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Showing 1001 - 1050SIDEBAR: Timing of Prostate Cancer Drugs: Earlier But Not Too Early?
While sipuleucel-T, abiraterone, and cabazitaxel have been approved for patients with advanced disease, they might also be used in patients with earlier-stage disease, according to Christopher J. Logothetis, MD, of MD Anderson Cancer Center. “I think it is fair to say that they will be used better...
‘Unrealistic Optimism’ Poses Ethical Challenges, May Affect Informed Consent Process
Does a patient’s optimistic expectation of reaping a health benefit from participating in phase I and phase II oncology studies, even when he understands that these early trials are not designed to provide direct therapeutic benefit, compromise the informed consent process? And, does that...
SIDEBAR: The Anonymity Advantage
This study has the advantage of not only being patient-reported but also of patient anonymity; the questionnaires were not administered or discussed with the patients by any of the treating physicians,” the study authors reported. “I know that patients often want to please their doctor. They don’t ...
Genomic Researchers Identify Weak Points in Breast Cancer Cells
A large-scale project in genetic profiling has identified weak points in breast tumor cells that not only represent potentially new “druggable” targets but could lead to an entirely new classification of all cancers. The findings were recently reported in Cancer Discovery, a journal of the American ...
Increased Use of Hospital Services Boosts Oncology Spending
For our ongoing series on the rising costs of cancer care, The ASCO Post spoke with Lee N. Newcomer, MD, Senior Vice President of Oncology for UnitedHealthcare. Dr. Newcomer is responsible for improving cost-effective cancer care at the nation’s largest health insurer. He shed light on areas of...
We Can Conduct Clinical Trials of Protons
A great deal has been written about proton therapy, with a good deal of heat and only a modest amount of light. I would like to comment on an aspect of the proton vs photon controversy that I believe has not been adequately addressed: Should we run clinical trials that would allow us to prove that...
LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Treating Cancer or Fear?
I read the article by Deb Stewart, “Acting on Fear” (The ASCO Post, August 15, 2011, page 1) with interest, disappointment, and empathy. “Acting on fear” in cancer treatment generally, and particularly in breast cancer, is not uncommon. Hence, I was most interested in the article’s major thrust, as ...
SIDEBAR: Expect Questions from Patients and Colleagues
Among the merits of good clinical studies, according to David P. Ryan, MD, of Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center and Harvard Medical School, is being able to cite them when a physician sits down with a patient to explain the possible benefits and drawbacks of treatment. Dr. Ryan stressed, ...
‘Hot Chemotherapy’ Generates Heated Debate about Its Use with Cytoreductive Surgery to Manage Peritoneal Metastases
"Hot chemotherapy” has become the common term for hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC), which together with cytoreductive surgery is being used by some surgeons to treat patients with carcinomatosis from colorectal cancer. While HIPEC is not considered the most important component of...
ASCO Issues Policy Statement to Reduce Cancer Care Disparities
Last August, ASCO issued the policy statement, “Opportunities in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to Reduce Cancer Care Disparities” in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.1 The statement builds on ASCO’s policy on disparities in cancer care released in 2009. It calls on both the...
SIDEBAR: Questions and Answers about Adjuvant Imatinib in GIST
"As clinicians, we really need to ask who should receive adjuvant [imatinib], and we have several ways to risk-stratify patients, including tumor characteristics (size, location, mitotic index), mutational analyses, and a recently published nomogram for patient-specific survival,” said William D....
SIDEBAR: Is G13D KRAS Mutational Status Ready for Prime Time?
Individual oncologists will have to decide for themselves whether the results from the pooled analysis of cetuximab trials regarding G13D KRAS mutational status are ready for clinical application, according to Axel Grothey, MD, of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. “We still need...
Standards of Care Confirmed in Latest Group of Colorectal Cancer Trials
Colorectal cancer studies reported at this year’s ASCO meeting offered little in the way of practice-changing information, according to Axel Grothey, MD, of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. But they did confirm existing standards of care, he noted at the Best of ASCO® meeting in Seattle....
