Top 10 cancer updates from February

This month’s top news includes a number of key studies in hematology and oncology.

Promising data presented during medical meetings, and society announcements that have offered an outlook toward the future of the specialty round out the news.

HemOnc Today presents its top 10 updates from the month of February.

For the second year in a row, ASCO named immunotherapy as its cancer advance of the year, according to “Clinical Cancer Advances 2017: ASCO’s Annual Report on Progress Against Cancer.” Read more.
Adults born in 1990 are twice as likely to be diagnosed with colon cancer and four times as likely to be diagnosed with rectal cancer as people born in 1950, according to a retrospective analysis. Further, three in 10 rectal cancer diagnoses are now made in patients aged younger than 55 years. Read more.
Early integration of palliative care for patients with newly diagnosed incurable gastrointestinal and lung cancers improved quality of life, reduced depression symptoms, and enhanced coping with prognosis and communication about end-of-life preferences, according to a randomized clinical trial. Read more.
Clinical trials routinely use strict enrollment criteria that exclude patients who are most likely to benefit from the treatment under investigation, according to study results published in Leukemia. Read more.
By 2050, the number of malignant melanoma–related deaths in the United States may decrease 2.5 to 3 times lower than rates in peak years, according to data presented at the European Cancer Congress. Read more.
Several cancer survivorship care models are available to help integrate primary care providers into the long-term follow-up care of cancer survivors. However, limited data exist on the effectiveness of these models, as well as the specific roles primary care providers actually play. Read more.
A new breast cancer model designed specifically for Hispanic women could help health care providers more accurately predict breast cancer risk in Hispanic patients, according to a study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Read more.
More than half of women with stage I or stage II breast cancer who underwent scalp cooling while receiving chemotherapy retained their hair during treatments with minimal adverse events, according to a pair of studies published in JAMA. Read more.
Physicians’ willingness to communicate with patients about the cost of cancer care appeared associated with improved patient satisfaction and lower out-of-pocket expenses. However, these conversations do not occur regularly, according to a review published in Cancer. Read more.
Many women with newly diagnosed breast cancer are not receiving the genetic testing that could detect mutations associated with ovarian and other cancers, according to a large survey published in JAMA. Read more.