Vaccine Against HPV-16 Effective for Vulvar Intraepithelial Neoplasia

November 6, 2009 — Researchers from the Netherlands have reported that vaccination with synthetic long-peptides against human papillomavirus (HPV)-16 was effective in treating vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia (VIN). The details of this study were published in the November 5, 2009 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

Small HER2-positive Breast Cancers Have a Higher Risk of Recurrence

November 6, 2009 — Researchers from the M. D. Anderson Cancer Center and the University of Milan, Italy, have reported that women with Stage T1a,b, N0M0 HER2-positive breast cancers have a have a high recurrence rate without the administration of adjuvant chemotherapy or Herceptin® (trastuzumab). These data suggest that these women should be treated with Herceptin®-based adjuvant chemotherapy. The details of these two studies appeared in early online publications on November 2, 2009 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Alcohol May Reduce Risk of Thyroid Cancer

November 6, 2009 — Researchers affiliated with the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study have reported that alcohol intake may reduce the risk of thyroid cancer. The details of this study appeared in the November 4, 2009 issue of the British Journal of Cancer.

Health reform gets boost before vote

November 6, 2009 — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - With a close vote looming in the House of Representatives, President Barack Obama's push for healthcare reform was boosted on Thursday by the support of powerful lobbies representing doctors and seniors.

Even Small HER2-positive Breast Cancers Have a Higher Risk of Recurrence

November 5, 2009 — Among women with small, node-negative breast cancers, those with tumors that are HER2-positive have a higher risk of cancer recurrence. This suggests that consideration of HER2-targeted therapy such as Herceptin® (trastuzumab) may be important, even for women with small tumors. These results were published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.