Subcutaneous trastuzumab (not available in the United States) has been shown to have noninferior efficacy and similar pharmacokinetic and safety profiles compared with intravenous trastuzumab (Herceptin) in patients with early-stage HER2-positive breast cancer. In the PrefHer trial reported in...
Lymphoma is the fourth most frequent cancer to occur in pregnant women. In a multicenter retrospective analysis reported in Journal of Clinical Oncology, Andrew M. Evens, DO, MSc, Chief of Hematology/Oncology at Tufts University Medical Center, Boston, and colleagues examined treatment,...
ASCO has developed resources to educate and assist oncology practices in transitioning to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) 10th Edition of its International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) coding system. Practices are encouraged to prepare for the transition before the...
The adjuvant use of bisphosphonates in breast cancer continues to yield seemingly contradictory data despite a sound biologic basis and smaller pilot studies suggesting that dampening bone turnover with bisphosphonates can lessen the bone reservoir of micrometastases.1,2 Early adjuvant trials with...
In the Clinic 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. Indication On November 1, 2013, obinutuzumab (Gazyva) was approved...
Heather Greenlee, ND, PhD, was named President of the Society for Integrative Oncology (SIO) at the organization’s 10th International Conference in October. Dr. Greenlee is Assistant Professor in the Department of Epidemiology at the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University in New...
The following four abstracts, which describe findings in three clinical studies and one basic science study, were singled out as the top abstracts at this year’s International Conference of the Society for Integrative Oncology. Self-Administered Acupressure Zick S, Wyatt G, Murphy S; et al: The...
Welcome to the meeting we hold every 3 years to choose our next projects,” said John Mendelsohn, MD, Chair of the National Cancer Policy Forum and Director of the Khalifa Institute for Personalized Cancer Therapy at The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston. “We have here a...
There is growing interest by patients, policymakers, and clinicians in shared decision-making as a means to include patients in health decisions and translate patient evidence into clinical practice. Conceptually, sharing of information seems like a natural interplay between doctors and their...
Friends of Cancer Research recently announced the launch of the online forum Engaging Innovation (www.focr.org/EngagingInnovation). With this site, the group will host leaders from regulation, research, drug development, treatment, and advocacy, encouraging them to share insights and innovations in ...
ASCO has developed resources to educate and assist oncology practices in transitioning to the 10th Edition of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) coding system. Practices are encouraged to prepare for the transition before the October 1,...
In the January 15, 2014, issue of The ASCO Post, three errors occurred. These errors have since been corrected and revised versions of the articles may be viewed online at ASCOPost.com or via the QR code here. The errors were as follows below. Trastuzumab Dosing In the article “HER2-Positive...
In an effort to continue to bring patients and those who care about and for them the most timely, comprehensive cancer information, ASCO’s patient education website, Cancer.Net, has added a new interactive resource—the Cancer.Net Blog (www.cancer.net/blog). “We decided that a blog made sense for...
Michael A. Thompson, MD, PhD, a Medical Oncologist for Aurora Cancer Care and the Medical Director of Early Cancer Research at Aurora Health Care in Wisconsin, has become something of an expert on the Conquer Cancer Foundation. It began in 2006, when he received a Conquer Cancer Foundation of ASCO...
Irinotecan drug-eluting beads (DEBIRI) given simultaneously with FOLFOX (leucovorin, fluorouracil, oxaliplatin) and bevacizumab (Avastin) in patients with unresectable colorectal liver metastasis improved response rates, increased resectability, and prolonged hepatic progression–free survival in a...
I read with interest the note from Jeff Boyd, PhD, Senior Vice-President for Molecular Medicine at Fox Chase Cancer Center, calling into question my recent commentary about the high costs of partly validated testing in the domain of molecular medicine. One of the oldest tricks in the book is to...
Ketogenic (or very-low-carbohydrate) diets have been employed since the 1920s as nonpharmacologic therapies for epilepsy and, in some instances, have obviated the need for medication for that disease. Since the 1960s, the ketogenic diet has become better known as a means of managing obesity. This...
As defined by the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration teleheath is “the use of electronic information and telecommunications technologies to support long-distance clinical health care, patient and professional health-related education, public health, and health administration.” It has ...
Two studies recently reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology indicate that telephone-based education or counseling initiatives can be successful in educating individuals at familial or genetic risk of cancer and in inducing these at-risk individuals to undergo recommended screening. In the...
ADOLESCENT AND YOUNG ADULT CHILDHOOD CANCER SURVIVORS Study Type: Randomized/interventional Study Title: A Randomized Web-Based Physical Activity Intervention in Adolescent Survivors of Childhood Cancer Study Sponsor and Collaborators: St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Purpose: Five-year...
The mechanism of action of lenalidomide (Revlimid) in multiple myeloma and other B-cell neoplasms remains largely uncharacterized. In a study reported in Science, Krönke and colleagues identified one of the effects of lenalidomide in this setting. Use of quantitative proteomics showed that...
It is a challenge faced time and time again by oncologists: how to achieve the best possible outcomes for patients while simultaneously controlling costs, providing care that is both high quality and high value. Raj Mantena, RPh, the first individual to donate $1 million dollars to the Conquer...
At the end of the month, more than 25,000 oncology professionals from around the world will meet in Chicago for the 2014 ASCO Annual Meeting. Will you be joining this global community? As you’re beginning to consider what to pack for your trip, keep in mind that you have a host of electronic...
Throughout the year, we are celebrating not only ASCO’s 50th anniversary, but also the tremendous progress achieved against cancer in the last 50 years. Thanks to the dedication and contributions of patients and researchers, and our nation’s long-standing commitment to funding clinical research,...
