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Showing 10001 - 10050Tamoxifen vs Surgery Study Shows Older Patients with Breast Cancer Can Achieve a ‘Personal Cure’
A truly final review—when all the patients in the trial have died and the cause of death is known for each—of a randomized trial comparing tamoxifen to surgery in patients over the age of 70 with operable breast cancer found no differences in the survival rates or deaths attributable to breast...
Help Your Patients Understand Lung Cancer
Did you know that November is Lung Cancer Awareness Month? For an introduction to lung cancer, direct your patients to the fact sheet ASCO Answers: Lung Cancer at www.cancer.net/factsheets. For more detailed information, your patients can read the Cancer.Net Guide to Lung Cancer at...
ASCO Journal Apps Now Available for iPad and iPhone
Users of the market-leading mobile devices have been able to access optimized versions of the Journal of Clinical Oncology (JCO) and Journal of Oncology Practice (JOP) websites since the spring of 2011. Now, iPad and iPhone users can download free JCO and JOP apps from the iTunes store. Smooth and...
Oncology’s Only Benchmark Report, National Practice Benchmark, Is Now a Yearly JOP Supplement
Would it surprise you to learn that 40% of your peers in oncology who responded to a survey last year have a certified electronic medical record system in place? Or that 86% of them are in physician-owned practices? Or that the average number of full-time equivalent hematology/oncology physicians...
Global Trials: Do Benefits Outweigh Pitfalls?
Global clinical trials have many advantages and are essential in many disease settings, but there are also challenges that confront global industry-sponsored research, said Sandra Horning, MD, Senior Vice President and Global Head of Clinical Development in Hematology/Oncology for Genentech (Table...
Sunitinib and Everolimus: New Indications in Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors
With In the Clinic, The ASCO Post provides overviews of novel oncology agents, addressing indications, mechanisms, administration recommendations, safety profiles, and other essential information needed for the appropriate clinical use of these drugs. Sunitinib Indication—The oral kinase inhibitor...
NCCN Guidelines® for Lung Cancer Screening Now Available
The new NCCN Guidelines for Lung Cancer Screening primarily refer to non–small cell lung cancer, the most common type of lung cancer, and recommend helical low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) screening for select patients at high risk for the disease. In addition to outlining the appropriate use of ...
Despite Challenges, Combined-modality Therapy Warranted for Locally Recurrent Colorectal Cancer
Encouraging outcomes have been achieved with a combined-modality treatment approach for patients with locally recurrent colorectal cancer in both curative and palliative settings, although room for improvement remains. During a session presented at the American Society for Radiation Oncology...
Preoperative Chemoradiotherapy May Extend Survival for Patients with Esophagogastric Junction Adenocarcinoma
Several American and European clinical trials have yielded mixed results on the survival advantage of preoperative chemoradiotherapy for patients with locally advanced esophagogastric junction adenonocarcinoma. However, a distinguished panel at the 2011 ASTRO Annual Meeting did agree that surgery...
NCCN Meeting Addresses Issues in Hematologic Malignancies
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) 6th Annual Congress on Hematologic Malignancies, held recently in New York, included reviews of the management of hematologic diseases as well as discussions of outstanding issues in the field. The following is a synopsis of some of the important...
Chemotherapy Drug Shortages: A Preventable Human Disaster
The issue of chemotherapy drug shortages continues with no end in sight. Many heartfelt human interest stories have been told on television, in newspapers, and even to Congress, but the bottom line is that little, if any, action has been taken. Uniquely American Problem News of the generic...
Important Lessons for Oncology from the Front Lines of the AIDS Pandemic
On June 5, 1981, the CDC issued a warning about a rare type of pneumonia discovered among a small group of young gay men in Los Angeles, later determined to be AIDS-related, ushering in the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Early on, AIDS-related malignancies brought the oncology community into this formidable...
Neural Stem Cell Transplantation May Improve Cognitive Function in Brain Cancer
The potentially devastating long-term consequences on cognitive function in patients with brain cancer following cranial irradiation led Charles L. Limoli, PhD, Professor of Radiation Oncology, University of California, Irvine, to study neural stem cell transplantation and how the procedure may...
SIDEBAR: Key Dates in the Medicare Physician Reimbursement Saga
October 21, 2009: SB 1776 (“the Doc Fix”) is introduced in the Senate [but fails to pass] November 19, 2009: House of Representatives passes HR 3961 (the Medicare Physician Payment Reform Act) [but Senate fails to pass] December 19, 2009: Congress passes Department of Defense appropriations bill...
