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Showing 11851 - 11900The Conquer Cancer Foundation Announces Its Sustaining Donor Program
You can help the Conquer Cancer Foundation fulfill its mission of creating a world free from the fear of cancer when you make a monthly gift today. When you become a sustaining donor to the Foundation, your monthly gift will provide a reliable stream of support that is so vital to ensuring that the ...
ASCO's CancerProgress.Net: Where We've Come From, Where We Are, and Where We're Going
The British science historian James Burke once wrote, “If you don’t know where you’ve come from, you don’t know where you are.” To tell the story of where we are in the treatment of people with cancer and how we got there, ASCO launched an ambitious history project in 2011 with a new website,...
ASCO Decision Aids Intersect Evidence-based Guidelines, Productive Patient Communication
Imagine this common clinical scenario: A 64-year-old woman presents with a new abnormality on a mammogram. A core needle biopsy and subsequent partial mastectomy reveal a 1.8-cm invasive ductal carcinoma. Sentinel lymph nodes are negative for cancer. The tumor is moderately differentiated and is...
New England Journal of Medicine Article Reports Inferior Outcome in Using Alternative Treatments to Counter Mechlorethamine Shortage
ASCO Immediate Past President Michael P. Link, MD, recently coauthored a perspectives piece in The New England Journal of Medicine on the impact of drug shortages on children with cancer. The paper, “The Impact of Drug Shortages on Children with Cancer — The Example of Mechlorethamine,” describes...
Postoperative Radiation Therapy Extends Progression-free Survival in Men with High-risk Prostate Cancer
Postoperative irradiation significantly improves biochemical progression-free survival and local control compared with a “wait-and-see” approach in men with high-risk prostate cancer, according to more than a decade of long-term follow-up in the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of...
PET-negative Scan after Short-course Chemotherapy Identifies Early Hodgkin Lymphoma Patients Who Can Forgo Radiation
Positron-emission tomography (PET)-directed therapy is promising for early-stage Hodgkin lymphoma, according to results of the UK NCRI RAPID trial presented at the 54th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH).1 The use of PET scan enabled the identification of a population of...
Dune Medical Devices Receives FDA Approval for the MarginProbe System
Dune Medical Devices, Inc, announced that the FDA has granted Premarket Approval to the MarginProbe System, the company’s breakthrough intraoperative tissue assessment tool for early-stage breast cancer surgery. The technology significantly improves surgeons’ ability to intraoperatively identify...
Expert Point of View: Lisa Carey, MD
Lisa Carey, MD, Preyer Distinguished Professor in Breast Cancer Research at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, said the study should not be interpreted as negative for eribulin. “Most of the patients in this study were being treated second-line. EMBRACE was a totally different...
Primary Endpoint Not Met for Eribulin vs Capecitabine in Breast Cancer
While a global phase III trial failed to meet its primary endpoint in showing an overall or progression-free survival benefit for eribulin (Halavan) in metastatic breast cancer, a trend toward greater efficacy than capecitabine (Xeloda) was observed, researchers reported at the 2012 San Antonio...
Expert Point of View: Martin Dreyling, MD
Martin Dreyling, MD, Professor of Medicine at Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich and Coordinator of the European Mantle Cell Lymphoma Network, commented on the data emerging for ibrutinib in lymphoma. “Ibrutinib is the molecule of the year at ASH,” he told The ASCO Post. “With other molecular ...
Ibrutinib in Mantle Cell Lymphoma Yields 'Unprecedented' Response Rates
The investigational agent ibrutinib demonstrated “unprecedented” single-agent activity in relapsed or refractory mantle cell lymphoma, according to the lead author of an international phase II study reported at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH).1 Durable Responses “The...
Somatic HER2 Mutations That Drive Cancer Found in HER2-negative Breast Cancer
A proportion of patients with breast cancer whose tumors test HER2-negative for gene amplification on fluorescence in situ hybridization or immunohistochemistry harbor HER2 mutations that are amenable to treatment with anti-HER2–targeted therapy, according to a gene-sequencing study presented at...
Key Pathways Identified in Triple-negative Breast Cancer
Five key biologic pathways have become evident in triple-negative breast cancer tumors, and these pathways may be targetable with agents that are currently available or in development, results from an international genetic analysis revealed at the 2012 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. Justin M. ...
ACS Releases Lung Cancer Screening Guidelines
As reported online in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians,1 based on results from the National Lung Screening Trial (NLST) sponsored by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), the American Cancer Society (ACS) has released lung cancer screening guidelines recommending that select clinicians should...
Cost of Cancer Drugs: What Price for What Benefit?
In 2011, national health-care spending in the United States was about $2.7 trillion, larger than the entire French national budget.1 U.S. national health-care spending is about 17% of the national gross domestic product. Total Medicare expenditures in 2011 were $549 million.2 In the debate about...
