April 10, 2017 (View All Issues)
- Sir Adrian P. Bird, PhD, Buchanan Professor of Genetics, Wellcome Trust Centre for Cell...
Olaparib Maintenance Prolongs Progression-Free Survival in Ovarian Cancer
Maintenance therapy with the tablet formulation of olaparib (Lynparza) significantly prolonged progression-free survival in patients with platinum-sensitive relapsed ovarian cancer and mutations in BRCA1/2 in the phase III SOLO2 trial, presented at the 2017 Society of Gynecologic...
ASCO’s State of Cancer Care in America: 2017 Report Acknowledges Both the Progress Made in Oncology Care and the Challenges Ahead
Despite advances in cancer risk assessment, prevention, disease detection, drug development, and health-care delivery, which have led to unparalleled reductions in cancer incidence and mortality, access to affordable health care and increased administrative burdens placed on oncology practices...
The Mystery of Grace
The day after I told Nell she had seven metastases to her brain, she sent me flowers.
She was my patient; I was her oncologist. I had met her 1 year prior, when she was well into her cancer journey, stage IV breast cancer at diagnosis. I took over from her current oncologist, who was...
‘Non-Engineered’ T-Cell Therapy Produces Durable Responses in Hematologic Malignancies
Adoptive T-cell therapy using “non-engineered” T cells has been showing activity in hematologic malignancies, according to a presentation by Ann M. Leen, PhD, at the 2017 ASCO-SITC Clinical Immuno-Oncology Symposium.1 Dr. Leen is an immunologist and works at the Center for Cell and Gene ...
Gut Bacteria May Enhance, or Hamper, Response to Anti–PD-1 Agents
The microbiome has become an area of intense interest for many health-related reasons. Add to this list the potential for a positive or a negative effect on responsiveness to immunotherapy. Gut microbiota that were more diverse, and that contained an abundance of a particular bacterial species,...
FDA Approves Avelumab for Metastatic Merkel Cell Carcinoma
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to avelumab (Bavencio) on March 23, 2017, for the treatment of adults and pediatric patients 12 years and older with metastatic Merkel cell carcinoma, including those who have not received prior chemotherapy. Avelumab is a...
Harnessing Implementation Science to Improve Cancer Care Delivery
Implementation science encompasses the study of methods to accelerate integration of evidence into practice and policy to improve health-care outcomes. At the 2017 ASCO Quality Care Symposium, Sandra A. Mitchell, PhD, CRNP, of the Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences at...
JOP Publishes Clinical Pathways and Patient Safety Studies From Quality Care Symposium
The Journal of Oncology Practice (JOP) published three articles online in conjunction with the oral presentations of the data during ASCO’s 2017 Quality Care Symposium in Orlando. “The research presented at ASCO’s Quality Care Symposium enhances our understanding of a wide variety of methods to...
CancerLinQ: Big Data for Quality Benchmarking
At this year’s ASCO Quality Care Symposium, CancerLinQ’s Vice President and Medical Director, Robert S. Miller, MD, shed light on CancerLinQ’s current and future value in the oncology community.1 Dr. Miller opened by explaining to the audience that CancerLinQ™ is an instrument for...
New Constructs for Use in the Identification of Depression in Older Patients With Cancer
Elderly patients with cancer are far less likely to be diagnosed with depression than patients in any other age group for two primary reasons: There is an overlap between cancer symptoms/treatment side effects and the diagnostic criteria for depression, and older adults are more likely...
Young Women With Metastatic Breast Cancer: Unique Needs and Concerns
Patients with breast cancer who perceive having enough and the right kinds of social support tend to be less stressed, although a paucity of research exists on the social support needs of young women with metastatic breast cancer, according to Amanda Ginter, PhD. Dr. Ginter, Assistant...
Deane L. Wolcott, MD, FAPOS, Receives Holland Distinguished Leadership Award
Deane L. Wolcott, MD, FAPOS, is the 2017 recipient of the Holland Distinguished Leadership Award, which was presented recently at the American Psychosocial Oncology Society (APOS) Annual Conference in Orlando, Florida. Dr. Wolcott is the founding Director of Oncology Supportive Care Services at...
Elizabeth M. Jaffee, MD, Named AACR President-Elect 2017–2018
Elizabeth M. Jaffee, MD, was elected by the members of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) as its President-Elect for 2017–2018. She officially became President-Elect at the AACR Annual Meeting 2017, held in Washington, April 1–5, and will assume the presidency in April 2018 at...
Evolving Role for Cryoablation in Treating Small Renal Masses
Selected “healthy” patients with clinical T1 renal cell carcinoma may be safely treated with percutaneous cryoablation, according to a single-center study of experience at the Mayo Clinic.1
“In healthier patients, our experience shows that cryoablation achieved good short-term...
Lauren Lawrence, MBA, RHIA, Appointed Vice President of Karmanos Cancer Network
Lauren Lawrence, MBA, RHIA, has been promoted to Vice President of Karmanos Cancer Network. She will report to Justin Klamerus, MD, MMM, President of Karmanos Cancer Hospital and Karmanos Cancer Network.
Ms. Lawrence most recently served as Executive Director of Community-Based Programs at the...
