Patients with breast cancer can derive significant benefits from eating well and staying physically active during their treatment. In his previous interview with i3 Health, Neil Iyengar, MD, a medical oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, explained the roles that nutrition and exercise can play in the prevention and treatment of breast cancer. In this second installment, Dr. Iyengar discusses the personalized strategies that are most likely to benefit patients. In addition, he of...
Proper nutrition and adequate exercise can be considerably effective not only in helping to relieve symptoms and enhance quality of life in patients who have been diagnosed with breast cancer, but also to possibly prevent the development and progression of breast and other cancers. Neil Iyengar, MD, a medical oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, has performed extensive research regarding the link between metabolic health and the development and recurrence of breast cancer, a top...
While metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC) has a five-year survival rate of only 10%, patients whose tumors have variant histology or sarcomatoid differentiation face an even more dismal outlook, with limited treatment options. In a study now published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, a team of researchers led by Bradley McGregor, MD, and Toni Choueiri, MD, reported that atezolizumab in combination with bevacizumab significantly increased progression-free survival and improved outcomes in p...
In this exclusive with i3 Health, Craig H. Moskowitz, MD, Professor of Medicine at the University of Miami and Physician-in-Chief at the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, and Kami Maddocks, MD, Associate Professor of Clinical Internal Medicine and Lymphoma Program Director at The James Cancer Hospital at The Ohio State University, share their perspectives on the management of relapsed/refractory classical Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) and the advances brought to the treatment of this disease by dev...
Ibrutinib is an effective treatment for several B-cell malignancies, including mantle cell lymphoma, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, and Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia. However, it can cause cardiotoxicity. Under the direction of Daniel Addison, MD, a team of researchers recently found that hypertension caused or worsened by treatment with ibrutinib results in a greater than two-fold increased risk of major adverse cardiovascular events. In this interview with i3 Health, Dr. Addison discusses what...
Biliary tract cancers have a dismal prognosis, with five-year survival rates ranging from 5% to 15%. In their publication in JAMA Oncology, Sarah S. Jackson, PhD, and colleagues report that aspirin increases survival in biliary tract cancers, including gallbladder cancer, cholangiocarcinoma, ampulla of Vater cancer, and overlapping lesions of the biliary tract. In this interview with i3 Health, Dr. Jackson discusses the potential ramifications of her study's findings. What led you to pursue thi...
Gregg L. Semenza, MD, PhD, was recently awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his groundbreaking work in isolating hypoxia inducible factor (HIF) 1, which controls genes that are involved in cells' adaptation to low oxygen levels, with implications for cancer, ischemia, and chronic lung disease. In this interview with i3 Health, Dr. Semenza discusses the involvement of HIF-1 and HIF-2 in cancer and shares insights on the progress that is being made in developing HIF-1 and HIF-2 i...
In combination with exemestane, everolimus is an effective treatment for estrogen receptor (ER)-positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative metastatic breast cancer. However, this treatment can often cause oral mucositis. This serious adverse event, characterized by the formation of ulcers, can cause difficulty in swallowing and speaking, necessitating dose reduction and treatment disruption if not properly managed. In their study now published in The Oncologist, Naoki Nii...
Because multiple myeloma frequently remains asymptomatic until the disease is in the advanced stages, it can be difficult to diagnose and has limited treatment options, resulting in a five-year survival rate of only 50.7%. In this Q&A session from i3 Health's live meeting series, Evolving Treatment Paradigms in Multiple Myeloma and Implications for Shared Decision Making, Carol Ann Huff, MD, Medical Director for the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, discusses strategies to enhance the trea...
Because most patients with small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) present with extensive-stage disease—in which the cancer has spread to both lungs or throughout the body—survival rates are poor, and there is a need to develop alternative treatments to improve outcomes. In their study now published in The Lancet, Luis Paz-Ares, MD, and colleagues found that in patients with extensive-stage SCLC (ES-SCLC), the addition of the immunotherapy drug durvalumab to a chemotherapy regimen of platinum/etoposide si...
