When the dates were picked for the 54th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO), no one could have anticipated that the meeting would coincide with Hurricane Sandy’s devastation of parts of the northeast. As the storm approached on Monday and Boston shut down its...
January 2013 Breast-Gynecological International Cancer CongressJanuary 17-18 • Cairo, EgyptFor more information: www.bgicc.eg.net/ Highlights of ASH® San Diego, CA and Toronto, CanadaJanuary 18-19 • San Diego, CA and Toronto, Ontario, CanadaFor more information: www.hematology.org/meetings...
A top the list of concerns of adolescents and young adults with a life-threatening cancer are these two considerations: being able to choose the kind of medical treatment they want (or do not want) and expressing their wishes to family and friends about how they want to be remembered, according to...
I read the article about “The Ethics of Rationing Cancer Care” with interest (The ASCO Post, Dec 15, 2012). The issue of rationing (or rational) care has likely been debated since Hippocrates. Yet the topic has become a focus of acute interest with the current fiscal crises facing countries around...
February Highlights of ASH® Miami, FL and San Francisco, CAFebruary 1-2 • Miami, Florida, and San Francisco, CaliforniaFor more information: www.hematology.org/meetings Optimizing Outcomes in Colorectal CancerFebruary 7 • Boston, MassachusettsFor more information: www.omedlive.com Interventional...
The study by Weeks and colleagues is an important one that shows quite unexpected results. There are three main possible reasons for the very low rate of accurate reporting by the patients: (1) Physicians are not communicating prognosis adequately. (2) Patients are unable to understand the...
February Scripps Cancer Center’s 33rd Annual Clinical Hematology and Oncology ConferenceFebruary 16-19 • San Diego, CaliforniaFor more information:www.scripps.org/events/clinical-hematology-and-oncology-february-16-2013 2013 Translational Research Cancer Centers Consortium: The Power of Negative...
The illness memoir’s appeal proves enduring in a very crowded genre, perhaps because illness is a tie that binds us all. As Susan Sontag wrote in her classic work, Illness as a Metaphor, “Illness is the night-side of life, a more onerous citizenship. Everyone who is born holds dual citizenship, in...
Judith Kaur, MD, was presented with the very first Young Investigator Award (YIA) at the 1984 ASCO Annual Meeting in Toronto in what she felt was a “very prestigious event”—having breakfast with the ASCO president. The purpose of the new YIA program was to provide grant funding to help a young...
Thanks to the membership category ASCO designed for physicians in developing countries, Brazilian oncologist Milena Mak, MD, can greatly enhance the care she delivers in the very busy 580-bed Instituto do Cancer do Estado de Sao Paulo. And radiation oncologist Pooja Nandwani Patel, MD, can use the...
March Hematology and Medical Oncology Board Review: Contemporary Practice from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer CenterMarch 1-5, 2013 • New York, New YorkFor more information: www.mskcc.org/hemoncreviewcourse International Congress on Targeted Anticancer TherapiesMarch 4-6 • Paris, FranceFor more...
A survey of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical centers recently reported by Nancy L. Keating, MD, MPH, and colleagues at Harvard Medical School in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute showed that the presence of multidisciplinary tumor boards had little association with rates of recommended...
For more than 2 decades, the guiding principle of the Medical Oncology Association of Southern California (MOASC) has been to ensure the continuation of the private practice of medical oncology and to provide the highest quality care to cancer patients. Founded in 1990, MOASC is the largest...
March Emerging Trends Conference: Reactivation of Hepatitis BMarch 21-22 • Arlington, VirginiaFor more information: www.aasld.org/additionalmeetings/Pages/emergingtrends.aspx 5th Thyroid Neoplasms ConferenceMarch 21-23 • Houston, TexasFor more information: www.mdanderson.org/conferences Community...
An oral chemotherapy prescription-writing module grafted to a shared electronic medical record is part of a series of quality improvement efforts undertaken at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston to prevent errors in prescribing oral chemotherapy agents. While oncologists have readily accepted...
As a global community of cancer care providers in more than 100 countries around the world, ASCO is uniquely positioned to improve cancer patient outcomes worldwide—an opportunity that it has seized since the organization’s inception through numerous innovative programs. Building upon this...