Listeria-Based Immunotherapy Improves Survival in Metastatic Cervical Cancer
Overall survival in recurrent, metastatic cervical cancer was substantially extended with a Listeria-based immunotherapy approach that targets the human papillomavirus (HPV), investigators reported at the Society of Gynecologic Oncology Annual Meeting.1
Of 50 evaluable patients, 19...
FDA Approves Maintenance Niraparib for Recurrent Epithelial Ovarian, Fallopian Tube, or Primary Peritoneal Cancer
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved niraparib (Zejula) for the maintenance treatment of adult patients with recurrent epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer, whose tumors have achieved complete or partial response to platinum-based chemotherapy.
...
Conquer Cancer Foundation Honors 65 Young Oncology Professionals With Merit Awards
The Conquer Cancer Foundation of ASCO (CCF) is pleased to announce the recipients of its 2017 CCF Merit Awards in Gastrointestinal Cancers, Cancer Survivorship, Genitourinary Cancers, Immuno-Oncology, and Quality Care. The following 65 young researchers, recognized for the scientific merit of their ...
ASCO Asks Congress to Prioritize Federal Research Funding in FY18
In written testimony submitted to the U.S. House Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education recently, ASCO asked Congress to increase federal support for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Beau Biden Cancer Moonshot Initiative in fiscal year 2018 (FY18)....
Leading Oncology Professional Societies Launch CancerLinQ® Ambassadors Program
CancerLinQ LLC, a wholly owned nonprofit subsidiary of ASCO, and the Oncology Nursing Society (ONS) have recently formed the CancerLinQ® Ambassadors Program. This new collaboration is a national practice engagement initiative that will provide on-the-ground support and guidance to CancerLinQ...
ASCO Congratulates Seema Verma on Confirmation as CMS Administrator
“ASCO congratulates Seema Verma for her confirmation as Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Administrator Verma is now in a key position to lead the agency during the next phase of health-care reform in the United States and to help ensure that millions of...
Updated: Cancer.Net Mobile App for Your Patients
Tell your patients about Cancer.Net’s award-winning mobile app!
Recently updated, the newest version features a redesigned dashboard offering easy access to oncologist-approved information and saved data, enhanced symptom tracking, filtering capabilities, and calendar integration—plus all the...
Fred Hutchinson’s Paulovich Laboratory to Lead Protein Assay Work for National Cancer Moonshot
The Applied Proteogenomics Organizational Learning and Outcomes (APOLLO) network, which represents a partnership among the National Cancer Institute (NCI), the Department of Defense, and the Department of Veterans Affairs, has tapped the Paulovich Laboratory at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research...
ASCO Clinical Practice Guideline on Prevention and Monitoring of Cardiac Dysfunction in Survivors of Adult Cancers
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Saro H. Armenian, DO, MPH, of City of Hope, and colleagues, ASCO has released a clinical practice guideline on prevention and monitoring of cardiac dysfunction in survivors of adult cancers.1 Recommendations were developed by an expert panel...
Cardiac Dysfunction in Survivors of Adult Cancers
The success of cancer therapy has led us to an interesting place. Patients with cancer are certainly concerned about collateral damage that may occur with the treatment of their condition; however, impressive improvements in survival with treatment of many cancers are so compelling that ...
ASCO Clinical Practice Guideline Update: Integration of Palliative Care Into Standard Oncology Care
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, ASCO has released a clinical practice guideline update on integration of palliative care into standard oncology care.1 This update of a 2012 ASCO provisional clinical opinion2 is based on an Expert Panel’s systematic review of data...
Practice-Changing Research: Making Palliative Care a Routine Part of Cancer Care in the United States and Abroad
With its recently issued clinical practice guideline update, reviewed in this issue of The ASCO Post, ASCO has spoken: Interdisciplinary palliative care teams improve the outcomes of cancer care; patients live longer and feel better.1 There is no doubt. Multiple well-designed studies show the ...
Forging a New Role to Make Curing More Cancers a Reality
For more than 3 decades, Nancy E. Davidson, MD, has dedicated her clinical and research career to better understanding the molecular mechanisms driving the development of breast cancer and to the discovery of more effective therapies to treat the disease. The recipient of an ASCO Young...
AACR Inducts 2017 Class of Fellows at Annual Meeting
The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) inducted its newly elected class of Fellows of the AACR Academy at its Annual Meeting, held April 1–5, 2017, in Washington, DC.
2017 Class of Fellows
Increased Recognition of Colorectal Cancer in Young Adults, Even Those Aged 20 to 29, as Evidence Continues to Accumulate
The incidence of colorectal cancer continues to increase among young adults, with the sharpest increase among those aged 20 to 29, according to a recent article in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.1 This trend has been called disturbing and ominous, but the widely reported results of...
Ribociclib in Hormone Receptor–Positive, HER2-Negative Advanced Breast Cancer
On March 13, the cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) 4/6 inhibitor ribociclib (Kisqali) was approved for use in combination with an aromatase inhibitor as initial endocrine-based therapy for the treatment of postmenopausal women with hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative advanced or metastatic...
Thomas E. Starzl, MD, PhD, ‘Father of Modern Transplantation,’ Dies at Age 90
Scientific and clinical pioneers have one thing in common: they move beyond their comfort zone and take calculated risks. One such pioneer, whose calculated risks gave hope to otherwise hopelessly ill people, was Thomas E. Starzl, MD, PhD, who performed the world’s first successful liver...
