The University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center has named Alon Weizer, MD, MS, as Medical Director. In this new role Dr. Weizer will be responsible for managing the day-to-day clinical outpatient operations at the Cancer Center. Dr. Weizer is Associate Professor of Urology at the University...
On July 12, 2013, the FDA approved the tyrosine kinase inhibitor afatinib (Gilotrif) for the first-line treatment of patients with metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose tumors express epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) exon 19 deletions or exon 21 (L858R) substitution mutations...
The Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research is a combined research program of the National Marrow Donor Program and the Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. At the forefront of research to increase access to hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and improve outcomes, the ...
For the first time since the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act of 2009 gave the FDA the authority to regulate tobacco products, the agency has authorized the marketing of two new tobacco products and denied the marketing of four others through the substantial equivalence pathway....
Two drugs were recently given Priority Review designation by FDA. Obinutuzumab (GA101) was granted Priority Review for the treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia, based on final stage 1 data from the pivotal CLL11 trial. The FDA confirmed the action date is December 20, 2013. FDA also granted...
Attendees at the ASCO Annual Meeting are faced with a major challenge of trying to attend as many important sessions as they can over a 4-day period. Our challenge is to feature the major news in The ASCO Post. In addition to our regular comprehensive coverage of key presentations, the following...
American Academy of NeurologyAmerican Association for Cancer ResearchAmerican Cancer Society Cancer Action NetworkAmerican Childhood Cancer FoundationAmerican Diabetes AssociationAmerican Epilepsy SocietyAmerican Heart Association/American Stroke AssociationAmerican Lung AssociationAmerican Society ...
ASCO has joined more than 50 other organizations in urging the Administration to issue regulations or guidance before January 2014 to ensure health plans implement an important provision of the Affordable Care Act that would remove a critical obstacle to patients interested in participating in...
The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) recently issued a newly updated clinical practice guideline on pharmacologic prevention interventions for premenopausal and postmenopausal women who are at increased risk for breast cancer. Compared to the previous version of the guideline, this...
Internationally known for her research in the molecular genetics of cancer, Olufunmilayo I. Olopade, MD, FACP, first became interested in oncology during medical school in Nigeria, where she cared for patients with Burkitt’s lymphoma. After moving to Chicago in 1983 to continue her medical...
The 12th International Conference on Malignant Lymphoma was held June 19-22, 2013, in Lugano, Switzerland. Over 3,000 hematologists, clinical oncologists, pathologists, and leading researchers attended the meeting, which featured new research on B-cell malignancies, follicular lymphoma, as well as...
Roche recently announced it has submitted a Premarket Approval (PMA) supplement to the FDA seeking the addition of a cervical cancer primary screening indication for the cobas HPV Test. Approval of the expanded indication would mean the cobas HPV Test could be used as the first-line test rather...
Pharmacyclics, Inc, recently announced that it has submitted a New Drug Application (NDA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the investigational oral Bruton’s tyrosine kinase inhibitor ibrutinib, for two relapsed/refractory B-cell malignancy indications: mantle cell lymphoma (MCL)...
Follicular lymphoma is the second most common subtype of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) in the United States. Of the nearly 70,000 new cases of NHL anticipated in 2013,1 approximately 7,000 to 13,000 (10%–19%) will be follicular lymphoma, by recent estimates.2-5 For many years, the median overall...
Joseph M. Connors, MD, authored a commentary in the June 25 issue of The ASCO Post inspired by a recent New England Journal of Medicine publication on dose-adjusted EPOCH-R chemotherapy (etoposide, prednisone, vincristine, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, and rituximab) for primary mediastinal B-cell ...
My feature interview in the August 15, 2012, issue of The ASCO Post, entitled “Rethinking the Role of PSA Screening in Public Health”1 drew swift reaction from well-known figures in the prostate cancer field. The subsequent Letters to the Editor, three in all, constituted a two-pronged attack. They ...
