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Showing 15451 - 15500Expert Point of View: Axel Grothey, MD
Over the past 10 years, agents targeting the VEGF system, such as bevacizumab, have become standard components of anticancer therapy in various malignancies. Recently, it has become increasingly evident that prolonged duration of anti-VEGF therapy is needed to optimize the therapeutic effect of...
Bevacizumab beyond Progression Prolongs Survival in Metastatic Colorectal Cancer
In a study highlighted at a press briefing during the 2012 ASCO Annual Meeting, German investigators reported that prolonging treatment with bevacizumab (Avastin) beyond disease progression extends overall survival in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer.1 Patients received bevacizumab plus...
ASCO Studies Point to Risks Associated with Treating Childhood Cancers
Risks associated with being a young cancer survivor were emphasized by two studies highlighted in press briefings at the 2012 ASCO Annual Meeting. Investigators from the Children’s Oncology Group (COG) reported that adolescents and young adults treated for high-risk B-precursor acute lymphoblastic ...
Landscape for Treatment of Metastatic Melanoma Is Expanding
Metastatic melanoma was long considered untreatable and incurable. The FDA approval of ipilimumab (Yervoy) and vemurafenib (Zelboraf) ushered in a new era for this disease, and now additional treatment options are in late stages of clinical development. Dabrafenib, a novel oral BRAF inhibitor, and...
Reflections from the Old World
A few years ago, I was a key witness for a patent dispute at a trial in Delaware. Acting for the complainant, I was briefed that the opening gambit of the opposition lawyer would be to discredit my CV and, therefore, the value of my testimony. “So you are a full Professor at the University of...
Three Experts Weigh In on the Health-care Reform Legislation
In light of the Supreme Court ruling, The ASCO Post asked three nationally regarded experts about how the Affordable Care Act will affect the practice of oncology. Ezekiel J. Emanuel, MD, PhD, Professor and Vice Provost for Global Initiatives, University of Pennsylvania: This is an overwhelmingly...
Expert Point of View: PARAMOUNT
Formal discussant Gregory Peter Kalemkerian, MD, of the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, Ann Arbor, questioned whether all patients need maintenance therapy, since some patients on placebo lived as long as those on pemetrexed maintenance, and quality of life, as reported...
Second-line Treatments Tested in Patients with Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer
Results of two late-breaking phase III trials presented at 2012 ASCO Annual Meeting add to the evolving understanding of how best to treat non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The TAILOR trial suggested the benefit of chemotherapy over EGFR-targeted therapy as second-line treatment of patients with...
Conquer Cancer Foundation Honors Oncology Professionals forHigh-quality Research in Breast Cancer
The Conquer Cancer Foundation of ASCO recently announced the recipients of its 2012 Breast Cancer Symposium Merit Awards, which recognize leading oncology professionals for their work in the area of breast cancer research. This year, the Foundation honors 16 individuals for their research in the...
Regorafenib Has ‘Notable Anticancer Activity’ after Patients Develop Resistance to Imatinib and Sunitinib
The orally administered investigational multikinase inhibitor regorafenib demonstrated “notable anticancer activity” in a phase II trial among patients with advanced gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) who developed resistance to imatinib (Gleevec) and sunitinib (Sutent). Researchers reported in...
Children with Favorable-risk Disease and Complete Response to Chemotherapy Have High Survival Rates without Radiotherapy
Among children with favorable-risk Hodgkin lymphoma, those who achieved a complete response after two cycles of chemotherapy and received no radiotherapy had high rates of survival similar to those who had a less complete response to chemotherapy and received radiotherapy, according to a study in...
SIDEBAR: Expect Questions from Your Patients
For now, genomic sequencing seems to have a greater presence in the news than in the clinic. What can physicians tell their patients who ask about genetic testing to identify mutations driving cancer growth? “The real answer is that when you get down to it, genomics is like any other test,”...
Genomics vs Site of Cancer Origin as Basis for Treatment of Cancer Is ‘False Dichotomy’
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. Despite recent news reports...
