I’ve been health conscious all my life. I have never smoked, I eat a healthy diet, and I have maintained a near-daily exercise routine since I was 20. I’m also steadfast about keeping yearly medical checkups and screenings. So when I felt a sharp, lightning-bolt of pain that went from the top of my ...
When Jane Cooke Wright, MD, met with six other oncologists at the Edgewater Beach Hotel in Chicago on April 9, 1964, to discuss the creation of American Society of Clinical Oncology, the first medical society dedicated to bringing patient-oriented issues to clinical oncology, the Civil Rights Act...
On April 9, 1964, seven physicians—Jane Cooke Wright, MD, FASCO; Arnoldus Goudsmit, MD, PhD; Fred J. Ansfield, MD, FASCO; Harry F. Bisel, MD, FASCO; Herman H. Freckman, MD, FASCO; Robert W. Talley, MD, FASCO; and William Wilson, MD, FASCO—met for lunch at the Edgewater Beach Hotel in Chicago. They...
The Schwartz Center Rounds program utilizes a case-based format to present information about an identified topic and stimulate discussion among Rounds participants. A physician leader and planning committee choose a case and topic and identify a panel of professional caregivers to share their...
In the fall of 1994, 40-year-old Kenneth B. Schwartz, a health-care lawyer, was diagnosed with lung cancer. Radiation and chemotherapy failed to stop progression of the disease, and 10 months later he died. During his treatment, Mr. Schwartz wrote about the ordeal of coming to grips with the...
The information contained in this Clinical Trials Resource Guide includes details of actively recruiting clinical studies of patients with gynecologic and breast cancers. It also includes the Family Caregiver Palliative Care Intervention study, which is investigating interventions to support...
Title: Survivorship: Living Well During and After Cancer Author: Barrie Cassileth, MS, PhD Publication Information: Spry Publishing, April 2014, 216 pages, $16.95 This slender-volume survivorship guidebook provides the latest evidence-based information on complementary therapies and is a must-read...
When Barrie R. Cassileth, MS, PhD, began researching complementary medicine and its potential for use in oncology care over 30 years ago, not much was known about the importance of complementary therapies for the well-being of patients with cancer. She chose to conduct her doctoral dissertation...
In January, Eric S. Lander, PhD, Director of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and his colleagues published the results from their landmark study,1 which explored the feasibility of creating a comprehensive catalog of cancer genes. The researchers collected 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,...
In 2012, just 1 year after taking the reins as President of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Ronald A. DePinho, MD, announced his plans to launch the Moon Shots Program, the most ambitious endeavor undertaken by the cancer center to dramatically accelerate the pace of reducing...
Last January, ASCO held a leadership summit in Washington, DC, with representatives from the pharmaceutical industry, insurance payers, patient advocates, and physicians to address the skyrocketing costs of new drugs and technologies used in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. Although costs are ...
On April 9, 1964, seven physicians—Jane Cooke Wright, MD, FASCO; Arnoldus Goudsmit, MD, PhD; Fred J. Ansfield, MD, FASCO; Harry F. Bisel, MD, FASCO; Herman H. Freckman, MD, FASCO; Robert W. Talley, MD, FASCO; and William Wilson, MD, FASCO—met for lunch at the Edgewater Beach Hotel in Chicago. They...
My last conversation with Selma Schimmel was 2 months ago. She had been uncharacteristically out of touch for a few weeks, and I had a nagging feeling the severe pain in her psoas muscle caused by advancing ovarian cancer—which had plagued her for months and she described as in a “league of its...
I’ve been plagued with various ailments all my life. Physically and emotionally abused by my stepfather as a child, over the years I’ve developed severe psychological issues including depression and anxiety disorder. I am also in constant physical pain from cervical degenerative disc disease,...
In 2007, the Billings Clinic Cancer Center in Billings, Montana, became one of 15 community-based oncology centers nationwide to receive funding from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to expand programs for clinical trials, health-care disparities outreach, survivorship and palliative care,...
