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Showing 12101 - 12150I'm Not the Person I Was Before Cancer
I’ve been the caretaker for my husband Will since he suffered three strokes in March 2011, followed by a diagnosis of leukemia a few months later. Now, our roles have reversed, and Will is taking care of me as I go through treatment for stage III follicular non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). It’s been a...
Ginseng
Guest Editor Integrative Oncology is guest edited by Barrie R. Cassileth, MS, PhD, Chief of the Integrative Medicine Service and Laurance S. Rockefeller Chair in Integrative Medicine at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York. The Integrative Medicine Service at Memorial Sloan-Kettering...
Combining Community Practice and Health Policy Advocacy
Barbara L. McAneny, MD, is a board-certified medical oncologist/hematologist with a robust community practice in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Dr. McAneny, who has held many leadership roles in oncology associations, became a delegate to the American Medical Association (AMA) from ASCO in 2002, was...
What the Latest Breast Cancer News Means for Patients
Direct your patients to www.cancer.net/breastsymposium to read patient-friendly summaries that explain the research highlighted at the 2013 Breast Cancer Symposium and provide a list of questions to ask their doctors and additional resources to learn more. Also, your patients can listen to a...
Conquer Cancer Foundation Donor and ASCO Member Denis Hammond, MD: Spreading the Word to Help Conquer Cancer
Oncology care professionals answer hundreds of questions from patients and their families every day. Over the course of months and years doctors and nurses address everything from medical questions about drug regimens and side effects, to personal questions about how cancer may affect work or...
Ginseng in the Spotlight
I read the study by Barton and colleagues in Journal of the National Cancer Institute with great interest. Ginseng seems potentially to be one treatment for cancer-related fatigue, a poorly understood but debilitating symptom that patients experience during and after treatment.1 I am impressed that ...
American Ginseng Improves Cancer-Related Fatigue
In a collaborative phase III trial of the North Central Cancer Treatment Group and Mayo Clinic (N07C2) reported in Journal of the National Cancer Institute by Debra L. Barton, RN, PhD, AOCN, FAAN, of the Mayo Clinic and colleagues, patients with cancer-related fatigue were treated with Wisconsin...
ASCO Examines the Future of Cancer Care Over the Next 2 Decades
While the many scientific advances over the past 50 years have led to improved outcomes for millions of patients with cancer—increasing the number of survivors from just 3 million in the 1970s to nearly 14 million today—the next 20 years promise to bring even greater opportunities to improve the...
Dr. Julie Vose Finds the Best of Both Worlds—Patient Care and Cutting-Edge Research—in Academic Medicine
Julie M. Vose, MD, MBA, is the Neumann M. and Mildred E. Harris Professor and Chief of the Division of Hematology/Oncology at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. She grew up in Mitchell, South Dakota, a small town nestled on the banks of the James River. Mitchell is home to the Corn Palace,...
Integrating Genomic Sequencing Into Clinical Care
Although the price of next-generation genomic sequencing is coming way down, making it available to more people interested in determining their risk for disease, figuring out how to interpret the results and applying that information in the routine medical care of individual patients remains a...
Fertility Rates in Childhood Cancer Survivors Suggest Strategies for Follow-up Care
Childhood cancer survivors with clinical infertility have a good chance of achieving pregnancy, according to new findings from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study (CCSS). Study Background As a group, women who survive childhood cancer are known to have lower fertility rates. This study, however,...
Non–Small Cell Lung Cancer Maintenance Therapy: None, Single Agent, Multiple Agents?
Barlesi et al have reported results of a randomized trial comparing bevacizumab (Avastin) vs pemetrexed (Alimta)/bevacizumab as maintenance therapy in patients with stage IV nonsquamous cell non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). It is important to consider their observations in relation to data from...
Pattern in Lung Cancer Pathology May Predict Recurrence After Surgery
A new study by thoracic surgeons and pathologists at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center shows that a specific pattern found in the tumor pathology of some lung cancer patients is a strong predictor of recurrence. Knowing that this feature exists in a tumor’s pathology could be an important...
