CITY OF HOPE recently received $7.5 million in grant awards to study the rare blood cancer cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. The National Cancer Institute (NCI) awarded two grants valued at $6.3 million over 5 years to City of Hope’s Steven Rosen, MD, and Christiane Querfeld, MD, PhD, so they can develop...
Despite the increasing public awareness of the danger of the overuse of prescription opioids, drug overdose deaths continue to rise in the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), from 1999 to 2017, nearly 400,000 people died of an overdose involving...
The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) recently awarded Andrew T. Chan, MD, MPH, with the 2019 AACR–Waun Ki Hong Award for Outstanding Achievement in Translational and Clinical Cancer Research during the 2019 AACR Annual Meeting. Dr. Chan is recognized for his work on the molecular...
In this installment of Living a Full Life, guest editor Jame Abraham, MD, FACP, spoke with Otis W. Brawley, MD, MACP, FASCO, a global leader in cancer research and health disparities. Dr. Brawley, who served as Chief Medical and Scientific Officer for the American Cancer Society (ACS) and...
The Global Burden of Disease Study was initiated in 1990, commissioned by the World Bank. At that time, the study was conducted mainly by researchers at Harvard and the World Health Organization (WHO). Since then the study has gone through many iterations to its present structure, which is a...
Teen Cancer America (TCA), the national nonprofit organization founded by rock artists Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend of The Who, recently announced appointments to its newly formed Advisory Council. Based in Los Angeles, TCA develops specialized facilities as well as treatment- and age-specific...
The statistics are alarming: according to the National Cancer Institute (NCI), about 70,000 adolescents and young adults (AYAs) are diagnosed with cancer each year1—a recent report by the University of California put that figure at 87,000.2 Although overall cancer survival rates continue to improve ...
The St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Comprehensive Cancer Center has appointed Charles G. Mullighan, MBBS (Hons), MSc, MD, as its new Deputy Director. In this new position, Dr. Mullighan will help guide precision medicine and preclinical strategic research initiatives for the Center, which is...
The Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center–Jefferson Health (SKCC) recently welcomed Anjali Mishra, PhD, and Nitin Chakravarti, PhD, to its team of researchers focused on hematologic cancers. Both Drs. Mishra and Chakravarti are Assistant Professors in the Department of Medical Oncology. Dr. Mishra is a...
Immunotherapies are radically changing outcomes, but while helping patients, they are creating complexities surrounding their cost. At the 2019 Annual Conference of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®), a roundtable of experts, including clinicians and payers, discussed how chimeric...
Baylor Scott & White Health, the largest not-for-profit health-care system in Texas, recently named Ronan Kelly, MBBCh, MD, MBA, Chief of Oncology for the organization’s North Texas medical centers. Dr. Kelly’s leadership will span Baylor University Medical Center—the System’s North Texas...
Hematology experts Gareth Morgan, MD, PhD, and Faith Davies, MD, have joined the Center for Blood Cancers at NYU Langone Health’s Perlmutter Cancer Center and will lead its multiple myeloma program. About Dr. Morgan Dr. Morgan, the Center’s Director of Multiple Myeloma Research, previously served...
Over the past year, in recognition of their research and dedication to treating patients with cancer, several physician-scientists from City of Hope received awards, fellowships, and honor society inductions. These recipients listed below are experts in a variety of cancers and treatments, ranging...
Colorectal cancer survivors’ risk for heart attack—five times that of the average person—may be linked to the amount of fat stored within the abdomen and abdominal muscles, not to body mass index (BMI), according to a new study of 2,800 colon cancer survivor health outcomes...
ASCO and the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) hosted a reception on Capitol Hill for Members of Congress and their staff to underscore the two organizations’ shared policy priorities to improve research and cancer care delivery for patients and survivors. During the...
Results from a study published by Cykert et al in The Journal of the National Medical Association show that a pragmatic system-based intervention within cancer treatment centers can nearly eliminate existing disparities in treatment and outcomes for black patients with early-stage...
The TIVO-3 trial was conducted to confirm progression-free survival results from the TIVO-1 trial, which found an improvement in median progression-free survival in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma treated with tivozanib vs sorafenib. Findings from TIVO-3 were presented by Rini et al...