My Cancer Is Incurable, but My Future Is Limitless
Cancer has nearly always been part of my life. When I was 6 years old, I was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The doctors told my parents that unless I was treated immediately, I wouldn’t live longer than a month. Over the next 3 years, I underwent intensive courses of chemotherapy and...
SIDEBAR: Expect Questions from Your Patients
Patients concerned about an increased risk of cancer among recipients of organ transplantation need to know that “in the great majority of cases, patients don’t get cancer,” according to Eric Engels, MD, MPH, lead author of the Transplant Cancer Match Study report and Senior Investigator, Division...
Solid Organ Transplant Recipients Have Increased Risk for Broad Range of Malignancies
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. The Transplant Cancer Match Study, a ...
Evidence of Improved Survival for Lobectomy vs Limited Resection in Early-stage Lung Cancer
“Evidence is statistically inconclusive but suggestive that lobectomy, compared with limited resection, is associated with increased long-term survival for early-stage lung cancer,” according to a study reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. The study analyzed data from 679...
The Art and Grace of Just Letting Go
Like a breeze rippling across a lake, the end of your career is approaching and you cannot escape its path. You can see it coming, and before you know it the inexorable movement will rush past you. You have two choices: Build a sail so that you can capture the energy and move with it, or remain...
Expert Point of View: Researchers Find Remarkable Heterogeneity in Sarcomas
Historically, studying sarcoma has been problematic for several reasons. Sarcomas represent only about 1% of all adult cancers, and there are many subtypes, so getting a group of patients with one type of sarcoma together for a clinical trial in a single institution can be challenging. In the past, ...
Researchers Find Remarkable Heterogeneity in Sarcomas
Does one size fit all for the treatment of sarcoma? The answer is a resounding “no,” according to Jean-Yves Blay, MD, Department of Medicine, Université Claude Bernard, and Unité INSERM (National Institute of Health and Medical Research Unit), Lyon, France. Researchers have been able to classify...
Twitter Dominates Social Media Buzz at Stockholm Meeting
There was a time when clinical trial results were disseminated mainly through peer-reviewed journals that appeared in your mailbox. Computers and prompt reporting from medical conferences changed that, and same-day postings on medical websites brought “breaking news” a step closer. But the...
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, ...
Need for Data Capture Crucial, Now and After ‘Meaningful Use’
It’s never enough. Whether it is the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), other payers, pharmaceutical manufacturers, or specialty companies, one can never provide enough data. When will it all end? The problem, or the opportunity for many, is that it won’t end. The need for discrete ...
Oncologists Need Hands-on Approach in Developing Next Generation of EHRs
The electronic health record system offered by vendors is more like a filing cabinet, not the sophisticated, interactive database needed by busy oncologists, according to Kevin S. Hughes, MD, FACS, Co-Director, Avon Comprehensive Breast Evaluation Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, who...
Improving Quality and Safety with Health Information Technology
A well-documented flaw in paper-based health care is the propensity for medical errors. According to Blackford Middleton, MD, MPH, MSc, implementing clinical decision support software can decrease medical error, improve outcomes, and lower the costs of care. Presenting a session titled “Improving...
Male Breast Cancer Differs from Breast Cancer in Women, but Little Data Informs Treatment
Although a rare occurrence, men do get breast cancer, and when they do, it has a distinct biology from that of female breast cancer. About 90% of cases most closely resemble postmenopausal female invasive ductal carcinoma, and 10% are ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), which accounts for 25% of...
510(k) Clearance Granted for OncoTrac
Translational Sciences Corporation announced that it has received FDA 510(k) clearance for commercialization of its OncoTrac medical imaging software. OncoTrac is designed for efficient quantitative assessment of treatment response of metastatic tumors including those of the breast, lung,...
Help Your Patients Understand the Significant Research from 2011
Direct your patients to www.cancer.net/podcasts to learn about the 2011 Clinical Cancer Advances. In a special podcast, patients can hear about this year’s most important advances in clinical cancer research and what these advances mean for their treatment and care. ■ © 2011. American Society of...
2012 GU Cancers Symposium to Reflect the Field’s Focus on Personalized Cancer Care
The 2012 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium, to be held in San Francisco February 2–4, will feature some exciting advancements in the field that center on personalized cancer care. “The major cancer discussed at the meeting tends to be prostate cancer, and there hasn’t yet been a lot of specific...
ASCO Helps Survivors Transition into Life after Treatment with New Booklet
Progress against cancer has helped save or extend the lives of millions of patients. Thanks to advances in medical research, there are about 12 million cancer survivors today in the United States. For patients transitioning back into everyday life after surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, or...
