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...
February Scripps Cancer Center’s 33rd Annual Clinical Hematology and Oncology ConferenceFebruary 16-19 • San Diego, CaliforniaFor more information:www.scripps.org/events/clinical-hematology-and-oncology-february-16-2013 2013 Translational Research Cancer Centers Consortium: The Power of Negative...
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...
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...
Research led by scientists at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee, has identified a possible lead in treatment of two childhood leukemia subtypes known for their dramatic loss of chromosomes and poor treatment outcomes. The findings also provide the first evidence of the...
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...
The Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center (HICCC) at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center has welcomed five new clinician-scientists specializing in leukemia. These practitioners joined the HICCC faculty in early January 2013. The new staff members are Mark G....
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...
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...
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 ...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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)...
The androgen biosynthesis inhibitor abiraterone acetate (Zytiga) has been shown to increase radiographic progression-free survival and delay clinical decline and initiation of chemotherapy in a clinical trial in castration-resistant patients with metastatic prostate cancer who have had no prior...
The 54th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) featured about 5,000 abstracts, including oral sessions and posters, as well as named lectures and symposia. In addition to our regular news coverage from the meeting, below are capsule summaries of a few news highlights that we...
On January 23, 2013, the FDA approved bevacizumab (Avastin) for use in combination with fluoropyrimidine-irinotecan or fluoropyrimidine-oxaliplatin based chemotherapy for the treatment of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer whose disease has progressed on a first-line bevacizumab-containing...
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 ...
The combination of letrozole plus a novel oral inhibitor of cyclin-dependent kinase 4/6 called PD 0332991 achieved an unprecedented improvement in progression-free survival among women with advanced estrogen receptor–positive/HER2-negative breast cancer. Median progression-free survival was 26.1...
In a commentary accompanying reporting of the phase II study of the MEK inhibitor selumetinib by Dr. Pasi A. Jänne, MD, PhD, and colleagues, Sarah B. Goldberg, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor of Medicine, and colleagues at Yale Cancer Center, New Haven, Connecticut, noted that KRAS, a member of the...
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 ...
For the first time, a chemotherapy-free regimen was superior to conventional cytotoxic chemotherapy for the treatment of acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL). The combination of all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) plus arsenic trioxide (Trisenox) achieved significantly superior overall survival compared...
Two of the articles published in the January 15, 2013, issue of The ASCO Post included comments from a Dr. Peter Ellis. One report, from the 2012 Quality Care Symposium referred to Peter G. Ellis, MD, of UPMC, Pittsburgh, while a second report pertained to a presentation at the 35th ESMO Congress...
The word “revival” signifies a renewed use or acceptance after a period of inactivity; similarly, the word “resurrection” refers to the concept of an entity coming back to life after death. In the past year, these terms have been used frequently by us (and others) in articles calling for the return ...
The term “patient-centered cancer care” has become ingrained in today’s health-care vernacular. However, no matter what modifications occur in clinical oncology practice, the terms value and cost-effectiveness are now a solid part of the equation. At ASCO’s Quality Care Symposium, Linda D....
Philip Agop Philip, MD, Head of the Multidisciplinary Team for Gastrointestinal and Neuroendocrine Oncology and Neuroendocrine at Karmanos Cancer Institute at Wayne State University, Detroit, was the formal discussant of the paper at the Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium. He said the positive...
In patients with treatment-naive metastatic pancreatic cancer, the addition of nanoparticle albumin-bound (nab)-paclitaxel (Abraxane) to gemcitabine improved overall survival vs gemcitabine alone, in an international study presented at the 2013 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium.1 New Standard “We...
The FDA approved a new use of imatinib (Gleevec) to treat children newly diagnosed with Philadelphia chromosome–positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). ALL is the most common type of pediatric cancer, affecting approximately 2,900 children annually, and progresses quickly if untreated....
March Hematology and Medical Oncology Board Review: Contemporary Practice from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer CenterMarch 1-5, 2013 • New York, New YorkFor more information: www.mskcc.org/hemoncreviewcourse International Congress on Targeted Anticancer TherapiesMarch 4-6 • Paris, FranceFor more...
Two recent study reports in colorectal cancer explored new data on genetic precursors to the disease and outcome predictors once treatment is initiated. New Genetic Links to Colorectal Cancer Are Identified Investigators from Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, Nashville, and colleagues in China,...
