in fact reflect any position of either “Europe” or “the EU”, or...
Source: The Lancet Oncology - March 1, 2018 Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Peter B Bach, Otis W Brawley, Gerard A Silvestri Tags: Correspondence Source Type: research
[Correspondence] Low-dose CT for lung cancer screening
We read with great interest the Policy Review by Oudkerk and colleagues,1 but we do not agree with their conclusion that lung cancer screening should be implemented in Europe. We strongly believe that the available evidence does not show that the benefits of lung cancer screening with low-dose CT are greater than the harms. Instead, a first step that could effectively reduce the lung cancer burden would be to fund treatments and programmes to stop smoking. In addition to reducing the incidence of lung cancer, the incidence of other cancers would also be affected, as well as the incidence of respiratory and cardiovascular d...
Source: The Lancet Oncology - March 1, 2018 Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Alberto Ruano-Ravina, M ónica Pérez-Ríos, Pere Casàn-Clará, Mariano Provencio-Pulla Tags: Correspondence Source Type: research
[Correspondence] Neoadjuvant chemotherapy for early breast cancer – Author's reply
We thank Petros Charalampoudis and Andreas Karakatsanis, and David Krug and Sibylle Loibl for their positive comments on our meta-analysis1 of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) versus adjuvant chemotherapy. Charalampoudis and Karakatsanis note that the incidence of local recurrence was not significantly increased in women in the neoadjuvant group with a complete clinical response compared with all women who received adjuvant chemotherapy, and hypothesise that NACT might be as safe as adjuvant chemotherapy in terms of local recurrence in complete clinical responders. (Source: The Lancet Oncology)
Source: The Lancet Oncology - March 1, 2018 Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Paul McGale, David Dodwell, Carolyn Taylor, Richard Gray, Early Breast Cancer Trialists' Collaborative Group Tags: Correspondence Source Type: research
[Correspondence] Neoadjuvant chemotherapy for early breast cancer
We congratulate the Early Breast Cancer Trialists' Collaborative Group (EBCTCG) on their important meta-analysis.1 Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) has become an important tool and strategy for patients with breast cancer. Although NACT was traditionally used in patients with locally advanced breast cancer, with the aim of downstaging and achieving operability, monitoring treatment response for prognostic purposes and for risk stratification has become routine in current practice. (Source: The Lancet Oncology)
Source: The Lancet Oncology - March 1, 2018 Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: David Krug, Sibylle Loibl Tags: Correspondence Source Type: research
[Correspondence] Neoadjuvant chemotherapy for early breast cancer
The pivotal meta-analysis1 by the Early Breast Cancer Trialists' Collaborative Group (EBCTCG) provides high-quality data on the concept of risk-adapted breast-conserving therapy. The investigators showed equivalent survival in patients treated with the same chemotherapy before or after surgery, with a significantly higher frequency of local recurrence in patients receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) compared with the adjuvant group. This difference in local recurrence was not accompanied by a decrease in survival. (Source: The Lancet Oncology)
Source: The Lancet Oncology - March 1, 2018 Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Petros Charalampoudis, Andreas Karakatsanis Tags: Correspondence Source Type: research
[Correspondence] Adjuvant therapy for resected EGFR-mutant non-small-cell lung cancer – Authors' reply
We greatly appreciate the constructive comments from Rafael Rosell, Fang Wu, Tao Hou, and their colleagues on the ADJUVANT trial.1 We agree with Wu, Hou, and their colleagues that overall survival should be a crucial indication for changing the clinical practice. However, before the introduction of EGFR tyrosine-kinase inhibitors (TKIs), chemotherapy only provided 8 –10 months overall survival benefit for patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC).2 Use of TKIs as a first-line or later therapy, has been shown to increase overall survival to at least 22 months in patients with EGFR-mutant NSCLC. (Source: The Lancet Oncology)
Source: The Lancet Oncology - March 1, 2018 Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Yi-Long Wu, Wen-Zhao Zhong Tags: Correspondence Source Type: research
[Correspondence] Adjuvant therapy for resected EGFR-mutant non-small-cell lung cancer
Wen-Zhao Zhong and colleagues' trial1 shows that adjuvant gefitinib led to 28 ·7 months (95% CI 24·9–32·5) of disease-free survival, compared with 18·0 months (13·6–22·3) with vinorelbine plus cisplatin in patients with completely resected stage II–IIIA (N1–N2) EGFR-mutant non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) (hazard ratio [HR] 0·60, 95% CI 0·42–0·87; p=0·00 54). However, several caveats should be kept in mind. First, disease-free survival was much shorter than in other trials of adjuvant vinorelbine plus cisplatin in resected NSCLC. (Source: The Lancet Oncology)
