http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. The identification of potentially targetable kinase mutations has been an exciting advancement in lung cancer treatment. Although the mutations driving many lung carcinomas remain unknown, approximately 50 percent of lung adenocarcinoma cases harbor KRAS mutation, EGFR mutation, or ALK translocation, and an additional 5 percent or so have been shown to have mutations involving BRAF, PIK3CA, HER2, MET, MEK1, NRAS, and AKT. In the vast majority, these driver mutations are mutually exclusive. But in a recent study published in the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer's Journal of Thoracic Oncology (JTO) researchers have found that tumors with ALK rearrangements can harbor additional mutations. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-tumors-alk-rearrangements-harbor-mutations.html Cancer Mon, 22 Apr 2013 16:59:32 EST news285868765 An eight gene 'signature' can predict length of relapse-free survival after chemotherapy, finds new research in Biomed Central's open access journal BMC Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-gene-signature-survive-chemotherapy.html Cancer Mon, 15 Apr 2013 20:00:01 EST news285246069 A new chemotherapy regimen appears to produce minimal side effects in patients with lung cancer that has not responded to previous therapy, paving the way for additional research to determine if the new regimen also helps shrink tumors, according findings to be presented by Fox Chase Cancer Center researchers at the AACR Annual Meeting 2013 on Tuesday, April 9. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-treatment-resistant-lung-cancer.html Cancer Tue, 09 Apr 2013 09:40:24 EST news284719217 Proteins that control cell growth are often mutated in cancer, and their aberrant signaling drives the wild proliferation of cells that gives rise to tumors. One such protein, the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), fuels a wide variety of cancers—including a highly malignant brain cancer known as glioblastoma. Yet drugs devised to block its signaling tend to work only for a short while, until the cancer cells adapt to evade the therapy. So far, much of the research examining such drug resistance has focused on how mutations of other proteins in cancer cells allow them to resist drugs. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-hijacking-healthy-cellular-circuits.html Cancer Mon, 08 Apr 2013 16:26:19 EST news284657171 Locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck is a potentially curable disease in nearly every patient at the time of diagnosis, yet despite the most aggressive efforts, up to 30-50 percent of patients may ultimately succumb to the disease. For diseases where outcomes are so uncertain, medical science frequently addresses the need by intensifying therapy. In the case of head and neck cancer, one of the great questions of the current day is whether or not addition of multiple drugs to radiation therapy is superior to the current standard of care therapy with one drug and radiation. In particular, physicians have wondered if the addition of the more tolerable targeted biologic therapy to chemotherapy results in improved patient outcomes. Unfortunately, the data suggests that it does not. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-combination-therapies-advanced-neck-cancer.html Cancer Thu, 07 Mar 2013 13:00:33 EST news281883626 (Medical Xpress)—A new drug combination shows promise in reducing the risk for patients with advanced oral precancerous lesions to develop squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. The results of the study, which included preclinical and clinical analyses, were published in Clinical Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-drug-combination-neck-cancer-high-risk.html Cancer Tue, 19 Feb 2013 14:10:01 EST news280504253 The central skill of cancer is its ability to mutate – that's how it became cancerous in the first place. Once it's started down that path, it's not so difficult for a cancer cell to mutate again and again. This means that different tumors within a single patient or even different areas within the same cancerous deposit may develop different genetic characteristics. This heterogeneity helps cancer escape control by new, targeted cancer therapy drugs. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-lung-cancer-patients-pockets-resistance.html Cancer Sat, 01 Dec 2012 06:12:23 EST news273564734 Right now, the best known treatment for patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with anaplastic lymphoma kinase gene rearrangements (ALK) or epidermal growth factor receptor mutations (EGFR) is crizotinib or EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), such as erlotinib, respectively. However, progression inevitably occurs. When it does, having no clear guidelines and/or indications, most patients are treated with chemotherapy. A new study published in the December 2012 issue of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer's (IASLC) Journal of Thoracic Oncology, shows that other approaches to overcome acquired resistance should be considered. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-approach-non-small-cell-lung-cancer.html Cancer Thu, 15 Nov 2012 13:11:03 EST news272207437 (Medical Xpress)—Elderly patients with advanced non small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)  who developed a rash within 28 days of receiving the targeted drug erlotinib (Tarceva) survived on average 6.2 months, compared to 4.1 months for patients who were given a placebo, results from a major phase III Cancer Research UK-funded trial show today.  http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-painless-skin-rash-survival-benefit.html Cancer Wed, 17 Oct 2012 06:02:35 EST news269672548 A study, published in the November 2012 issue of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer's (IASLC) Journal of Thoracic Oncology, showed the plasma test VeriStrat can predict response but not survival benefit from erlotinib. The study was conducted on a subset of patients enrolled in the NCIC Clinical Trials Group, BR.21 phase III trial of erlotinib versus placebo in previously treated advanced non-small cell lung cancer patients. