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Showing 12051 - 12100Expert Point of View: Hagan Kennecke, MD, Pamela L. Kunz, MD, and George Fisher, MD, PhD
Hagan Kennecke, MD, Associate Professor, University of British Columbia at the British Columbia Cancer Agency, said in an interview, “It was important to see the detailed subgroup analysis for pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors, because that is a major patient population we treat, and it was not...
Lanreotide Evaluated in Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Subgroup
The somatostatin analog lanreotide (Somatuline) depot extended the time to disease progression in patients with pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors, in a planned subgroup analysis of the CLARINET trial, Alexandria T. Phan, MD, of The Houston Methodist Hospital in Texas, reported at the 2015...
Expert Point of View: Laura A. Dawson, MD
Session moderator Laura A. Dawson, MD, of the University of Toronto, commented on this study by Dr. Ross and colleagues for The ASCO Post: “Moving forward, I think we need to change the way we make treatment decisions, no question. Treatment based on profiling is the way of the future. Dr. Ross’...
Targeting Biliary Tract Cancers Through Genomic Profiling
Biliary tract cancers are challenging, but a large genomic profiling study has identified potentially clinically relevant genomic alterations in up to two-thirds of patients.1 “The diverse landscape of clinically relevant genomic alterations in biliary tract cancers can serve as targets for...
Expert Point of View: Jaffer A. Ajani, MD
Jaffer A. Ajani, MD, Professor of Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, discussed the two studies. He emphasized the impressive cytoreductive activity of AMG 337. “Granted, it was only 13 patients, but in 13 patients, 8 [responders] is a...
Inhibiting the MET Pathway in Gastroesophageal Cancer: Hits and Misses
The MET pathway appears to be important in gastroesophageal cancers, but response to a targeted agent may depend on the class of drugs. A robust response to the novel small-molecule MET inhibitor AMG 337 was observed, but a monoclonal antibody targeting MET fell flat, in studies reported at the...
Addressing the Global Cancer Burden
Since 1990, the annual global death toll from cancer has risen about 40%, and that number is projected to increase from the current level of approximately 8 million cancer deaths per year to more than 13 million by 2030. The poorer, resource-challenged regions of the world will suffer a...
Active Surveillance in Intermediate-Risk Prostate Cancer Called Into Question
A study presented at the 2015 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium calls into question the use of active surveillance in patients with intermediate-risk prostate cancer. Patients with intermediate-risk prostate cancer managed with active surveillance had almost a four times higher risk of prostate...
Key Evidence Gaps and Research Priorities Should Be Addressed So Physicians Can Identify Patients Most Likely to Benefit From Opioids
Key evidence gaps and research priorities must be addressed “so that physicians can recognize patients for whom opioids are most appropriate and use optimal regimens for these patients,” according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Pathways to Prevention Workshop final report on the role of ...
Nearly Half of Women Taking Tamoxifen for Primary Prevention Discontinue Its Use Before 5 Years
After 4.5 years of taking tamoxifen for primary prevention of breast cancer, 46% of women discontinued its use, according to research conducted within the Sister Study, a prospective cohort of women who had a sister diagnosed with breast cancer but did not have breast cancer themselves. Eligible...
Caregivers May Want to Know About a Patient’s Impending Death but May Be Afraid to Ask
The likelihood of impending death of patients with advanced cancer “is one of those questions that many people want to know about, but they are too afraid to ask,” David Hui, MD, MSc, said in an interview with The ASCO Post. Dr. Hui is lead author of a study, published in Cancer, on clinical signs...
Recognizing Physical Signs Associated With Impending Death Can Assist Clinicians, Patients, and Caregivers With Complex Decisions
In a recently published study of patients with advanced cancer whose status was systematically documented twice a day, from the time of admission to a palliative care unit until death or discharge, investigators identified eight physical signs associated with death within 3 days. Taken together...
Patient Guides Available Through ASCO University Bookstore
ASCO Answers: Managing the Cost of Cancer Care explains the various costs associated with cancer treatment, including health-care coverage through the Affordable Care Act. It also provides a list of financial resources available to help offset expenses related to care and tips for organizing...