Pemetrexed Maintenance in PARAMOUNT: Continuation Proves to Be a Strong Option for Advanced NSCLC, Although Not a Mandate
The PARAMOUNT trial1 represents an important landmark study of continuation maintenance therapy with pemetrexed (Alimta). While maintenance therapy gained a toehold in routine management of advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) several years ago, the first trials that demonstrated a...
Can Obinutuzumab Benefit Patients With Rituximab-Refractory Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma?
Obinutuzumab is a glycoengineered type II antibody that differs from type I anti-CD20 antibodies by being associated with actin reorganization and adhesion followed by direct cell death.1 Obinutuzumab has been glycoengineered by reduction in fucose content of the Fc region, which increases its...
Molecular Profiling Improves Classification of Nodal Peripheral T-Cell Lymphomas
One of the primary obstacles we face in caring for patients with peripheral T-cell lymphomas is a too often inadequate response to chemotherapy with low rates of progression-free and overall survival.1 And while more intensive treatment programs and the availability of novel agents give a greater...
Molecular Profiling Improves Classification of Nodal Peripheral T-Cell Lymphomas
The differential diagnosis of the most common peripheral T-cell lymphoma subtypes is difficult. In a diagnostic accuracy study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Pier Paolo Piccaluga, MD, PhD, of the University of Bologna, and colleagues in the European T-Cell Lymphoma Study Group and...
Merkel Cell Carcinoma: Hints of Immune Mediation May Enhance Treatment Options
Merkel cell carcinoma is a rare but aggressive skin cancer with poor outcomes and suboptimal therapeutic options. With a 46% mortality rate, it is three times more lethal than melanoma, and its reported incidence is rising. “Merkel cell carcinoma is a nasty cancer and we have zero FDA-approved...
Expert Point of View: Paul Sabbatini, MD
Paul Sabbatini, MD, attending physician at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, said that Study 19 is a well-designed study that showed PARP inhibition is a successful maintenance therapy for serous ovarian cancer that avoids the toxicity associated with continued cytotoxic...
Olaparib Shows Robust Progression-Free Survival Benefit in Patients With BRCA Mutations
Maintenance therapy with olaparib extended progression-free survival and the time to disease progression after a second subsequent therapy in patients with platinum-sensitive relapsed serous ovarian cancer and a BRCA mutation, according to an updated analysis of Study 19 presented at the 2013 ASCO...
Paul A. Bunn, Jr, MD, Offers Insights About a Hopeful Era in Lung Cancer Treatment
The treatment of non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is rapidly evolving as molecular targets are being refined and targeted drugs are designed to combat acquired resistance. In his State of the Art Lecture at the 14th International Lung Cancer Congress, Dr. Bunn, Professor of Medicine and the James ...
Will Funding for Lung Cancer Ever Improve?
Lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer-related death in the world. In the United States alone, an estimated 228,190 new cases of lung cancer and 159,480 deaths from lung cancer will occur in 2013. These are alarming statistics when compared to the next four common causes of cancer-related...
Access to and Appropriate Use of Oncology Drugs Called Into Question by ASCO Studies
Studies presented at this year’s ASCO Annual Meeting suggest that despite the wealth of amazing oncolytics on the market, drug shortages persist, drug substitutions are common, off-label use of drugs occurs frequently, and patients find their costs burdensome. Drug Shortage Persists The shortage of ...
Addressing the Key Clinical Questions in Advanced Melanoma
At the 3rd Annual World Cutaneous Malignancies Congress, in La Jolla, California, Steven J. O’Day, MD, Director of Clinical Research at the Beverly Hills Cancer Center and Adjunct Member of the John Wayne Cancer Institute, Los Angeles, addressed what he labeled the “key clinical questions” about...
Low Risk of Transformation to Melanoma for Biopsy-Diagnosed Mildly or Moderately Dysplastic Nevi
The risk of transformation to melanoma appears very low for biopsy-diagnosed mildly or moderately dysplastic nevi, and routine surgical excision of nevi with a positive biopsy margin may not be indicated. Patients with biopsy-diagnosed moderately-to-severely and severely atypical nevi, however,...
