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Showing 10951 - 11000Bequest from Dr. Nora Janjan and Jack Calvin Supports Conquer Cancer Foundation’s Work in Palliative Care
For Nora Janjan, MD, MPSA, MBA, the practice of oncology is rooted in purpose, empathy, and trust. “You walk into the hospital and you know exactly why you’re there,” she says. “You are there to help patients and their loved ones through probably the most difficult experience that they will ever...
Smoking and Lack of Exercise Increase Risk of Some Cancers, but Moderate Alcohol Consumption Reduces Colon Cancer Risk
A substudy of the large prospective National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP) Breast Cancer Prevention Trial revealed both expected and surprising findings related to the association between lifestyle factors (cigarette smoking, alcohol, and exercise) and cancer risk. As might be...
Novel Agents Prolong Disease-free Survival in Ovarian Cancer
Novel agents produced high response rates and prolonged remissions in patients with platinum-sensitive recurrent ovarian cancer, in studies reported at the 2011 ASCO Annual Meeting. In an international randomized phase II trial, maintenance therapy with the oral poly [ADP-ribose] polymerase (PARP)...
Expert Point of View: Iniparib Fails to Improve Outcomes in Triple-negative Breast Cancer
The discussant of the iniparib data (abstract 1007), Lisa A. Carey, MD, Medical Director of the University of North Carolina Breast Center, noted that the phase II results provoked “great enthusiasm and high expectations from doctors and patients” but the primary statistical endpoint was not met....
Iniparib Fails to Improve Outcomes in Triple-negative Breast Cancer
As reported in the March 15 issue of The ASCO Post, a phase III trial of the novel agent iniparib failed to demonstrate a significant improvement in survival for women with metastatic triple-negative breast cancer. The “top-line” results were communicated in the spring via press releases from...
SIDEBAR: Lessons for Today
Many of Osler’s precepts and teachings are as applicable today as they were a century ago. Their universality and timeless relevance are guideposts. Some of his frequently cited aphorisms include: “In the physician or surgeon no quality takes rank with imperturbability.” “Care more particularly ...
On William Osler: The Old Art and the New Science
William Osler (1849–1919) is one of the most revered physicians in the history of medicine. He was an outstanding clinician who emphasized bedside teaching, hard work, medical history, and lifelong learning.1 As Professor of Medicine at four institutions in three countries, he exerted a profound...
Expert Point of View: Longer Imatinib Treatment Is Better in High-risk GIST
Charles D. Blanke, MD, Chief of Medical Oncology at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, critiqued the SSGXVIII study, noting its “goals were reasonable and the methodologies for primary and secondary objectives were sound. The conclusion regarding recurrence-free survival is valid, as...
Novel Agents Improve Survival in Patients with Metastatic Melanoma
Novel treatments for metastatic melanoma dominated the buzz at the 2011 ASCO Annual Meeting and across the major news outlets, with reports that two agents with entirely different mechanisms of action could extend survival. The studies’ inclusion in the ASCO Plenary Session attested to the...
Stalked by Cancer: One Woman’s Story
Cancer has been stalking me all my life. My mother’s mother had died of breast cancer at a relatively young age. My mother was diagnosed with breast cancer in the early 1960s, when she was 35 and I was just 5 years old. Although she was told that she probably wouldn’t live more than 2 years, she...
SIDEBAR: Expect Questions from Your Patients
The study of concurrent HPV and Pap testing for cervical cancer was widely reported even before the recent ASCO Annual Meeting. In an interview with The ASCO Post, Barnett Kramer, MD, was asked how physicians can respond to questions about the study from patients. “You can tell a woman over the...
Cervical Cancer Screening Study Should Reassure Physicians and Patients that a 3-Year Screening Interval Is Safe and Effective
Results of a large-scale cervical cancer screening study using concurrent human papillomavirus (HPV) and Pap testing should “reassure” women over 30 who test negative for HPV and have normal Pap tests that “it is extremely safe to go 3 years” before being tested again, Barnett S. Kramer, MD, MPH,...
