Clinicians who treat multiple myeloma can anticipate a host of new treatments: melflufen, cereblon E3 ligase (CEL) modulators, antibody-drug conjugates, bispecific antibodies, and chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies. Kenneth C. Anderson, MD, Director of the Jerome Lipper Multiple...
In the treatment of adults with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), use of newer antibodies and de-intensification of chemotherapy have greatly improved outcomes, according to Hagop Kantarjian, MD, who has been very involved in much of the research in ALL treatment. Dr. Kantarjian, Professor and...
According to findings from a small study published by Calabretta et al in Circulation, treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors may worsen inflammation in the arteries that distribute blood from the heart. The research found increased inflammation in the large arteries of 20 Austrian patients...
During the COVID-19 pandemic, many stem cell transplant centers (including guidance from the National Marrow Donor Program [NMDP]) recommend that stem cell products be frozen for preservation. However, findings from a study by Duncan Purtill, MD, and colleagues in Blood Advances suggest that the...
Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey and Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, an RWJBarnabas Health facility, have welcomed Henry A. Pitt, MD, to its team of physicians, researchers, and administrators. Dr. Pitt is the new Chief of Oncologic Quality, a role that provides leadership and...
More than 5 decades ago, the concept of bone marrow transplantation to treat humans with leukemia was met with varying degrees of skepticism and countless clinical failures. Yet, over those same decades, bone marrow transplantation was transformed from an insurmountable therapeutic option used in a ...
Pediatric hematologist-oncologist Theodore Laetsch, MD, has joined the Division of Oncology at Children’s Hospital ofPhiladelphia (CHOP), where he will launch a cutting-edge Very Rare Malignant Tumors Program that will seek to develop new treatments for children with rare and complex tumors. In...
“Ask any doctor why he or she enters medicine and the answer will likely be the same,” said Marc L. Citron, MD. “People become doctors to help patients...but to deliver the moments that matter to patients—to extend their lives and give quality to their days—doctors rely on new research.” In 2003,...
Doctor after doctor recommended different treatment options for Marlene Portnoy’s husband, Steve, after he was diagnosed with a desmoid tumor. Desmoid tumors are rare, and each doctor admitted uncertainty about treatment plans. “Let me tell you, that’s a really scary thing when doctors can’t...
Global oncology refers to the application of the concepts of global health to cancer and implies an approach to the practice of oncology that acknowledges the reality of limited resources in parts of the world. The Global Oncology Young Investigator Award (YIA) from ASCO and Conquer Cancer, the...
The ASCO Post is pleased to reproduce installments of “Art of Oncology” as published previously in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. These articles focus on the experience of suffering from cancer or of caring for people diagnosed with cancer. They include narratives, topical essays, historical...
Fox Chase Cancer Center recently announced the hiring of Robert Brenchak, MD, who will join the Department of Medicine as Assistant Professor in the Division of Hospital Medicine. Dr. Brenchak is coming to Fox Chase from Temple University Hospital, where he was Assistant Professor of Clinical...
Tumor immunologist Patrick Hwu, MD, has been appointed the new President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Moffitt Cancer Center. He joins Moffitt from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, where he is Division Head of Cancer Medicine. Dr. Hwu begins his new role at Moffitt on...
Messino Cancer Centers, a partner practice of American Oncology Network, announced that medical oncologist Michael Messino, MD, has received the highest award granted by North Carolina’s Office of the Governor. The Order of the Long Leaf Pine is presented to individuals who have shown extraordinary ...
KRAS G12C inhibitors—which at this point include AMG 510 (now labeled sotorasib) and MRTX849—are proving to be active in KRAS G12C–mutated tumors, especially non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). KRAS G12C is a newly “druggable” target, joining what is still a limited list of some 3,000 potential...
Adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with lymphoma are a unique population, with distinct biology, disparities in outcome, poorer survival compared with children and adults, and variable impacts of treatments. Ongoing research on this patient population with lymphoma will hopefully lead to improved...
Low-intensity smokers—individuals who smoke fewer than 10 cigarettes per day—are more than twice as likely to die of lung disease and more than eight times as likely to die of lung cancer than nonsmokers, according to research presented by Balte et al at the European Respiratory Society...