Pharmacyclics' Reply
We acknowledge the letters submitted to The ASCO Post from a patient advocate and a chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) patient enrolled on the RESONATE study (PCYC-1112-CA). At Pharmacyclics, we are committed to adhering to high scientific and ethical standards as we strive to develop novel...
Clinical Trials, Crossover, and Clinical Equipoise: An Advocate's Perspective
In a previous issue of The ASCO Post, Dr. Susan O’Brien wrote, “It is my understanding that the FDA strongly opposed allowing crossover [in the RESONATE trial]. I presume that is because the FDA also wants to see if there is a survival advantage.”1 The lack of crossover seems a valid concern to me...
Clinical Trials, Crossover, and Clinical Equipoise: A Patient's Perspective
I am writing with regard to two articles on the ethical imperative of clinical equipoise written by Susan O’Brien, MD, and Stephen J. Schuster, MD, and published recently in The ASCO Post.1,2 I was a victim of Pharmacyclics’ policies during one of their randomized ibrutinib trials (PCI-32765)...
CancerCare Co-Payment Assistance Foundation Launches New Technology to Provide Cancer Patients with Same-Day Approval
CancerCare® Co-Payment Assistance Foundation recently announced the launch of its new website and customer relationship management software, DiseaseTrak. Along with the implementation of DiseaseTrak, a customer-service platform, the Foundation will now provide same-day determination and...
SIDEBAR: Expect Questions From Your Patients
Physicians and patients should engage in open discussion” about the complex issues of cancer screening, overdiagnosis, and overtreatment, according to a report from the chairs of a National Cancer Institute working group tasked with developing a strategy to improve the current approach to cancer...
Tackling Overdiagnosis and Overtreatment, by Words and by Deeds
The complexity of the pathologic condition called cancer,” according to a Viewpoint article in the Journal of the American Medical Association,1 “complicates the goal of early diagnosis.” Failure to recognize that cancers are heterogeneous, and that not all progress to metastases and death, can...
Prominent Surgeon and Teacher LaSalle D. Leffall, Jr, MD, Promotes Hard Work and Education to Overcome Boundaries
Reminiscing about his 65 years in medicine, LaSalle Doheny Leffall, Jr, MD, FACS, cites three events in his early childhood that would ultimately lead him to his position today as the Charles R. Drew Professor of Surgery at Howard University College of Medicine in Washington, DC. First, he was...
The Oncologist as Author: On Guiding Patients Through Cancer
When Tumor Is the Rumor and Cancer Is the Answer is the guidebook to cancer that Kevin P. Ryan, MD, FACP, COL, USAF (ret) wished his patients had during his 30 years of practicing oncology. The book, recently published by AuthorHouse, is an authoritative, inspiring, and even philosophical guide for ...
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital Recognizes Childhood Cancer Awareness Month
Childhood cancer remains the leading cause of death by disease among young Americans. September marks Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, a time to highlight efforts to reduce the disease’s toll on children. At St. Jude, the past year has brought advances in understanding and treating childhood...
The Trials and Tribulations of a Revolutionary Cancer Drug
A modest brass plaque above a booth in the Eagle Pub in Cambridge, notes, “On this spot, on February 28, 1953, Francis Crick and James Watson declared the discovery of DNA with these words: ‘We have discoverewd the secret of life.’” Announcing a major scientific advance over a pint of ale is a far...
Cancer: Survivors in Focus Photo Exhibit Honors Cancer Survivors
In June, the David J. Sencer Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Museum in Atlanta, Georgia, opened a new photo exhibit featuring the faces of people living through and beyond a cancer diagnosis. The exhibit: Cancer: Survivors in Focus, tells the stories of cancer survivors while...
Celebrating 2 Decades as a Cancer Survivor
This past June, I celebrated 20 years of being a cancer survivor by throwing myself a party. It was an interesting experience because I learned that many of the 100 guests I invited were also cancer survivors or were family members of cancer survivors, and so we celebrated their lives as well. Our...
