Oesophago-Gastric Cancer: Short Report

Health Quality Improvement Partnership | June 2019 | Oesophago-Gastric Cancer: Short Report

Health Quality Improvement Partnership  (HQIP) have published a short report : Why do patients with a curative treatment plan for oesophago-gastric cancer not go on to receive surgery?

This short report is based on 6,249 patients diagnosed with OG cancer in England and Wales between 1 April 2015 and 31 March 2017, who had a record of curative surgery in NOGCA as part of their planned treatment (surgery alone or in combination with other treatment).

Image source: hqip.org.uk

Full details are available from HQIP 

Why do patients with a curative treatment plan for oesophago-gastric cancer not go on to receive surgery?

Innovative brain cancer treatment aid now available across England

Department of Health and Social Care | May 2019 | Innovative brain cancer treatment aid now available across England 

An innovative brain cancer treatment could be used to help up to 2000 people a year. Cancer treatment aid 5-ALA (known as the pink drink) is now available across the country and will transform treatment for patients.

5-ALA uses fluorescent dye and ultraviolet light to make cancerous cells glow under UV light. This allows surgeons to more accurately identify the affected areas of the brain.

The treatment aid will help to tackle some of the hardest to treat cases and make sure healthy cells are left untouched.

Around 2,000 patients a year could benefit, according to new figures released today (Source: Department of Health and Social Care).

Full story available from  Innovative brain cancer treatment aid now available across England

Female patients more likely to survive but experience worse side effects from cancer treatment

OnMedica  | May 2019 |Female patients more likely to survive but experience worse side effects from cancer treatment

Oncologists from The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust have led analysis into patient data for more than 3000 people with cancer of the oesophagus and stomach; their findings indicate that female patients being treated with chemotherapy prior to having surgery were significantly more likely to experience side effects such as nausea (10% compared to 5%), vomiting (10% versus 4%) and diarrhoea (9% versus 4%), than male patients. 

The analysis of four large randomised controlled trials, in collaboration with the UK Medical Research Council Clinical Trials Unit at University College London, will be presented in a poster session at this weekend’s American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting in Chicago, could potentially help to tailor the management of patients and also highlight those more at risk from specific side effects (Source: OnMedica).

Full story from OnMedica 

Night shift work and risk of breast cancer in women

Jones, M.E. et al. | 2019|Night shift work and risk of breast cancer in women: the Generations Study cohort | British Journal of Cancer |https://www.nature.com/articles/s41416-019-0485-7

Scientists have examined risk of breast cancer in relation to timing of night shift work and receptor status, in a large UK cohort study- The Generations Study (GS)- of more than 113,700 females aged 16 or over from the United Kingdom. Breast and other cancers occurring in the cohort were identified from recruitment and follow-up questionnaires, and spontaneous reports to the study centre. Their detailed analysis found no evidence for an overall increase in risk of breast cancer for women who had been night shift workers within the last 10 years, or by hours worked per night, nights worked per week, average
hours worked per week, cumulative years of employment, cumulative hours, or time since cessation of such work. With the research found no significantly raised risks with type of night shift occupation (Source: Jones et al, 2019)

Background: It is plausible that night shift work could affect breast cancer risk, possibly by melatonin suppression or circadian clock disruption, but epidemiological evidence is inconclusive.
Methods: Using serial questionnaires from the Generations Study cohort, we estimated hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) for breast cancer in relation to being a night shift worker within the last 10 years, adjusted for potential confounders.
Results: Among 102,869 women recruited in 2003–2014, median follow-up 9.5 years, 2059 developed invasive breast cancer. The HR in relation to night shift work was 1.00 (95%CI: 0.86–1.15). There was a significant trend with average hours of night work per week (P = 0.035), but no significantly raised risks for hours worked per night, nights worked per week, average hours worked per week, cumulative years of employment, cumulative hours, time since cessation, type of occupation, age starting night shift work, or age starting in relation to first pregnancy.
Conclusions: The lack of overall association, and no association with all but one measure of dose, duration, and intensity in our data, does not support an increased risk of breast cancer from night shift work in women.

The full article is available to read in full from British Journal of Cancer

In the news:

The Independent | May 2019 | Night shift work does not increase breast cancer risk, study suggests 

(Interim Report) Independent Review of National Cancer Screening Programmes in England

NHS England | May 2019 | Independent Review of National Cancer Screening Programmes in England

This interim report sets out emerging findings of Professor Sir Mike Richard’s review of national cancer screening programmes in England to date.  The final report and recommendations will be published later this year. 