Medical Students Can Now Be ASCO Members, Thanks to an Intern Who Pressed
ASCO has just added a membership category for medical students, spurred on by—you guessed it—a medical student. Daniel G. Stover, MD, knew he wanted to go into oncology from very early on. But when he contacted ASCO to join as an intern, having just graduated from Vanderbilt School of Medicine, he...
Lessons from a Northern Neighbor: A Conversation with Joseph M. Connors, MD
Policy analysts searching for a better understanding of health-care models often compare the cancer delivery systems of Canada and the United States. The ASCO Post recently spoke with Joseph M. Connors, MD, Clinical Professor and Director of the BC Cancer Agency’s Centre for Lymphoid Cancer,...
Neutrophil/Lymphocyte Ratio Can Upstage Patients with Bladder Cancer
A sizable proportion of bladder cancer patients who would benefit from neoadjuvant chemotherapy are not receiving it, researchers from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, concluded. Their conclusion was based on their assessment of the neutrophil/lymphocyte...
Gathering Data Point to Potential Advantages of Vismodegib in Basal Cell Carcinoma and Other Advanced Cancers
Vismodegib is a small-molecule, orally active hedgehog pathway inhibitor that has shown considerable promise in treating basal cell carcinoma and is currently being evaluated alone and in combination in early-phase trials in medulloblastoma and a long list of other cancers.1 Owing to its...
Optimizing HER2-directed Therapy in the Clinic
Seminal research in the treatment of HER2-positive breast cancer has been led by Edith A. Perez, MD, the Serene M. and Frances C. Durling Professor of Medicine at the Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, Florida. The ASCO Post asked Dr. Perez to share her approach to HER2-directed therapy. Testing...
Prostate Cancer Screening Reconsidered
Prostate cancer is the most prevalent nonskin cancer in men. An estimated 16% of men are diagnosed with prostate cancer, yet only 3% of men die from it.1 Unlike other cancers, prostate cancer is associated with a prolonged lead-time, meaning it can take anywhere from 5 to 12 years to become...
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, ...
Humor Is Helping Me Survive Cancer
Despite a strong family history of colon cancer—all five of my mother’s siblings had colon cancer, and my mother died of the disease 10 years ago—when some flecks of blood started showing up on my toilet tissue in early 2005, I figured it was from hemorrhoids. At 38, I was a marathon runner and in...
SIDEBAR: Expect Questions from Your Patients
“The message” of a meta-analysis of 17 randomized trials of breast-conserving surgery with or without radiation, “should be that the benefits of radiation are not temporary, that it provides an increased chance of cure,” Thomas A. Buchholz, MD, told The ASCO Post. The meta-analysis was conducted by ...
Benefits of Radiation after Breast-conserving Surgery Cut Risk of Recurrence in Half
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. “After breast-conserving surgery,...
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...
Adjuvant Chemotherapy with S-1 Improves Survival in Stage II/III Gastric Cancer
Postoperative adjuvant therapy with the oral fluoropyrimidine derivative S-1 improved overall survival and relapse-free survival in patients with stage II or III gastric cancer who had D2 gastrectomy. Five-year survival rates in the phase III study were 71.7% for patients in the S-1 group vs 61.1%...
Help Your Patients Start Off Healthy in 2012
The beginning of a new year is an opportunity for a fresh start for many, including people with cancer. To help your patients set and achieve their health and wellness goals, direct them to Cancer.Net (www.cancer.net), ASCO’s patient website, where they can learn about seven steps for a healthier...
SIDEBAR: About the Nachman Award
Plans call for the first James B. Nachman ASCO Junior Faculty Award in Pediatric Oncology to be awarded at the 2012 ASCO Annual Meeting. The award will be given each year to a junior faculty member who submits the highest-scoring abstract in pediatric oncology for the ASCO Annual Meeting, as...
Weekly Online Polls Help Define Key Concerns of ASCO Members
ASCO members now have the opportunity to help the Society gather information and opinions about important cancer policy issues. ASCO in Action, ASCO’s revamped policy news website (http://ascoaction.asco.org), features weekly polls designed to gauge the views of ASCO members on a variety of topics ...
Gastric Cancer Is on the Rise: Screening and Education Are Vital
Gastric cancer is diagnosed in nearly 1 million people globally each year and is responsible for 740,000 deaths, making it the second leading cause of cancer death in the world. According to the American Cancer Society, more than 21,000 people in the United States were diagnosed with gastric...
Advances in Lung Cancer Treatment Show Incremental Benefits, but Room for Improvement Remains
Newer therapies for the treatment of non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and small cell lung cancer (SCLC) were discussed at the Chemotherapy Foundation Symposium. More inroads have been made in improving outcomes for patients with NSCLC than for those with SCLC, but there is still room for...