IN A RETROSPECTIVE analysis of median overall survival from the phase III METEOR trial,1 Ignacio Duran, MD, PhD, and colleagues sought to determine whether early tumor shrinkage following therapy with cabozantinib or everolimus could be an early indicator of prognosis for patients with...
“Older and frail adults with cancer are the types of patients we deal with every day,” said Armin Shahrokni, MD, a geriatric oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. “The GO2 study is important, and I suspect it will be practice-changing,” he predicted. Older and frail...
This past year, I have traveled thousands of miles across the United States meeting with ASCO members and their patients, focusing on members who care for patients in particularly challenging settings. While I am not surprised by the extraordinary work our members are doing in every region of the...
For more than 3 decades, Howard A. “Skip” Burris III, MD, FACP, FASCO, has dedicated his medical career to researching the development of chemotherapies for breast cancer, including ado-trastuzumab emtansine, everolimus, and gemcitabine. In addition, he is credited with changing the standard of...
Foundational research recently published by Schrock et al in Annals of Oncology may help patients with microsatellite instability (MSI)-high metastatic colorectal cancer decide whether to choose immunotherapy or chemotherapy as their first treatment option. “Immunotherapy is the new,...
NOT EVERY ONCOLOGIST grows up dreaming of becoming a doctor. In the Your Stories podcast episode “The Forest Ranger in a White Coat,” once-reluctant physician Stuart Spigel, MD, shares how becoming a patient changed his approach to practicing medicine with his son and fellow oncologist David...
THE AMERICAN Association for Cancer Research (AACR) recognized Emil J Freireich, MD, FAACR, with the 2019 AACR Award for Lifetime Achievement in Cancer Research at the opening ceremony of this year’s AACR Annual Meeting. Dr. Freireich was honored for his work in establishing combination...
CLINICAL TRIALS are vital for advancing cancer care for our patients. Each trial represents an unanswered problem for which researchers are committed to solving. Designing, funding, recruiting, and completing a trial are tremendous undertakings for each researcher, physician, patient, and...
Hematologist Francesco Lo Coco, MD, known for his research accomplishments in both acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL), died in Rome on March 3, 2019. He was 63. After graduating from the Medical School in Pisa, he moved to La Sapienza University of Rome in 1981....
Robert O. Hickman, MD, a pediatric nephrologist and inventor of a catheter that revolutionized care for patients with cancer, died on April 4, 2019. He was 92. Dr. Hickman was born on September 27, 1926, in Monticello, Utah. He served in the U.S. Air Force in the mid-1940s and married Lucy Jean...
Sydney Brenner, MSc, MBBCh, DPhil, died on April 6, 2019, at age 92, according to The Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) in Singapore, where Dr. Brenner had served as a Senior Fellow. Dr. Brenner was conferred the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2002 for his pioneering...
Imagine a 70-year-old patient who is scheduled for a pancreaticoduodenectomy. On the morning of surgery, the patient is checked in at the front desk by the “data-entry provider.” The patient is taken to the preoperative area, where the appropriate formalities are completed by multiple “bedside-care ...
Ali McBride, PharmD, MS, BCOP, was named 2019–2020 President of the Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC) during its 45th Annual Meeting & Cancer Center Business Summit on March 22, 2019. Dr. McBride is the Clinical Coordinator of Hematology/Oncology at The University of Arizona...
OneOncology, the national partnership of community oncologists, has announced that Lee Schwartzberg, MD, FACP, has been named Chief Medical Officer. The Chief Medical Officer position provides a link between OneOncology and its physician partners, demonstrating the shared, foundational commitment...
A new study analyzing the entire set of genes and all the proteins produced by colon cancer tissues from patient samples has revealed a more comprehensive view of the tumor, pointing to novel cancer biologic mechanisms and possible new therapeutic strategies. This multidisciplinary and...
In light of the launch of his campaign for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, former Vice President Joe Biden and Dr. Jill Biden announced that they are stepping down as Co-Chairs of the Biden Cancer Initiative. They are also resigning from the Board of Directors. “[W]e are glad...
ASCO and ASCO’s Conquer Cancer Foundation are proud to recognize the winners of ASCO’s Special Awards and Conquer Cancer’s Women Who Conquer Cancer Mentorship Awards and Tribute Award. The recipients of these awards have worked to transform cancer care around the world. Don’t miss the opportunity...