Other Breast Cancer Studies of Note
At this year’s Best of ASCO® Miami meeting, Harold Burstein, MD, PhD, discussed several studies he found interesting and relevant to clinical practice. Genomic Assays One study examined two genomic assays for ER-positive breast cancer, Oncotype DX and PAM50, and found considerable overlap among the ...
SIDEBAR: Studies Sparked Questions to Breast Cancer Specialists
Based on the MAP.3 findings, should we be using exemestane to prevent breast cancer in high-risk patients? Dr. Harold Burstein: The risk of developing breast cancer was 2.5% in the placebo arm, vs 1% to 1.5% risk with exemestane. Also, the cancers that were avoided were probably ones with good...
SIDEBAR: Searching for More Efficacious, Less Toxic Adjuvant Chemotherapy for NSCLC
Accumulating data are helping to better define the risk-benefit profile of various adjuvant chemotherapy regimens for non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and the impact of adding biologic agents to the mix, according to H. Jack West, MD, of the Swedish Cancer Institute in Seattle. In the randomized ...
Important Briefs from the 2011 Breast Cancer Symposium
The 2011 Breast Cancer Symposium was recently held in San Francisco, bringing together a multidisciplinary group of specialists and sponsored by ASCO, the American Society for Radiation Oncology, the Society of Surgical Oncology, the American Society of Breast Disease, the American Society of...
Panitumumab Is Not Beneficial in KRAS Mutations: No Exceptions
The need to restrict treatment with panitumumab (Vectibix) to metastatic colorectal cancer patients with wild-type (normal) KRAS tumors was upheld in a study presented at the 2011 European Multidisciplinary Cancer Congress (EMCC). The investigation found a consistent lack of benefit for the drug...
Fighting to Get Back Control
I’ve had raging hormones since I was 18, when I was diagnosed with a benign pituitary adenoma. The tumor caused unpredictable menstrual cycles that remained constant throughout my life, even after it had been successfully treated. So 2 years ago, when I turned 40 and started having sudden bouts of...
A Conversation with Judith Redwing Keyssar, RN
The number of patients seeking hospice and palliative care has grown significantly since 1974, when the NCI funded the first hospice facility in Branford, Connecticut. Nevertheless, according to the National Center for Health Statistics, 85% of Americans still die in hospitals or nursing homes....
Reflections from The ASCO Post
The editors gratefully acknowledge all contributors to The ASCO Post and thank the columnists who contributed to Volume 2, January–December 2011: Al B. Benson III, MD, FACP Richard Boxer, MD, FACS Carlton G. Brown, RN, PhD, AOCN Barrie R. Cassileth, PhD E. David Crawford, MD Emil J. Freireich, MD, ...
A Conversation with Ezekiel J. Emanuel, MD, PhD
Last September, Ezekiel J. Emanuel, MD, PhD, a leading scholar in bioethics and health-care policy, was named the Diane v.S. Levy and Robert M. Levy University Professor and Vice Provost for Global Initiatives at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. His appointment will be shared between ...
Breast Cancer Experts Voice Opinion and Express ‘Disappointment’ over FDA Decision
Gabriel N. Hortobagyi, MD, Chair of Medical Breast Oncology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, said he was “disappointed but not surprised” at the FDA decision to withdraw the bevacizumab (Avastin) indication in breast cancer. “Once the FDA put this in the hands of ODAC, ...
MD Anderson Cancer Center’s New President Has a Bold Vision
On September 1, 2011, Ronald A. DePinho, MD, became only the fourth President in the 70-year history of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. Dr. DePinho spent the previous 14 years as head of Dana-Farber’s Belfer Institute for Applied Cancer Science. In a recent interview...
The Newly Diagnosed Patient with Cancer and Access to Care
A study presented at the 2011 ASCO Annual Meeting raised concerns that newly diagnosed cancer patients are having trouble seeing an oncologist. Interviews with several cancer centers and community practices, however, suggest that the process runs smoothly, for the most part. Majority of Patients...