Many patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) present with advanced disease, which is highly resistant to chemotherapy. Recently, the use of tumor histology and relevant molecular biomarkers in determining optimal treatment strategies has improved outcomes for some patients, yet a number of targeted therapies are not applicable to patients without driver mutations. In this interview with i3 Health, Jamie E. Chaft, MD, a medical oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and an...
Results from a phase 3 trial show that nivolumab significantly improves overall survival compared with chemotherapy in patients who have been previously treated for advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). In this interview with i3 Health, Ken Kato, MD, PhD, explains the results from this study, as well as rationale for using nivolumab in ESCC, safety considerations, and the study's implications for oncology practice. What is the most challenging aspect of treating patients with advan...
High-grade serous ovarian carcinoma is the most malignant form of ovarian cancer, with a high recurrence rate and a low survival rate. While patients are commonly treated with induction chemotherapy consisting of paclitaxel plus carboplatin, there is a need to develop additional first- and second-line therapies to increase survival in patients with this disease. In their study now published in The New England Journal of Medicine, Robert L. Coleman, MD, a Professor in the Department of Gynecologi...
With a five-year survival rate of only 50.7%, multiple myeloma remains difficult to treat. In this interview with i3 Health, Carol Ann Huff, MD, Medical Director for the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, explores the challenges and research advances of myeloma treatment. She also gives advice on helping patients to find assistance with the prohibitive costs of treatment and on handling the difficulties involved in treating patients at smaller community cancer centers, including patients who l...
By inhibiting epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) signaling pathways, EGFR inhibitors have shown efficacy in the treatment of a variety of cancers, including non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), pancreatic cancer, and colorectal cancer. However, most patients who receive EGFR inhibitors develop adverse skin events, such as acneiform rash, xerosis, paronychial inflammation, pruritis, photosensitivity, and hair and eyelash alteration. If not properly managed, these toxicities can lead to physic...
Myelofibrosis, a rare myeloproliferative neoplasm, can cause severe anemia, splenomegaly, and debilitating symptoms. It can present either as a primary condition or as a secondary condition following the transformation of essential thrombocythemia or polycythemia vera (PV), a slow-growing blood cancer in which the bone marrow produces an excess of red blood cells and often of white blood cells and platelets. Last week at the Society of Hematologic Oncology (SOHO)'s Seventh Annual Meeting, Srdan ...
On September 17, 2019, the FDA approved apalutamide (Erleada®, Janssen Biotech, Inc.) in combination with androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) for patients with metastatic castration-sensitive prostate cancer (CSPC). The approval was based on TITAN (NCT02489318), a Phase III clinical trial led by Kim N. Chi, MD, Vice President of BC Cancer Agency in Vancouver and Professor of Medicine at the University of British Columbia. In this interview with i3 Health, Dr. Chi discusses the significance of the...
Many patients with cancer experience infections requiring treatment. However, David Pinato, MD, MRes, PhD, and colleagues recently found that in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), melanoma, and other tumor types, broad-spectrum antibiotic treatment administered within 30 days prior to the commencement of immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy dramatically worsened overall survival (2 vs 26 months) and increased the risk of treatment-refractory disease. In this interview with i3 Heal...
Carlos Fernández-Martos, MD, and colleagues recently reported that in patients with high-risk, locally advanced rectal adenocarcinoma, adding aflibercept (Zaltrap®, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc.) to a modified schedule of fluorouracil/leucovorin/oxaliplatin (FOLFOX6) followed by standard chemoradiotherapy and total mesorectal excision surgery increased treatment efficacy, producing a higher complete pathologic response rate. In this interview with i3 Health, Dr. Fernández-Martos discusses the...
Studies have shown that unmarried patients with cancer are less likely to receive surgery and radiotherapy than their married counterparts; they are also less likely to survive their cancer. In a research-based perspective essay published in The New England Journal of Medicine, Joan DelFattore, PhD, MS, a survivor of stage IV gallbladder cancer, suggests that contrary to assumptions made by a number of researchers, the disparities in cancer treatment for individuals who are single may stem not f...