When Pat Garcia-Gonzalez’ stepson, Max, was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) in 1988 at the age of 14, the Internet was still in its infancy and decades away from the networking resource it has become today. Told that Max would need an allogeneic stem cell transplant to survive, the...
For the third year in a row, more than 250 leaders in cancer care, including cancer center directors, physicians, scientists, ethicists, journalists, public officials, and patient advocates, gathered at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum in Yorba Linda, California, to attend the...
My family first suspected we might have inherited the BRCA1/2 gene mutation after my father was diagnosed with his third cancer, colorectal cancer, following multiple bouts of squamous cell carcinoma and basal cell carcinoma beginning in his 30s and later prostate cancer. But the high risk of...
About 4 years ago, I [Jo Cavallo] wrote about the death of my brother Dom from multiple myeloma in 2011 and my subsequent enrollment in the PROMISE trial (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT03689595). My goal for enrolling in the study was twofold: to honor Dom and others with the cancer and to make ...
Research shows that about half of adults near the end of life in the United States are too ill to participate in decisions about whether to accept life-prolonging treatment,1 requiring family members and other proxies to serve as surrogate decision-makers for their critically ill loved ones....
Studies have shown that millions of people in the United States are financially vulnerable because of low income, limited savings, or high levels of debt. In 2021, 32% of U.S. adults reported being unable to cover an unexpected expense of $400. A recent study by researchers at the American Cancer...
In September 2023, ASCO announced the establishment of its fourth regional council, the Central and Eastern European Regional Council, which includes representatives from 17 countries, with the goal of expanding ASCO’s mission globally to “conquer cancer through research, education, and promotion...
A prospective pilot study investigating the use of early fluorodeoxyglucose F-18 (FDG) positron-emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) in patients with advanced melanoma has found that metabolic changes in melanoma metastases detected on early FDG PET/CT imaging are potentially predictive ...
The road to my breast cancer diagnosis in 2018 was long and tortuous. For 3 years leading up to the diagnosis, I had imaging scans and tissue biopsies every 3 months because of suspicious masses in my breasts. The uncertainty was so destabilizing that I was in a constant state of emotional unrest....
In May 2023, The ASCO Post launched a new feature, View From the Top: The Future of Cancer Care Delivery, which explores how leaders in oncology are developing strategies to ensure continued innovative oncology care in an ever-changing health-care environment. In this installment, Guest Editor Jame ...
Although overall cancer mortality has continued to decline, resulting in over 4 million fewer deaths in the United States since 1991, increasing incidence for 6 of the top 10 cancers pushed the projected number of new diagnoses to over 2 million (2,001,140) for the first time, according to the...
In 2023, nearly 300,000 new cases of invasive breast cancer were diagnosed in the United States, and approximately 56,000 new cases of ductal carcinoma in situ were diagnosed. Although most of those cancers are diagnosed in older adults, about 9% of all new cases of breast cancer are found in women ...
In addition to Dr. Richard J. Boxer, the following names have been newly appointed to serve a 5-year term on the National Cancer Institute’s National Cancer Advisory Board: Margaret Anne Anderson, Managing Director of Deloitte Consulting LLP, Arlington, Virginia Ysabel Duron, Founder and Executive ...
This past year, President Joe Biden announced the appointment of six members to the National Cancer Advisory Board (NCAB; see related article). This board plays a crucial role in advising and assisting the director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in setting the activities of the national...
Excluding skin cancers, colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer diagnosed in both men and women in the United States, and the third-leading cause of cancer-related deaths. According to the American Cancer Society, in 2023, it is estimated that about 52,550 individuals died from the...
On October 16 and 17, 2023, the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) welcomed more than 350 attendees from over 75 countries to its World Cancer Leaders’ Summit in Long Beach, California, to discuss some of the most challenging issues facing patients with cancer worldwide. The theme of...
