Listen to these podcast interviews on the iPad edition of this issue by OT reporters Peter Goodwin and Sarah Maxwell:
Head & Neck Cancer: Increased PFS with Afatinib; Campaign to Raise Awareness of Symptoms
Jean-Pascal Machiels, MD, PhD, of Cliniques Universitaires St-Luc in Belgium, discusses the Phase III LUX Head & Neck trial showing that patients treated with the multiple Erb-B tyrosine kinase inhibitor afatinib had longer progression-free survival than those in a control group receiving methotrexate. In addition, Jean-Louis Lefebvre MD, of Centre Oscar Lambret in France and co-leader of the European Head and Neck Society's "Make Sense Campaign" (makesensecampaign.eu), elaborates on his talk about that effort, which aims to raise awareness of symptoms to subsequently drive earlier diagnosis and referral for curative treatment.
Sentinel Node Biopsy Safe for Pregnant Women with Breast Cancer
Sileny N. Han, MD, of University Hospitals Leuven in Belgium, explained the results of her study showing that pregnant women with early-stage clinically node-negative breast cancer can be assessed safely-with no hazard to the fetus-by using sentinel lymph node biopsy. Hatem A. Azim, MD, PhD, of Jules Bordet Institute in Belgium, added his comments on the clinical value of the findings.
Chemotherapy During Pregnancy Safe
Frederic Amant, MD, PhD, of University Hospitals Leuven in Belgium, talks about his study showing that the infants born to mothers with cancer treated with chemotherapy during pregnancy were as healthy as those not exposed to treatment in utero (OT 10/25/14 issue), including an assessment of toddlers, showing no differences in mental development and cardiac functioning compared with those not exposed to chemotherapy prenatally. Giuseppe Curigliano, MD, PhD, of the European Institute of Oncology, added his comments on the importance of contraception during pregnancy for women being treated with chemotherapy.
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