I am the Outreach Administrator/Newsletter Editor at Support for People with Oral and Head and Neck Cancer (SPOHNC). SPOHNC is a national nonprofit organization involved in the development of support programs. As such, it can have an enormous positive impact on meeting the psychosocial needs of...
Doctors at Cornell University Hospital for Animals in Ithaca, New York, reported what they believe may be the first case of a pig being treated for lymphoma. The animal was described as a 730-pound black-and-white Hampshire pig that was diagnosed with presumptive B-cell lymphoma. The 4-year-old...
An educator and scientist for over 30 years, David Sadava, PhD, became interested in the science of cancer while on sabbatical from Claremont Colleges, where he was teaching courses in molecular biology and biotechnology, and went to the City of Hope Medical Center in Duarte, California, to study...
The University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine has been chosen to guide the Republic of Kazakhstan’s Nazarbayev University as it establishes its own medical school, which aims to educate physician-scientists to become the nation’s next leaders in health care, medical education and biomedical...
An “alarming difference” in survival outcomes between young, non-Hispanic white males and females with primary invasive melanoma (see accompanying article) is one of several skin cancer–related study findings in the news this summer. Other studies have concerned the rising rates of melanoma among...
An “alarming difference” in survival outcomes between young, non-Hispanic white males and females with primary invasive melanoma “highlights the urgent need for both behavioral interventions to promote early detection strategies in young men and further investigation of the biological basis for the ...
The addition of tomosynthesis to standard digital mammography resulted in a 30% reduction in overall recall rates among women being screened for breast cancer, according to a new study published online in Radiology.1 The results demonstrate that digital tomosynthesis is an effective tool in...
Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles, California, recently named Christine R. Carico the 2013 recipient of the Medical Center’s Pauletta and Denzel Washington Family Gifted Scholars Program in Neuroscience award. Ms. Carico will spend the next year researching brain disorders like the one that took the life ...
Looking over his 5 decades in clinical oncology and research, Joseph R. Bertino, MD, says his greatest professional satisfaction comes from seeing his former students and oncology fellows go on to achieve great success in their own medical and research careers. It is a fitting sentiment since Dr....
August Hematology and Medical Oncology Best PracticesAugust 15-22 • Arlington, VirginiaFor more information: www.gwumc.edu/cehp/hemoncbestpractices/ Best of ASCO® Los AngelesAugust 16-17 • Los Angeles, CaliforniaFor more information: boa.asco.org ISEH – Society for Hematology and Stem Cells 42nd...
Benedick Fraass, PhD, FAAPM, FASTRO, FACR, has received the William D. Coolidge Award from the American Association of Physicists in Medicine for his distinguished career achievements in medical physics, including his pioneering work in radiation oncology. “The William D. Coolidge Award credits...
Richard I. Fisher, MD, has been appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia. Dr. Fisher will also hold the title of Cancer Center Director of Fox Chase, serving as the Principal Investigator on the Cancer Center Support Grant from the National Cancer...
The FDA recently issued a warning that acetaminophen has been associated with a risk of rare but serious skin reactions. These skin reactions, known as Stevens-Johnson Syndrome, toxic epidermal necrolysis, and acute generalized exanthematous pustulosis, can be fatal. Serious Adverse Reactions FDA ...
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society recently announced the appointment of Rosemarie Loffredo as its new Chief Administrative Officer and Chief Financial Officer. In this newly created role, Ms. Loffredo will help ensure the Society achieves the goals of its long-range strategic plan. She will lead ...
This October for 3 full days (October 20–22) in Vancouver, Canada, oncologists, scientists, and other oncology health professionals will gather for the Society for Integrative Oncology Annual Meeting. This year’s conference theme is Translational Science in Integrative Oncology: From Bedside, to...
Michael A. Carducci, MD, Professor of Oncology and Urology at the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore was recently selected as Associate Director for Clinical Research. In this role, Dr. Carducci will facilitate clinical research activities as well as oversee...
The National Institutes of Health will fund up to $24 million per year for 4 years to establish six to eight investigator-initiated Big Data to Knowledge Centers of Excellence. The centers will improve the ability of the research community to use increasingly large and complex datasets through the...