Source: The Lancet Oncology - March 1, 2018 Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Rafael Rosell, Niki Karachaliou Tags: Correspondence Source Type: research
[Correspondence] Adjuvant therapy for resected EGFR-mutant non-small-cell lung cancer
Like Fang Wu and colleagues, we also read with great interest the ADJUVANT study,1 which showed that patients with stage II –IIIA (N1–N2) EGFR-mutant non-small-cell lung carcinoma treated with adjuvant gefitinib had significantly longer disease-free survival and fewer side-effects, than did those treated with vinorelbine plus cisplatin. However, caution should be used when choosing gefitinib as adjuvant treatment bec ause some questions remain unanswered. (Source: The Lancet Oncology)
Source: The Lancet Oncology - March 1, 2018 Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Jin-an Ma, Shun Jiang, Chunhong Hu, Yangchun Xie, Tao Hou Tags: Correspondence Source Type: research
[Correspondence] Adjuvant therapy for resected EGFR-mutant non-small-cell lung cancer
We read with great interest the ADJUVANT study,1 the first prospective phase 3 study showing longer disease-free survival for adjuvant tyrosine-kinase inhibitor (TKI) treatment than for cisplatin-based chemotherapy in patients with completely resected stage II –IIIA (N1–N2) EGFR-mutant non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, some important issues remain. (Source: The Lancet Oncology)
Source: The Lancet Oncology - March 1, 2018 Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Fang Wu, Xianling Liu, Jin-an Ma, Yawen Gao, Chunhong Hu Tags: Correspondence Source Type: research
[Comment] Cancer groundshot: going global before going to the moon
The launch of the Cancer Moonshot initiative by US Vice President Joe Biden under the Obama administration generated considerable global interest and excitement among patient organisations, clinicians, and researchers, which culminated in The Lancet Oncology Commission titled Future cancer research priorities in the USA. The three overall themes of the Cancer Moonshot programme —high-tech science, big data, and patient-centred care—focused on technocentric, high-cost research as a strategy that excluded crucial domains for global cancer control. (Source: The Lancet Oncology)
Source: The Lancet Oncology - March 1, 2018 Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Bishal Gyawali, Richard Sullivan, Christopher M Booth Tags: Comment Source Type: research
[Comment] 10-year report on the European Paediatric Regulation and its impact on new drugs for children's cancers
In the paediatric oncology community, there was great hope and expectation that the European Commission report, State of Paediatric Medicines in the EU —10 years of the EU Paediatric Regulation,1 might suggest major alterations in the landscape of development of new drugs for children's cancers. Have these expectations been met? (Source: The Lancet Oncology)
Source: The Lancet Oncology - March 1, 2018 Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Andrew DJ Pearson, Delphine Heenen, Pamela R Kearns, Anne Goeres, Lynley V Marshall, Patricia Blanc, Gilles Vassal Tags: Comment Source Type: research
[Editorial] UK National Health Service —beyond repair?
In a recent editorial, we highlighted the disconnect between the UK National Health Service (NHS) and its founding philosophy, and the existential crisis facing British health care. Recent weeks have seen the highest numbers of patients on record not being treated within prescribed waiting times, patients being queued on trolleys in hospital corridors, and urgent surgeries cancelled because of insufficient intensive-care beds. Moreover, dangerous, financially-motivated, clinical decisions are being proposed, patients are donating chemotherapy equipment to under-resourced hospitals, and more protest marches by junior doctor...
Source: The Lancet Oncology - March 1, 2018 Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: The Lancet Oncology Tags: Editorial Source Type: research
[Articles] Addition of the PARP inhibitor veliparib plus carboplatin or carboplatin alone to standard neoadjuvant chemotherapy in triple-negative breast cancer (BrighTNess): a randomised, phase 3 trial
Although the addition of veliparib and carboplatin to paclitaxel followed by doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide improved the proportion of patients with triple-negative breast cancer who achieved a pathological complete response, the addition of veliparib to carboplatin and paclitaxel did not. Increased toxicities with the addition of carboplatin (with or without veliparib) to paclitaxel were manageable and did not substantially affect treatment delivery of paclitaxel followed by doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide. (Source: The Lancet Oncology)
Source: The Lancet Oncology - February 28, 2018 Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Sibylle Loibl, Joyce O'Shaughnessy, Michael Untch, William M Sikov, Hope S Rugo, Mark D McKee, Jens Huober, Mehra Golshan, Gunter von Minckwitz, David Maag, Danielle Sullivan, Norman Wolmark, Kristi McIntyre, Jose J Ponce Lorenzo, Otto Metzger Filho, Priy Tags: Articles Source Type: research