Except for a series of unexplained multiple broken bones and inexplicable excruciating pain in my right hip and leg, I had no other hallmarks of multiple myeloma when I was diagnosed with the disease at age 48 in 2014. My blood test values were all normal, and I didn’t have anemia or kidney damage. ...
Lung cancer incidence overall has been declining in the United States since 1992—and since 2006–2007 for both men and women by 2.7% annually and 1.1%, respectively—and overall mortality rates have declined in both men and women because of smoking cessation efforts and advances in therapy and early...
A lot of my experience with cancer is hazy to me. I was taking narcotics for pain around the clock when I was diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma in 2013, so there are some missing memories during those early days. I was 19 and a freshman in college when my symptoms started. I have always been active in ...
A secondary analysis from the phase III SWOG S0931 EVEREST trial found that adjuvant everolimus given to patients with clear cell renal cell carcinoma at very high risk of recurrence after nephrectomy produced a statistically significant improvement in recurrence-free survival compared with placebo ...
A retrospective cohort study by Liu et al published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention investigated the prevalence and reasons for an unsatisfactory fecal immunochemical test (FIT). Researchers found that over 10% of the tests used for routine colorectal cancer screening contained...
The remarkable progress in medical research—primarily supported by federal investments in the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI)—over the past 3 decades, coupled with advances in prevention and early detection, has led to a 33% reduction in cancer...
On June 29, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court, in a 6-to-3 decision, essentially overturned affirmative action in college admissions, which had allowed, since 1978, for colleges and universities to consider race as a factor in student admissions.1 The ruling will impact enrollment decisions at public...
On October 25, 2023, ASCO announced the launch of its new flagship quality program ASCO Certified™, with the goal of ensuring that every patient with cancer has access to high-quality, patient-centered, coordinated cancer care.1 The program, which officially launched on October 27, 2023, to...
I’ve been contending with health issues since I was 12, when I was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease. As I began my early 30s, I was feeling the healthiest of my life. I was working out 5 days a week and attributed sudden weight loss and fatigue to weight training and high-intensity Zumba classes....
Currently most use of artificial intelligence (AI) in cancer care has been limited to diagnostics, with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approving nearly 700 medical devices that utilize AI and/or machine learning, the majority of which are used in the fields of radiology and pathology....
Lung cancer incidence overall has been declining in the United States since 1992 and since 2006–2007 for both men and women by 2.7% annually and 1.1%, respectively, and overall mortality rates have declined in both men and women due to smoking cessation efforts and advances in therapy and early...
On October 25, 2023, ASCO announced the launch of its new flagship quality program ASCO Certified™, with the goal of ensuring that every patient with cancer has access to high-quality, patient-centered, coordinated cancer care.1 The program, which officially launched on October 27, 2023, to...
It is widely acknowledged that patients with cancer living in rural areas of the United States face limited access to medical and oncology providers, often have to travel long distances to receive care, and experience obstacles in clinical trial participation—all of which affect quality of care and ...
Findings from the Annual Report to theNation on the Status of Cancer, Part 2: Early Assessment of the COVID-19 Pandemic’s Impact on Cancer Diagnosis show new diagnoses of six major cancer types in the United States fell sharply between March and May 2020, coinciding with the beginning of the...
I have been fascinated with death since I was 3 years old. I remember going to my great-grandfather’s funeral and asking my mother where my great-grandfather was. She said he is in heaven. I asked her if I were going to heaven, too, and she said, “Yes, but not for a long time.” Today, I don’t...
Adults living alone had a 32% higher risk of cancer death than those living with others, according to study results from researchers at the American Cancer Society. For men, the risk was even greater—38%—compared to a 30% higher risk for women. The association between living alone and cancer...
A secondary analysis from the phase III SWOG S0931 EVEREST trial found patients with clear cell renal cell carcinoma at very high risk of recurrence after nephrectomy who received adjuvant everolimus had a statistically significant improvement in recurrence-free survival compared to patients who...
