Upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC) is a rare malignancy with a mortality rate of over 50% for locally advanced disease. However, few clinical trials have been conducted due to its low incidence rate. Nephroureterectomy—a surgical procedure in which the renal pelvis, kidney, ureter, and bladder cuff are removed—is considered the standard treatment approach for patients with UTUC, but little research had been conducted regarding the optimal treatment after surgery. In the phase 3 PO...

Carriers of germline variants in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes are more likely to experience a pathologic complete response to two different chemotherapy regimens, according to a retrospective study now published in JAMA Oncology.This study was a secondary analysis of data from the GeparOcto multicenter prospective clinical trial, in which 945 women with different subtypes of high-risk, early-stage breast cancer were randomized to receive either sequential intense dose-dense epirubicin/paclitaxel/cy...

In people with HIV and cancer, antiretroviral therapy is often used during cancer treatment to mitigate complications of HIV progression. However, questions regarding long-term effects of cancer treatment in this patient population remain, such as the immunosuppressive effects on HIV RNA level and CD4 count, which are indicators of a patient's morbidity and mortality. Therefore, scientists sought to measure the link between these biomarkers and associated mortality after cancer treatment. They p...

Oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy, while effective, can cause peripheral sensory neuropathy (PSN)—an incurable, debilitating condition in which peripheral nerve damage occurs and causes muscle weakness, pain, and pins and needles sensation, among other symptoms—in patients with stage III colon cancer. However, researchers recently discovered that a shortened three-month course of adjuvant oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy reduces the risk of PSN in patients with stage III colon cancer. For this study,...

Studies have shown that unmarried patients with cancer are less likely to receive surgery and radiotherapy than their married counterparts; they are also less likely to survive their cancer. In a research-based perspective essay published in The New England Journal of Medicine, Joan DelFattore, PhD, MS, a survivor of stage IV gallbladder cancer, suggests that contrary to assumptions made by a number of researchers, the disparities in cancer treatment for individuals who are single may stem not f...