2013 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium reveals new advances for GI cancers
2013-01-23
(Press-News.org) ALEXANDRIA, Va. – New research into the treatment and prognosis of gastrointestinal cancers was released today in advance of the tenth annual Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium being held January 24-26, 2013, at The Moscone West Building in San Francisco, CA.
Five important studies were highlighted today in a live presscast:
Postoperative Treatment with S-1 Chemotherapy Reduces Relapses and Extends Survival in Patients with Pancreatic Cancer: Early results from a Phase III clinical trial conducted in Japan show patients who received the chemotherapy drug S-1 after surgery for Stage I-III pancreatic adenocarcinoma had a 44 percent lower risk of dying compared with patients treated with gemcitabine. While S-1 is not yet approved in the United States, it is available in several Asian and European countries.
New Molecular Classification System for Colorectal Cancer May Help Guide Treatment Choice for Individual Patients: Researchers identified three distinct colorectal cancer subtypes based on gene expression patterns in patients' tumors. The findings may lead to new molecular tests for determining if a patient needs adjuvant treatment and which treatment might be most beneficial.
Surgery Following Imatinib Therapy Substantially Improves Survival for Certain Patients with Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors (GISTs): A new retrospective study validated the benefit of performing surgery to remove residual tumor lesions after imatinib therapy. Patients who received surgery after imatinib had a 5.5 fold lower risk of dying and a nearly 4-year longer time to disease worsening compared with those who received imatinib alone.
Profiling Gene Expression in Circulating Tumor Cells Shows Promise as a New Prognostic Strategy for Patients with Pancreatic Cancer: A study profiling gene expression in cells shed from pancreatic tumors into the bloodstream detected genomic changes associated with response and resistance to different treatments. This new profiling strategy may help predict whether or not a patient would respond to a particular chemotherapy regimen.
Second-Line Docetaxel Chemotherapy Improves Survival in Patients with Treatment-Resistant Esophageal or Gastric Cancers: A Phase III study showed that patients with esophageal or stomach cancers whose disease worsened despite first-line chemotherapy live on average 50 percent longer if they received second-line docetaxel than if they receive active symptom control (radiotherapy, steroids, and/or supportive medications). While docetaxel is already being used in this setting, the new study provides definitive evidence of survival benefit with second-line docetaxel.
"Research continues to deliver advances that will improve the lives of patients with gastrointestinal cancers, and we are learning to understand how to use molecular characteristics of tumors to choose and customize therapy for individual patients," said Neal J. Meropol, MD, who moderated the presscast. "At this conference, we will see the results of new studies showing life-extending treatments for some of our deadliest and hardest to treat cancers and new insights on tumor classification and prognosis."
Gastrointestinal cancers include those of the colon/rectum, stomach, pancreas, esophagus, small intestine, anus and other digestive organs. In 2012, it was estimated that nearly 285,000 people in the U.S. were diagnosed with these cancers and more than 142,000 will died from them.
###
The 2013 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium is co-sponsored by the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Institute, the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) and the Society of Surgical Oncology (SSO).
ATTRIBUTION TO THE 2013 GASTROINTESTINAL CANCERS SYMPOSIUM IS REQUESTED IN ALL NEWS COVERAGE.
END
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
2013-01-23
HOUSTON — Marked for death with molecular tags that act like a homing signal for a cell's protein-destroying machinery, a pivotal enzyme is rescued by another molecule that sweeps the telltale targets off in the nick of time.
The enzyme, called TRAF3, lives on to control a molecular network that's implicated in a variety of immune system-related diseases if left to its own devices.
The University of Texas MD Anderson scientists identified TRAF3's savior and demonstrated how it works in a paper published online Sunday in Nature.
By discovering the role of OTUD7B as ...
2013-01-23
New York University College of Nursing (NYUCN) researchers Michele G. Shedlin, PhD, and Joyce K. Anastasi, PhD, DrNP, FAAN, LAc, published a paper, "Use of Complementary and Alternative Medicines and Supplements by Mexican-Origin Patients in a U.S.–Mexico Border HIV Clinic," in the on-line version of the Journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care.