The Center of Who We Are
The following essay by Eric M. Genden, MD, is adapted from The Big Casino: America’s Best Cancer Doctors Share Their Most Powerful Stories, which was coedited by Stan Winokur, MD, and Vincent Coppola and published in May 2014. The book is available on Amazon.com and thebigcasino.org. There’s...
Mobile Patient-Centered App Tracks Breast Cancer Survivors’ Experiences
Patricia Ganz, MD, Director of Cancer Prevention and Control Research at the Jonsson Cancer Center of UCLA, and collaborators Apple and Sage Bionetworks, recently announced the launch of “Share the Journey: Mind, Body and Wellness after Breast Cancer,” a patient-centered mobile application (app)...
Herbal Supplements: Increasing Problems
In Don Quixote, the 1605 Spanish literary masterpiece by Miguel Cervantes, “Balsam of Fierabras” is mentioned often as a therapeutic panacea. It calls for mixing rosemary, wine, oil, and salt. As the story goes, the knight relied heavily on this herbal preparation to relieve him of pain from the...
Wrestling With the Challenges of Breast Cancer
Bookmark Title: Then Came Life: Living With Courage, Spirit, and Gratitude After Breast CancerAuthor: Geralyn LucasPublisher: Gotham BooksPublication date: October 2, 2014Price: $19.89; hardcover, 240 pages Over the past decade or so, the oncology community has increased its understanding and...
Medicine Turned Upside Down
BookmarkTitle: The Patient Will See You Now: The Future of Medicine Is in Your HandsAuthor: Eric Topol, MDPublisher: Basic BooksPublication date: January 2015Price: $28.99; hardcover, 384 pagesMost books about health care center on fixing broken parts of the massive $3 trillion system, as seen with ...
Silvia C. Formenti, MD, Appointed Chair of Radiation Oncology at Weill Cornell and Radiation Oncologist-in-Chief at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell
Silvia C. Formenti, MD, has been appointed Chair of the newly established Department of Radiation Oncology at Weill Cornell Medical College and Radiation Oncologist-in-Chief at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, effective April 15. Dr. Formenti, currently the Chair of Radiation...
New Partnership Launches to Empower People Diagnosed With Lymphoma
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS), together with the Lymphoma Research Foundation (LRF), CancerCare, the Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC), and Genentech announced the launch of a new partnership, the Alliance for Resource Collaboration in Hematology (ARCH). ARCH was developed...
FDA Launches Drug Shortages Mobile App
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) launched the agency’s first mobile application (app) specifically designed to speed public access to valuable information about drug shortages. The app identifies current drug shortages, resolved shortages, and discontinuations of drug products....
Five Questions Can Guide the Treatment of Relapsed Myeloma
Joseph Mikhael, MD, MEd, myeloma expert at the Mayo Clinic in Arizona, Scottsdale, and Associate Dean of the Mayo School of Graduate Medical Education, considers five questions when selecting treatment for patients with multiple myeloma who relapse. “With prolonged survival, which approaches 10...
Avoiding Burnout and Maintaining Well-Being While Caring for Seriously Ill Patients
A variety of studies, including one published this past year in the Journal of Clinical Oncology,1 have showed that clinicians who care for seriously ill patients are at high risk for diminished personal well-being, including high rates of burnout; moral distress, defined as the inability to act in ...
ASCO’s Patient Resources for Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month
Stock your practice with Cancer.Net resources. Cancer.Net has a comprehensive guide to colorectal cancer at www.cancer.net/colorectal and a shorter, one-page colorectal cancer fact sheet. You will also find specialized resources for survivorship, palliative care, and managing the cost of cancer...
Helping Patients Understand Palliative Care
The booklet Palliative Care: Improving Quality of Life for Patients and Families is one of the latest additions to the ASCO Answers collection of patient education materials developed by ASCO for people with cancer and their caregivers. These materials provide oncologist-approved information in a...