Living with the Aftermath of Breast Cancer
My battle with breast cancer began 10 years ago, but the aftereffects of the disease and the treatment will be with me for the rest of my life. As a professional woman who has had several diverse careers, including one as a corporate controller and another as an art teacher, I’m driven to want to...
Pertuzumab: New Drug for HER2-positive Metastatic Breast Cancer
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 In June 2012, pertuzumab (Perjeta) was approved for use...
Symposium Focuses on Policy Issues in Personalized Cancer Care
“What is the biggest barrier to progress in personalized medicine?” asked moderator Anna Barker, PhD, leading a panel discussion at a recent meeting convened by the Washington-based advocacy group, the Personalized Medicine Coalition, with the American Association for Cancer Research and Feinstein...
Response Rate Is Significantly Improved with Nab- vs Solvent-based Paclitaxel plus Carboplatin in Advanced NSCLC
Final results of a phase III trial found nanoparticle albumin-bound (nab)-paclitaxel (Abraxane) plus carboplatin as first-line therapy in patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) resulted in a significantly improved overall response rate vs conventional solvent-based paclitaxel...
New Assessment Tools in Development to Guide Care for Older Patients
More than 1,400 people from 62 countries attended the 2012 Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer/International Society of Oral Oncology (MASCC/ISOO) International Symposium on Supportive Care in Cancer, held in New York last June. One of the featured sessions, which was jointly...
A Physician, Who Is Also a Cancer Patient, Talks about Medical Errors
In a whispered but resolute voice, Itzhak Brook, MD, MSc, led off his presentation at the 2012 ASCO Annual Meeting1 by telling the audience his voice is weak because he doesn’t have vocal cords. He spoke with the aid of a tracheoesophageal voice prosthesis. “I have practiced medicine for more than ...
Supportive Care Experts Explore 30 Years of Progress in the Field
Thirty years ago, when the first supportive care meeting as a forerunner of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer (MASCC) Symposium was held in New York, supportive care was largely ignored, with little discussion at major cancer meetings, which focused primarily on...
Older Chemotherapy Studies in Breast Cancer Coming of Age
Results of several long-running chemotherapy trials were reported at the 2012 ASCO Annual Meeting breast cancer oral session, reported in brief here. NSABP B-38 The final analysis of the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP) B-38 trial showed that the addition of gemcitabine...
Taking Family History and Referral to Genetic Counseling Could Be Improved, Survey Finds
Obtaining a thorough family history of cancer should be a key component in evaluating patients and deciding whether to refer those at increased risk of either primary or second cancers for genetic counseling and testing. Many community oncology practices comply with this practice, but there is room ...
Antidepressant Drug Has ‘Clinically Meaningful’ Effect on Chemotherapy-induced Painful Neuropathy
The oral antidepressant duloxetine (Cymbalta) at 60 mg/d improved chemotherapy-induced painful neuropathy in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase III trial.1 Overall, 59% of patients treated with duloxetine experienced some pain relief, 33% reported at least a 30% decrease in pain, ...
Expert Point of View: Eun-Sil Shelley Hwang, MD, MPH
Eun-Sil Shelley Hwang, MD, MPH, of Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, who discussed both papers on ductal carcinoma in situ at the ASCO Annual Meeting, noted that better risk stratification and treatments are substantially changing the outlook for DCIS. “We are getting close to ...
Improving Outcomes and Prediction in Ductal Carcinoma in Situ
Risk stratification and outcomes can be improved for women with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), according to two studies presented at the 2012 ASCO Annual Meeting. RTOG 9804 Findings from the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) 9804 trial suggested that even for DCIS patients whose prognosis...
Trailblazer in Argentinean Oncology Remains Optimistic about War on Cancer
Eduardo Cazap, MD, PhD, is founder and first President of the Latin American and Caribbean Society of Medical Oncology (SLACOM). In 2008, he was elected to a 2-year term as President of the International Union against Cancer (UICC). The ASCO Post recently spoke with Dr. Cazap about his roots in...
