July 25, 2016 (View All Issues)
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Results of Two Practice-Changing Breast Cancer Trials Upheld
Results of two pivotal breast cancer trials reported at the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting confirmed the practice-changing findings that resulted from earlier findings.
PALOMA-2
The phase III PALOMA-2 trial confirmed results from the smaller, open-label phase II PALOMA-1 trial that led to the U.S. Food ...
Charting a New Course at the FDA
In February, after serving for a year as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) Deputy Commissioner for Medical Products and Tobacco, Robert M. Califf, MD, MACC, was named the agency’s Commissioner of Food and Drugs. Prior to his appointment at the FDA, Dr. Califf was the...
CMS Proposal for Part B Drug Payment: A Poorly Conceived Experiment
On March 11, 2016, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a proposed rule in the Federal Register to test a change in reimbursement for Part B drugs.1 The first phase involves changing the 6% add-on to the average sales price (ASP) used to make drug payments under Part B to ...
Studies Suggest Bright Future for Combination Immunotherapy in Advanced Melanoma, but Questions Remain
Two studies presented at the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting focused on the use of combination immunotherapy in the treatment of patients with advanced melanoma. Updated results from the phase III CheckMate 067 trial centered on the combination of nivolumab (Opdivo) plus ipilimumab (Yervoy)...
PHEREXA: Benefit for Second-Line Pertuzumab Questionable
In the second-line metastatic breast cancer setting, the addition of pertuzumab (Perjeta) to trastuzumab (Herceptin)/capecitabine did not significantly improve progression-free survival, results of the phase III PHEREXA trial showed.1 This is the first randomized trial to evaluate the...
Benefit Strongly Suggested With Hormonal Maintenance in Low-Grade Serous Carcinoma
In patients with low-grade serous carcinoma, maintenance hormonal therapy reduced the risk of recurrence by 77%, compared with surveillance, in a retrospective cohort from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. The study was reported by David Marc Gershenson, MD, at the 2016 ...
App Triggers Earlier Detection of Relapse, May Help Improve Survival of Patients With Lung Cancer
Web-based applications have invaded mainstream culture and grabbed the attention of multitudes of people around the world. According to a study presented at the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting, an app may also contribute to extending the lives of people with cancer and, at the same time, reduce...
Selected Hematology Abstracts From the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting
Here are several abstracts selected from the proceedings of the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting, focusing on clinical trials on therapeutics in different types of leukemia, multiple myeloma, follicular lymphoma, and central nervous system (CNS) lymphoma. For full details of these study abstracts, visit...
Brachytherapy Pioneer Haakon Ragde, MD, Chosen as ASTRO 2016 Honorary Member
The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) has selected Haakon Ragde, MD, as its 2016 Honorary Member, the highest honor ASTRO confers on distinguished cancer researchers, scientists, and leaders in disciplines other than radiation oncology, radiobiology, or radiation physics. Dr. Ragde...
HHS Announces Physician Groups Selected for Initiative Promoting Better Cancer Care
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has announced that it has selected nearly 200 physician group practices and 17 health insurance companies to participate in a care delivery model that supports and encourages higher quality and more coordinated cancer care. The Medicare arm of...
Quick Takes on Promising New Approaches to Treating Breast Cancer
At the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting, researchers reported encouraging results for several new drugs and treatment strategies for breast cancer. The ASCO Post brings you brief summaries of a select few.
Abemaciclib Trial
The cyclin-dependent kinase 4/6 (CDK4/6) inhibitor abemaciclib produced responses ...
ASCO Resolutions Supported by AMA House of Delegates
At the American Medical Association’s (AMA) annual House of Delegates meeting, delegates approved four resolutions submitted by ASCO, demonstrating the entire medical community’s commitment to key cancer care priorities. These resolutions have been incorporated into the AMA’s policy system and will ...
Leave a Legacy of Hope
By including a planned gift to the Conquer Cancer Foundation in your estate plans, you can help make a dramatic difference for cancer patients years—even decades—into the future.