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-veristrat-response-survival-benefit-erlotinib.html Cancer Mon, 15 Oct 2012 12:56:19 EST news269524551 A team of neuroscientists and chemists from the U.S. and China today publish research suggesting that a class of currently used anti-cancer drugs as well as several previously untested synthetic compounds show effectiveness in reversing memory loss in two animal models of Alzheimer's' disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-scientists-reverse-alzheimer-like-memory-loss.html Alzheimer's disease & dementia Mon, 24 Sep 2012 16:35:33 EST news267721729 DENVER- In lung cancer, patients who benefit from drugs like erlotinib will inevitably develop drug resistance. This is heralded by cancer growth and increasing tumor-related symptoms. Now scientists are investigating a second line of defense by studying the use of the novel AKT inhibitor MK-2206 in combination with erlotinib for patients whose benefit from erlotinib has begun to wane. Results of a Phase II trial will be presented during the 5th Latin American Conference on Lung Cancer. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-scientists-second-line-defense-patients-nsclc.html Cancer Wed, 25 Jul 2012 14:00:06 EST news262439580 The addition of high doses of erlotinib to the treatment regimen of bevacizumab and capecitabine with radiotherapy seems to benefit patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer, according to results of a phase I study presented at the American Association for Cancer Research's Pancreatic Cancer: Progress and Challenges conference, held here June 18-21. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-adding-erlotinib-bevacizumabchemoradiotherapy-regimen-pancreatic.html Cancer Tue, 19 Jun 2012 15:30:17 EST news259332674 Overactive epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) signaling has been linked to the development of cancer. Several drug therapies have been developed to treat these EGFR-associated cancers; however, many patients have developed resistance to these drugs and are therefore no longer responsive to drug treatment. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-combination-drug-resistance-cancer.html Cancer Fri, 01 Jun 2012 13:01:11 EST news257774460 Patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer should only receive treatment with the drug erlotinib before receiving standard chemotherapy if their tumor is known to harbor EGFR mutations, researchers report at the 3rd European Lung Cancer Conference in Geneva, Switzerland. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-analysis-erlotinib-advanced-non-small-cell.html Cancer Wed, 18 Apr 2012 11:14:35 EST news253966439 Head and neck cancers respond well to the anti-cancer drug erlotinib when it is administered before surgery and a stronger dose is given to patients who smoke, according to a study presented at the Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancer Symposium, sponsored by AHNS, ASCO, ASTRO and SNM. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-erlotinib-dose-adjusted-status-effective-treatment.html Addiction Thu, 26 Jan 2012 10:09:15 EST news246794940 In the first phase III study to include Western lung cancer patients, first-line treatment with erlotinib (Tarceva) nearly doubled progression-free survival compared with chemotherapy, according to research presented at the 14th World Conference on Lung Cancer in Amsterdam, hosted by the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-eurtac-phase-iii-erlotinib-progression-free.html Cancer Tue, 05 Jul 2011 04:51:36 EST news229060280 A non-invasive PET imaging technique may identify lung cancers that respond best to tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), allowing doctors to better select patients for personalized therapy, according to research presented at the 14th World Conference on Lung Cancer in Amsterdam, hosted by the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-pet-scan-11cerlotinib-noninvasive-method.html Cancer Tue, 05 Jul 2011 04:49:28 EST news229060128 Scientists have identified a drug combination, when used in advanced lung cancer patients, shows a survival advantage in patients who no longer respond to existing therapies. They found that bexarotene and erlotinib can each repress the critical cell cycle regulator: cyclin D1. The drug combination also broadened the reach to include a specific subset of patients, such as those resistant due to the presence of a ras mutation in their cancer. The study was published in the June issue of Cancer Prevention Research. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-drug-combination-survival-refractory-lung.html Cancer Thu, 02 Jun 2011 09:34:39 EST news226226063 The standard treatment for patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is a combination of two old-fashioned cytotoxic chemotherapy drugs. The combination, however, comes with substantial toxicity. Now, Fox Chase Cancer Center researchers report that a combination of two molecularly-targeted agents may provide similar therapeutic benefit with less toxicity. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-toxic-combination-erlotinib-bevacizumab-effective.html Cancer Wed, 01 Jun 2011 14:39:34 EST news226157777 Asian non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients survive longer than Caucasians no matter how many drugs are given in a first-line setting, and the effect was apparent both before and after the introduction of targeted therapies in the early 2000s, according to research published in the June issue of the Journal of Thoracic Oncology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-asian-lung-cancer-patient-survival.html Cancer Wed, 01 Jun 2011 09:35:22 EST news226139700