Actor Chadwick Boseman, known for his roles in Black Panther, Marshall, and Get on Up, died on August 28 from colorectal cancer. He was 43. The incidence of young-onset colorectal cancer remains a troubling issue in the oncology community. This week, we’ll go back in The ASCO Post Podcast archives...
Two gynecologic oncologists and ASCO’s Chief Medical Officer and Executive Vice President Richard L. Schilsky, MD, FACP, FSCT, FASCO, commented on the findings of the TROPHIMMUN trial for The ASCO Post. “The authors demonstrate efficacy of a new treatment approach for gestational trophoblastic...
Women with early-stage cervical cancer treated with minimally invasive radical hysterectomy had a 71% increased risk of recurrence and a 56% increased risk of death compared with those treated with open radical hysterectomy, according to a systematic review and meta-analysis of 15 studies involving ...
After more than 20 years of failed strategies to improve survival rates for locally advanced lung cancers, checkpoint inhibitors have revolutionized therapy, but prognoses still lag behind other tumor types. During the ASCO20 Virtual Education Program, Mark G. Kris, MD, FASCO, a thoracic medical...
Daniela Matei, MD, Diana, Princess of Wales Professor of Cancer Research at Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, grew up Sibiu, a picturesque Romanian city situated at the foothills of the Cindrel Mountains in historic Transylvania. “Both of my parents were physicians, and some of my ...
Sanjiv Sam Gambhir, MD, PhD, Professor and Chair of Radiology at the Stanford School of Medicine and an internationally recognized pioneer in molecular imaging, died on July 18, 2020, of cancer. He was 57. The Virginia and D.K. Ludwig Professor of Cancer Research, Dr. Gambhir dedicated his career...
Cornelius O. “Skip” Granai, MD, Founder of the Program in Women’s Oncology at Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island, died on June 28, 2020, after a long bout with cancer. Dr. Granai strongly believed that cancer care for women should encompass both breast and gynecologic cancers, according...
The text and photograph here are excerpted from a four-volume series of books titled Oncology: Tumors & Treatment, A Photographic History, The Anesthesia Era 1845–1875 by Stanley B. Burns, MD, FACS, and Elizabeth A. Burns. The photograph appears courtesy of Stanley B. Burns, MD, and The Burns...
Neha Vapiwala, MD, FACR, Professor and Vice Chair of Education in the Department of Radiation Oncology and newly appointed Dean of Admissions at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn), Philadelphia, was born in India to parents who aspired to emigrate to the...
The GO2 Foundation for Lung Cancer presented Charles Swanton, MD, PhD, FRCP, FMedSci, FRS, Senior Group Leader at the Francis Crick Institute, with the 2020 Bonnie J. Addario Lectureship Award at the Physicians’ Education Resource 21st Annual International Lung Cancer Congress. GO2 is recognizing...
Mary-Claire King, PhD, will receive the William L. McGuire Memorial Lecture Award at the 2020 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS), to be held virtually from December 8 to 12, 2020. The William L. McGuire Memorial Lectureship was established in 1992 to commemorate Dr. McGuire’s significant...
For nearly 30 years, from the time he was a young resident at the Collis P. Huntington Memorial Hospital for Cancer Research of Harvard University, until his death from lung cancer on August 31, 1969, David A. Karnofsky, MD, dedicated himself to the pursuit of scientific excellence and the...
Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) athletes use combat techniques designed to dominate one’s opponent with control and force. The goal: make your opponent be the first to tap out. In 2010, BJJ practitioner Jon Thomas was surprised to discover there was no philanthropic presence within his sport. That’s when ...
Uriya, age 49, visits Israel’s Rabin Medical Center for a cancer screening. On the surface, he shows no signs of disease. However, results from a study by David Margel, MD, PhD, revealed Uriya is living with prostate cancer at an early yet curable stage. Uriya carries the BRCA gene. Rabin Medical...
Cleveland Clinic has appointed Jae Jung, PhD, as Chair of Lerner Research Institute’s Department of Cancer Biology. Dr. Jung will also serve as Director of the new Center for Global and Emerging Pathogens Research, which will focus on public health threats ranging from the Zika virus to...
The Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy (PICI) announced that John Connolly, PhD, has been named Chief Scientific Officer. In this role, Dr. Connolly will design and execute PICI’s overall research strategy in close collaboration with the institute’s leadership team, center directors, and...
