Research Lung Cancer Radiation Medical Oncology Targeted Therapies
It’s been a dozen years since D. Ross Camidge, MD, PhD, of the University of Colorado Cancer Center and his colleagues first published on the use of tightly-focused radiation to attack isolated active cancer sites in lung cancer patients who otherwise were responding well to targeted therapies. In the years since, that breakthrough has transformed cancer care.
Patient Care Brain and Spinal Cancer Oncology Radiation
Alex Cooper relishes a challenge. Armed with a New Yorker’s moxie, an entrepreneur’s savvy, and an athlete’s determination, he has launched startups, has competed in Ironman triathlons, and offers motivational messages in blogs, videos, and social media posts as the “Iron CEO.”
Research Pediatric Cancer Sarcoma Radiation
For many pediatric cancer patients and their families, “scanxiety” is a very real and very scary feeling – the worry that can precede scans before treatment, and the uncertainty stemming from scans after treatment is completed.
Research Lung Cancer Radiation
Whole-brain radiation therapy used to treat brain metastases is a significant cancer treatment that, while generally well-tolerated, can have serious long-term side effects, including dementia. Neither clinicians nor patients undertake it lightly.
Oncologists have many tools they use to treat cancer, and one of the most commonly used is radiation therapy. In use since the early 1900s, radiation therapy uses high-energy particles or waves — including x-rays, gamma rays, electron beams, and protons — to destroy or damage cancer cells. The machine that delivers radiation therapy has a head that rotates 360 degrees, and patients lie on a special bench that swivels, allowing the radiation to be delivered from any angle.
When it comes to using radiation against lung cancer, preliminary clinical studies were pretty clear: More is better. So why did a large phase 3 clinical trial find exactly the opposite – that stage III non-small cell lung cancer patients treated with higher doses of radiation actually had shorter overall survival than patients treated with lower-dose radiation?
When Tyler Robin, MD, PhD, graduates from the Radiation Oncology Residency Program at University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus at the end of June, he won’t have to move far – after graduation, Robin will make the leap from trainee to researcher, joining CU faculty as an assistant professor in the CU School of Medicine Department of Radiation Oncology where he hopes to be involved with clinical trials testing new uses of radiation as a component of cancer care. A New Investigator Award from the Gynecologic Oncology Group (GOG) and NRG Oncology will help Robin expand the scope of his clinical trial involvement to the national level, while bringing new, innovative clinical trials to cancer patients in Colorado.
More than a decade ago, radiation oncologists noticed a nifty phenomenon: Sometimes radiation used locally against a tumor could excite the immune system to attack cancer systemically throughout the body. It was as if the use of radiation had somehow awoken the immune system to the presence of cancer. Since then, a massive effort has been underway to harness this effect, hoping to create this systemic anti-cancer activity with combinations of radiotherapy and immunotherapy.
Cure Today
July 12, 2024
University of Colorado Cancer Center member Dr. Steven Thorpe emphasizes the collaborative nature of treating soft tissue and bone sarcomas, highlighting the multidisciplinary efforts at CU School of Medicine's Department of Orthopedics and Children’s Hospital Colorado. He underscores the goal of not only curing the disease but also preserving function through advanced surgical techniques and modern therapies, ensuring patients maintain quality of life post-treatment. Thorpe stresses the importance of long-term outcomes, tailoring treatments to support patients’ aspirations beyond their cancer journey, especially for pediatric cases.
OncLive
July 08, 2024
CU Cancer Center member S. Lindsey Davis, MD, highlighted that the combination therapy of sapanisertib and alisertib showed marginal clinical benefit for patients with advanced solid tumors, correlative analyses suggested that apoptotic response and tumor immune cell infiltrate might influence clinical outcomes. The phase 1b study's expansion cohort indicated some positive outlying responses among patients and underscore the need for further research to tailor treatments for standout patients and explore rational combinations to enhance efficacy.
News Medical
June 19, 2024
A new study led by University of Colorado Cancer Center member Marco Del Chiaro, MD, PhD, reveals that nearly 5% of pancreatic adenocarcinoma patients achieved a pathological complete response (pCR) after pre-surgical chemotherapy or chemoradiotherapy. This significant finding indicates that patients with pCR have a 63% five-year survival rate, compared to 30% for those without pCR, suggesting the potential for tailored treatments to improve outcomes.
Cancer Network
June 14, 2024
In a conversation at the 2024 European Hematology Association Congress, CU Cancer Center member Manali Kamdar, MD, discussed potential future research on lisocabtagene maraleucel (liso-cel; Breyanzi) for mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) and other lymphoma subgroups. She highlighted findings from the phase 1 TRANSCEND NHL 001 trial, noting improved efficacy and safety in patients with fewer prior therapies and non-refractory disease, suggesting liso-cel's utility in earlier treatment lines and specific lymphoma subgroups.
Mark Harden
