Clinical

SIR-Spheres Y-90 resin microspheres improves quality of survival

Patients with advanced or inoperable Hepatocellular Carcinoma who usually received one or two treatments with liver-directed SIR-Spheres Y-90 resin microspheres in the 459-patient French SARAH study had similar survival compared to patients who received standard twice-daily systemic treatment with sorafenib, but with less than half the number and significantly fewer severe treatment-related adverse effects and significantly better Quality of Life, according to data presented here at The International Liver Congress 2017.

First extensive immune profiling of sarcomas shows some likely susceptible to immunotherapy

A study published May 2 in the journal Cancer suggests how both existing and emerging immunotherapy treatments could be successful for sarcomas. Two sarcoma subtypes — leiomyosarcoma and pleomorphic — showed biological characteristics suggesting they are susceptible to an existing immunotherapy approach known as checkpoint inhibitors. This treatment works by blocking a protein that keeps immune cells from attacking cancerous cells.