A Conversation with David Henry, MD
Given the intricate nature of oncology workflow, terminology, cancer staging, and the high risk associated with chemotherapy administration, an oncology electronic medical record (EMR) system needs to be much more than a storehouse of patient information. According to David Henry, MD, Clinical...
Is Subspecialization an Option or a Necessity in Community Practices?
Should oncologists in community practices subspecialize? What would that mean for them and for their patients? These are some of the issues tackled in a Journal of Oncology Practice (JOP) Strategies for Career Success article entitled “Subspecialization in Community Oncology: Option or Necessity?”...
A Prominent Oncologist Retraces Her Steps from Baghdad
Maha Hussain, MD, FACP, Professor of Medicine and Urology, is the Associate Director for Clinical Research at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center (UMCCC) and Co-leader of its Prostate Cancer/GU Oncology program. Dr. Hussain recently spoke with The ASCO Post about becoming a...
Studies Explore Potential Benefits of Sunitinib before Nephrectomy in Metastatic Clear Cell Renal Cancer
The multitargeted tyrosine kinase inhibitor sunitinib (Sutent) is established as first-line therapy in metastatic clear cell renal cancer. Data supporting use of cytoreductive nephrectomy in metastatic clear cell renal cancer come from the pre–targeted therapy era, when less-effective immune...
Cancer.Net Mobile App for Patients
Described as “a gem of a freebie,” Cancer.Net’s new app is the mobile companion for patients to stay informed about cancer and to organize important personal data often needed for doctor visits. It includes interactive tools to help patients get answers to important questions, track side effects,...
Stephen Cannistra, MD, Takes Over as Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Clinical Oncology
Since 1989, Stephen Cannistra, MD, has been working to make the Journal of Clinical Oncology (JCO) the most credible, authoritative resource for disseminating significant clinical oncology research while acting as a reviewer, Consultant Editor, Associate Editor, Editorial Board Member, and as of...
NCI Clinical Investigator Team Leadership Awards: Conversations in Gynecologic Oncology
The National Cancer Institute recognized Cheryl Saenz, MD, and Linda R. Duska, MD, among others, late last year with a Cancer Clinical Investigator Team Leadership Award. The 2-year award includes $50,000 in funding for cancer research programs at NCI-designated cancer centers. The ASCO Post...
Breast Cancer Studies Focus on Tailoring Therapy for Patient Subsets
As part of our ongoing coverage of the 2011 ASCO Annual Meeting, The ASCO Post has provided substantive reports on key breast cancer trials, but others deserve attention. Lapatinib/Capecitabine Controls Brain Metastases Results of the French phase II LANDSCAPE trial found lapatinib (Tykerb) plus...
Expert Point of View: Novel JAK Inhibitor May Be an Option for Patients with Myelofibrosis
Ross Levine, MD, of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, was the discussant of the COMFORT-I and COMFORT-II trials.1 He explained that 70% to 90% of patients with myelofibrosis have JAK2 mutations, which appear to be endemic. “This is a driver mutation, although not the only mutation...
Expert Point of View: Maintenance Therapy Prolongs Progression-free Survival in Advanced NSCLC but Produces No Overall Survival Benefit
Maintenance therapy in NSCLC is an ever-contentious issue,” stated formal discussant of these trials, Martin Edelman, MD, University of Maryland Greenebaum Cancer Center, Baltimore, at the ASCO Annual Meeting. “The maintenance approach is based on two observations: limited benefit from more than...
Maintenance Therapy Prolongs Progression-free Survival in Advanced NSCLC but Produces No Overall Survival Benefit
Maintenance therapy with either pemetrexed (Alimta) or gefitinib (Iressa) achieved modest improvements in progression-free survival in patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The magnitude of improved progression-free survival was 1.3 months and 2.2 months, respectively, in the...