Each year, nearly 16,000 children between the ages of 0 and 19 years are diagnosed with cancer, and more than 85% survive for at least 5 years. Overall, this is a large increase in survivors since the mid-1970s, when the 5-year survival rate was just 58%. Today, approximately 500,000 people in the...
ASCO President Lynn Schuchter, MD, FASCO, has made access to palliative and supportive care among patients with cancer a central focus of her presidential term. Although not all cancer clinicians can be palliative care specialists, because palliative and supportive care are so essential to every...
Clear cell renal cell carcinoma is the most common type of kidney cancer, comprising 80% of all malignant tumors found within the kidney. Although some clear cell renal cell carcinoma tumors are sensitive to immune checkpoint inhibitors, currently, there are no measures to predict whether a tumor...
Although the 5-year survival rate for multiple myeloma has increased over the past 2 decades—from about 35% in 2000 to approximately 62% in 2015—due to more effective therapies, the cancer remains incurable. According to the American Cancer Society, this year, nearly 36,000 individuals will be...
Jame Abraham, MD, FACP, has been in the field of oncology for more than 2 decades, he and says this is both one of the most exhilarating and challenging times in cancer care. “What excites me the most are the innovations in treatment that are literally transforming the lives of our patients and...
Although the development of new therapies for multiple myeloma has significantly improved response rates and outcomes for patients with the blood cancer, most patients eventually relapse, including those who initially achieved remission. A phase I study is investigating whether a dendritic cell...
In August 2014, just a few weeks after my 15th birthday, my body began sending me a lot of worrisome signals that life as I knew it would soon be over. The year before, I had developed a hematoma in my right femur, which was resolved with surgery. But now the pain I was experiencing in that leg was ...
Racial minority patients are impacted differently by the social and physical characteristics of their environments, which may negatively affect cancer outcomes compared with White patients with cancer, according to a new study by Robinson-Oghogho et al presented during the 16th AACR Conference on...
There have been demonstrated differences in tumor cell metabolism between right-sided and left-sided colorectal tumors, which could explain the differences observed in their clinical behavior, especially in metastatic disease. Now, new research has found that patients with right-sided colorectal...
The Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer, Part 2—published by Negoita et al in the journal Cancer—showed that new diagnoses of six major cancer types in the United States fell sharply between March and May of 2020, coinciding with the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The six...
In the summer of 2012, I was living my dream. At 28 years old, I had gone from an impoverished childhood in South Central Los Angeles to the high life in the city of Los Angeles. Unable to afford to go to college, an after-school program helped launch me into a career in the hospitality industry. I ...
Cancer—and the quest to accelerate more effective treatments and potential cures for all life-threatening diseases—has perhaps shaped the life of financier Michael Milken more than his legendary career on Wall Street. In the early 1970s, Mr. Milken’s mother-in-law was diagnosed with metastatic...
According to the American Cancer Society, colorectal cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer-related death in the United States. In 2023, the disease is expected to cause an estimated 52,550 deaths. Studies show that receiving a clinician recommendation is the strongest and most consistent...
On September 13, during a meeting of the Cancer Cabinet, President Joe Biden and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden announced a $240 million investment to accelerate advances in cancer-related projects, with the aim of improving treatments and reducing cancer mortality over the next 25 years. The funding,...
The remarkable progress in medical research—primarily supported by federal investments in the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI)—over the past 3 decades, coupled with advances in cancer prevention and early detection, has led to a 33% reduction in cancer...
Lung cancer, both small cell and non–small cell, is the second most common cancer in both men and women in the United States, with about 238,340 new cases diagnosed each year, and the leading cause of cancer-related mortality, accounting for more than 127,000 deaths annually.1 Lung cancer in...
My intuition about my health has served me well over the past 10 years, possibly even saving my life from two serious cancers. In 2013, I was diagnosed with follicular lymphoma. I believe that my awareness of changes in my body led to its early discovery. One evening, after exercising at the gym...