Beating the Odds in The Big Casino
More than 35 ASCO members contributed personal essays to a recently published collection of stories about humanism in medicine, including ASCO Past Presidents Paul A. Bunn, Jr, MD, FASCO, and Emil J. Freireich, MD, FASCO, and current President-Elect Julie M. Vose, MD, MBA, FASCO. The Big Casino:...
2015 Pre–Annual Meeting Seminars Feature Important Topics for Modern Cancer Care Providers
ASCO will once again be offering a series of Pre–Annual Meeting Seminars ahead of its 2015 Annual Meeting in Chicago. First offered in 2012, the Pre–Annual Meeting Seminars are a series of in-depth educational opportunities dedicated to topics of interest in the oncology community. The seminars are ...
Development and Approval of Biosimilar Products
INSIDE THE BLACK BOX is an occasional column providing insight into the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and its policies and procedures. In this installment, Leah Christl, PhD, and Albert Deisseroth, MD, PhD, answer questions about biosimilar products. Dr. Christl is the Associate Director...
SOFT Trial Results Inconclusive: Further Study Needed
The results of the SOFT trial—presented at the 2014 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, reported recently by Francis et al in The New England Journal of Medicine,1 and reviewed in this issue of The ASCO Post—were not as conclusive as we had hoped. In essence, the study enrolled women with resected ...
Optimal Timing of Rectal Surgery: 60 Days or Less Post Chemoradiation Therapy
For the treatment of locally advanced rectal cancer, the optimal timing between the end of neoadjuvant chemoradiation therapy and surgical resection appears to be 60 days, according to an analysis of the National Cancer Database presented at the 2015 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium.1 An interval ...
Many Cancer Patients at Risk for Hepatitis B Virus Reactivation
In 2015, no cancer patients should be cured of their malignancy only to die of reactivation of hepatitis B virus (HBV),” according to Anna S. Lok, MD, the Alice Lohrman Andrews Research Professor in Hepatology and Director of Clinical Hepatology at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. “I...
AACR Names Nancy E. Davidson, MD, President-Elect for 2015–2016
The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) has announced the election of Nancy E. Davidson, MD, Director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute and UPMC CancerCenter in Pittsburgh, as its President-Elect for 2015–2016. Dr. Davidson will officially become President-Elect at the...
Adjuvant Chemotherapy Favored in Locally Advanced Bladder Cancer Not Treated With Neoadjuvant Therapy
A large observational study presented at the 2015 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium in Orlando, Florida, found that adjuvant chemotherapy extended the likelihood of survival in locally advanced bladder cancer compared with observation alone.1 Using three different approaches to propensity scores...
Expert Point of View: Andrew Loblaw, MD
Commenting on this study, formal discussant D. Andrew Loblaw, MD, a radiation oncologist at the Odette Cancer Centre, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Canada, said: “The trial showed that after a median follow-up of 7.0 years, there were no differences in overall survival between the two ...
High-Dose Radiotherapy Provides Meaningful Improvements in Localized Prostate Cancer—But Not Increased Survival Yet
High-dose radiotherapy failed to improve overall survival at 7 years compared with standard-dose radiotherapy in men with stage II localized prostate cancer. However, the high-dose schedule had several advantages, including improved rates of local tumor control and distant metastasis, according to...
Expert Point of View: Eric J. Small, MD
GETUG-AFU 15 sought to improve outcomes in metastatic hormone-naive prostate cancer, but the study failed its primary objective,” noted formal discussant Eric J. Small, MD, of the University of California, San Francisco. In the overall analysis of this previously published trial, with no...
Our Aging Population: Challenges in Caring for Older Patients With Cancer
Managing older-aged cancer patients represents one of the major challenges to our health-care system. Caring for older cancer patients, with their frequent multiple morbidities and a variable health status, requires special integration of an oncologic and geriatric approach. Moreover, our aging...
Health-Care Fraud and Abuse: Implications for Oncology
Health-care fraud is a long-standing problem in the United States, accounting for $75 billion in government expenses per year,1 while total spending on government health-care programs is over $1 trillion. Two decades ago, the Department of Justice increased its efforts to combat health-care fraud....
