Jeffrey D. Bradley, MD, of Washington University School of Medicine, discusses long-term phase III findings on standard-dose vs high-dose conformal chemoradiation therapy with or without cetuximab for stage III non–small cell lung cancer (Abstract 227).
A new study finds that immune response in prostate cancer may be able to forecast how patients will respond to radiation therapy, as well as their likelihood of disease recurrence and survival outcomes. The analysis of more than 9,000 prostate tumors also found evidence that programmed cell death...
Long-term results of a phase III clinical trial indicate that survival rates for patients receiving chemoradiation for unresectable, locally advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) may be more than twice as high as previous estimates. At 5 years following treatment with a standard dose of ...
Marcus E. Randall, MD, of the University of Kentucky, discusses phase III study findings on pelvic radiation therapy vs vaginal cuff brachytherapy followed by paclitaxel/carboplatin chemotherapy in patients with high-risk, early stage endometrial cancer (Abstract LBA1).
Juanita Crook, MD, of the University of British Columbia, discusses late toxicity findings on transperineal ultrasound–guided brachytherapy for locally recurrent prostate cancer after external-beam radiation therapy (Abstract 1).
James E. Bates, MD, of the University of Florida, discusses a volumetric dose-effect analysis of late cardiotoxicity, results from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study (Abstract 4).
A new study involving patients with stage IV cancer has found that treatment with radiation therapy and immunotherapy can slow tumor growth by stimulating the body’s immune system to attack the cancer. In the phase II trial, patients with end-stage cancer that had metastasized to the lungs or ...
Psychological distress has long been associated with negative health outcomes for patients with cancer, though specific reasons remain unclear. A new study has found that roughly half of all patients who reported having severe distress, which the National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN)...
For patients with limited metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), adding radiation therapy before maintenance chemotherapy may curb disease progression when compared to maintenance chemotherapy alone, according to a randomized phase II clinical trial reported by Iyengar et al. at the...
A new study demonstrates that a blood test to detect cancer may predict treatment outcomes for patients with localized non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and afford physicians additional lead time to personalize treatment for recurrent disease. Patients in the study with detectable levels of...
Findings from a new multicenter, international clinical trial confirm the effectiveness of high-dose brachytherapy, or internal radiation therapy, for managing locally advanced cervical cancer. Tumor control was significantly better following four fractions of 7 Gy each than following two 9-Gy...
A new study of patients at an urban cancer center points to a potentially serious problem that may limit the impact of clinical cancer care—undiagnosed depression. Among the 40% of patients at the center who were diagnosed with depression, three in four had not previously been told they were ...
On September 22, 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to pembrolizumab (Keytruda) for patients with recurrent locally advanced or metastatic, gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma whose tumors express programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) as...
On September 22, 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to nivolumab (Opdivo) for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma in patients who have been previously treated with sorafenib (Nexavar). CheckMate 040 Approval was based on a 154-patient subgroup of...
The Global Burden of Disease Study, published in The Lancet, finds that of noncommunicable diseases, cancer is the second-leading cause of death globally.1 The report also finds that deaths from cancer increased more than 17% between 2006 and 2016. The Global Burden of Disease Study is a...
A series of medical mishaps has led me to a diagnosis of stage IV carcinoid neuroendocrine cancer and a shortened lifespan. This never should have happened. For months in early 2015, I was plagued with all the signs of a serious illness, including chronic stomach, bowel, and digestive issues;...
The American Society of Hematology (ASH) will recognize Marshall A. Lichtman, MD, of the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, with the 2017 Wallace H. Coulter Award for Lifetime Achievement in Hematology. Dr. Lichtman will be honored for his notable service to the field of...
The statistics on physician suicide are stark: Physicians are more than twice as likely to take their own lives as nonphysicians, and more than 400 physicians commit suicide each year in the United States. Moreover, young physicians at the early part of their training are reported to be...
