Search Results
Your search for ,aLl matches 18304 pages
Showing 16551 - 16600Survival and Bevacizumab in Early Breast Cancer: Time to Reconsider?
In metastatic HER2-negative breast cancer, several trials have shown that the addition of the anti–vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) monoclonal antibody bevacizumab (Avastin) to different chemotherapy regimens significantly improved response rates and progression-free survival by various...
Improved Overall Survival With Neoadjuvant Plus Adjuvant Bevacizumab in Early HER2-Negative Breast Cancer
The phase III National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP) B-40 (NRG Oncology) trial showed that the addition of bevacizumab (Avastin) to docetaxel + anthracycline-based neoadjuvant chemotherapy improved pathologic complete response rate, the primary endpoint, in patients with early...
ASCO Recommendations for Use of White Blood Cell Growth Factors: What Remains the Same and What Has Been Modified
Neutropenic complications remain the main dose-limiting toxicity of cancer chemotherapy treatment and are associated with considerable morbidity, mortality, and costs.1 Although patients who have experienced a prior neutropenic event are at increased risk of subsequent events, several studies have...
The Independent Payment Advisory Board in a Nutshell
The Affordable Care Act established a 15-member Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) to reduce Medicare spending growth using a target system and fast-track legislative approval process. By April 30 of each year, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will project whether Medicare’s...
End-of-Life Clinical Decisions Still Need Conversations About Improving Care
In 2014, the Institute of Medicine report Dying in America: Improving Quality and Honoring Individual Preferences Near the End of Life called for more conversations about improving care for those who are dying. Improving the care of the imminently dying is an important issue in the oncology...
NCCN Unveils Graphic Evidence Blocks to Guide Decision-Making
Treatment decision-making for oncologists and their patients may become simpler through the use of graphic NCCN Evidence Blocks™, which were unveiled at the NCCN 10th Annual Congress: Hematologic Malignancies™ sponsored by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN¨). The first of the NCCN...
National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship Honors Richard Pazdur, MD, and Ellen Goodman
On October 21 in Washington, DC, the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship (NCCS) hosted a reception to honor Richard Pazdur, MD, and Ellen Goodman. NCCS Chief Executive Officer, Shelly Fuld Nasso, welcomed attendees to the special awards reception. NCCS Public Service Leadership Award The...
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Names Manuel Hidalgo, MD, PhD, Clinical Director of the Cancer Center and Chief of Hematology-Oncology
Manuel Hidalgo, MD, PhD, an oncologist whose work in experimental cancer therapy and tumor model development has led to key advances in the treatment of pancreatic cancer, has been named Director of the Leon V. & Marilyn L. Rosenberg Clinical Cancer Center and Chief of the Division of...
Functional Subtyping With 80-Gene Assay Identifies Distinct Triple-Positive Subtypes in Breast Cancer Patients
Molecular categorization of tumors with immunohistochemistry (IHC) and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) has become a critical component in the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer, improving outcomes by assigning the most appropriate therapy to specific tumor pathways. According to a...
Antibody-Drug Conjugate Makes Strong Showing in Small Cell Lung Cancer
The antibody-drug conjugate rovalpituzumab tesirine has shown strong clinical activity as second- and third-line treatment for small cell lung cancer in a phase I/Ib multicenter study,1 especially in the subset with high expression of the delta-like protein 3 (DLL3), which the drug targets. This...
Expert Point of View: Martin Reck, MD, PhD
Martin Reck, MD, PhD, Head of the Department of Thoracic Oncology at the Lung Clinic Grosshansdorf in Germany, discussed the study at the Presidential Session, calling it “very important work.” This study shows that, with more sensitive assays, T790M mutations are much more frequent than previously ...
Combined EGFR and VEGF Inhibition Ameliorates the Impact of the EGFR T790M Mutation in NSCLC
Treatment with erlotinib and bevacizumab (Avastin) may help overcome the poor prognosis associated with T790M mutations present at diagnosis in advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to the results of the phase II BELIEF trial.1 At the 2015 European Cancer Congress, Rolf A. Stahel,...