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center has named Giulio Draetta, MD, PhD, as Chief Scientific Officer, a new position that champions innovation, develops strong partnerships, and provides focused leadership on the science and clinical translation of research programs. Dr. Draetta joined ...
Rafael Fonseca, MD, the Getz Family Professor of Cancer and Chair of the Department of Medicine, Mayo Clinic in Arizona and an expert in minimal residual disease (MRD) in myeloma, commented on the PRIMeR study for The ASCO Post. The PRIMeR subanalysis of the STaMINA trial showed the prognostic...
Ryan C. Fields, MD, has been named Chief of the Section of Surgical Oncology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Dr. Fields, who joined the faculty in 2011, is also Associate Professor of Surgery, Associate Program Director of the General Surgery Residency Program, and...
SCREENING FOR LUNG CANCER among high-risk groups deserves the attention that Steven E. Vogl, MD, brought to it in his column At Microphone 1 in the February 10 issue of The ASCO Post. Subspecialist oncologists are not always attuned to the needs of their patients outside of their own specialty.1...
The ASCO Post is pleased to reproduce installments of the Art of Oncology as published previously in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. These articles focus on the experience of suffering from cancer or of caring for people diagnosed with cancer, and they include narratives, topical essays,...
EACH YEAR, City of Hope recognizes several oncologists for their research contributions. Recently, City of Hope named Alexandra Levine, MD, MACP, and Dan Raz, MD, MAS, as award winners. Margaret L. Kripke Legend Award DR. LEVINE, Professor in the Department of Hematology & Hematopoietic Cell...
IN SPITE of the high response rates and lack of progression to active disease with the regimens described at the 2018 American Society of Hematology Meeting & Exposition, several myeloma experts interviewed by The ASCO Post said the data do not yet move them to routinely intervene in high-risk...
A PERSONALIZED risk-prediction model for myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) has been developed through the use of a machine-learning approach that analyzes genomic and clinical data for an individual patient. According to lead investigator Aziz Nazha, MD, of the Cleveland Clinic, the model provides...
Nationally regarded palliative care expert Janet L. Abrahm, MD, was born and reared in San Francisco. Her father was a solo practitioner who saw medicine as a great profession. “My father would come home from his office for dinner and when he finished, he’d do house calls, often bringing us with...
In this installment of Living a Full Life, guest editor Jame Abraham, MD, FACP, interviewed multiple myeloma pioneer Robert A. Kyle, MD, whose groundbreaking work has changed the practice of hematology. Among his many honors are the David A. Karnofsky Memorial Award from ASCO and the Wallace H....
Carson Leslie was a kind, popular, lively teen who loved sports and spending time with his family and friends. He was a devoted student at The Covenant School of Dallas, where he was quarterback on the school’s football team, and he was an active member of Grace Bible Church. He shared a special...
THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION for Cancer Research (AACR) recently recognized Raymond N. DuBois, MD, PhD, FAACR, with the 13th Margaret Foti Award for Leadership and Extraordinary Achievements in Cancer Research during the 2019 AACR Annual Meeting in Atlanta. Dr. DuBois is Dean of the College of...
THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION for Cancer Research (AACR) recently honored Charles L. Sawyers, MD, FAACR, with the AACR Princess Takamatsu Memorial Lectureship at the 2019 AACR Annual Meeting in Atlanta. The AACR Princess Takamatsu Memorial Lectureship, now in its 13th year, is awarded to a scientist...
WARNER K. HUH, MD, began his 1-year term as the 51st President of the Society of Gynecologic Oncology (SGO) at the conclusion of the Society’s 50th Annual Meeting on Women’s Cancer. Dr. Huh will preside over the 2020 SGO Annual Meeting on Women’s Cancer scheduled for March 28–31, 2020, in Toronto. ...
THE PEZCOLLER FOUNDATION–AMERICAN ASSOCIATION for Cancer Research (AACR) International Award for Extraordinary Achievement in Cancer Research was recently presented to Alberto Mantovani, MD, Professor of Experimental Medicine and Pathophysiology at Humanitas University in Milan, Italy, at the 2019...
The early debate over the social and ethical implications of gene therapy led the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to establish the Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee in 1974. However, the risks of human gene therapies were largely unknown until 1999, when a patient died of a massive immune...