October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month NEW STUDY CONFIRMS EVEN MORE WOMEN WITH BREAST CANCER CAN SKIP CHEMOTHERAPY

Austin Tang — Mon, 18 Oct 2021 22:52:12 +0000

Listen to “October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month NEW STUDY CONFIRMS EVEN MORE WOMEN WITH BREAST CANCER CAN SKIP CHEMOTHERAPY” on Spreaker.

New research expands the number of women with a common type of early stage breast cancer who can skip chemotherapy and safely be treated with hormone-blocking therapies alone – even if their cancer has spread to some of their lymph nodes.[1] However, women whose tumors have spread to their lymph nodes are often at higher risk of worse outcomes, with the majority receiving chemotherapy.[2] Results from the RxPONDER study, one of the largest clinical trials in hormone receptor-positive, HER2 negative early breast cancer, were presented at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium in late 2020.1
Based on these new findings, postmenopausal women whose cancer has spread to between one and three lymph nodes can avoid the side effects associated with chemotherapy if their Oncotype DX Breast Recurrence Score® result, a genomic test which predicts chemotherapy benefit and risk of cancer recurrence, is between 0 and 25.1
Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer worldwide, surpassing lung cancer for the first time in 2020.[3] With the growing recognition of the importance of personalized treatment for breast cancer, genomic testing can help tailor treatment decisions to a patient’s individual tumor. Facing a breast cancer diagnosis can be overwhelming but getting a genomic test to understand the unique biology of a patient’s tumor can help guide personalized treatment decisions.
Our guest, Dr. Deepa Halaharvi, a board-certified breast cancer surgeon at Ohio Health, can speak to the practice-changing impact of this recent study for postmenopausal women with node-positive breast cancer and the importance of genomic tests in enabling confident breast cancer treatment decisions.
As a breast cancer survivor herself, Dr. Halaharvi is in the unique position of seeing breast cancer from the perspective of a doctor as well as a patient. She will share her cancer story, including how the Oncotype DX® test informed her treatment, following her diagnosis with stage 1 HR positive, HER2 negative breast cancer at age 42, just 8 months after becoming a practicing breast surgeon. She’ll also talk about how her personal experience has greatly impacted the type of care she offers her patients, helping them to survive and thrive.
Interview sponsored by Exact Sciences Corporation

#deepa #halaharvi #breast #cancer #chemotherapy #therapies #hormone #blocking #lymph #nodes #rxponder #menopausal #effects #oncotype #dx #recurrence #genomic #benefit #risk #exact

The post October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month NEW STUDY CONFIRMS EVEN MORE WOMEN WITH BREAST CANCER CAN SKIP CHEMOTHERAPY appeared first on Good News!.

NEW HOPE FOR PATIENTS LIVING WITH AN INCURABLE BLOOD CANCER

Austin Tang — Tue, 27 Oct 2020 20:17:23 +0000

Listen to “NEW HOPE FOR PATIENTS LIVING WITH AN INCURABLE BLOOD CANCER” on Spreaker.

Important advancement in treatment for patients living with Follicular Lymphoma (FL)

• Dr. M. Yair Levy, Texas Oncology – Baylor Charles A. Sammons Cancer Center

BACKGROUND:
Cancer is a disease that almost everyone will confront at some point in their lives, either personally or through a loved one. As we continue to be impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s more important than ever to ensure patients receive proper care when managing a chronic cancer, like follicular lymphoma (FL).1

FL is a slow-growing and incurable blood cancer that starts in the lymphatic system, which is a system of lymph nodes found throughout the body, including the neck, underarms, chest, abdomen and groin/pelvis.1 While FL can occur at any age, it is most frequently diagnosed among people aged 55-64, with a median age of 63.2 Of the estimated 74,000 individuals diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in the United States each year,3 FL accounts for approximately 20% of all cases, or about 14,800 individuals.1

It’s important for patients and doctors to remember that cancer care should not be put by the wayside due to COVID-19. By having routine and open conversations with healthcare providers via telemedicine and select in-person visits, patients can help to support their own improved health outcomes. There is also new hope as treatment advances give patients with FL, and the doctors who treat them, new, convenient options to help fight this debilitating cancer.

With the FDA’s recent accelerated approval of TAZVERIK® (tazemetostat) for the treatment of adults with relapsed or refractory follicular lymphoma who have received at least 2 prior systemic therapies, FL patients have a new oral treatment option to discuss with their physicians. This indication is approved under accelerated approval based on overall response rate and duration of response. Continued approval for this indication may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in a confirmatory trial(s). For more information on TAZVERIK, including full Prescribing Information, please visit: www.tazverik.com.4

Dr. M. Yair Levy, Texas Oncology – Baylor Charles A. Sammons Cancer Center, will be available for interviews. He will share details about this recent approval, risk factors, symptoms and treatment options for FL.
Interview is courtesy: Epizyme, Inc.