Prophylactic surgery to remove the ovaries and fallopian tubes is advised for women who carry BRCA mutations to reduce the risk of breast and ovarian cancer. This procedure, referred to as risk-reducing salpingo-oophorectomy, typically does not require a hysterectomy. However, a new study presented ...
The panel discussed the various aspects of obtaining a drug such as uridine triacetate through the expanded access program. Ms. Vogel: The expanded access program allows companies to provide patients access to their medicines while the drugs are still in preapproval process, but it is strictly...
Q. What is uridine triacetate? A. It is an investigational, orally active prodrug of uridine currently under development as an antidote to overexposure of fluorouracil (5-FU). Although not yet approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, it has been shown to be effective in treating patients...
Indications and Dosing of Methotrexate and 5-FU Dr. Campen: The interesting thing about methotrexate is that it has been used for such a long time. You would think there would be a specific dose that would be considered “high dose,” but high dose is actually quite variable. [Dosage] depends on the...
CE is available on May 1, 2014 and expires on May 1, 2015. A continuing education activity for physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, nurses, pharmacists, and other allied health professionals specializing in the field of oncology. This activity is supported by an unrestricted...
Resistance to aromatase inhibitors is a major problem in treatment of estrogen receptor (ER)-positive breast cancer. In a study reported in Science Translational Medicine, Pathiraja and colleagues found pervasive DNA hyper- and hypomethylation and enrichment for promoter hypermethylation of...
New therapeutic approaches to blocking inhibitory pathways of the immune system have raised hopes that such treatments might thwart development of metastases. In a study in Nature, Paolino and colleagues have shown that genetic deletion of the E3 ubiquitin ligase Cbl-b (casitas B-lineage...
Is pursuing a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree a good idea for ambitious surgical oncologists who want to advance their careers? The ASCO Post recently spoke with Martin J. Heslin, MD, MSHA, Chief, Section of Surgical Oncology, University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Medical Center, ...
Many nonpharmacologic therapies increase both physical and emotional strength during cancer treatment as well as throughout survivorship. These therapies include the mind-body practices of meditation, self-hypnosis, guided imagery, and breath awareness, touch therapies including massage and...
More than 2 decades ago, Deane L. Wolcott, MD, helped develop comprehensive patient-centered psycho-oncology care in cancer centers across the country. Today, many aspects of that patient-centered care, including psychiatric, dietary, pain management, cancer rehabilitation medicine, survivorship,...
Project Data Sphere, which launched on April 8, is a “giant digital laboratory, an enormous library containing data about tens of thousands of patients and hundreds of clinical trials, all of which will be in the public domain,” said Martin J. Murphy, Jr, DMedSc, PhD, FASCO, Chief Executive Officer ...
A phase III clinical trial has shown that noninvasive magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound treatment that heats the cancer within the bone, relieves pain and improves function for most patients when other treatment options are limited. The results were published recently in the Journal of...
“The function of the formal controlled clinical trial is to separate the relative handful of discoveries that prove to be true advances in therapy from a legion of false leads and unverifiable clinical impressions, and to delineate in a scientific way the extent of and the limitations that attend...
INSIDE THE BLACK BOX is an occasional column providing insight into the FDA and its policies and procedures. In this installment, National Toxicology Program scientists Kembra L. Howdeshell, PhD, and Michael D. Shelby, PhD, discuss a recently completed monograph that reviews the published data on...
A series of new workshops are teaching nurses and administrators from community hospital cancer programs how to promote, run, and improve their institutions’ clinical trials. The training focuses on specific skills and tasks, offers postcourse support and aims for long-term, measurable outcomes,...
Two surgical oncology experts who squared off in a “Great Debate” at the 2014 Society of Surgical Oncology (SSO) Annual Cancer Symposium in Phoenix. Heidi Nelson, MD, Professor of Surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, argued for the superiority of randomized controlled trials in...
The legislation signed into law in early April creating another patch for the fundamentally flawed sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula for reimbursing physicians under Medicare also delays the adoption of International Classification of Diseases, 10th edition (ICD-10) coding system, which will...
Palliative care is essential to good cancer care, but it is a topic that can raise red flags because of the common misperception that it is reserved for those in the terminal stage of the disease. In truth, palliative care is highly necessary for all patients with cancer, and when it is integrated...
ASCO is stepping up its efforts to address the link between obesity and cancer—both as a leading cause of cancer and as a complicating factor for treatment. In recent years, research has demonstrated that a growing number of cancers are linked to obesity, and public health researchers predict that...
In April, as part of the Obama administration’s work to make the U.S. health-care system more transparent, affordable, and accountable, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released a vast amount of privacy-protected data on services and procedures provided to Medicare...
In the Clinic 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. On April 28, 2014, an oral suspension of mercaptopurine (Purixan) ...
ASCO is committed to providing people with cancer and their caregivers with top quality educational information and resources to help them manage their cancer care, treatment, and survivorship. This ongoing commitment is best reflected in its patient-facing educational website, Cancer.Net...
Pancreatic cancer still kills 40,000 Americans a year out of approximately 44,000 diagnosed. While advances in diagnosis and treatment are extending the lives of patients with other cancers, pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma remains the second most lethal tumor (behind lung cancer). While a magic...
In the Clinic 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. On April 23, 2014, the anti–interleukin (IL)-6 monoclonal antibody...
ASCO’s educational symposia have historically provided attendees with a forum for learning and discussion, demonstrating ASCO’s commitment to promoting a network of global oncology expertise. The 2014 Breast Cancer Symposium, to be held in San Francisco from Thursday, September 4, to Saturday,...
In the Clinic 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. Panitumumab (Vectibix) was recently approved by the U.S. Food and...