The survival rate for lung cancer has improved significantly in recent years, largely due to the adoption of biomarker testing and the development of targeted therapies. In this interview in honor of Lung Cancer Awareness Month, Beth Sandy, MSN, CRNP, Outpatient Thoracic Oncology Nurse Practitioner at the University of Pennsylvania Abramson Cancer Center, discusses the importance of utilizing biomarker testing in order to determine treatment options for patients with lung cancer. Oncology Data A...

A shortfall in knowledge in the use of biomarkers and patient-related factors for the personalization of treatment for patients with advanced urothelial carcinoma was identified in the baseline data collected from i3 Health's continuing medical education (CME)–approved visiting faculty meeting series titled New Thinking, New Strategies in Advanced Urothelial Carcinoma, led by Arjun V. Balar, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine and Director of the Genitourinary Medical Oncology Program at NYU Lan...

Due to the advances in treatment options for metastatic gastric cancer in recent years, oncology physicians and nurses can individualize treatment selection for patients by considering pathologic and molecular characteristics and emerging efficacy and safety data on novel therapies. Baseline data collected from i3 Health's continuing medical education (CME)/nursing continuing professional development (NCPD)–approved visiting faculty meeting series titled Challenges and Opportunities in Metastati...

Researchers at the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have identified new molecular subtypes of undifferentiated uterine sarcoma, a rare type of cancer that is highly deadly and has no effective treatment options. "It is too early to propose a new treatment that will be useful for the patients today, but the study opens up new avenues for future research, which will create in time new treatment possibilities for women who suffer from these rare tumors," commented the study's senior author, Joseph C...

Despite their known pulmonary, neurological, and carcinogenic risks, electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) use has increased drastically in recent years, especially among adolescents and young adults. In a recent study, a team of researchers led by Marc Bjurlin, DO, MSc, Associate Professor of Urology at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill's Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, analyzed the urine samples of e-cigarette users and identified the presence of several carcinogenic biomarkers...

According to the results of a recently published study, carcinogenic biomarkers strongly linked to bladder cancer risk are found in the urine samples of electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) users. E-cigarettes contain nicotine, additives, and other chemical solvents that can create numerous toxic compounds when heated. Their popularity has increased dramatically in recent years, especially in the adolescent and young adult population. Between 2017 and 2018, usage increased nearly 80% among high sc...

With a 20% five-year survival rate, advanced ovarian cancer is one of the deadliest diseases. When women are diagnosed in stages I and II, however, the five-year survival rate increases to 90%. Unfortunately, only 15% of ovarian cancer cases are discovered in the early stages due to lack of symptoms and a dearth of tests for ovarian cancer biomarkers. Researchers at the University of Adelaide and Griffith University in Australia have found a potential new method to detect early-stage disease by ...

Cancer treatments such as chemotherapy and radiation work by damaging the DNA of cancer cells, thereby killing them. Unfortunately, it is impossible for these treatments to target only the diseased cells; therefore, surrounding healthy cells also suffer from DNA damage as a result of treatment. This DNA damage to healthy cells could have dire consequences. Findings from a study published in Cancer reveal that certain treatments for breast cancer increase patients' exposure to toxicities that may...

Cancer diagnoses do not always come with a predictable future; sometimes, the impending course of the disease is uncertain. However, this terrifying unknown may soon be a thing of the past. When Jason Sheltzer, PhD, a Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Fellow from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and software engineer Joan Smith pored over the genomic profiles of 17,879 patients with cancer in search of common identifiable factors, they discovered a specific type of biomarker that can determine...

Most often, men diagnosed with prostate cancer have a low risk of progression (LRP). However, some men have intermediate or high risk of progression (IHRP). Physicians tend to overtreat or undertreat patients because they do not have a reliable way to accurately determine the risk of progression. A new study published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings has provided a potential solution to this dilemma. "We have discovered new molecular markers that can help guide men in their decisions about the course ...

Through microRNAs, researchers have created a non-invasive, biomarker-based test that enables early detection of aggressive prostate cancer using a urine sample. "We currently do not have accurate biomarkers to help determine the aggressiveness of prostate cancers that are not invasive," remarked Paul Boutros, PhD, Director of Cancer Data Science at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center and senior author of the study, which has now been published in...

In order to help predict how tumors will respond to anti–PD-1 (programmed cell death 1)/PD-L1 (programmed cell death ligand-1) therapies, doctors assess patients using PD-L1 immunohistochemistry (IHC), tumor mutational burden (TMB), gene expression profiling (GEP), and multiplex immunohistochemistry/immunofluorescence (mIHC/IF). However, the diagnostic performance of these tests has not been established. To bridge this education gap, researchers conducted a systematic review to determine the acc...

Entrectinib (Rozlytrek™, Genentech, Inc.) has just been FDA approved for use as treatment for patients with cancers containing neurotrophic tyrosine receptor kinase (NTRK) gene fusion, which is a genetic defect. This drug is to be used if there are no other effective treatments available. This approval marks the third time the FDA has approved a cancer drug based on a biomarker instead of tumor type. These types of approvals are beginning a paradigm in the development of cancer treatments for "t...

Researchers have identified glioblastoma biomarkers in extracellular vesicles that could enable a liquid biopsy, serving as a more efficient and less invasive means of detecting and subtyping this cancer. The most aggressive type of brain tumor, glioblastoma has a poor survival rate and limited treatment options. While it can currently be diagnosed through tumor biopsies, this method can be time consuming, invasive, and painful. There is a need to develop more effective options for detecting gli...