Emerging Targeted Therapies Offer Glimmer of Hope for NSCLC but Biomarkers for Response Needed
Among the newer approaches to treatment of non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) are heat-shock protein 90 (Hsp90) inhibitors, toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) agonists, and vascular-disrupting agents. So far, none appears to be a “home run,” but Hsp90 inhibition may be the most promising of the three...
Expert Point of View: Axitinib Improves Progression-free Survival over Sorafenib in Advanced Renal Cell Carcinoma
According to Eric Jonasch, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, “These data show that treatment with a potent and specific antiangiogenic agent after immunotherapy does provide significant prolongation of progression-free survival, and that axitinib is clearly superior to...
Axitinib Improves Progression-free Survival over Sorafenib in Advanced Renal Cell Carcinoma
A randomized comparative effectiveness phase III trial demonstrated significantly superior efficacy for the tyrosine kinase inhibitor axitinib compared to sorafenib (Nexavar) in patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC). These data suggest that axitinib may become a new standard of care for ...
Conflicts of Interest in Health-care Reform?
Last year’s health-care reform legislation, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, was designed to incrementally roll out major new bureaucratic entities, oversight, and mandates for the practice of medicine between its enactment and 2013, after the next presidential election. A new...
Are Clinical Pathways Inevitable in Oncology’s Future?
Our health-care system is undergoing a gradual but inevitable sea change, shifting from traditional fee-for-service to fee-for-value. A session at this year’s Association of Community Cancer Centers meeting in Washington, DC, shed light on how this trend will reshape incentives and the clinical...
Conventional Induction Chemotherapy Beneficial in Only a Subset of Older Adults with AML
Over the past several decades, progress in the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in the older population (generally considered to be older than 60 years) has been limited (Fig. 1). In particular, the outcome of patients over age 70 has been poor, with few long-term survivors. Although AML...
Despite Advances, Little Overall Improvement Seen in Treatment of Older Adults with AML
The outcome of treatment of older adults with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) remains unsatisfactory, although certainly not a totally futile exercise. Patients satisfying the entry criteria for cooperative group clinical trials can be expected to have complete remission rates of 50% to 55%, with...
SIDEBAR: First International Conference on Integrative Care
Last March, nearly 250 oncology professionals and representatives of patient organizations, insurance companies, and government agencies from 12 countries attended the First International Conference on Integrative Care for the Future held in Amsterdam. Barrie R. Cassileth, PhD, chaired the event....
A Conversation with Barrie R. Cassileth, PhD
Barrie R. Cassileth, PhD, Chief, Integrative Medicine Service at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) in New York, recently spoke with The ASCO Post about her quest to stamp out the illegitimate use of alternative medicine in cancer care and the results from her latest research. A...
SIDEBAR: 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...
SIDEBAR: Expect Questions from Your Patients
Drugs for the treatment of prostate cancer have been in the news because of recent approvals by the FDA, the costs connected with their use, and associated improvements in survival.1 More recently reported was the decision to allow Medicare coverage of sipuleucel-T treatment for men who met the FDA ...
Optimizing Treatment for Advanced Prostate Cancer Requires Shifting Focus from Individual Drugs to Integrated Therapies
Newer drugs, including sipuleucel-T (Provenge), cabazitaxel (Jevtana), and abiraterone (Zytiga), can extend survival modestly and ease symptoms for men with advanced prostate cancer. Maximizing the benefit to patients will require shifting the focus from developing individual drugs to developing...
Evaluating Risk for Suicide in People Diagnosed or Living with Cancer
The challenges of life-threatening physical illness can sometimes lead to suicide. In fact, given the critical stressors that a person with cancer faces, we might expect suicide to be a more common reaction. Patients with cancer are at increased risk of completed suicide, though the prevalence of...
Help Your Patients Manage the Cost of Cancer Care
Because the cost of cancer care can be high, it is important for your patients to understand what to expect before starting treatment so that they can manage the financial effect of cancer in the most effective way possible. To that end, Cancer.Net, ASCO’s patient information website, offers a...