Expert Point of View: Fabrice André, MD, PhD, and Peter Naredi, MD, PhD
In discussing the findings of this study on genetic sequencing of breast cancer tissue, Fabrice André, MD, PhD, of the Gustave Roussy Institute, in Villejuif, France, questioned whether all the genes that were found to be enriched in the relapsed samples were driving the relapse and whether any...
Primary vs Metastatic Breast Cancer: The Genetic Landscape Varies
Breast tumors that recur appear to have a different genetic profile than those that do not, and they often demonstrate targetable mutations, according to the largest study of genetic sequencing of breast cancer tissue to date.1 This finding was presented at the 2015 European Cancer Congress. “We...
PD-1/PD-L1 Inhibitors Show Promise in Additional Tumor Types
While inhibitors of programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) or its ligand (PD-L1) are becoming established in melanoma, non–small cell lung cancer, and renal cell carcinoma, their efficacy is also being evaluated in numerous other tumor types, with promising results, according to studies presented...
Survival Benefit in Metastatic Melanoma Grows Larger in COMBI-v Update
Combined BRAF and MEK inhibition was superior to BRAF inhibition alone in unresectable metastatic melanoma, according to the updated survival analysis of the large randomized COMBI-v trial.1 These findings were reported at the 2015 European Cancer Congress recently held in Vienna, Austria....
Update on Clinical Trials in Metastatic Prostate Cancer
Despite the proliferation of new drugs to treat prostate cancer, further progress is proving somewhat elusive, according to three trials presented at the 2015 European Cancer Congress. One study had positive results with orteronel maintenance therapy in patients with metastatic castration-resistant ...
Meta-analysis Evaluates Benefit of Docetaxel and Bisphosphonates in Hormone-Sensitive Prostate Cancer
The results of a meta-analysis conducted in the United Kingdom may guide clinicians in the use of docetaxel and bisphosphonates in patients with hormone-sensitive prostate cancer.1 Claire L. Vale, PhD, Senior Research Scientist at the Medical Research Council Clinical Trials Unit at University...
Dexamethasone to Preempt Radiation-Induced Pain
Bone is a common site of metastasis for prostate, breast, and lung cancers, and palliative radiotherapy is often used to treat these metastases. Although it is an effective therapy, severe pain flare following radiation occurs in about one-third of patients. It usually resolves within 10 days, but...
Debate Over Physician-Assisted Suicide Continues, State by State
In 1997, after surviving a storm of high-court legal challenges, Oregon’s Death With Dignity Act went into effect, making Oregon the first American state to legalize physician-assisted suicide. The Supreme Court ruled that there was no right to assisted suicide in the Constitution but implied that...
Is Health Care in the United States a Basic Human Right or an Entitlement?
Mercy Killers is a one-man show that details the consequences of a medical health-care catastrophe (breast cancer) in a family.1 This disturbing fictional account is actually a daily event in cancer centers: losing insurance for technicalities, losing a home because of an inability to pay the...
William Dameshek, MD, Helped Take Hematology From a Minor Medical Discipline to a Major Scientific Field
Although William Dameshek, MD, is renowned for his work in hematology, especially in advancing the understanding of myeloproliferative disorders and their interrelatedness, his early interest in medicine was instead focused on such diverse diseases as hyperthyroidism and typhus fever. Born on May...
Increased Lifetime Risk of Developing Cancer in Patients With HIV
The effectiveness of antiretroviral therapy has enabled patients with HIV to live long enough to have high lifetime risks for several types of cancer. The finding has important clinical implications for cancer screening, as well as primary prevention, according to the results of a study funded by...
Aggressive End-of-Life Care More Frequent Among Black Men With End-Stage Prostate Cancer
A study to examine end-of-life care among black and white patients dying of prostate cancer found that “significant racial disparities in end-of-life care” do exist. “Although diagnostic and therapeutic interventions are less frequent in black patients with end-stage prostate cancer, the rate of...
Updated ACS Breast Cancer Screening Guideline Recognizes Greater Role for Individual’s Values and Preferences
The reactions to the updated breast cancer screening guideline from the American Cancer Society (ACS) have been many, varied, and not consistently favorable but not surprising to Kevin C. Oeffinger, MD, who chaired the ACS panel that issued the guideline. Breast cancer screening “is an area that...