The information in this Clinical Trials Resource Guide includes details of actively recruiting clinical studies of patients with pancreatic cancer. All of the studies are listed on the National Institutes of Health website at ClinicalTrials.gov. The studies presented here are nonrandomized,...
For young adults diagnosed with cancer, coping with the aftermath of the disease can be especially daunting. Although all cancer survivors share some common concerns and distress, for young adults grappling with body image, sexuality, peer pressure, dating, marriage, family planning, education, and ...
The Washington State Medical Oncology Society (WSMOS) was formed in 1993 in response to the health-care reform legislation then being proposed by President Bill Clinton. “The law never passed, but it spurred the development of our Society, so some good came out of the law’s defeat,” said Vicky E....
James P. Allison, PhD, Professor and Chair of the Department of Immunology, Executive Director of the Moon Shots Immunotherapy Platform, and Deputy Directory of the David H. Koch Center for Applied Research of Genitourinary Cancers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, is...
Even now, 3 years after I was diagnosed with breast cancer, I’m still struggling with how it is possible to have a normal mammogram and 6 months later be confronted with stage II estrogen/progesterone–positive, HER2-positive breast cancer. The news was especially devastating to hear because it...
On June 10, Life: Magnified, an eye-catching photo exhibit of scientific images, opened at Washington Dulles International Airport’s Gateway Gallery in Chantilly, Virginia. The exhibit features 46 high-resolution backlit images of cells from the body, including the brain, blood, eye, skin, liver,...
Despite advances in cancer screening and in more effective therapies to treat the disease, which have led to improved outcomes and increased survival rates for millions of people with cancer, not every American is reaping the benefits of these advances. Disparities in health-care access, quality of ...
An online survey of 201 unemployed cancer survivors looking for work found that a majority—61%—are at least somewhat concerned that a potential employer would find out about their cancer diagnosis and not hire them. In this survey conducted by Cancer and Careers, 66% of participants said they...
Editor’s note: In the July 10 issue of The ASCO Post, this article by Marie Krejci as told to Jo Cavallo was published; however, the published version was incomplete in that it did not reflect important updates made by Ms. Krejci. We apologize to Ms. Krejci for this error and to our readers for any ...
The Ohio Hematology Oncology Society (OHOS) was formed 2 decades ago to advocate for and provide educational seminars and networking opportunities to hematologists and medical oncologists throughout the states of Ohio and West Virginia. Today, the society is focused on the needs of its nearly 200...
The information in this Clinical Trials Resource Guide includes actively recruiting clinical studies of children with cancer. The studies include pilot and phase I and II studies evaluating new therapies, functional imaging tests, tests to measure the neuropsychological and behavioral function in...
The information in this Clinical Trials Resource Guide includes actively recruiting clinical studies for patients with bladder cancer. The list includes randomized and nonrandomized phase 0 to III studies as well as observational clinical trials evaluating new therapies, surgical techniques, and...
Michael S. Katz, MBA, has lived longer than any of his doctors thought he would. A two-time cancer survivor, Mr. Katz was diagnosed, first with multiple myeloma in 1990 and then with colorectal cancer in 2008, and has spent the past 2 decades tirelessly advocating for patients with cancer. The...
The first sign I had that something might be wrong was an uncontrollable itch all over my body. Although I had never had anything like that before, the problem was easy to initially dismiss. I’m a respiratory therapist and visit patients in their homes daily, so I chalked up the itchiness to an...
The Florida Society of Clinical Oncology (FLASCO) was founded in 1977, just 13 years after the founding of ASCO. Today, the Society has had such an impact on the practices of medical, radiation, surgical, gynecologic, and pediatric oncologists throughout the state, membership has risen to over...
The term “telemedicine,” which is sometimes used interchangeably with “telehealth” and “m-health” (for mobile health) and is now collectively called “connected health,” involves the use of information and communications technology to connect patients with their providers through a variety of...
Academy Award winning actor and producer Michael Douglas was the guest of honor at the opening day of the International Federation of Head and Neck Oncologic Societies (IFHNOS) 5th World Congress on July 27 in New York (see page 22 for more on the World Congress). He came not to plug the release of ...