Independent review of national cancer screening programmes in England -Interim report of emerging findings: Professor Sir Mike Richards

Full information from NHS England

In the news:

BBC News ‘Cancer screening should be as easy as booking a flight’

 

Single-Fraction Stereotactic vs Conventional Multifraction Radiotherapy for Pain Relief in Patients With Predominantly Nonspine Bone Metastases

Nguyen Q, Chun SG, Chow E, et al.| 2019|  Single-Fraction Stereotactic vs Conventional Multifraction Radiotherapy for Pain Relief in Patients With Predominantly Nonspine Bone Metastases: A Randomized Phase 2 Trial| JAMA Oncology  doi:10.1001/jamaoncol.2019.0192

Research published in the JAMA Oncology concludes that delivering high-dose, single-fraction (SBRT) seems to be an effective treatment option for patients with painful bone metastases.

Question  Does single-fraction stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) for bone metastases lead to better pain response rates than standard multifraction radiotherapy (MFRT)?

Findings  In this prospective randomized phase 2 noninferiority trial, 160 patients with mostly nonspine bone lesions were randomly assigned to receive single-fraction SBRT (12 Gy for less than or equal to 4-cm lesions or 16 Gy for more than 4-cm lesions) or MFRT to 30 Gy in 10 fractions. Single-fraction radiation led to more patients experiencing complete or partial pain response at 2 weeks, 3 months, and 9 months compared with standard MFRT.

Meaning  Pain response rates were higher for high-dose, single-fraction SBRT, which should be considered for patients with bone metastases and long estimated survival times.

The full text of the article is available from the Library

In the news:

OnMedica  OTP Oncology – May 2019

 

University of Edinburgh research: £6M boost to train doctors in cancer research

University of Edinburgh | May 2019 | £6M boost to train doctors in cancer research

Cancer Research UK has awarded more than £6 million to its research centres in Edinburgh and Glasgow to train early-career doctors to conduct medical research, known as clinician scientists.

Clinical Academic Training Programme will introduce new measures, including more flexible training options and improved mentorship and networking opportunities, It will better support women clinicians who want to get involved and stay in cancer research.

In particular, the programme will offer a new type of qualification – known as an MB-PhD – which allows doctors to study for a PhD earlier in their medical training.

Traditionally, becoming a clinician scientist involves doctors taking time out of training to undertake a PhD before returning to complete their medical specialism.

Many doctors – particularly women – do not return to research after qualifying as consultants. As a result, the number of clinician scientists in Scotland is in decline, particularly in senior posts.

Now the joint Clinical Academic Training Programme will introduce new measures, including more flexible training options and improved mentorship and networking opportunities, It will better support women clinicians who want to get involved and stay in cancer research.

In particular, the programme will offer a new type of qualification – known as an MB-PhD – which allows doctors to study for a PhD earlier in their medical training (Source: University of Edinburgh).

News story £6M boost to train doctors in cancer research 

University of Nottingham Study: Drugs for invasive breast cancer ‘could treat earliest stages of the disease’

University of Nottingham | May 2019 | Drugs for invasive breast cancer ‘could treat earliest stages of the disease’

Experts from the University of Nottingham’s School of Medicine have undertaken research that has found drugs used to target HER2-positive invasive breast cancer may also be successful in treating women in the first stages of the disease.

The HER2 gene is already closely associated with aggressive, invasive breast cancer and is already treated using the drug trastuzumab, more commonly known as Herceptin.

The Nottingham study looked at breast tissue from 776 women treated at Nottingham City Hospital between 1990 and 2012 for DCIS. It also collected information from 239 cases of DCIS and invasive breast cancer for comparison.

Following up on cases between two months and 20 years later, the team found that out of 308 patients treated with breast conserving surgery alone, the disease had reoccurred in 67 people (22 per cent). More than half of those (57 per cent) had gone on to develop aggressive, invasive breast cancer. Among the 93 cases treated with surgery and radiotherapy, the cancer came back in eight patients – two with invasive breast cancer and six with DCIS.

The researchers suggest that screening women with DCIS for HER2 may help to identify those at greater risk of developing more invasive forms of the disease.

Current treatments targeting HER2 could also potentially be extended to DCIS patients to reduce the chance of the cancer spreading and reduce the number of HER2-related deaths (Source: University of Nottingham).

Read the full, unabridged news story from the University of Nottingham

Enzalutamide for hormone-relapsed non-metastatic prostate cancer Technology appraisal guidance [TA580]

NICE |  May 2019 | Enzalutamide for hormone-relapsed non-metastatic prostate cancer Technology appraisal guidance [TA580]

Evidence-based recommendations on enzalutamide (Xtandi) for treating high-risk hormone-relapsed non-metastatic prostate cancer in adults.

Full details from NICE 

 

 

[NICE Technology Appraisal Guidance] Nivolumab with ipilimumab for untreated advanced renal cell carcinoma

NICE |  May 2019 | Nivolumab with ipilimumab for untreated advanced renal cell carcinoma

Evidence-based recommendations on nivolumab (Opdivo) with ipilimumab (Yervoy) for untreated advanced renal cell carcinoma that is intermediate- or poor-risk in adults (Source: NICE).

Full details from NICE