Stepping Back in Medical History: A Groundbreaking Surgeon’s Battle With the Establishment
Bookmark Title: Dr. Mütter’s Marvels: A True Tale of Intrigue and Innovation at the Dawn of Modern MedicineAuthor: Cristin O’Keefe AptowiczPublisher: Gotham BooksPublication date: September 8, 2015Price: $17.00, paperback; 384 pages In the late 1740s, John Wesley—a British evangelist and...
Patient Guides Available Through ASCO University Bookstore
ASCO Answers: Managing the Cost of Cancer Care explains the various costs associated with cancer treatment, including health-care coverage through the Affordable Care Act. It also provides a list of financial resources available to help offset expenses related to care and tips for organizing...
A Selfless Act
The ASCO Post is pleased to reproduce installments of the “Art of Oncology” as published previously in the Journal of Clinical Oncology (JCO). These articles focus on the experience of suffering from cancer or of caring for people diagnosed with cancer, and they include narratives, topical essays,...
Engaging Clinicians in the Collection of Cancer Registry Data to Improve Clinical Research
In June, the Commission on Cancer of the American College of Surgeons published a revision of its Facility Oncology Registry Data Standards (FORDS) manual, which contains all the data items, codes, and rules to abstract data into cancer registries at the more than 1,500 Commission on...
Clinical Trials Actively Recruiting Patients With Hodgkin Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma, and Myeloma
The information contained in this Clinical Trials Resource Guide includes actively recruiting clinical studies for patients with Hodgkin lymphoma, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and myeloma. The trials are investigating combination treatments; modified chemotherapy regimens; autologous hematopoietic cell...
The Importance of Supporting the Role of Women Leaders in Oncology
I am honored to be the 52nd President of ASCO and thrilled to have followed in the steps of six remarkable women to hold this important leadership position in a professional Society that represents nearly 40,000 oncologists around the world caring for people with cancer. My six female predecessors...
ASCO Launches TAPUR to Assess the Off-Label Use of Targeted Therapies for Patients With Advanced Cancers
Two years ago, Richard L. Schilsky, MD, FACP, FASCO, Chief Medical Officer of ASCO, proposed a unique clinical trial concept during an educational session on the challenges of delivering precision medicine services in a community setting at ASCO’s Annual Meeting. The idea was to design a clinical...
Diet and Cancer: How Will We Make Progress?
Not only is breast cancer among the most common cancers in women, but it is also one of the most common causes of premature death. Rates of death from the disease vary widely around the world, reflecting variations in risk, screening, and access to highest quality treatment. Although female gender...
American Board of Internal Medicine Names Richard G. Battaglia, MD, FACP, Chief Medical Officer
The American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) announced that Richard G. Battaglia, MD, FACP, has joined the senior leadership team of the organization and will serve as Chief Medical Officer, leading ABIM’s effort to incorporate feedback from practicing physicians and key stakeholders into...
The X-Ray Era: 1901–1915
A Century of Progress The text and photographs on this page are excerpted from a four-volume series of books titled Oncology Tumors & Treatment: A Photographic History, by Stanley B. Burns, MD, FACS. The photos below are from the volume titled “The X-ray Era: 1901–1915.” To view additional...
Checkmate 057: Nivolumab Improves Survival vs Docetaxel in Advanced Nonsquamous Non–Small Cell Lung Cancer
In the phase III CheckMate 057 trial, reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Hossein Borghaei, DO, of Fox Chase Cancer Center, and colleagues, the programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) inhibitor nivolumab (Opdivo) improved overall survival vs docetaxel in patients with advanced...
Graviola
The use of dietary supplements by patients with cancer has increased significantly over the past 25 years despite insufficient evidence of safety and effectiveness. Finding reliable sources of information about dietary supplements can be daunting. Patients typically rely on family, friends, and the ...
