3 Points: Numbers Have a Different Meaning for Patients With Cancer

October 21, 2021 12:00 am

by Julie S. Brokaw

A woman with ovarian cancer describes how blood work numbers play a key role for patients with cancer and often dictate their thoughts and worries.

The number three is a special number. As a former math

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ARIEL2 Analysis Sheds Light on Biomarkers of Response to Rucaparib in Ovarian Cancer

May 4, 2021 2:00 pm

RAD51C and RAD51D mutations and high-level BRCA1 promotor methylation are predictive of response to rucaparib in patients with recurrent ovarian cancer, while genomic scars linked with homologous recombination deficiency is predictive of response only in those with platinum-sensitive disease.

By … Read more

High Tumor Mutational Burden Predicts Immunotherapy Response in Some—but Not All—Cancers

March 16, 2021 6:00 pm

High tumor mutational burden (TMB) was useful for predicting clinical responses to immune checkpoint inhibitors only in a subset of cancer types, according to a study published by McGrail et al in Annals of Oncology.

The findings suggest that … Read more

Pap Test/Cervical Swab Samples Can Reveal Ovarian Cancer Biomarkers

February 22, 2021 10:00 am

 Sharon Worcester

Residual fixatives from liquid-based Pap tests and cervical swabs contain tumor-specific biomarkers for ovarian cancer, according to an analysis of proteins found in matched biospecimens from a woman with high grade serous ovarian cancer.

The findings suggest … Read more

How Biomarker Testing May Help Women Battling Ovarian Cancer

February 18, 2021 6:00 pm

Receiving a cancer diagnosis can be overwhelming. But the more you know about your specific situation, the better.

By

Every year, more than 21,000 women in the United States are diagnosed with ovarian cancer. In about half of

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Moffitt Researchers Discover Mechanism that Regulates Anti-Tumor Activity of Immune Cells

February 3, 2021 3:00 am

The study finally paves the way for the use of antibodies different from IgG as immunotherapeutic agents for at least tumors currently resistant to conventional immune checkpoint blockade.

The prognosis of ovarian cancer is poor, with an estimated five-year survival … Read more

Large Genomics Study Points the Way to Future Cancer Clinical Trials

October 14, 2020 11:00 am

By Angus Liu

Many oncology researchers and practitioners scrutinize genetic alterations in cancer, but they either focus on one particular tumor type or one mutation that occurs across tumors. A large-scale study focusing on precision medicine in cancer is now … Read more

Phase I Data of XMT-1536 Supports Continued Development in Ovarian Cancer

September 17, 2020 1:00 pm

Updated interim safety, tolerability, and efficacy data for the ovarian cancer cohort of the ongoing expansion portion of the Phase I study evaluating XMT-1536 show a 34% objective response rate (ORR) and 79% disease control rate, including two complete responses. … Read more

PARP Inhibitors Deemed Too Costly For Across-the-Board Frontline Maintenance in Ovarian Cancer

September 11, 2020 8:00 pm

By Leah Lawrence

A new study estimated that a PARP inhibitor-for-all approach to treating advanced-stage ovarian cancer would be associated with high costs compared with biomarker-directed use of PARP inhibitors.1 Study researchers recommended that maintenance treatment with PARP inhibitors … Read more

How Does Ovarian Cancer Form? A New Study Points to MicroRNA

July 30, 2020 4:00 pm

Although ovarian cancer is the fifth-leading cause of death from cancer in women, scientists don’t have a good handle on how it forms. Now a new study suggests that a microRNA—a molecule made by cells to turn genes on … Read more

Ovarian Cancer Metastasis Study Identifies Important Protein with Potential as Diagnostic Tool and Treatment Option

July 16, 2020 3:00 pm

By Clayton Boldt, Ph.D

Advanced ovarian cancer most commonly metastasizes to the omentum, a layer of fatty tissue that wraps around and protects internal organs in the abdomen, but the reasons for this have not been well-understood. In a new … Read more

This MicroRNA Might Help Detect, Treat Ovarian Cancer

June 26, 2020 6:00 pm

In cell and mouse models, miR-181a showed promise as a biomarker for early stage ovarian cancer and may help make immunotherapy treatment more effective.

By Ian Demsky

A microRNA that is normally involved in immune cell differentiation helps to initiate

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KRAS May Predict Benefit of MEK Inhibitors in Some Ovarian Cancers

May 11, 2020 10:30 am

By Ian Ingram

For women with recurrent or persistent low-grade serous ovarian cancer (LGSOC), presence of a KRAS mutation appeared to predict benefit from binimetinib (Mektovi), a post-hoc analysis from the phase III MILO trial found.

Among women treated with … Read more

FDA Approves Lynparza/Avastin With Myriad Genetics CDx for Platinum-Sensitive Ovarian Cancer

May 11, 2020 10:00 am

NEW YORK – The US Food and Drug Administration has approved olaparib (AstraZeneca/Merck’s Lynparza) in combination with bevacizumab (Genentech’s Avastin) as a maintenance regimen for advanced ovarian cancer patients who have homologous recombination deficiency (HRD) and are responding to first-line … Read more

Blood Test Helped Detect Cancer Before Symptoms, Study Finds

April 28, 2020 10:45 am

by Marilynn Marchione

For the first time, a blood test has been shown to help detect many types of cancer in a study of thousands of people with no history or symptoms of the disease.

The test is still experimental. … Read more

AACR 2020: Cell-Free DNA Liquid Biopsy May Provide an Early Detection Test for Patients With Suspected Cancer

April 28, 2020 10:30 am

By Jo Cavallo

The Circulating Cell-free Genome Atlas Study is a large multicenter, case-controlled, observational study of 15,254 participants, 56% with cancer and 44% without cancer, with longitudinal follow-up to support the development of a cell-free DNA (cfDNA) multicancer early … Read more

Verastem Oncology Announces Preliminary Data from Investigator-initiated Study Highlighting Clinical Activity of RAF/MEK and FAK Combination in KRAS Mutant Tumors Presented at the AACR 2020 Virtual Annual Meeting I

April 27, 2020 10:20 am

BOSTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Verastem, Inc. (Nasdaq:VSTM) (also known as Verastem Oncology), a biopharmaceutical company committed to developing and commercializing new medicines for patients battling cancer, today announced results from the ongoing investigator-initiated Phase 1 clinical study investigating VS-6766, its

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First-in-Human Study of RAF Family Kinase Inhibitor Lifirafenib in Solid Tumors

March 27, 2020 12:30 pm

By Matthew Stenger

In a first-in-human phase I trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Desai et al found that the RAF family kinase inhibitor lifirafenib produced responses in several solid tumor types in patients with BRAF or … Read more

New Research Shows Which Ovarian Cancer Patients Won’t Benefit From Immune-PARP Combo

March 19, 2020 10:10 am

BOSTON – In patients with advanced ovarian cancer, a combination of drugs known as immune checkpoint inhibitors and PARP inhibitors can produce powerful remissions, clinical trials have shown, but up until now investigators haven’t been able to predict which patients … Read more

Simple Blood Test Measures the Body’s Immune Response to Improve Ovarian Cancer Diagnosis

February 17, 2020 10:00 am

Researchers have developed a simple blood test that measures the body’s own immune response to improve diagnosis of ovarian cancer.

Ovarian cancer is one of the most common gynecologic cancers, with the highest mortality rate. About 300,000 new cases are … Read more