Expert Point of View: Kevin P. Weinfurt, PhD
Our work suggests three specific recommendations for researchers and care providers who are discussing with patients the possibility of enrolling in a phase I clinical trial. First, we should always communicate the likelihood of benefit in terms of the number of participants expected to derive...
Patient Expectations of Benefit in Early-phase Trials: Ethics Issues in Informed Consent
It has been found that many patients in early-phase oncology trials believe their chance of benefit to be much higher than estimates derived from historical data.1-3 In a recently reported study in Journal of Clinical Oncology, Kevin P. Weinfurt, PhD, of Duke Clinical Research Institute, and...
Expert Point of View: Sagar Lonial, MD
Commenting on Dr. Palumbo’s presentation at the ASH meeting, Sagar Lonial, MD, Professor of Hematology and Medical Oncology at the Winship Cancer Center at Emory University, Atlanta, noted that while a survival benefit has been associated with maintenance lenalidomide (Revlimid) after transplant,...
Survival Benefit Achieved with Four Drugs plus Maintenance in Myeloma
An overall survival benefit in newly diagnosed multiple myeloma was attained with a four-drug induction regimen followed by a duet for maintenance in a study from the Italian GIMEMA network. Antonio Palumbo, MD, Chief of the Myeloma Unit at the University of Torino in Italy, reported the findings...
Failure to Screen Patients for Hepatitis B Virus Could Result in Fatal Complications
Although hepatitis B virus (HBV) reactivation is a potentially fatal complication of chemotherapy, “provided that HBV carriers are recognized, HBV reactivation can be largely prevented through the administration of oral antinucleoside analogs,” researchers at the University of Toronto noted in an...
Surgery of Primary Tumor Site Has No Impact on Local Control and Outcome in Patients ≥ 18 Months with Stage IV Disease
“In intensively treated patients with stage IV neuroblastoma age 18 months or older at diagnosis, surgery of the primary tumor site has no impact on local control rate and outcome,” according to findings from the German prospective clinical trial NB97. “The results of the study,” the researchers...
Even at NCCN Institutions, a 'Sizable Minority' of Patients with Rectal Cancer Are Not Treated per NCCN Guidelines
Even at the eight cancer centers participating in the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Colorectal Cancer Outcomes project, a “sizable minority” of patients with stage II/III rectal cancer treated with curative intent neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy did not complete postoperative...
SIDEBAR: Shout-out to Policymakers on Diabetes Education
“If we could just give a shout-out to policymakers to understand that in the long term,” when patients who have diabetes and cancer receive adequate diabetes education, “we are cutting our length of stay, we are decreasing hospital costs, we are decreasing readmission rates,” June McKoy, MD, MPH,...
SIDEBAR: Expect Questions from Patients with Diabetes and Cancer
Patients with diabetes and cancer need to know that some chemotherapy drugs and adjuvant agents may require modifications in how they manage their diabetes. For example, patients who are receiving steroids might have to further restrict their diet to keep blood sugar levels under control. “You...
Keeping Diabetes under Control Is Critical to Good Outcomes for Patients Who Also Have Cancer
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. Cancer and diabetes can be comorbid...
University of Michigan Cancer Center Names Kathleen Cooney, MD, to Head Clinical Operations
The University of Michigan (U-M) Comprehensive Cancer Center in Ann Arbor has named Kathleen Cooney, MD, as Deputy Director for Clinical Services. Dr. Cooney is Frances and Victor Ginsberg Professor of Hematology/Oncology and Chief of the Division of Hematology/Oncology at the U-M Medical School...
Betting Against the Odds
I knew the two tumors in my left breast were cancerous even before I got the pathology results back on my biopsy. I could clearly see the tumors on the digital mammogram my doctor ordered, and when the radiologist pointed out that they had spikes radiating from the edges and that he was scheduling...
Researchers Develop Automated Breast Density Test Linked to Cancer Risk
Researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida, and colleagues at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, have developed a novel computer algorithm to quantify breast density based on analysis of a screening mammogram. Increased levels of mammographic breast density have been shown in...
Important Messages about Palliative Care and Hospice at the Heart of New End-of-life Memoir
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...
David A. Karnofsky's Early Contributions to Cancer Research Helped Establish Oncology as a Medical Discipline
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...
Turmeric
The use of dietary supplements by cancer patients has risen significantly over the past 2 decades despite insufficient evidence of safety and effectiveness. Finding reliable sources of information about dietary supplements can be daunting. Patients typically rely on family, friends, and the...
Ponatinib in Chronic Myeloid Leukemia and Philadelphia Chromosome–positive Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia
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 December 14, 2012, ponatinib (Iclusig) was granted...
Subcutaneous Trastuzumab a Potential Alternative to Intravenous Administration in Breast Cancer
Subcutaneous administration of trastuzumab might offer improvements in patient convenience and resource use compared with conventional intravenous administration (Herceptin). A new subcutaneous trastuzumab formulation containing a fixed dose of 600 mg and recombinant human hyaluronidase PH-20...