Lapatinib Shows Value Similar to Trastuzumab in Neoadjuvant Regimens for Breast Cancer, but with Greater Toxicity
Lapatinib (Tykerb) proved valuable as a component of neoadjuvant chemotherapy for HER2-positive operable breast cancer in the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP) B-41 trial presented at the 2012 ASCO Annual Meeting by Andre Robidoux, MD, of the NSABP and the University of...
ASCO Responds to Supreme Court Ruling on Health-care Law
When the Supreme Court upheld the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act on June 28, ASCO released a statement by ASCO President Sandra M. Swain, MD, Medical Director of the Washington Cancer Institute at MedStar Washington Hospital Center. Critically Important Provisions In the statement, Dr....
Clinicians to Benefit from New JCO Initiatives
Journal of Clinical Oncology (JCO) has recently launched several new features for readers under the direction of Stephen A. Cannistra, MD, who began his tenure as Editor-in-Chief in June 2011. These initiatives include the creation of two new article types: Rapid Communications (RC) and...
Understanding and Managing Pseudoprogression in Glioblastoma Patients
Pearls in Neuro-oncology is guest edited by Tracy Batchelor, MD, Director, Division of Neuro-Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, and Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Boston. The series is intended to provide the practicing oncologist with guidance in managing...
FDA Grants Accelerated Approval to Carfilzomib for Multiple Myeloma
Onyx Pharmaceuticals announced that the FDA has granted accelerated approval to carfilzomib (Kyprolis) for the treatment of patients with multiple myeloma who have received at least two prior therapies, including treatment with bortezomib (Velcade) and an immunomodulatory therapy, and have...
As Conflicting Guidelines Evolve, Experts Continue to Debate the Merits of Cancer Screening
In the 1930s and 1940s, when the American Cancer Society [ACS] first brought forth the message that early cancer detection saves lives, it was a broad brushstroke and an appropriate message. The problem now is that new technology enables us to find [tumors that would never progress to invasive...
Striking Activity Shown for Regorafenib in Advanced GIST
Regorafenib, an orally administered investigational tyrosine kinase inhibitor that has shown activity in chemorefractory metastatic colorectal cancer, markedly delayed disease progression in patients with treatment-refractory metastatic gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) in the phase III GRID...
Differentiated Thyroid Cancer: Who, When, and How to Treat?
Differentiated thyroid cancer—papillary, follicular, and Hürthle cell carcinomas—has historically been managed by endocrinologists, surgeons, and radiation oncologists, but recent progress in the field has led to greater involvement by medical oncologists, especially in the care of patients with...
‘Young and Strong’ Program Addresses Multiple Needs of Women in 40s and Younger Diagnosed with Breast Cancer
“Young and Strong” is an exportable model of a program developed at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston to address the significant challenges facing young women with breast cancer. The new model has been designed to “serve young women with breast cancer who are...
Supportive Care Research Runs the Gamut from Genetic Markers of Treatment Side Effects to Neuropathic Pain Therapies
Attendees from around the world gathered for the Multinational Association for Supportive Care in Cancer/International Society of Oral Oncology (MASCC/ISOO) International Symposium on Supportive Care in Cancer, held June 28–30 in New York. Below are highlights from the meeting, representing...
Expert Point of View: Constantine S. Tam, MBBS, MD
The findings in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) were discussed by Constantine S. Tam, MBBS, MD, of St. Vincent’s Hospital in Melbourne, Australia, who observed, “There is a long list of novel agents in CLL. I think some of the most promising are those targeting the B-cell receptor pathway. This...
FDA Approves Ziv-aflibercept for Metastatic Colorectal Cancer
The FDA has approved ziv-aflibercept (Zaltrap) for use in combination with a FOLFIRI (leucovorin, fluorouracil, irinotecan) chemotherapy regimen to treat adults with colorectal cancer. Ziv-aflibercept is an angiogenesis inhibitor that inhibits the blood supply to tumors. It is intended for patients ...