Investigators at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the Children’s Oncology Group (COG) have announced the opening of enrollment for a unique precision medicine clinical trial. NCI-COG Pediatric Molecular Analysis for Therapy Choice (Pediatric MATCH) is a nationwide trial to explore whether...
MANY health-care experts disagree about when screening mammography is appropriate and for whom. That’s what Women Informed to Screen Depending on Measures of Risk (WISDOM) seeks to remedy. The University of California (UC) Health study aims to uncover whether annual mammograms really are the best...
The American Cancer Society (ACS) has awarded $100,000 in grants to five community health centers across the country to reduce colon cancer disparities in American Indian and Alaska Native populations through the Community Health Advocates implementing Nationwide Grants for Empowerment and Equity...
The organizations and programs listed here are helping to address and reduce disparities in cancer care in rural communities. ASCO University Disparities in Cancer Care: Take Action (http://university.asco.org/disparities-cancer-care-take-action). This free slide-based course is designed to help...
A pair of recent studies show a troubling trend: Despite a 20% decrease in cancer mortality rates nationwide over the past 2 decades,1 Americans living in rural regions of the United States are more likely to die of cancer than persons living in metropolitan areas of the country. An analysis of...
The ASCO Post’s Integrative Oncology series is intended to facilitate the availability of evidence-based information on integrative and complementary therapies commonly used by patients with cancer. In this installment, Jun J. Mao, MD, MSCE, and Jyothirmai Gubili, MS, present information on...
A cancer diagnosis presents emotional and psychological challenges for patients and caregivers, and prostate cancer has some unique challenges, in part because management is not writ in stone. At several points along the trajectory of illness, men with prostate cancer face decisions that can be...
A pre-existing diagnosis of dementia was associated with increased risk of death for older patients with advanced colon cancer; however, some of the effects of dementia on survival could be mediated by receipt of chemotherapy, according to results of a study published by Chen et al in Cancer...
The pan-Canadian Oncology Drug Review (pCODR) has provided a positive clinical recommendation for the reimbursement of olaparib (Lynparza), a first-of-its-kind treatment for BRCA-mutated ovarian cancer. Lynparza is an oral, potent inhibitor of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) available as a...
The ASCO Post is pleased to continue this special feature on the worldwide cancer burden. Each installment focuses on a country from one of the six regions of the world, as defined by the World Health Organization (ie, Africa, the Americas, South-East Asia, Europe, Eastern Mediterranean, and...
According to researchers from the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, being in a high-income bracket may lead to overdiagnosis of cancer and the subsequent harms associated with unnecessary medical treatments. To shed light on this interesting finding and its broader...
Under the direction of Martin J. Edelman, MD, Chair, Department of Hematology/Oncology, who joined Fox Chase Cancer Center earlier this year, the department has been reorganized into four sections: Hematologic Malignancies, Solid Tumor Oncology, General Hematology/Oncology, and Fox Chase at Temple...
Two scientists at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) received the 2017 Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award for their significant research leading to the development of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines. The award is the country’s most prestigious biomedical research prize and was...
ASCO OFFERS a bundled resource that combines provider and patient information about cancer survivorship. Providing High Quality Survivorship Care in Practice: An ASCO Guide aims to assist oncologists and other clinicians with implementing high-quality survivorship care programs within their...
The Association of Northern California Oncologists (ANCO), an ASCO Affiliate, is among the newest nonprofit supporters of the Conquer Cancer Foundation of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (CCF). ANCO is generously funding a 2018 Young Investigator Award (YIA) for a qualified northern...
AS PRACTICES across the country implement the Quality Payment Program (QPP), it’s important to remember that 2017 is a transition year. Practices only have to report one measure for one patient (including at least one Medicare patient) in order to receive a neutral payment adjustment and avoid...
Would you rather explain the benefits of three cycles of bleomycin, etoposide, and cisplatin to a hostile crowd of bored teenagers than talk to your program director, supervisor, or colleagues about feeling burned out? It is an understandable feeling. Professional burnout is a difficult concept to...
