The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) today announced Clinical Cancer Advances 2008: Major Research Advances in Cancer Treatment, Prevention and Screening, an independent assessment of the most significant clinical cancer research of the past year. The report identifies 12 major advances and 19 other notable advances in cancer prevention, screening, treatment and survivorship over the past year. The report also makes recommendations to policymakers to accelerate progress against the disease.

Clinical Cancer Advances 2008 was published online December 22, 2008 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

"This report shows we are making important progress in preventing, detecting and treating cancer," said Richard L. Schilsky, MD, ASCO President. "Each of the studies highlighted in the report represents new hope for people with cancer and those who care for them."

This year, ASCO identified 12 major advances in six key areas: hard to treat cancers, new drug approvals, reducing cancer recurrence, personalized cancer medicine, reducing cancer risk, and improving access to care. (Note: The advances in the report are not ranked and their order is not significant. Details about each advance can be found in the report.)

. New Treatment Options for Hard-to-Treat Cancers: Lung and pancreatic cancers are among the most lethal: lung cancer is the top cancer killer in the United States, and just five percent of pancreatic cancer patients survive five years or more following diagnosis. Two studies over the past year identified ways to improve outcomes for people with both diseases - one found that the targeted therapy cetuximab improves survival for advanced non-small cell lung cancer patients; another found that the chemotherapy drug gemcitabine improves survival after surgery for patients with early-stage pancreatic cancer.

. New Cancer Drug Approvals: Identifying and expanding treatment options for people with cancer is critical to improving patient outcomes. This year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved new treatments that will have a significant impact on patient care - the targeted therapy bevacizumab for women with advanced breast cancer that does not express the HER2 protein, and bendamustine for people with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, a cancer with few treatment options.

. Reducing Cancer Recurrence: Cancer recurrence after successful initial therapy is a major cause of cancer death, and finding ways to reduce the risk of recurrence is a top research priority. Researchers reported two significant advances in preventing recurrence of breast cancer and melanoma. For early-stage breast cancer, several studies over the past year found that additional years of hormonal therapy (with aromatase inhibitors or tamoxifen) after the standard five years of tamoxifen significantly reduced the risk that cancer would return, as did use of a bone-building drug called zoledronic acid. For melanoma, a large randomized study found that pegylated interferon helps stop the disease from returning in patients whose disease has spread from the original site.

. Personalizing Cancer Medicine: Cancer treatments are increasingly being tailored to the unique genetic characteristics of patients and tumors, increasing efficacy while eliminating unnecessary side effects and cost for those patients who will not benefit from treatment. Researchers reported a significant advance in personalized medicine for colorectal cancer patients this year, finding that only patients whose tumors have a normal (wild-type) form of the KRAS gene benefit from the addition of cetuximab to standard chemotherapy.

. Reducing Cancer Risk: Identifying cancer risk factors is key to prevention and early detection, and two studies over the past year delivered promising news for preventing ovarian cancer and head and neck oral cancers. A large analysis of epidemiologic studies found that oral contraceptives were strongly correlated with reduced ovarian cancer risk, and may have prevented some 200,000 ovarian cancers and 100,000 deaths to date worldwide. Another epidemiologic review found that the incidence of HPV-related head and neck oral cancers has increased over time, perhaps due to increases in oral sex, suggesting a potential new role for the HPV vaccine, which is currently approved only for cervical cancer.

. Improving Access to Care: Research advances are critical, but they are only half the equation - new treatments must reach those who need them. Two studies this year shed new light on the long-term health needs of cancer patients. One study predicted that the number of cancer patients will grow by 55 percent by 2020, significantly outpacing the availability of cancer doctors, and necessitating enhanced recruitment for oncology and new models for delivering cancer care. Another showed that childhood cancer survivors are 5 to10 times more likely to develop heart disease later in life than their healthy siblings, emphasizing the need to monitor for delayed health effects of cancer treatments throughout the lives of cancer survivors.

The ASCO report, developed by a 21-member editorial board of leading oncologists, makes two key recommendations to policymakers to accelerate progress against cancer: increase cancer research funding, and improve access to clinical trials.