For more information on FL, please visit: www.lymphomaresearchfoundation.org or www.lls.org
For more information on TAZVERIK, including full Prescribing Information, please visit: www.tazverik.com

IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION

Warnings and Precautions

• Secondary Malignancies

The risk of developing secondary malignancies is increased following treatment with TAZVERIK. Across clinical trials of 729 adults who received TAZVERIK 800 mg twice daily, myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) or acute myeloid leukemia (AML) occurred in 0.7% of patients. One pediatric patient developed T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma (T-LBL). Monitor patients long-term for the development of secondary malignancies.

• Embryo-Fetal Toxicity

Based on findings from animal studies and its mechanism of action, TAZVERIK can cause fetal harm when administered to pregnant women. There are no available data on TAZVERIK use in pregnant women to inform the drug-associated risk. Administration of tazemetostat to pregnant rats and rabbits during organogenesis resulted in dose-dependent increases in skeletal developmental abnormalities in both species beginning at maternal exposures approximately 1.5 times the adult human exposure (area under the plasma concentration time curve [AUC0-45h]) at the 800 mg twice daily dose.

Advise pregnant women of the potential risk to a fetus. Advise females of reproductive potential to use effective contraception during treatment with TAZVERIK and for 6 months after the final dose. Advise males with female partners of reproductive potential to use effective contraception during treatment with TAZVERIK and for 3 months after the final dose.

Adverse Reactions

In 99 clinical study patients with relapsed or refractory follicular lymphoma receiving TAZVERIK 800 mg twice daily: Serious adverse reactions occurred in 30% of patients who received TAZVERIK. Serious adverse reactions occurring in ≥2% were general physical health deterioration, abdominal pain, pneumonia, sepsis, and anemia. The most common (≥20%) adverse reactions were fatigue (36%), upper respiratory tract infection (30%), musculoskeletal pain (22%), nausea (24%), and abdominal pain (20%).

Drug Interactions

Avoid coadministration of strong or moderate CYP3A inhibitors with TAZVERIK. If coadministration of moderate CYP3A inhibitors cannot be avoided, reduce TAZVERIK dose.

Avoid coadministration of moderate and strong CYP3A inducers with TAZVERIK, which may decrease the efficacy of TAZVERIK.

Coadministration of TAZVERIK with CYP3A substrates, including hormonal contraceptives, can result in decreased concentrations and reduced efficacy of CYP3A substrates.

Lactation

Because of the potential risk for serious adverse reactions from TAZVERIK in the breastfed child, advise women not to breastfeed during treatment with TAZVERIK and for one week after the final dose.

Please see full Prescribing Information for TAZVERIK, available at www.tazverik.com

MORE ABOUT DOCTOR*
Dr. Levy received his medical doctorate at the University of Wisconsin at Madison School of Medicine. He served his residency at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and his hematology fellowship at Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, MD. He also served on the faculty at Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins. Dr. Levy specializes in hematology, including lymphoma, myeloma and leukemia.

###

References:
1. Lymphoma- Non-Hodgkin: Introduction. Cancer.Net. Accessed September 15, 2020. Available at: https://www.cancer.net/cancer-types/lymphoma-non-hodgkin/introduction
2. National Cancer Institute (NCI). Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program. Cancer stat facts: NHL – follicular lymphoma. Accessed September 15, 2020. Available at: https://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/follicular.html.
3. About Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma. American Cancer Society. Accessed September 15, 2020. Available at: https://www.cancer.org/cancer/non-hodgkin-lymphoma/about.html.
4. TAZVERIK® (tazemetostat) Prescribing Information. Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA: Epizyme, Inc; June 2020.

*Spokespeople are subject to change based on availability. Individual experience with diagnosis and treatment of follicular lymphoma will vary by patient.

Produced for: Epizyme, Inc.

#yair #levy #hope #patients #living #incurable #blood #cancer #follicular #lymphoma #texas #oncology #disease #love #covid #covid-19 #covid19 #pandemic #lymph #nodes #tazverik #risk #factors #epizyme #hodgkin #lymphoma #foundation #safety

The post NEW HOPE FOR PATIENTS LIVING WITH AN INCURABLE BLOOD CANCER appeared first on Good News!.

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October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month NEW STUDY CONFIRMS EVEN MORE WOMEN WITH BREAST CANCER CAN SKIP CHEMOTHERAPY

NEW HOPE FOR PATIENTS LIVING WITH AN INCURABLE BLOOD CANCER