Maintenance of Certification: One Size Should Not Fit All
After a conference call and having returned several phone calls, I again opened my ASCO Medical Oncology Self Evaluation Program (SEP) book hoping to steal an hour to reread the chapter on multiple myeloma, and begin digging deeper into head and neck cancer. It was March 2011, and my Maintenance of ...
Rethinking the Role of PSA Screening in Public Health
Population screening to identify preclinical disease is considered a central factor in the decades-long decrease in mortality seen in certain cancers. However, hope in the face of deadly disease can sometimes blind us to the scientific evidence. According to the recent U.S. Preventive Services Task ...
Expert Point of View: James O. Armitage, MD
In an accompanying editorial entitled “Who Benefits From Surveillance Imaging?” James O. Armitage, MD, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, noted that data on surveillance imaging (CT or PET/CT) indicate a general absence of survival benefit in adults with lymphomas, while pointing out...
Study Shows Routine CT Surveillance Overused in Pediatric Hodgkin Lymphoma
The value of routine CT surveillance monitoring of pediatric patients for recurrence of Hodgkin lymphoma has been unclear. A study of CT surveillance recently reported by Stephan D. Voss, MD, PhD, and colleagues from the Children’s Oncology Group (COG) in the Journal of Clinical Oncology showed...
SIDEBAR: Dating among Adolescents and Young Adults with Cancer
How do you tell somebody you are dating that you have cancer or that you may not be able to have children? These are among the issues explored in “Dating and Disclosure for the Cancer Patient,” part of a new book, Sexuality and Cancer, scheduled for release in the fall by Springer, New York. “The...
SIDEBAR: Don’t Expect Questions: Be Proactive with Younger Patients
It is unrealistic to expect adolescents and young adults with cancer to initiate questions about disease-related or or treatment-related issues that are troubling them, according to Bradley Zebrack, PhD, MSW, MPH, Associate Professor of Social Work at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor....
Adolescent and Young Adult Patients Report Unmet Needs for Cancer Information and Psychosocial Support Services
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. Psychosocial care needs are not...
Kidney Transplant Recipients Switching to Sirolimus Had Lower Risk of Secondary Squamous Cell Carcinomas
Kidney transplant recipients with at least one previous cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma decreased their risk of developing new cutaneous squamous cell carcinomas by switching from calcineurin inhibitors (cyclosporine or tacrolimus) to sirolimus (Rapamune) in a multicenter phase III study. New...
Taxane-induced Neuropathy Does Not Correlate with Improved Outcomes in Operable Breast Cancer
An analysis of 4,554 patients who received adjuvant weekly paclitaxel and other taxane-based regimens in the E1199 trial “demonstrated that taxane-induced peripheral neuropathy does not correlate with improved outcomes in patients with operable breast cancer,” investigators reported in the Journal...
It’s Time to Get Ready for New Medicare Reporting Requirements
As if you didn’t already have enough to worry about, now add this: If your practice doesn’t meet the requirements of the Physicians Quality Reporting System (PQRS) and Electronic Prescribing (eRx) Incentive, you don’t just miss out on the bonuses the programs offered as incentive in recent years....
ASCO Expert Panel Concludes Evidence Supports Physician Discussion of PSA Testing for Men with Longer Life Expectancies
ASCO has issued a new evidence-based provisional clinical opinion (PCO) on the use of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing for prostate cancer screening. To facilitate informed decisions, ASCO also released a new, detailed decision aid to help men and their physicians understand the risks and...
The 2013 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium Will Observe the Meeting’s 10-Year Anniversary
A decade after its start in 2003 with a few hundred attendees, the Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium now boasts more than 3,000 participants from all over the world. The next implementation marks the meeting’s 10th anniversary. The 3-day meeting—to be held January 24–26 in San Francisco—is...