The study by Chen and colleagues addresses the extremely important topic of the use and delivery schedule for radiotherapy in palliation for patients with metastatic lung cancer. The number of patients who will be considered candidates for such therapy in the United States and around the world each ...
Many patients receiving palliative radiation therapy to the bone or chest for metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) may be receiving a greater number of treatments and higher doses than are supported by current evidence, according to a Cancer Care and Outcomes Research and Surveillance...
A phase III study from the United Kingdom has shown that second-line treatment with docetaxel improves overall survival of patients with advanced esophagogastric cancer.1 The strategy has already been widely adopted, but COUGAR-02 is the first study to provide definitive evidence of a survival...
Founded on September 1, 1992, by John M. Rainey, MD, the Louisiana Oncology Society has had numerous legislative successes (see sidebar) since that time, including leading the effort to support Louisiana’s Oral Chemotherapy Parity Law, which was passed in 2012 and is now in effect throughout the...
April IV Latin American Symposium of Gastroenterology OncologyApril 17-20 • Vina del Mar, ChileFor more information: www.slago.com 3rd ITLT Essen 2013 - Interdisciplinary Treatment of Liver TumorsApril 18-20 • Essen, GermanyFor more information: www.itlt.org The Arizona Clinical Oncology Society...
ASCO and the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Care Medicine (AAHPM) have announced a joint initiative to support delivery of high-quality palliative care in medical oncology. The initiative, funded by the Agency for Health Care Research & Quality, aims to address the complex care...
ASCO has released the latest edition of ASCO-SEP®, a comprehensive resource designed to help medical providers assess and improve their level of knowledge in the various areas of oncology, enabling them to provide care that will optimize the quality of life for people with cancer. ASCO-SEP, 3rd...
About 48% of all patients with bladder cancer undergoing radical cystectomy have a discrepancy between their clinical stage and pathologic stage, according to the largest study to date to examine this issue. Upstaging after surgery is associated with reduced survival, while downstaging after...
May 2013 Annual Paris Melanoma ConferenceMay 2-3 • Paris, FranceFor more information: www.primeoncology.org/parismelanoma2013 5th IMPAKT Breast Cancer ConferenceMay 2-4 • Brussels, BelgiumFor more information: www.esmo.org Florida Society of Clinical Oncology Third Annual AVBCC ConferenceMay 2-5 •...
ASCO and the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Care Medicine (AAHPM) recently announced a joint initiative to support delivery of high-quality palliative care in medical oncology. The initiative is funded by ASCO’s first-ever grant from the Agency for Health Care Research Quality. The...
What factors determine who is referred to a medical oncologist and receives treatment for advanced cancers? Several articles in the Journal of Oncology Practice suggest that factors influencing referral and treatment go beyond the patient’s medical condition and preference and include such details...
High to severe levels of psychological distress are common among parents of children with advanced cancer, according to a study conducted at three children’s hospitals—Boston Children’s Hospital, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and Seattle Children’s Hospital. The cohort study was embedded in...
May Northern New England Clinical Oncology Society Spring MeetingMay 17 • Manchester, New HampshireFor more information: www.nnecos.org Iowa Oncology Society Spring Membership ConferenceMay 17-18 • West Des Moines, IowaFor more information: www.ios-iowa.com California Breast Cancer Research...
The results of a study reported by David H. Gustafson, PhD, Research Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and colleagues in Cancer suggest that informal caregiver (eg, family member) use of a specifically designed online system to support palliative care reduces symptom distress in...
Recognizing the need for greater interconnectivity to accelerate cancer care advances, Sandra M. Swain, MD, FACP, current ASCO President and Medical Director of Washington Cancer Institute MedStar Washington Hospital Center, selected “Building Bridges to Conquer Cancer” as her presidential theme....
Racial inequities were a daily observation for Edward E. Partridge, MD, growing up in Alabama during the civil rights era. When he became a physician, he saw that these disparities extended into his own field, gynecologic oncology. He decided to do something about it. Dr. Partridge recently...
Older patients and those with comorbid conditions are less likely to receive palliative radiotherapy, according to an analysis of data from 51,610 patients with stage IV breast, prostate, lung, or colorectal cancer. The study also found that black patients with prostate cancer were 20% less likely...
