Adjuvant Pembrolizumab Boosts Recurrence-Free Survival in High-Risk Melanoma
Adjuvant pembrolizumab (Keytruda) for resected stage II melanoma significantly prolonged recurrence-free survival (RFS) compared with placebo, according to results from the KEYNOTE-716 trial. At a median follow-up of 14.4 months, pembrolizumab for resected stage IIB and IIC melanoma decreased the risk of disease recurrence or death by 35% compared with placebo (hazard ratio 0.65, 95% […]
Practice-Changing Study in Advanced Cervical Cancer
Adding pembrolizumab (Keytruda) to chemotherapy with or without bevacizumab (Avastin) significantly slowed progression of metastatic cervical cancer and improved overall survival (OS), investigators in a randomized trial concluded. Median progression-free survival (PFS) improved from 8.2 months with chemotherapy plus or minus bevacizumab (Avastin) to 10.4 months with the addition of the PD-1 inhibitor. Comparison of […]
Improved Survival With Surgery in Metastatic Breast Cancer
Selected patients with metastatic breast cancer at diagnosis had significantly better survival with surgery in addition to systemic therapy, an analysis of almost 13,000 patients showed. Overall, the survival hazard improved by 27%-36% in women with known receptor status (estrogen, progesterone, and HER2) treated with systemic therapy plus surgery with or without radiation therapy. Women […]
Altered functional brain network connectivity associated with symptoms of post-traumatic stress in COVID-19 survivors, study shows
COVID-19 survivors report significantly higher symptoms of post-traumatic stress, and these symptoms are associated with changes to the brain’s connectivity, according to a study coauthored by Vince Calhoun, Distinguished Professor of Psychology at Georgia State University and director of the Center for Translational Research in Neuroimaging and Data Science (TReNDS). Although COVID-19 is primarily considered […]
Study Confirms, Clarifies Excess Mortality in Testicular Cancer Survivors
Platinum-based chemotherapy (PBCT) and radiation therapy (RT) for testicular cancer significantly increased the risk of premature death from other causes, especially secondary cancers, a large Norwegian study showed. Overall, the 5,700 men included in the analysis had a 23% excess mortality from causes other than testicular cancer after treatment with PBCT or RT, as compared […]
Black Prostate Cancer Patients Less Likely to Go Under the Knife During Pandemic
The odds of undergoing surgery for prostate cancer were significantly lower for Black patients compared with white patients during the initial wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a retrospective cohort study. Just 1% of Black men with untreated nonmetastatic prostate cancer underwent prostatectomy from March to May 2020 compared with 26% of white men, […]
5 Mental Health Conditions That Are Way Underdiagnosed
Mental health awareness has spread significantly in the past decade in the United States and around the world. Public health groups have made it clear that mental health is every bit as important as physical health, and society has embraced that important shift, too. Most Americans now say they value their emotional well-being as much […]
PD-1 Inhibitor Boosts Survival in Treated Esophageal Cancer
Overall survival (OS) in previously treated esophageal cancer improved significantly with the anti-PD-1 drug tislelizumab compared to chemotherapy, a phase III, randomized trial showed. Patients randomized to tislelizumab had a median OS of 8.6 months as compared with 6.3 months for patients who received chemotherapy alone. A prespecified subgroup analysis of patients from Europe and […]