The most recent figures from the National Cancer Institute put the number of cancer survivors in the United States at nearly 14 million—by 2022, that number is expected to top 18 million. And for the vast majority of those survivors—more than 80%—returning to work after treatment is a top priority...
David Penson, MD, MPH, Professor of Urologic Surgery, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, has received a $2 million research award from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute to study localized prostate cancer. Dr. Penson is also Director of the Vanderbilt Center for Surgical ...
It is imperative that [Commission on Cancer]-accredited programs adopt a universal definition of distress. We concur with the National Comprehensive Cancer Network definition of distress as an “unpleasant emotional experience of a psychological (cognitive, behavioral, emotional), social, and/or...
In 2015, the American College of Surgeons (ACoS) Commission on Cancer (CoC) will require cancer centers to implement screening programs for psychosocial distress as a new criterion for accreditation. The American Psychosocial Oncology Society (APOS) recently announced recommendations to support a...
Now in its fifth year, the West Virginia Oncology Society (WVOS) is already having a major impact on cancer care in the state. In 2010, a joint initiative to develop a statewide cancer clinical trials network was launched by WVOS and the West Virginia University Cancer Center. With funding support...
A significant proportion of patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) have poor performance status, and optimal clinical management of these patients has not been established. In an attempt to help define optimal chemotherapy in such patients, Mauro Zukin, MD, of Instituto Nacional...
Researchers at the University of Michigan recently reported that young adults with cancer should try to stay occupied with school, work, and other usual activities during the year after their cancer diagnosis to become less vulnerable to post-traumatic stress symptoms. The study was recently...
The past 10 years have seen dramatic advances in cancer care, especially in better screening methods and earlier detection, genomic sequencing, and more effective therapies, which have led to increased survival rates in both childhood and adult cancers. According to the National Cancer Institute...
Actress and lung cancer advocate Valerie Harper and her husband Tony Cacciotti joined other lung cancer advocates and supporters recently at the Lung Cancer Foundation of America’s “Day at the Races” at the Del Mar Race Track in Del Mar, California. Ms. Harper is currently fighting lung cancer that ...
Michael J. Stamos, MD, Orange, California, was elected President of the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons (ASCRS) at the Society’s Annual Meeting in Phoenix, succeeding Alan G. Thorson, MD, Omaha. Dr. Stamos is the John E. Connolly Professor and Chair of the Department of Surgery at the ...
The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) recently announced the appointment of Mitchell R. Stoller as Executive Director of the AACR Foundation for the Prevention and Cure of Cancer. In his role, Mr. Stoller will lead strategy and work closely with the AACR Foundation Board of Trustees...
Recently the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) hosted a congressional briefing to highlight the significance of federally funded biomedical research in improving our understanding of cancer health disparities and developing targeted interventions to eliminate them. Disproportionate...
The Colon Cancer Alliance’s mission is to knock colon cancer out of the top three cancer killers. The group works to promote prevention, fund cutting-edge research and provide the highest quality patient support services. For more information, visit www.ccalliance.org Bowel Cancer UK is a charity...
The Colon Cancer Alliance has partnered with Bowel Cancer UK and the Colon Cancer Prevention Project to launch the international Never Too Young awareness campaign, addressing the rise in young-onset (younger than 50 years) colon cancer diagnoses and mortality rates. This global collaboration comes ...
The overuse of imaging in oncology workup and surveillance is a timely concern, as health-care dollars shrink and the risk for second malignancies becomes clearer. At this year’s ASCO Annual Meeting, several studies showed that although many routine imaging studies may be unnecessary, physicians...
This issue of The ASCO Post summarizes the results of an important study recently published in The New England Journal of Medicine by Yong and colleagues. As outlined, investigators from the National University of Singapore Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine have identified re-expression of SALL4 as a ...
A more precise method for determining bone marrow involvement in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma has been identified by researchers in a study published recently in The Journal of Nuclear Medicine.1 Imaging with 18F–fluorodeoxyglucose positron-emission tomography/computed tomography...