Remembering Neurosurgeon and Writer Paul Kalanithi, MD
What initially drew me to read the eloquent essay by Paul Kalanithi, MD, in The New York Times—“How Long Have I Got Left?”—was its provocative title.1 What kept me there was the moving description of his quick transition from healthy physician with a brilliant career in neurosurgery to terminally...
Radiotherapy in Good-Prognosis DLBCL
I was disturbed by the article on “Radiotherapy in Good-Prognosis DLBCL” published recently in The ASCO Post.1 As a practicing radiation oncologist for 30 years, I have seen the evolution of radiation techniques (and philosophy) for non-Hodgkin lymphoma progress from regional—or even...
Are Physicians Choosing Wisely When Imaging for Distant Metastases in Early-Stage Breast Cancer?
Patients with early-stage breast cancer still undergo imaging for distant metastases despite evidence-based local, national, and international guidelines—and a recommendation from ASCO—to avoid such imaging, according to a retrospective review of staging imaging for distant metastases in patients...
Use of Minimally Invasive Colorectal Cancer Surgery Increases at NCCN Centers, but Wide Variation Exists
“Laparoscopic colectomy has been shown to have equivalent oncologic outcomes to open colectomy for the management of colon cancer, but its adoption nationally has been slow,” Heather Yeo, MD, of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, and colleagues noted in reporting on a study...
Patient Guides Available Through ASCO University Bookstore
ASCO Answers: Managing the Cost of Cancer Care explains the various costs associated with cancer treatment, including health-care coverage through the Affordable Care Act. It also provides a list of financial resources available to help offset expenses related to care and tips for organizing...
I Refuse to Capitulate to Cancer
Editor’s note: We regret to announce that Paul Kalanithi, MD, passed away on March 9, 2015. Dr. Kalanithi was Chief Resident in Neurological Surgery at Stanford University when he shared his story, reprinted here, with The ASCO Post just over 1 year ago, in March 2014. We extend our deepest...
Don’t Disregard Questions About Possible Symptoms of Colorectal Cancer Just Because the Patient Is ‘Too Young’
While colorectal cancer predominantly occurs in people over 50 years old, rates are increasing among younger patients. It is important for physicians not to ignore symptoms in patients who are young, “simply because they are young,” Jason A. Zell, DO, MPH, told The ASCO Post. Dr. Zell is the...
Colorectal Cancer Is Significantly Increasing Among Younger Adults and Being Diagnosed at Later Stages
A growing body of literature indicates that the incidence of colorectal cancer is rising among people under age 50, according to Jason A. Zell, DO, MPH. Dr. Zell is the corresponding author of one of the two recent studies finding significant increases in colorectal cancer among adults aged 20 to...
Shining a Spotlight on Epithelioid Hemangioendothelioma
In the winter of 2013, my son, Dmitriy, now 26, had a cough that wouldn’t go away. After several rounds of antibiotics failed to halt the persistent problem, a pulmonologist we consulted ordered a chest x-ray, which showed a large tumor lodged between Dmitriy’s lungs. Although the doctor said the...
Technology’s Double-Edged Sword: One Woman’s Story
Bookmark Title: Pandora’s DNA: Tracing the Breast Cancer Genes Through History, Science, and One Family TreeAuthor: Lizzie StarkPublisher: Chicago Review PressPublication date: October 2014Price: $26.95; hardcover, 336 pages If we wish to learn more about cancer, we must concentrate on the cellular ...
The Ongoing Struggle Against Tobacco: Past Accomplishments, Future Steps
In 1913, 10 doctors and 5 laypersons in New York founded the American Cancer Society (ACS). At that time, a cancer diagnosis was almost always fatal and was rarely discussed in public. The Society’s original charter was to raise awareness about cancer, and although that mission has remained firm,...
Refining the ‘Right Patient, Right Drug’ Pairing in Cancer Care: RAS Profiling in Metastatic Colorectal Cancer
In an important post hoc analysis (reviewed in this issue of The ASCO Post), Van Cutsem and colleagues have further refined our knowledge of who are the “right” patients with metastatic colorectal cancer to receive treatment with cetuximab (Erbitux).1 This refinement was accomplished through the...