Title: The Big Casino: America’s Best Cancer Doctors Share Their Most Powerful StoriesEditors: Stan Winokur, MD, and Vincent CoppolaPublishing Platform: CreateSpacePublication date: May 2014Price: $9.99; Paperback, 160 pages In May, Stan Winokur, MD, and co-editor Vincent Coppola, published The...
Incorporating patient-reported outcomes into the palliative care clinical setting can improve patients’ symptom management, quality of life, and overall communication with their oncologists, according to Ethan Basch, MD. Dr. Basch is Director of the Cancer Outcomes Research Program and Associate...
A spectacular parade of nations from 90 countries led by the Emerald Society Pipes and Drums from the New York City Police Department opened the 5th World Congress of the International Federation of Head and Neck Oncologic Societies (IFHNOS) on July 27 in New York City. The 4-day event was held in...
The workforce numbers show a disturbing trend. According to a recent study by ASCO, by 2025, overall demand for oncology services is projected to grow by 40%, but physician supply is predicted to increase by only 25%, generating a shortage of 2,258 oncologists providing full-time equivalent...
In 1986, I was pregnant with my third child and excited to be interviewing for a job on the assembly line at a General Motors plant near my home in Brodhead, Wisconsin. Hiring requirements included a physical examination and a chest x-ray, which was done by my obstetrician to avoid any radiation...
The information in this Clinical Trials Resource Guide includes actively recruiting clinical studies for patients with kidney cancer. The list includes a pilot study and observational, randomized, and nonrandomized phase II and phase III studies evaluating new therapies, combination therapies,...
Thomas P. Sellers, MPA, has been a tireless advocate for patients’ rights for more than 20 years. A 15-year prostate cancer survivor and only child, Mr. Sellers said it was his mother’s death from lung cancer when she was 51, followed by the death of his father from glioblastoma multiforme that led ...
Three years ago, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, launched a Supportive and Palliative Radiation Oncology (SPRO) program to integrate generalist palliative oncology services, including the physical, psychosocial, and spiritual aspects of care, into radiation...
I am honored and privileged to lead ASCO during its 51st year, a year that promises to bring both challenges and opportunities to our members and our patients. As the theme for my Presidential term, I’ve chosen Illumination and Innovation: Transforming Data Into Learning, because we are positioned...
Kenneth J. Pienta, MD, and his colleagues at Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore are using the principles of evolutionary game theory to learn how cancer cells cooperate within a tumor to gather energy and metastasize. Game theory, the mathematic study of strategic decision-making that is commonly...
These studies are investigating psychosocial and individual meaning-centered psychotherapy interventions for patients with cancer and bereaved parents. They are sponsored by Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and are currently recruiting participants. The studies are listed on the...
Although most major cancer centers in the United States offer support groups and individual counseling sessions to help patients with cancer cope with their disease and treatment, over the past decade Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York has broadened its psycho-oncology programs to...
The last thing I expected to find when I returned home after a summer vacation celebrating my 50th birthday was a letter from my gynecologist saying the routine mammogram I had before I left found suspicious-looking calcifications in my right breast and that I should see a surgeon right away. Being ...
Tests in development to detect circulating tumor cells that escape from solid tumors and travel through the blood, spreading cancer to new sites, may serve as an alternative to conventional tissue biopsy for early cancer diagnosis and gene-expression analysis over the next decade. According to...
The information contained in this Clinical Trials Resource Guide includes actively recruiting clinical studies of children and adults with intraocular cancers. The studies include pilot, phase 0, phase I, phase II, and observational trials evaluating new combination therapies, vaccines, optical...
James P. Allison, PhD, has been bucking the status quo since he was a teenager growing up in the small agricultural town of Alice, Texas, in the 1950s and 1960s. He first butted heads with authority figures when he was in high school and learned that his biology class had omitted the teaching of...
In March, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) transformed its Cooperative Group Program into the National Clinical Trials Network (NCTN). Spurred by recommendations in the Institute of Medicine (IOM) 2010 report, A National Cancer Clinical Trials System for the 21st Century: Reinvigorating the NCI...