The University of Southern California (USC) Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center and Keck Medicine of USC have announced the appointment of oncologist and cancer researcher Steven Grossman, MD, PhD, as the center’s Cancer Physician in Chief. In this inaugural position, Dr. Grossman will provide...
The Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) President David J. Cole, MD, FACS, has announced the appointment of MUSC College of Medicine Dean Raymond N. DuBois, MD, PhD, to the additional role as Director of the MUSC Hollings Cancer Center. Dr. DuBois has headed the College of Medicine for more ...
William G. Kaelin, Jr, MD, will receive a Distinguished Scientist Award from the Association of American Cancer Institutes (AACI) on October 12, during the 2020 AACI/Cancer Center Administrators Forum Annual Meeting. Due to COVID-19–related restrictions on travel and gatherings, the meeting will...
Following an extensive national search, Bert W. O’Malley, Jr, MD, has been appointed as the new President and Chief Executive Officer of the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC), the flagship academic hospital for the University of Maryland Medical System and an anchor institution in...
My husband and I adopted our cat, Franklin, on a cold November day. It was one of the last days Andrew felt well enough to leave the house to go anywhere other than to chemotherapy or a doctor’s appointment. Our news at these appointments had shifted toward the negative, with disease progression...
Extended analysis of the phase III KEYNOTE-426 study upholds pembrolizumab plus axitinib as a preferred front-line regimen over sunitinib in patients with advanced sporadic renal cell carcinoma.1 These updated results were presented during the ASCO20 Virtual Scientific Program by Elizabeth R....
A year ago, initial results from the double-blind, multicenter, randomized phase III ARAMIS clinical trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of darolutamide, a structurally unique androgen-receptor antagonist, in men with nonmetastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, were published in The...
Over the past year, we have seen significant advances in the treatment of prostate, kidney, and urothelial cancers that will benefit patients now and in the future. We have learned about the final results of important clinical trials across multiple genitourinary cancers disease states leading to...
I have witnessed much sickness and death over my 35-year career as a medical oncologist. During the early years of my career, I had difficulty dealing with the sickness and death I witnessed on a regular basis. As a result, with help from the Hindu scripture of Bhagavad Gita, I have trained my...
Florida Cancer Specialists and Research Institute (FCS) announced its Chief Financial Officer, Nathan H. Walcker, MBA, has been named Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Mr. Walcker succeeds the current CEO, Brad Prechtl, MBA, who is retiring but will continue to serve as a consultant. Mr. Prechtl has...
The origin of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has been traced back to Kinshasa, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, around 1920, when the virus crossed species from chimpanzees to humans. It wasn’t until the 1980s that epidemiologic data began to sum up the number of people who were...
For this installment of the Living a Full Life series, guest editor Jame Abraham, MD, spoke with noted neurosurgeon Keith L. Black, MD, Chair of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center’s Department of Neurosurgery and Director of the Maxine Dunitz Neurosurgical Institute. During his career, Dr. Black has...
Fox Chase Cancer Center has announced the hiring of three new staff members who will begin their work with the cancer center this month. Brandon Bachert, MD, joins the Department of Diagnostic Imaging as Assistant Professor. He comes to Fox Chase from Albert Einstein Healthcare Network, where he...
The ASCO Post is pleased to reproduce installments of the Art of Oncology, as published previously in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. These articles focus on the experience of suffering from cancer or of caring for people diagnosed with cancer, and they include narratives, topical essays,...
It was February 1996, and the first annual meeting of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®) was drawing to a close, when Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Bruce R. Ross, MD, invited comments from the floor. An oncologist who had attended at the urging of a friend—somewhat reluctantly—stood ...
Mustafa Raoof, MD, MS, a surgical oncologist and researcher specializing in gastrointestinal cancers at City of Hope, was recently awarded a Pancreatic Cancer Action Network Career Development Award (PanCAN) and a Young Investigator Award from the National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN). “I’m ...
Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center Deputy Director Kunle Odunsi, MD, PhD, FRCOG, FACOG, announced the promotion of three staff members to leadership positions. “The dedication of this trio of physicians to their patients and Roswell Park’s mission is unmatched,” said Dr. Odunsi, who also...