2008's 12 Major Cancer Advances Cancer Doctors' Picks for Year's Biggest News in Cancer Treatment (continued)

Pegylated Interferon for Melanoma

A European study showed that a year of treatment with pegylated interferon -- a newer, more active form of interferon -- cuts the risk of recurrent melanoma by 18% in patients who had the deadly skin cancers surgically removed.

Targeted Erbitux for Colon Cancer

Studies showed that Erbitux only works in patients whose tumors carry a normal KRAS gene. While this means that patients with KRAS-mutant tumors won't benefit from Erbitux, there's an upside. It means these patients won't unnecessarily suffer from side effects of the chemotherapy.

The Pill Cuts Ovarian-Cancer Risk

A review of data from 45 studies showed that for every five years they're on the pill, women who take oral contraceptives cut their risk of ovarian cancer by 20%.

HPV Vaccine May Cut Oral Cancers

A 2008 study showed that oral cancers linked to human papillomavirus (HPV) went up in the U.S. -- even though oral cancers not linked to HPV went down. That might be because of an increase in oral sex. If so, the HPV vaccine -- now approved for prevention of cervical cancer -- might have a role in preventing oral cancers, too.

Oncologist Shortage Looms

ASCO estimates that by the year 2020, the U.S. will have 4,000 too few cancer specialists. By then, the number of cancer patients will increase by 55%. The number of oncologists is increasing at a much slower rate.

Caring for Childhood Cancer Survivors

One of the wonderful successes in the fight against cancer has been an increase in the number of kids who survive childhood cancer. But a chilling new study shows that 30 years after their cancer diagnosis, these kids are five to 10 times more likely than other kids to develop heart disease. The reason: side effects of cancer treatments. Patients and families must be aware of this fact. Their doctors must carefully monitor these survivors for heart problems and target them for prevention efforts.

For continued advances in cancer treatment and prevention, ASCO calls for increased federal spending on clinical cancer research and for removing barriers to participation in clinical trials of new cancer treatments.