With just one small change to your will or trust, your planned gift of any size will deliver a big impact, and:
Sarah S. Donaldson, MD, FASCO, Honored With Inaugural Women Who Conquer Cancer Mentorship Award
Sarah S. Donaldson, MD, FASCO, of Stanford University School of Medicine and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, is the recipient of the Inaugural Women Who Conquer Cancer Mentorship Award. Throughout her decades-long career, Dr. Donaldson has mentored countless trainees and young...
ASCO and MECC Sponsor International Palliative Care Workshop in Kazakhstan
ASCO recently collaborated with the Middle East Cancer Consortium (MECC) to provide a 3-day International Palliative Care Workshop in Kazakhstan for health-care professionals, advocates, and volunteers in the former capital of Almaty. Dilyara Kaidarova, MD, PhD, Director of the Almaty Oncology...
ASCO Answers Guide to Caregiving
The ASCO Answers: Caregiving guide is designed to help family caregivers better understand their role on the cancer care team. While there is no one way to be a caregiver, people caring for someone with cancer can use this guide to understand how to meet the needs of their loved ones and work...
Using Social Media to Accelerate Genomic Research
The success of using social media to push forward causes for social good was a driving factor in the launch this past October of the Metastatic Breast Cancer Project (MBC project), which aims to accelerate the understanding of what makes patients with metastatic breast cancer genetically unique....
The Metastatic Breast Cancer Project: Direct-to-Patient Research Initiative
A nationwide project is enlisting patients with breast cancer to share their tumor samples and clinical information. Launched in October 2015, the Metastatic Breast Cancer (MBC) Project has enrolled more than 2,000 patients from all 50 states and is yielding information that will be shared with...
Road to Successful Use of Real-World Evidence for Drug Development Is Long and Rocky
Friends of Cancer Research (Friends) has been a leader in the push for better and faster cancer drug development. Now it is tackling the use of real-world evidence in clinical trials. This is the report of a meeting on the subject that took place on June 16 in Washington, DC.1
Real-world evidence...
ASCO Guideline on Endocrine Therapy for Hormone Receptor–Positive Metastatic Breast Cancer
As reported by Hope S. Rugo, MD, of the University of California San Francisco Comprehensive Cancer Center, and colleagues in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, ASCO has released a clinical practice guideline on endocrine therapy for hormone receptor–positive metastatic breast cancer.1 The...
ASCO Guideline on Endocrine Therapy for Metastatic Breast Cancer: Reaffirming Principles for Making Treatment Decisions
The role of endocrine therapy for hormone receptor–positive metastatic breast cancer is well established, and clinicians are strongly encouraged to consider one of several therapeutic options for the majority of patients who present with metastatic disease. The recent ASCO guideline on...
ASCO Guideline on Potentially Curable Pancreatic Cancer
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Alok A. Khorana, MD, of Cleveland Clinic, and colleagues, ASCO has released a clinical practice guideline on the treatment of potentially curable pancreatic cancer.1 The recommendations are based on an expert panel systematic review of...
ASCO 2016 Guidelines for the Treatment of Pancreatic Cancer: Why Another Guideline?
The 5-year survival rate of those diagnosed with pancreatic cancer remains stubbornly fixed around 5%. Even in the 20% of cases in which surgical resection is undertaken for curative intent, the 5-year survival rate after surgery is 20% to 30%. As we make progress in other cancers with...
ASCO Guideline on Treatment of Locally Advanced, Unresectable Pancreatic Cancer
As reported by Edward P. Balaban, DO, FASCO, of Penn State Hershey Cancer Institute, and colleagues in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, ASCO has released a clinical practice guideline on the treatment of locally advanced, unresectable pancreatic cancer.1 The recommendations are based...
ASCO Guideline on Metastatic Pancreatic Cancer
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Davendra P.S. Sohal, MD, MPH, of Cleveland Clinic, and colleagues, ASCO has released a clinical practice guideline on the treatment of patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer.1 Recommendations are based on an expert panel systematic...
Lung Cancer Screening: Beneficial for Certain Populations but Not Without Controversy
The National Cancer Policy Forum of the National Academies of Sciences took up the issue of lung cancer screening at its mid-June workshop. Greta Massetti, PhD, Associate Director for Science, Division of Cancer Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and chair...