Complementary and alternative medicines (CAM) and therapies are often used to improve or maintain overall health and to relieve the side effects of conventional treatments or symptoms associated with chronic illnesses ...
2013-01-23
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Jan. 22, 2013 — A multi-center Phase III clinical trial demonstrates that Abraxane (nab-paclitaxel) plus gemcitabine is the first combination of cancer drugs to extend survival of late-stage pancreatic cancer patients compared to standard treatment.
The MPACT (Metastatic Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma Clinical Trial) study was led by physicians from Scottsdale Healthcare's Virginia G. Piper Cancer Center Clinical Trials, a partnership between Scottsdale Healthcare and the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen).
Their findings show that Abraxane ...
2013-01-23
A few years ago, manufacturers of water bottles, food containers, and baby products had a big problem. A key ingredient of the plastics they used to make their merchandise, an organic compound called bisphenol A, had been linked by scientists to diabetes, asthma and cancer and altered prostate and neurological development. The FDA and state legislatures were considering action to restrict BPA's use, and the public was pressuring retailers to remove BPA-containing items from their shelves.
The industry responded by creating "BPA-free" products, which were made from plastic ...
2013-01-23
Technological advancements in medicine have allowed patients suffering from musculoskeletal conditions such as hip and knee pain to regain mobility and live relatively pain-free. But some "high risk" surgical devices that have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are not required to go through clinical trials, where a product is tested to determine its safety and effectiveness.
"This could be potentially very dangerous. Many Americans – patients and even physicians - are not aware of how many devices in this country are on the market without having ...
2013-01-23
A new study published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine reveals that within a nationally representative study of American men and women, sex was rated as highly arousing and pleasurable whether or not condoms and/or lubricants were used. Condoms and lubricants are commonly used by both women and men when they have sex.
Led by Debby Herbenick, PhD, MPH and Michael Reece, PhD, MPH, of the School of Public Health-Bloomington, Indiana University, researchers reviewed a nationally representative study of men and women in the United States ages 18-59 to assess characteristics ...
2013-01-23
AUDIO:
An FDA-commissioned study finds that two proposed nutrition labeling changes could potentially make nutritional content information easier to understand. Study participants could more accurately assess the number of calories or...
Click here for more information.
Philadelphia, PA, January 23, 2013 – The Nutrition Facts label was introduced 20 years ago and provides consumers with important information, including: the serving size, the number of servings in the package, the ...
2013-01-23
Lung and head and neck cancer patients who smoked before surgery are more likely to relapse than those who had quit before surgery, Moffitt Cancer Center researchers say. They found that smoking-relapse prevention interventions are needed immediately after surgery to help prevent relapse.
The study was published in a recent issue of the journal Cancer.
"Cigarette smoking is responsible for 30 percent of all cancer-related mortalities," said study corresponding author Vani Nath Simmons, Ph.D., assistant member of the Health Outcomes and Behavior Program at Moffitt. "Head ...
2013-01-23
For more than fifteen years, Thierry Jamin, French Archaeologist and adventurer, explores the jungles of South Peru in every possible direction, searching for clues of the permanent presence of the Incas in the Amazonian forest, and the legendary lost city of Paititi. After the discovery of about thirty incredible archeological sites, located in the North of the department of Cuzco, between 2009 and 2011, which include several fortresses, burial and ceremonial, centers, and small Inca cities composed by hundreds of buildings, and many streets, passages, squares..., Thierry ...
2013-01-23
Rich Von, one of the partners of Von Vesting, Inc., is excited to announce that the company is in high-level talks to take on a $30 million rental fund. If the fund goes through, Rich Von says the company will have achieved part one of its goal to reach $100 million in rental properties.
As Rich Von explains, each $10 million fund represents about 110 single-family residences. The company has always put an emphasis on choosing the best properties for an area, including in its criteria the possibilities of improved economic development of that area. While Rich Von is ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
[Press-News.org] 2013 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium reveals new advances for GI cancers
