Acupuncture a Powerful Integrative Oncology Tool Integrative Oncology is the combination of “mainstream” care and evidenced-based complimentary therapies to control cancer-related pain and symptoms [source: Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center Integrative Medicine]. Complementary therapies while not given the attention that more traditional cancer therapies may receive are perhaps equally important while undergoing treatment for certain types of cancer including malignant mesothelioma.

Ongoing research was presented today at ASCO: Alimta consolidation chemotherapy improves survival in lung cancer patients. This was presented as an abstract last year (outcome reported back then was improved progression free survival) and makes a return visit this year with a survival story. A base hit turns into a triple: there have not been that many therapies that prolong survival in lung cancer. The benefit was three months more survival though these numbers got used against us in the Avastin setting so let's just call it a clinically meaningful improvement in survival.

An Israeli group published a paper in JCO this week showing a 40% improvement in survival after two years of maintenance therapy with rituxan. The effect was demonstrated in patients with relapsed low-grade lymphoma but not initial therapy. http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE5197J520090210?feedType... Many of these patients go on to have stem cell transplant so it's not clear to me where rituxan fits in.

You read it here first: the marketplace has taken the place of academic research centers when it comes to testing the relative worthiness of new drug treatments at least in oncology and hematology. We used to do comparative studies in oncology: the great studies of the 1980s and 1990s trying to figure out the best way to treat lymphoma or breast cancer were very instructive to us clinicians (even those of us who were in high school when they came out!) They don't seem to do studies like that any more.