As Low-Dose CT Screening Moves Into the Clinic, Implementation Issues Move Up on the Agenda
Low-dose computed tomography (CT) screening for lung cancer in high-risk groups is moving into the clinic in the wake of its approval by the U.S. Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services. That does not mean, however, the discussion is over. As low-dose CT moves from research to everyday...
Stanford Cancer Institute Designated NCI Comprehensive Cancer Center
The Stanford Cancer Institute has been designated a Comprehensive Cancer Center by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), a part of the National Institutes of Health. The designation is recognition of the Institute’s robust and integrated programs encompassing laboratory research,...
Fentanyl Nasal Spray Now Available at a Dose of 300 µg for Treatment of Breakthrough Cancer Pain
Fentanyl (Lazanda) nasal spray, a schedule II narcotic, is now available at a 300-µg dose to treat breakthrough cancer pain, offering physicians another titration option for dosing flexibility. The new strength can help physicians more easily and accurately target the appropriate dose for patients, ...
Acupuncture: Does It Alleviate Symptoms Associated With Cancer Care?
A therapeutic modality of traditional Chinese medicine, acupuncture has been extensively investigated in Western medical settings. Its clinical use is increasingly common for the management of pain and other conditions. In the oncology setting, research demonstrates that acupuncture can...
ASCO Outlines Opposition to Medicare Part B Demo for Senate Finance Hearing
ASCO voiced its strong opposition to the proposed Medicare Part B demonstration project in comments submitted on June 28 for the U.S. Senate Finance Committee hearing, “Examining the Proposed Medicare Part B Drug Demonstration.” ASCO underscored the urgent need to advance a fairer and more...
Using Simulation-Based Training to Improve the Procedural Skills of Oncology/Hematology Fellows
Simulation-based education in medicine programs implemented in cancer centers for oncology/hematology fellows recreates real-world patient experiences and provides a safe—and stress-free—learning environment in which trainees can enhance their clinical and procedural skills in a variety ...
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center Appoints 2016–2017 Board Members, Including Microsoft CEO and Former Governor of Washington
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center announced the appointment of Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella to its Board of Trustees. He is among five new board members at Fred Hutch, a Seattle-based pioneer in advancing groundbreaking research to prevent, diagnose, and treat cancer and related diseases.
...
2016-2017 Oncology Meetings
AUGUST
Palliative Medicine and Supportive Oncology 2016
August 3-6 • Cleveland, Ohio
For more information:
www.clevelandclinicmeded.com/live/courses/pallmed/default.asp
17th Annual International Lung Cancer Congress®
August 4-6 • Huntington Beach, California
For more information:
FDA Advances Precision Medicine Initiative by Issuing Draft Guidances on Next-Generation Sequencing–Based Tests
In support of the President’s Precision Medicine Initiative, on July 6, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued two draft guidances. When finalized, they will provide a flexible and streamlined approach to the oversight of tests that detect medically important differences in a person’s...
An Epic Medical Story by an Old-Style Doctor on the Front Lines of Care
The U.S. health-care system is a $3 trillion behemoth of dizzying complexity. Government oversight, ever-changing regulations, mountains of paperwork, electronic health records, initiative after initiative, and so forth, all of which has reshaped the delivery of care, for the good and bad. But...
The Healing Power of Words
Feminist literary scholar Susan Gubar was diagnosed with advanced ovarian cancer in November 2008. She then began her emigration “from the world of the healthy to the domain of the ill,” she wrote in her acclaimed book, Memoir of a Debulked Woman: Enduring Ovarian Cancer. In her memoir, she...
Dean Lee, MD, PhD, to Lead Cell Therapy Programs at Nationwide Childrens and OSUCCC–James
Dean Lee, MD, PhD, has been named the Director of the Cellular Therapy and Cancer Immunotherapy Program for Nationwide Children’s Hospital’s Division of Hematology/Oncology/Blood and Marrow Transplant and Center for Childhood Cancer and Blood Diseases. Dr. Lee will also serve as the Director of...
Rajesh K. Garg, MD, JD, Named President, CEO of CTCA
Rajesh K. Garg, MD, JD, is now President and CEO of Cancer Treatment Centers of America Global, Inc (CTCA). The announcement was made by CTCA earlier this spring. Dr. Garg, who started this new position on June 20, 2016, will also serve as a member of the company’s national Board of Directors.
