In a nutshell This study investigated whether the neutrophil count (NC; a type of white blood cell) and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte (another type of white blood cell) ratio (NLR) can predict prognosis in metastatic (spread to other parts of the body) melanoma patients treated with ipilimumab (Yervoy). Researchers suggested that the NC and NLR are...
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In a nutshell ?This phase 1/2 trial aims to test the safety and effectiveness of treatment with ipilimumab (Yervoy) in combination with granulocyte macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) in patients with stage 3 or 4 melanoma. The main outcome to be measured will be the response of the tumors to treatment. This trial is recruiting in Louisville,...
Read MoreIn a nutshell The authors investigated the correlation between the level of PD-1, an important protein in immune system, and clinical response of melanoma patients treated with anti-PD1 therapy. The authors concluded that the level of PD-1 was significantly associated with clinical response in metastatic melanoma patients receiving anti-PD1...
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In a nutshell This study investigated whether a reduced follow-up schedule affects melanoma patient outcomes, detection of recurrences (when the cancer comes back) and follow-up costs. Researchers suggested that reduced follow-up visits, besides reducing significantly hospital costs, did not affect patients’ outcomes and recurrence...
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Chemotherapy Side Effects Resources Cancer survivorship is impacted by side effects of treatment. Survivorship health information abounds on Medivizor: from the post on neuropathy to the new guidelines that have been created for physicians to care for the side effects for breast cancer survivors. In addition, the Medivizor Library provides a...
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In a nutshell This study investigated the overall survival and clinical characteristics of metastatic (spread to other parts of the body) melanoma patients undergoing therapy with dabrafenib (Tafinlar) combined with trametinib (Mekinist). Researchers suggested that the combined treatment is associated with improved overall survival when compared to...
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In a nutshell This study investigated the role of sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) in the prognosis of patients with thicker (more than 4 mm deep) melanoma. Researchers suggested that SLNB provides important prognostic information for patients with melanoma. Some background Melanoma thickness is a factor that predicts the presence of lymph...
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Why do patients choose certain treatment options and therapies over others? When should a patient choose surgery, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, etc.? Drs. Sapna Patel, Michael Wong and Mark Gimbel discuss how surgery is always the first thought of treatment, as it is much more ideal to extract the cancerous area. However, as history has shown, some...
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When you’re 8 years old, jumping rope, playing dolls, swinging on swing sets and doing homework are girlhood pursuits. Discovering “Lumpy Luey” in your left chest wall isn’t. In 1978, Stephanie Dodds’ way of coping with the diagnosis of Ewing Sarcoma was to give it a name and focus on “getting rid of it.”...
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Oncology Basics 2016 continues with a look at the immune system and immunotherapy. As described in a previous post, one of the regulators of cell division and proliferation is the immune system. Harnessing the power of the immune system to attack and destroy cancer cells is a promising area of oncology research. Immune System Cells Below is a graphic to...
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In Oncology Basics 2016 part 1, we examined the elegance of the cells that make up our body. In Oncology Basics 2016 part 2, we explored what holds the instructions for life–DNA–and the special processes of self-replication and transcription that are used to pass on and translate those instructions. Now we will try to connect the...
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The Central Dogma of Biology Doesn’t the title above sound imposing? Yet this central idea has moved biological science forward over the last 60 plus years. What we know about cells, genetics and cancer today relies on this “Dogma”: DNA carries our hereditary information and transfers that information in a process called transcription. In...
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