A study just published in the New England Journal of Medicineexploring a gene test suggests that chemotherapy may be avoided for more than two-thirds of women with the most common type of breast cancer. Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey Chief Medical OfficerDeborah Toppmeyer, MD, who is the director of both the Stacy Goldstein Breast Cancer Center and LIFE Center at Rutgers Cancer Institute and a professor of medicine at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, is among the study collaborators. The research was led by the ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group and presented at the recent American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting.

Health care providers, community members, and researchers from across the state came together recently at the 'Conference for Change' event, hosted by the New Jersey Primary Care Association and sponsored by ScreenNJ - a prevention and education program led by Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey and the New Jersey Department of Health. Participants discussed comprehensive strategies to increase screening rates for colorectal and lung cancers, the importance of tobacco cessation, and enhancing clinical practices. Data gathered at the conference will be developed into recommendations for the ScreenNJ program.

Targeted therapy with anti-VEGF and anti-EGFR antibodies both improve outcomes when added to chemotherapy in the treatment of colorectal cancer. However, some previous studies suggested that when combined they may have a negative interaction. ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group investigators led by Howard S. Hochster, MD, FACP, associate director for clinical research and director of gastrointestinal oncology at Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, explored the anti-VEGFR antibody ramucirumab in second-line treatment in patients with KRAS mutations. The work was presented at the recent American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting.