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Gut microbiome positively influences abiraterone response in prostate cancer

Abiraterone acetate (AA), an agent used in castrate-resistant prostate cancer, promotes a shift towards health-associated, anti-inflammatory gut commensal bacteria, finds a study in Nature Communications. “These findings clearly demonstrate that the gut microbiome is playing a role in treatment response,” says Jeremy Burton, the study lead investigator from the University of Western Ontario, London, Canada. […]

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A silver lining: Could changes forced by the pandemic point to better ways to conduct our clinical trials?

Pragmatic adjustments to trial protocols were seen to be essential during the Covid-19 pandemic to avoid trials being abandoned or delayed. Most changes involved reducing the requirements for travelling to centralised trials centres and reducing the level of reporting requirements. These measures were agreed between trial sponsors, regulators, contract research organisations (CROs) and trial centres […]

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Four steps to eliminating HPV-related cancers: a call for action

A new report underlines that vaccination, screening, treatment and public awareness, provide the cornerstone for eliminating cancers linked to the human papillomavirus (HPV) in Europe. The report was published by The European Cancer Organisation, Brussels on 7th October. The report, ‘Viral Protection: Achieving the Possible’ details a four step plan that calls for urgent action […]

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Cancer deaths fall, health disparities persist, cancer research affected, reports AACR

The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) annual Cancer Progress Report for 2020, published 23 September, portrays a mixed picture. On a positive note, the report features advances in cancer treatment and falls in cancer-related deaths; while on the negative side, it shows certain segments of the population shoulder a disproportionate burden of cancer and […]

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Metastatic prostate cancer: cabazitaxel shows quality of life benefits over both abiraterone and enzalutamide

In addition to previously reported survival benefits, the taxane cabazitaxel improved quality of life in patients with advanced metastatic prostate cancer compared to the androgen signalling targeted inhibitors abiraterone and enzalutamide, reports the latest analysis of the CARD trial (Fizazi K et al. Lancet Oncol 2020). “This analysis can provide reassurance to physicians and patients […]

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Combined therapies offer the key to drug-resistant cancer

For the first time, an investigator initiated phase 1b study tested the combination of the PARP inhibitor olaparib, and the AKT inhibitor capivasertib, and showed this combination was well tolerated and achieved durable responses in patients with treatment-refractory breast, ovarian and prostate cancers. The results were published in the journal Cancer Discovery (Yap TA et […]

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New European Code of Cancer Practice defines patient rights along the cancer pathway

The European Code of Cancer Practice was launched on 23rd September in Brussels by the European Cancer Organisation to empower citizens with 10 key ‘overarching’ rights and reduce cancer care inequalities across Europe. “This powerful new tool sets out the core requirements for excellence in clinical cancer practice to improve outcomes for all cancer patients […]

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Preclinical model identifies predictors of checkpoint inhibitor response

A study published in PNAS (Chen IX, et al. PNAS 2020) of a new mouse model has enabled the identification of distinct gene signatures that distinguish responders from non-responders to immune checkpoint blockade (ICB). “Our findings provide a general approach for investigating mechanisms of resistance to ICB and identifying predictive biomarkers of response,” write the […]

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New transatlantic partnership to regain the momentum of cancer research

Building on the existing Cancer Research UK (CRUK) Grand Challenges initiative, a broader international collaboration has now been forged in partnership with the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in the US. This new Cancer Grand Challenges has been launched to seek novel ideas to address the most profound unanswered research questions in cancer. The partnership, between […]

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ESMO provides first recommendations on use of next-generation sequencing in metastatic cancer

Patients with metastatic non-squamous non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), prostate cancers, ovarian cancers and cholangiocarcinoma should be offered next-generation sequencing (NGS) for profiling tumour samples, concludes an expert panel from the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) in their review (Mosele F et al. Ann Oncol 2020) published in Annals of Oncology (August 24). “These are […]