ASCO President Michael P. Link, MD, Joins Colleagues in Honoring a Friend and Touching the Future through Philanthropy
As an active member of ASCO, and as a leader of the Society in recent years, ASCO President Michael P. Link, MD, has a long history of giving to the Society-affiliated Conquer Cancer Foundation. “Our family has always felt that it’s a good thing to support,” he said. “The Foundation supports...
Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy or Surgery First: Outcome Not Affected
Chemotherapy can be delivered before breast-conserving therapy or after surgery, without influencing long-term local-regional recurrence, a large study from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center confirmed. The data were presented at the 2011 Breast Cancer Symposium in San Francisco.1 “A ...
Bevacizumab Breast Cancer Indication Rescinded: What Are the Downstream Implications?
Leading up to FDA’s resolution to revoke the breast cancer indication for bevacizumab (Avastin), the debate over the drug’s clinical value was imbued with contentious ideologic overtones, which culminated in a 2-day public hearing that exposed deep divisions not only in the scientific community,...
SIDEBAR: Expect Questions from Your Patients
When patients and family members have concerns about depression, they often bring them up with the staff, not with the treating oncologist. “I think that people with cancer don’t want to distract their medical oncologist or their surgeon by talking about their mood,” Dr. Massie noted. “Some people ...
Expert Point of View: Maintenance Rituximab vs Retreatment Rituximab in Patients with Low–Tumor-Burden Follicular Lymphoma
The findings of RESORT1 have tremendous implications, both clinically and economically, commented Andrew D. Zelenetz, MD, Chief of the Lymphoma Service at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, in an interview. “The maintenance arm received rituximab [Rituxan] every 3 months...
Expert Point of View: Bevacizumab Progression-free Survival Benefit Upheld in AVEREL Trial
Modest benefit reported from AVEREL1 triggered comments among trialists about the future of bevacizumab (Avastin) in breast cancer. “Although there’s controversy about the recent revoking of FDA approval of bevacizumab for metastatic breast cancer, I think there is a consensus in our disappointment ...
Nearly Identical Survival for Laparoscopy vs Laparatomy in Patients with Stage I/IIA Disease
Building on previously reported results that laparoscopic surgical management of uterine cancer is superior for short-term safety and length-of-stay endpoints, the Gynecologic Oncology Group reported small and lower than anticipated potential for increase risk of cancer recurrence with laparoscopy...
A Patient with Cancer Saw a Need and Left a Living Legacy
It is well documented that the rigors of delivering cancer care can unintentionally supersede valuable doctor-patient communication. Before he died in 1995, Kenneth B. Schwartz, a patient with cancer at Massachusetts General Hospital, recognized this phenomenon and founded the Kenneth B. Schwartz...
SIDEBAR: Expect Questions from Your Patients
The possibility of reexcision after breast-conservation surgery should be discussed with patients before the initial surgery, advised Laurence E. McCahill, MD, lead investigator of the JAMA study on reexcision following breast-conservation surgery, which showed wide variability in reexcision...
Cost of Cancer Therapy: The Elephant in the Room?
I am distressed by your coverage of innovative therapies, such as dual HER2 blockade (see The ASCO Post, January 1, 2012, and Supplement to February 15, 2012), without mentioning that these therapies will never be cost-effective given the current pricing of the agents involved. If we wish to...
SIDEBAR: Should ‘AYA’ Be an Oncology Subspecialty?
The lag in improvement in survival rates for adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with cancer and a greater awareness of the unique issues they face has prompted discussion about whether “AYA” should become a new oncology subspecialty.1 “Yes and no,” according to Archie Bleyer, MD. “I am going to...
Research Funding Key to Continued Progress in Cancer Care
American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) President and ASCO member Judy Garber, MD, MPH, recently spoke with The ASCO Post about the findings of AACR’s landmark Cancer Progress Report,1 In addition, she offered her perspective on the current and future state of cancer research. Project...
ASCO Launches Community Research Forum to Tackle Top Research Conundrums
Just how many research-focused staff members is it optimal to have when conducting clinical trials in a community-practice setting? To properly gauge that, should the practice look closely at how many studies it’s working on? The complexity of those studies? The number of patients enrolled? Some...