A NEW ARTICLE published in JCO Clinical Cancer Informatics (JCO CCI), “Automating QOPI Quality Measure NHL78a,” by Richard P. Mansour, MD, and Samip Master, MD, reports how the authors were able to use data from an electronic health record (EHR) and Microsoft SQL Server database management system...
JOIN THE Conquer Cancer Foundation community of supporters to start a personal fundraising campaign and help create a world free from the fear of cancer. What will you do to help conquer cancer? Honor/remember a loved one Celebrate a special occasion Participate in an endurance event Start...
ASCO’s Clinical Practice Committee (CPC) and State Affiliate Council (SAC) have a history of supporting the Conquer Cancer Foundation of ASCO (CCF) Young Investigator Award (YIA) program. Individual members of the CPC and SAC, as well as ASCO State Affiliates, contribute funds to this philanthropic ...
DAVID O. BARBE, MD, President of the American Medical Association (AMA), issued the following statement: "The American Medical Association strongly supports the nomination of Jerome Adams, MD, to become the next Surgeon General of the United States. As Indiana State Health Commissioner, Dr. Adams ...
GARY KOHANBASH, PhD, a neuro-oncology researcher at the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, has been awarded a scholar grant of $298,000 from the St. Baldrick’s Foundation, a volunteer-driven charity dedicated to raising money for childhood cancer...
KUNLE ODUNSI, MD, PHD, FRCOG, FACOG, Deputy Director of Roswell Park Cancer Institute, has been appointed to the Transplantation, Tolerance, and Tumor (TTT) Immunology Study Section within the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Center for Scientific Review. The TTT section is the panel of peer...
THE NATIONAL COMPREHENSIVE Cancer Network® (NCCN®) is collaborating with Evinance to integrate the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines®) into the Evinance Decision Support Platform to allow for point-of-care access to treatment recommendations derived from the NCCN...
THE U.S. PREVENTIVE SERVICES TASK FORCE has posted a draft recommendation statement and draft evidence review on screening for cervical cancer. The Task Force recommends that primary care clinicians screen for cervical cancer in women ages 21 to 29 every 3 years with cervical cytology, more...
Over the past several decades, widespread cancer screening has saved lives from various cancer types. However, despite advances in early-detection technologies, many cancers still remain undetected until they become symptomatic, conferring poor prognoses and outcomes. Moreover, some methods of...
Palliative care provided soon after a patient is diagnosed with incurable cancer not only helps improve the patient’s overall quality of life but also improves communication about the patient’s wishes for end-of-life care, according to a study by Jennifer S. Temel, MD, Clinical Director of Thoracic ...
ON SEPTEMBER 14, 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved bevacizumab-awwb (Mvasi) as a biosimilar to bevacizumab (Avastin) for the treatment of multiple types of cancer. Bevacizumab-awwb is the first biosimilar approved in the United States for the treatment of cancer....
The ASCO Post is pleased to introduce “At Microphone 1,” an occasional column written by Steven E. Vogl, MD, of Bronx, New York. When he’s not in his clinic, Dr. Vogl can generally be found at major oncology meetings, and often at the microphone where he stands ready with important questions for...
STAYING UP-TO-DATE in the fast-paced world of oncology literature is a daunting task at best. To assist with that task, The ASCO Post has assembled an assortment of studies recently published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology (JCO) and the Journal of Oncology Practice (JOP). Future installments...
THE BACKBONE treatment for soft-tissue sarcomas has long been anthracycline-based, but new approaches are coming. These novel strategies were discussed at the 2017 Debates and Didactics in Hematology and Oncology Conference in Sea Island, Georgia, by Melinda L. Yushak, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor ...
SOME RECENT ADVANCES in the treatment of brain tumors are promising, but others are less so, according to Jeffrey J. Olson, MD, Professor of Neurosurgery at Emory University, Atlanta. At the 2017 Debates and Didactics in Hematology and Oncology Conference, held in Sea Island, Georgia, and...