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Some cancer research findings have the potential to make a difference for patients right away. They can help patients make decisions about what cancer treatment to receive, manage side effects, or feel better during and after treatment. In this article, we highlight results from recent studies by the ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group that matter to patients now.
Making treatment decisions
Acute Myeloid Leukemia – What can an early bone marrow test tell us?
About 2 to 3 weeks after starting strong chemotherapy, patients often have a bone marrow biopsy. Doctors take a small sample of the soft tissue inside a bone to look for leukemia cells. If some leukemia cells remain, the care team may consider another round of strong chemotherapy.
Researchers looked at the outcomes of 233 patients who had participated in two prior ECOG-ACRIN trials. Among patients who received more chemotherapy, the early biopsy results did not predict whether a patient's leukemia would go into remission or how long the patient would live. The findings suggest that early biopsy results should not be the main factor driving decisions about another round of intensive chemotherapy. Doctors and patients should consider the patient’s overall health, genetic features of the leukemia, available treatment options, and the biopsy results when deciding what comes next. Read the published study.
ALK-Positive Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer – Can crizotinib help after surgery?
About one in 25 people with non-small cell lung cancer have a change in a gene called ALK. This change helps the cancer grow. Crizotinib (brand name XALKORI®) is a drug that targets this change. It is approved to treat this type of cancer when it has spread to other parts of the body. The E4512 ALCHEMIST trial asked whether it could also help after surgery to remove early-stage cancer. The trial found that crizotinib did not help patients with early-stage ALK-positive non-small cell lung cancer live longer without their cancer coming back. Read the published results.
These studies received funding from the National Cancer Institute, part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health.