A Shrink Tells the Inside Story of Psychiatry
Bookmark Title: Shrinks: The Untold Story of PsychiatryAuthor: Jeffrey A. Lieberman, MD, with Ogi OgasPublisher: Little, Brown and CompanyPublication date: March 10, 2015Price: $28.00, hardcover; 352 pages Jeffrey A. Lieberman, MD, is the Lawrence C. Kolb Professor and Chairman of Psychiatry at...
Updated Guidelines for Treating Stage IV NSCLC: Trying to Keep Up
In late August 2015, Gregory A. Masters, MD, and colleagues published an update to the ASCO guidelines for systemic therapy for stage IV non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), summarized in this issue of The ASCO Post.1 This builds on the full guidelines published in 20092 and the additional switch...
ASCO Clinical Practice Guideline Update: Systemic Therapy for Stage IV NSCLC
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Gregory A. Masters, MD, and colleagues, ASCO has issued a clinical practice guideline update on systemic therapy for stage IV non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).1 Recommendations are based on an update committee systematic review of randomized...
ACS Breast Cancer Screening Guidelines: Balancing the Benefits and Harms of Mammography
For the past 30 years, mammography screening has been one of the most contentious issues in medicine. Controversy has generally centered on the age at which to begin mammography screening (40 vs 50 years) and also, to a lesser extent, on the age at which it should stop. The recent American Cancer...
Getting the Content and the Message Right in Breast Cancer Screening Guidelines
According to recent national headlines, the American Cancer Society (ACS) now recommends that women at average risk of breast cancer should “screen later and less often.”1 While the new ACS recommendations (summarized in this issue of The ASCO Post) might initially be taken as casting doubt on the...
How QOPI® Is Improving Oncology Care
Launched in 2002 as a pilot program to promote excellence in oncology care, the origins of ASCO’s Quality Oncology Practice Initiative (QOPI®) date as far back as 1997, when the Institute of Medicine (IOM) created a National Cancer Policy Board to assess the state of cancer care in the United...
Support the Conquer Cancer Foundation on Giving Tuesday
Giving Tuesday” is the perfect time to start your holiday giving and take part in a global movement to give back. Giving Tuesday has raised tens of millions of dollars for charities around the world since its start in 2012. Donating to the Conquer Cancer Foundation (CCF) this Giving...
New ASCO Answers Guide to Caregiving
This new ASCO Answers guide helps family caregivers better understand their role in the cancer care team. While there is no one way to be a caregiver, ASCO Answers: Caregiving is designed to help caregivers provide ongoing support as the person with cancer’s needs change. In addition to providing...
Former Conquer Cancer Foundation Grant Recipients Present Research Advances and Share Impact of CCF Grants
Of the $150 million being raised through The Campaign to Conquer Cancer, a planned $56 million will support vital research grants such as the Young Investigator Award (YIA) and Career Development Award (CDA). Over the past 30-plus years, the Conquer Cancer Foundation (CCF) has supported and...
ASCO University® Offers Resources for Palliative and Team-Based Care
ASCO University®, ASCO’s eLearning center, offers an array of courses and programs relevant to palliative care and multidisciplinary team–based cancer care. Below are descriptions of just a few of these offerings. Pain Management Released in March 2015, ASCO University’s “Pain Management Program”...
Applications Open for ASCO’s New Policy Fellowship Program
On October 15, ASCO launched a new fellowship program aimed at providing physicians with the necessary skills to shape cancer policy. ASCO is actively recruiting oncologists in the early phase of their careers that have leadership, civic, policy, or advocacy experience, and a keen interest in...
TAPUR: ASCO’s First Clinical Trial Addresses Critical Gaps in Understanding of and Access to Targeted Therapies
ASCO is preparing to expand the boundaries of precision medicine with the launch of its first clinical trial. At a press briefing during the 2015 ASCO Annual Meeting, the Society formally announced its plans for the Targeted Agent and Profiling Utilization Registry (TAPUR) study. At a time when...
Accelerated Partial-Breast vs Whole-Breast Irradiation After Surgery for Early Breast Cancer
As reported in The Lancet by Vratislav Strnad, MD, of University Hospital Erlangen, Germany, and colleagues, 5-year results of a phase III noninferiority trial showed no difference in local relapse, disease-free survival, or overall survival with adjuvant accelerated partial breast irradiation...