ASCO’s Oncology Slide Library Functions as a Share‑and‑Exchange Forum
ASCO’s Oncology Slide Library—which allows ASCO meeting attendees to upload and share their ASCO meeting presentation slides with slide-library subscribers—may only be a year old, but participation is already very high. This year’s Annual Meeting in June marked the first time ASCO gave each speaker ...
FDA Issues Guidance for Diagnostic Tests Used with Targeted Therapies
The FDA issued a new draft guidance to facilitate the development and review of “companion diagnostics”—tests used to help health-care professionals determine whether a patient with a particular disease or condition should receive a particular drug therapy or how much of the drug to give. The draft ...
Sorafenib Acceptable in Child-Pugh B Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma
Patients with hepatocellular carcinoma and moderate liver dysfunction can derive benefit from, and be treated safely with, sorafenib (Nexavar), according to the second interim analysis of the GIDEON trial, presented at the 2011 ASCO Annual Meeting by Jorge A. Marrero, MD, of the University of...
Intermittent or Continuous Androgen Suppression Produces Comparable Survival after Radical Therapy in Prostate Cancer
Men with prostate cancer who receive intermittent courses of androgen-suppressing therapy can live as long as those who are treated with continuous therapy, according to results of a recently concluded study. Until now, standard treatment has consisted of continuous therapy, but this is expected to ...
Bevacizumab Makes Inroads against Ovarian Cancer
Bevacizumab (Avastin) administered with chemotherapy and continued after chemotherapy improves outcomes in ovarian cancer, according to two multicenter, randomized, double-blind phase III investigations presented at the 2011 ASCO Annual Meeting. The first study, ICON7, incorporated bevacizumab as...
Rising Costs of Cancer Care: It's More Than Drugs
All parties—the government, payers, and consumers—agree that, left unchecked, rising health-care costs will eventually hamstring vital portions of our delivery system. For example, Medicare, which covers more than 50% of the nation’s patients with cancer, is marching headlong toward insolvency....
Acting on Fear
When I was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 1979 there was no global movement to raise awareness of the disease, there were no pink ribbon pins to show support, and there was no Internet with which to search for information. My doctor gave me the news on a Friday night, and the following...
A Clinician Weighs In on the National Lung Screening Trial
The results of the National Lung Screening Trial (NLST) will have important implications for practicing oncologists if low-dose helical CT screening is used routinely in the clinic. First, we will begin to find many more small tumors than we do now. This will pose new sets of questions for...
A Landmark Lung Screening Trial: What Does It Mean for Clinicians and Their Patients?
The NCI-funded National Lung Screening Trial (NLST), published recently in The New England Journal of Medicine,1 was heralded as a landmark study in lung cancer detection. This study is the first comprehensive clinical trial to find that screening high-risk individuals with low-dose CT reduces lung ...
‘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...
At 5 Years, Brachytherapy Shows Quality-of-life Advantages over Radical Prostatectomy for Favorable-risk Prostate Cancer
Five years after treatment for favorable-risk prostate cancer, men who either chose or were randomly assigned to receive brachytherapy reported quality-of-life advantages in urinary and sexual domains and in patient satisfaction compared to men who received radical prostatectomy, according to a...
Cancer Care in the UK: A Conversation with Chris Parker, MD
In the contentious debate over rising health-care spending, the cancer care policies of the British National Health Service (NHS) are often cited by U.S. policymakers as an example of how health-care rationing denies patients life-prolonging treatments based on costs. The ASCO Post recently spoke...
Research in Combining Targeted Agents Faces Numerous Challenges
If the clinical trials endeavor in oncology is falling short of its goals and if targeted agents have not kept their promise, can a new approach to drug development provide a solution? Very possibly, said John Hohneker, MD, Chair of the Workshop Planning Committee for the conference, “Facilitating...