...
David Bartels, DO, Joins Summit Cancer Center–Post Falls
David Bartels, DO, will be joining Summit Cancer Center–Post Falls as a medical oncologist effective August 1, 2016, leaving his current position as a medical oncologist with Kootenai Health in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. Summit Cancer Centers, associated with the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, now...
University of Kansas School of Medicine Names Allen M. Chen, MD, Department of Radiation Oncology Chair
Allen M. Chen, MD, has been appointed the new Joe and Jean Brandmeyer Chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Kansas School of Medicine. He will join the faculty on October 1, 2016.
Dr. Chen will succeed Terry Tsue, MD, the Douglas A. Girod, MD, Endowed Professor of...
Genomic Classification and Outcome in Acute Myeloid Leukemia
As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Elli Papaemmanuil, PhD, of the Cancer Genome Project, Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, and colleagues have identified 11 genomic subgroups in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) associated with distinct diagnostic features and clinical outcomes.
AML...
Mindfulness-Based Stress-Reduction Program May Reduce Psychological and Physical Symptoms in Breast Cancer Survivors
A mindfulness-based stress-reduction program for breast cancer survivors was associated with psychological and physical symptom benefits during and at 6 weeks after intervention, according to a randomized trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Cecile A. Lengacher, RN, PhD, of the...
No Apparent Benefit of GnRH in Preserving Ovarian Function and Fertility in Young Women With Lymphoma
In a long-term follow-up of a European trial reported by Isabelle Demeestere, MD, PhD, of the Université Libre de Bruxelles in Belgium, and colleagues in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonist treatment during chemotherapy in young women with lymphoma was...
Study Finds Poor Understanding of Illness in Patients With Advanced Cancer
Few patients with advanced cancer and a short life expectancy have an accurate understanding of their illness, according to a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Andrew S. Epstein, MD, of the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, and colleagues.
The study involved 178 ...
Clinical Trials Actively Recruiting Patients With Acute Myeloid Leukemia
Phase I/II
Study Title: A Phase I-II Randomized Trial of a Combination of Nintedanib/Placebo in Combination With Induction Chemotherapy for Patients With Refractory or First-Relapse AML
Study Type: Phase I/II/interventional/parallel assignment
Study Sponsor and Collaborators: Yale University, ...
NCCN Publishes New Patient Education Resources About Myelodysplastic Syndromes
To provide insight on myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) for patients and caregivers, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®) has published the NCCN Guidelines for Patients® and NCCN Quick Guide™ for MDS. These resources are provided through funding from the NCCN Foundation® and, in part,...
Revisiting Ovarian Ablation in Early Breast Cancer: A Mismatch Between Global Values and Clinical Practice Guidelines
ASCO recently released a clinical practice guideline update on ovarian suppression as part of the extant guideline on adjuvant endocrine therapy in hormone receptor–positive breast cancer, and the recommendations were summarized in the June 10, 2016, issue of The ASCO Post. Also in this issue,...
Jeffrey Demanes, MD, Receives Ulrich Henschke Award From the American Brachytherapy Society
Jeffrey Demanes, MD, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center member and Director of the high-dose–rate brachytherapy program at UCLA, has been selected to receive the prestigious Ulrich Henschke Award, in recognition of his dedication and commitment to the ...
My Commitment to Helping Other Survivors of Childhood Cancers
When I was diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) at the age of 2 in 1974, not much was known about the cancer or the side effects of its treatment. Too young to understand what was happening to me, the burden fell to my parents and older sibling to protect and care for me. For ...
The Henry and Marilyn Taub Foundation Gives $1 Million to Pancreatic Cancer Action Network for Immunotherapy Research
The Henry and Marilyn Taub Foundation has presented a gift of $1 million to support the Shirley Sadoff Pancreatic Cancer Action Network Research Acceleration Network 2 Grant. The grant will support a large, multicenter phase II clinical trial studying an immunotherapeutic approach in patients with...
The National Cancer Moonshot Lifts Off
Just 6 months after President Barack Obama announced the establishment of a National Cancer Moonshot Initiative to accelerate the pace of research discoveries, improve patient access and care, and encourage data-sharing, dozens of new initiatives to accomplish those and other goals were rolled out...