Expert Point of View: SELECT Trial Update: Vitamin E Fails to Prevent Prostate Cancer in Healthy Men, Appears to Increase Risk
According to Adam Kibel, MD, Urology Chair at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, it would appear to be logical that increasing the doses of vitamin E and selenium would decrease the risk of prostate cancer, since the preponderance of evidence demonstrates that these supplements do so. “The...
I Refuse to Let Cancer Win
My battle with cancer started with a simple sore throat in June 2005. Despite two rounds of an antibiotic to clear up the problem, within 2 months my throat hurt so much I couldn’t swallow, and a mysterious lump had suddenly appeared on my tongue. By the end of August, I was diagnosed with stage...
SIDEBAR: Expect Questions from Your Patients
“Our study provides critical interim companion data to awaited randomized trials and may help clinicians and patients quantify the risk-benefit ratio of brachytherapy compared with standard therapy,” Benjamin D. Smith, MD, said of a study comparing lumpectomy and either whole-breast irradiation or...
Cancer Survivors Stand Up, Give Thanks, and Give Back
“I have me back,” is how breast cancer survivor Jeanette Daniel of Memphis described her life after being treated on a clinical trial at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville. Being conducted by the Stand Up To Cancer P13K Dream Team, whose leader discovered the PI3K pathway, the trial...
Postsurgical Local Breast Cancer Therapies Compared in Two Large Studies
A study presented at the 13th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Breast Surgeons suggested that accelerated partial-breast irradiation (APBI) using brachytherapy might control the tumor bed better than whole-breast irradiation (WBI), while another study suggested that radiofrequency ablation ...
Can Whole-genome Sequencing Predict Cancer Risk and Improve Public Health?
If, as expected, the cost of whole-genome sequencing continues to drop, perhaps down to the $1,000 vicinity, it may become an alluring option for consumers who want to know about their risks for cancer and other diseases. But can genome sequencing really provide practical information about...
Expert Point of View: T-DM1 Proves More Effective, Less Toxic Than Standard Treatment for Metastatic Breast Cancer
“Stated simply, T-DM1 really works in this patient population,” said Louis Weiner, MD, Director of the Georgetown-Lombardi Cancer Center in Washington, DC, and the invited discussant of the presentation. “It is an important new weapon in the therapeutic armamentarium for breast cancer.” While...
When It Comes to Scientific Exploration, Renowned Clinical Investigator Lets the Work Guide His Path
Internationally renowned clinical investigator Daniel D. Von Hoff, MD, FACP, attended grade school in a one-room schoolhouse on the rural outskirts of Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Polio was a scourge at the time, and Dr. Von Hoff recalled lining up with his skittish classmates to get the newly developed...
Trailblazing Oncologist Had Instrumental Role in France’s War on Cancer
David Khayat, MD, PhD, Chair of the Department of Medical Oncology at the Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital in Paris, was inspired to become an oncologist by an episode that could have been ripped from the pages of one of his best-selling novels. At the age of 18, Dr. Khayat was the witness at his best...
From Small-town House Calls to Bone Marrow Transplants, Nobel Laureate Continues Father’s Legacy
“I echo the sentiments of many previous Nobel laureates when I say that the success we celebrate today was made possible by the work of many others in this and in related fields.” So ended the Nobel Lecture by E. Donnall Thomas, MD, the famed investigator and 1990 Nobel Laureate in Physiology or...
Too Soon to Know How Circulating Tumor Cells Might Be Used to Guide Treatment of Breast Cancer
In the News focuses on media reports that your patients may have questions about at their next visit. This continuing column will provide summaries of articles in the popular press that may prompt such questions, as well as comments from colleagues in the field. “A simple blood test.” These were...
SIDEBAR: SWOG 9346 Conclusions Debated in Special Post-plenary Discussion
Based on the controversial nature of the SWOG 9346 findings, presented at the 2012 Annual Meeting Plenary Session, ASCO intiated a pilot program at the meeting for a “town hall” type of discussion, where attendees could voice their concerns and questions, and where presenter Maha Hussain, MD,...