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 January 23, 2013, bevacizumab (Avastin) was approved...
At the 54th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH), held in Atlanta, nearly 5,000 abstracts were presented in oral sessions and posters. As part of our ongoing comprehensive coverage from the meeting, here are several more studies of note. New Targets in Acute Myeloid Leukemia...
World leaders from governments, cancer organizations, and the private sector joined together recently for the first Global Women’s Cancer Summit to address the challenge of reducing the global burden of women’s cancers. The summit was hosted by Susan G. Komen for the Cure and underwritten by GE...
ASCO has released the preliminary findings of a far-reaching research initiative to collect and analyze oncology workforce demographic and practice data. This initiative will help guide the Society’s response to the ever-changing business and political landscape in which oncologists care for people ...
To support all of our valuable programs for patients and physicians, the Conquer Cancer Foundation of the American Society of Clinical Oncology partners with organizations of every size and scale, and every partnership has a lasting impact. Recently, the Foundation began working with a new...
Despite the extremely difficult clinical challenges posed by brain tumors, mortality rates in this disease have decreased somewhat over the past several decades due, in part, to advances in surgical techniques and therapies. The ASCO Post recently discussed contemporary issues in neuro-oncology...
The FDA approved pomalidomide (Pomalyst) an oral immunomodulatory agent, to treat patients with multiple myeloma whose disease progressed after being treated with other cancer drugs. Pomalidomide is intended for patients who have received at least two prior therapies, including lenalidomide...
We owe our life to radiation. The universe was created in a thermonuclear explosion, and continued existence of life on Earth depends on plants using chlorophyll to capture light energy emitted by the sun (and exploding supernovas) and converting it into chemical energy, with the subsequent...
Athough the majority of the more than 69,000 adolescents and young adults (AYAs) diagnosed with cancer each year will survive their disease, many of them will experience interruptions in their education and a derailment in their career tract, curtailing their lifetime earning potential and reducing ...
For the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer, better outcomes were achieved when bevacizumab (Avastin) was added to FOLFOXIRI (leucovorin, fluorouracil [5-FU], oxaliplatin, irinotecan), rather than FOLFIRI (leucovorin, 5-FU, irinotecan), in the phase III TRIBE trial conducted at 35 Italian...
Waiting a short period of time for laboratory results to better characterize acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and design therapeutic approaches is a reasonable strategy, researchers in Toulouse, France, found after a retrospective review of 599 newly diagnosed AML patients treated by induction...
Regular physical activity has long been associated with decreased risk of disease, including many types of cancer. Such benefits may translate into increased life expectancy of up to 4.5 years, with even the lowest levels of activity providing some survival advantage.1 Most strikingly, however,...
After being diagnosed with stage II invasive ductal carcinoma in my right breast in 2004, I did an Internet search to learn more about my treatment options so I could be prepared when I met with my oncologist to discuss my treatment plan. I was especially interested in therapies that would be...
For more than 2 decades, the guiding principle of the Medical Oncology Association of Southern California (MOASC) has been to ensure the continuation of the private practice of medical oncology and to provide the highest quality care to cancer patients. Founded in 1990, MOASC is the largest...
March Emerging Trends Conference: Reactivation of Hepatitis BMarch 21-22 • Arlington, VirginiaFor more information: www.aasld.org/additionalmeetings/Pages/emergingtrends.aspx 5th Thyroid Neoplasms ConferenceMarch 21-23 • Houston, TexasFor more information: www.mdanderson.org/conferences Community...
Self-identified smokers directly connected to a tobacco cessation quit line are 13 times more likely to enroll in a treatment program as compared to smokers who are handed a quit line referral card and encouraged to call on their own, according to a new study published online in JAMA Internal...
While IBM’s Watson supercomputer may have defeated two former champions on the TV game show Jeopardy! 2 years ago, it is now facing its greatest challenge yet: deciphering huge amounts of scientific data and interpreting clinical information to help oncologists make personalized evidence-based...
People are more optimistic today about their chances of surviving cancer, according to findings from a new international survey commissioned by Lilly Oncology. The phone survey of 4,341 individuals (including people in the general population, cancer survivors, and caregivers) in six countries (the...
The practice of oncology advances incrementally; each step forward, no matter how painfully small at times, leads to the next. The oncology community readily offers tribute to predecessors in the field who took those first steps into the uncharted regions of cancer care, without which today’s...