June Molecular and Translational Oncology WorkshopJune 14-18 • Fort Myers, FloridaFor more information: www.cancereducationconsortium.org/programs_mtow.html 12th International Conference on Malignant LymphomaJune 19-22 • Lugano, SwitzerlandFor more information: www.lymphcon.ch British...
When Patricia Hardenbergh, MD, moved from her academic position as a breast radiation oncologist at Duke University to a small, rural practice in Edwards, Colorado, she realized that being a community oncologist was a very different experience. She was an expert in treating breast cancer and also...
Predicting toxicity in older patients receiving chemotherapy is an important clinical problem. It has been shown that standard oncology measures such as performance status are not adequate to predict outcomes in the elderly. Clinical measures that are important in geriatric oncology are not...
Although many major cancer centers have onsite-registered dietitians to provide patients with nutritional guidance while undergoing treatment and during survivorship, an estimated 64% of patients with cancer use the Internet to find nutritional advice.1 These websites can help provide patients with ...
After passage of the Washington Death with Dignity Act in November 2008, the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance—the site of outpatient care for patients with cancer from Fred Hutchinson–University of Washington Cancer Consortium—developed a Death with Dignity program. The program is adapted from existing ...
In November 2008, the Washington State legislature passed the Washington Death with Dignity Act allowing patients with a terminal diagnosis and less than 6 months to live to request and self-administer lethal medication. After considerable internal debate, our cancer center elected to develop a...
Despite studies showing that a majority of patients prefer to die at home rather than in an institutional setting,1 in many parts of the country, over 30% die in nursing homes and over 50% die in hospitals, according to Ira Byock, MD, Director of Palliative Medicine, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical...
Switzerland, a landlocked country with a population about that of New York City, has four geographic regions, each with its own official language. Internationally regarded lymphoma and breast cancer expert, Franco Cavalli, MD, FRCP, was born and raised in Locarno, a town in the Italian region of...
June 2nd International Breakthrough Breast Cancer Conference– Triple Negative Breast CancerJune 26-28 • London, United KingdomFor more information: www.breakthroughconference.org.uk MASCC/ISOO 2013 International Cancer Care SymposiumJune 27-29 • Berlin, GermanyFor more information: mascc.kenes.com ...
An expert panel of 13 urologic and medical oncologists worked together to identify 23 quality indicators for renal cell carcinoma, as described in an article in the Journal of Oncology Practice. “These 23 [quality indicators] will provide a means of evaluating the quality of [renal cell carcinoma]...
The American Geriatrics Society (AGS) presented Diane E. Meier, MD, the 2013 Edward Henderson Award in recognition of her many invaluable contributions to the field of geriatrics. Dr. Meier received the award and delivered the Henderson State-of-the-Art Lecture during AGS’ Annual Scientific Meeting ...
July WIN 2013 Symposium: Personalized Cancer Therapy: From Innovation to ImplementationJuly 10-12 • Paris, FranceFor more information: www.winsymposium.org 12th International Congress on the Future of Breast CancerJuly 18-20 • Huntington Beach, CaliforniaFor more information:...
At the 2013 ASCO Annual Meeting, Selma Schimmel conducted a series of interviews with prominent oncologists, to get their perspectives on palliative care. These discussions can be viewed via The Group Room website here: http://thegrouproom.tv/category/cancer-topics/palliative-care/ All Vital...
This is the first time I’m going public with the fact that I have advanced ovarian cancer. I thought I could avoid the fate of my mother and her mother, both of whom died of ovarian cancer in their 50s, and live well past my 60s and even 70s. But at 58, I’ve had to accept that that is not likely. I ...
Surveying a population-based and health system–based cohort of patients receiving radiation therapy for incurable lung cancer (defined as stage IV or stage IIIB with malignant effusion at diagnosis) revealed that “64% did not understand that [radiotherapy] was not at all likely to cure them.” These ...
July 14th International Lung Cancer CongressJuly 25-27 • Huntington Beach, CaliforniaFor more information: www.gotoper.com/conferences Up Close and Personalized: The 2nd International Congress on Personalized MedicineJuly 25-28 • Paris, FranceFor more information: www.upcp.org Multidisciplinary...
The International Myeloma Working Group (IMWG) has developed clinical practice recommendations for the management of multiple myeloma-related bone disease based on published study data through August 2012. Consensus of the interdisciplinary panel of clinical experts on the plasma-cell cancer was...