Watch Sarah Maxwell's interviews with the following on the iPad edition of this issue
Prostate Cancer: Iodine-125 Low-Dose-Rate Brachytherapy Better than EBRT
Scott Tyldesley, MD, MPA, ABR, FRCPC, Clinical Associate Professor at the University of British Columbia, reviews the results of the ASENDE-RT study showing that men already treated with androgen deprivation plus standard "whole pelvis" external-beam radiation therapy for localized high- or intermediate-risk prostate cancer had longer relapse-free survival times if their subsequent radiation boost was via iodine-125 brachytherapy rather than by conformal external-beam radiotherapy (Abstract 3).
RCC: Disappointment about AZD2014 as Possible Replacement for Everolimus
The new drug AZD2014-a dual inhibitor of both TORC 1 and TORC 2-was shown to be less effective than everolimus in patients with VEGF-refractory metastatic clear cell renal cancer, despite previous theoretical advantages. Thomas Powles, MD, Clinical Professor of Genitourinary Oncology at Barts Cancer Institute in London, discussed his group's findings from a randomized Phase III study of patients treated with AZ2014 compared with those receiving the TORC1 inhibitor everolimus (Abstract 409).
Metastatic RCC: Statin Use Associated with Longer Survival
Rana R. McKay MD, of Harvard Medical School and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute explains why statins could represent a potential adjunctive therapy for patients with renal cell cancer. In the study she reported, a pooled analysis of patients with metastatic disease treated on phase II and III clinical trials (Abstract 435), those who used statins had a statistically significant improvement in overall, although not progression-free survival compared with patients who did not use statins. Still needed, though, she cautioned, is further preclinical work exploring the mechanisms underlying the anti-cancer effects and well-designed clinical trials investigating the clinical benefits of adding statins to modern therapies.
Bladder Cancer: Genomic Profiling Reveals 'Treasure Trove' of Targetable
Jeffrey S. Ross, MD, Chair of the Department of Pathology at Albany Medical College in New York, discusses his study using comprehensive genomic profiling of patients with relapsed or metastatic urinary bladder urothelial cancer, a technique that revealed an "extraordinarily" high frequency of clinically relevant genomic alterations that could help select targeted therapies (Abstract 289).
Bicalutamide Increases Survival in Locally Advanced, Non-Metastatic Prostate Cancer
Adding daily doses of bicalutamide to standard therapy early significantly increased the overall survival rate in patients with locally advanced non-metastatic prostate cancer. Frederik B. Thomsen, MD, of the University of Copenhagen's Prostate Cancer Center, discusses the long-term survival update of the Scandinavian Prostate Cancer Group 6 study, which found that the survival benefit increased for men with a higher baseline PSA but that there was no benefit for patients with localized disease (Abstract 2).
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