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How should we spell success?
Questions of how we define success in cancer research and how costs should factor into that definition have been much in the news.
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S0702: Zoledronic acid and ONJ risk
Patients taking zoledronic acid seem to face an increased risk of osteonecrosis of the jaw, or ONJ. S0702 seeks answers.
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S0715: Does ALC prevent neuropathy?
Pain and numbness in hands and feet is a common side effect of taxane-based chemotherapy. Can the dietary supplement acetyl-L-carnitine prevent it?
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The War on Cancer: Raise the bar, or move the goal line?
Plenary Session
SWOG Fall 2009 Group Meeting
Friday, October 23, 12:15 - 2:45 pm
Gold Level, Regency B - D
Hyatt Regency Chicago
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Study Update
S0715 launched: Does the supplement ALC prevent neuropathy?
A common side effect of taxane-based chemotherapy is peripheral neuropathy, a feeling of pain or numbness in the patient's extremities. The newly activated S0715 is testing the effectiveness of a dietary supplement -- acetyl L-carnitine, or ALC -- in reducing this side effect in breast cancer patients. It is also looking at the usefulness of ALC in reducing fatigue caused by such chemotherapy.
The study, "Randomized placebo-controlled trial of acetyl L-carnitine for the prevention of taxane induced neuropathy," is being led by Dawn Hershman, M.D., of Columbia University, who is also co-chair of SWOG's Health Disparities & Outcomes Committee.
"The study is the first of its kind for SWOG," Hershman says, "because we are using a dietary supplement and are looking at both early and late toxicity from a therapy."
Neurotoxicity develops in more than half of all patients treated with taxanes, with about half of that number developing moderate to severe neurotoxicity. ALC is a naturally occurring compound that enhances neuronal response to nerve growth factor and has been shown to be effective in mice and rats treated with taxanes, reducing neuropathic side-effects without diminishing the taxanes' antitumor activity.
ALC also showed promise in cancer patients in an earlier phase II study and has been used to improve neuropathy caused by diabetes and HIV.
With an accrual goal of 380 patients, S0715 is open to women with primary invasive adenocarcinoma of the breast with no evidence of metastatic disease who have undergone surgery and are slated to receive one of five standard taxane-based chemotherapy regimens. Please review the detailed eligibility criteria.
Eligible institutions include SWOG members, affiliates, CCOPs, and medical oncology practices.
All patients will be offered the option of having their specimens banked for future translational medicine studies.
Eligible patients can find the nearest participating institution online or by contacting the Southwest Oncology Group at (210) 614-8808 or at protocols@swog.org.
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