Treatment of HER2-positive Disease in 2013
From the initial discovery of the HER2 family of receptors in the mid-1980s to the present, a “wealth of riches” has been uncovered in terms of agents that can target pathways relevant to this aggressive breast cancer type, notes Hope S. Rugo, MD, Director of Breast Oncology and Clinical Trials...
A Look at the Patient Navigator Program in Breast Cancer
In 1990, Harold P. Freeman, MD, established the nation’s first patient navigation program at Harlem Hospital Center in New York (see accompanying article here). Since then, Dr. Freeman’s vision has gained national attention and is currently being looked at in a demonstration project across multiple ...
The Doctor Who Championed Patient Navigation in Harlem
After completing his residency at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Harold P. Freeman, MD, arrived at Harlem Hospital Center in 1967, where the overwhelming majority of his patients presented with late-stage disease. That early experience with underserved patients would shape his career as...
Gene in Eye Melanomas Linked to Good Prognosis
Melanomas that develop in the eye often are fatal. Now, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine and the Siteman Cancer Center, St. Louis, Missouri, report they have identified a mutated gene in melanoma tumors of the eye that appears to predict a good outcome. The research was...
As Computers Learn to 'Talk' to Each Other, Patient Care Will Improve
Last fall, Edward P. Ambinder, MD, Clinical Professor of Medicine, Hematology, and Medical Oncology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York, and a member of ASCO’s Health Information Technology Work Group, spoke about “The Information Age: Cyberspace and Cancer,” at the...
Young Investigator Award's Humble Beginnings Mark the Start of Something Big
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...
International Members Cite Networking, Enhanced Patient Care Among Benefits of ASCO Membership
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...
Research Roundup from San Antonio: New Data on Triple-negative, HER2-positive, Local, and Advanced Breast Cancer
The 2012 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium featured more than 2,500 abstracts and lectures, including timely research in the field and discussions for scientists and clinicians alike. In addition to nearly two dozen in-depth reports from the meeting, The ASCO Post brings readers the following...
Abiraterone in Patients with Metastatic Castration-resistant Prostate Cancer and No Prior Chemotherapy
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 December 10, 2012, abiraterone acetate (Zytiga)...
ASH International Clinical Collaboration Replicates High Cure Rate of APL in Developing Countries
The work of an American Society of Hematology (ASH) international clinical network collaborative focused on modernizing treatment protocols for patients in the developing world with acute promyeloctyic leukemia (APL) has drastically improved cure rates in patients in Central and South America. In...
Expert Point of View: C. Kent Osborne, MD
C. Kent Osborne, MD, Professor of Medicine and Molecular and Cellular Biology at Baylor College of Medicine and Director of the Lester and Sue Smith Breast Center at Baylor told The ASCO Post that this is “brand new” data that “looks very interesting.” He noted that groups for whom letrozole is the ...
Expert Point of View: Sandra M. Swain, MD, FACP and Eric P. Winer, MD
Commenting on the study presented by Dr. Wolff at the 2012 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, ASCO President Sandra M. Swain, MD, FACP, Medical Director, Washington Cancer Institute, MedStar Washington Hospital Center, Washington, DC, said she found it “disturbing” that about half the population...
Chemotherapy for Breast Cancer Carries a Small, but Concerning, Risk for Leukemia
The risk for developing a secondary malignancy after chemotherapy for breast cancer is very small, but it is statistically significantly higher than for the general population, a review of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) database revealed in a study presented at the 2012 San...
Selumetinib/Docetaxel Shows Promising Activity in Previously Treated KRAS-mutant Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer
Currently, there are no approved therapies for KRAS-mutant non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and few clinical trials have been performed specifically in this setting. In a recent article in Lancet Oncology, Pasi A. Jänne, MD, PhD, Scientific Director, Belfer Institute for Applied Cancer Science,...
Daunorubicin-free Induction Therapy for Standard-risk Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia
Omitting daunorubicin from induction therapy for children with standard-risk acute B-cell lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) does not compromise survival and at the same time reduces the risk of associated toxicities, including myelosuppression and cardiac damage, according to results of the large phase...
Expert Point of View: Michel Ducreux, MD, PhD
Michel Ducreux, MD, PhD, of the Institut Gustave Roussy in Villejuif, France, discussed the findings at the ESMO meeting. He said that TH-302 represents a “new drug and new concept, the microenvironment.” He noted, “Pancreatic cancers are frequently hypovascularized, at least the primary tumor, and ...
TH-302 plus Gemcitabine Delays Progression in Untreated Advanced Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma
A novel drug that is activated under conditions of hypoxia significantly delayed progression in locally advanced or metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma when combined with gemcitabine in untreated patients. The findings of the randomized phase II TH-CR-04 trial were presented at the 2012 ESMO...
