Treatment

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Pixantrone shows promise for patients with relapsed/refractory NHL

Dr. Richard Van der Jagt of Ottawa General Hospital presented results from phase II and phase III clinical studies of pixantrone at this weekend's Lymphoma and Myeloma 2009 Conference (October 22-24 2009).

Radiation Treatments for Hodgkin's Lymphoma Increases Breast Cancer Risk

Marie L. De Bruin, Ph.D., of the Netherlands Cancer Institute in Amsterdam, and colleagues studied 1,122 females who had been treated for Hodgkin's lymphoma with radiation prior to the age of 51 years. The incidence of breast cancer in the cohort was compared to the general population.

Comparing Chemotherapy with Radioummunotherapy

For decades chemotherapy has been the primary cancer treatment. In this entry I'll take a cursory look at both chemo and one of its emerging competitors, radioimmunotherapy.

Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy is the use of chemicals (chemical+therapy = chemotherapy) to inhibit cell division and encourage cell death. Although the earliest uses were in the 1940s, the real breakthrough occurred in the 1960s and combination chemotherapy.

What's in a (drug) name?

The names of the immunotherapy monoclonal antibodies seem like examples of outright butchery of the English language: rituximab, tositumomab, ibritumomab and so on. Can you imagine a less-catchy set of names for drugs than these? They look backwards or like they belong in the Jumble.

But as with all drugs, there is method to the madness. Each name has four parts:

Agent Orange benefits extended to vets with B-cell cancers

Working in conjunction with the Institute of Medicine, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Eric Shinseki announced that the VA is expanding the list of conditions and diseases "acknowledged as having a connection to being exposed to Agent Orange."

The new additions: ischemic heart disease, Parkinson's disease, and all B-cell blood cancers.

A Closer Look at the Zevalin Therapeutic Regimen

In 2002, the FDA approved Zevalin (ibritumomab tiuxetan) as a treatment for patients with relapsed or refractory, low-grade or follicular B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. At that time, Zevalin became the first conjugated antibody for the treatment of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and the first radioimmunotherapy agent for the treatment of NHL.

Researchers discover genes that suppress lymphoma in mice

RNA is making a comeback. For years researchers all-but-ignored RNA, assuming much of it was junk or served such simple purpose that it wasn't worth researching. That's all changing.

Kid’s Medication for Psoriasis, Arthritis Linked to Cancer

The FDA warns that TNF blockers -- the immune-disease drugs Remicade, Enbrel, Humira, Cimzia, and Simponi -- may cause lymphoma and other cancers in children and teens.
The drugs already carry a black-box warning that they may cause cancer. But the FDA now says the warning labels must highlight the drugs' possible risk of lymphoma and other cancers in children and teens.

Lymphoma treatment quality varies widely

We might know that certain hospitals, doctors, clinics, have tremendous reputations for treating lymphoma. We might assume though that whatever they know can somehow be accessed by our local oncologist. In other words, it shouldn't matter too, too much where you get your treatment, right? We hope?

New Cancer Vaccine Prolongs Survival for Follicular Lymphoma

An 8-year randomized, controlled phase III clinical study has shown that a patient-specific therapeutic vaccine, BiovaxID, significantly prolongs disease-free survival in follicular non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The study, featured in ASCO’s plenary session, found that patients who received the vaccine experienced a median disease-free survival of approximately 44 months compared to approximately 30 months for those who received a control vaccine—an increase of 47% (abstract P2).