The Direction of Immunotherapy Over the Next Decade
The use of immunotherapy to target malignant cells in a variety of cancers—especially the PD-1 inhibitors lambrolizumab and nivolumab in the treatment of metastatic melanoma and the anti–PD-L1 agent MPDL3280A in the treatment of melanoma and lung, kidney, colorectal, and gastric cancers—made...
Conquering Cancer by Encouraging Diversity in the Field of Oncology
As the Conquer Cancer Foundation Grants and Awards Program has grown over the last 30 years, so has its purpose. Not only does the Grants and Awards Program support young researchers, foster mentoring relationships, and improve the quality of cancer care around the world, it also works to increase...
Communicating the Promise Science Offers to Society
ASCO President Clifford Hudis, MD, FACP, will be serving during a particularly notable year: 2014, the Society’s 50th anniversary. This occasion brings with it much to reflect on, from the advances in the field of oncology to the growth of ASCO’s influence, but Dr. Hudis takes a moment to simply...
Potential Prognostic Significance Shown for Interaction of Follicular Lymphoma Cells with Immune Microenvironment
It has been shown that CD4 and CD8 tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes in follicular lymphoma have impaired function and suppressed recruitment of critical signaling proteins to the immunologic synapse, and a number of studies have indicated the prognostic importance of the immune microenvironment in...
Lidia Schapira, MD: Bridging Communication Gaps Between Oncologists and Patients
Communicating the intricacies of oncology care to vulnerable patients with cancer and their caregivers requires a firm grasp of the nuances of language. One of the oncology community’s true champions in the art of breaking down communication barriers is Lidia Schapira, MD, a medical oncologist at...
The BEATRICE Study: Where Does Targeting Breast Cancer Vasculature Stand in 2013?
Antiangiogenic strategies using the anti–vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) monoclonal antibody bevacizumab (Avastin) gained traction in breast cancer with the publication of the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) 2100 trial in 2007. That study demonstrated a progression-free survival ...
September Is National Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month
During September, we observe National Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month to recognize those who have died and recommit ourselves to helping the women who are fighting for their health. Every year, more than 20,000 women in the United States are diagnosed with ovarian cancer, which is the fifth leading...
Timely Findings From the Ovarian Tumor Tissue Analysis Consortium
In the Ovarian Tumor Tissue Analysis Consortium Study recently published by Sieh et al,1 tissue microarrays from 2,933 cases of epithelial ovarian carcinoma demonstrated that progesterone receptor (PR) expression and estrogen receptor (ER) expression were associated with significantly improved...
Progesterone and Estrogen Receptor Expression Are Prognostic Markers for Endometrioid and High-Grade Serous Ovarian Cancer
Few markers of ovarian cancer prognosis have been established, perhaps because potential subtype associations are missed in studies including patients with all histopathologic subtypes. In a study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Weiva Sieh, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Health Research and...
Breast Cancer Researchers Awarded Komen for the Cure Grants
Susan G. Komen for the Cure recently announced it has awarded grant funding of more than $1.4 million to five researchers at Indiana University School of Medicine and a one-of-a-kind tissue bank. The grants will be part of the $42 million Komen will award in 2013 for cancer research. Grants Focus...
Pretreatment Lymph Node Dissection May Improve Survival in Advanced Cervical Cancer, But for Too Few?
Women with cervical cancer metastasized to para-aortic lymph nodes have historically had a poor prognosis, with 3-year overall survival rates of 25% to 40%.1-3 This has been attributed to the presence of occult systemic disease at the time of presentation and a high rate of distant recurrences...
What Para-Aortic Nodal Involvement Predicts About Survival in PET-CT–Negative Locally Advanced Cervical Cancer
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Sebastien Gouy, MD, of Institut Gustave Roussy and colleagues evaluated survival outcomes in patients with locally advanced cervical cancer and negative positron-emission tomography/computed tomography (PET-CT) imaging results who underwent...
Tamoxifen in Women With BRCA1 and BRCA2 Mutations: Another Option?
In analyses of pooled information from cohorts of women with BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations who have had a prior breast cancer diagnosis, Phillips and colleagues examined the association between tamoxifen use compared to nonuse on contralateral breast cancer risk.1 Tamoxifen use was associated with...
