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Showing 1701 - 1750An Early Calling to Medicine That Never Wavered: ASCO President Peter P. Yu, MD
The road leading to a career in medicine is often a stepwise journey of multiple decision points and influences. However, sometimes the decision to become a doctor is hardwired from birth. Such was the case with 2014-2015 ASCO President Peter P. Yu, MD. Since his days in nursery school, Dr. Yu...
Remembering Selma Ruth Schimmel
My last conversation with Selma Schimmel was 2 months ago. She had been uncharacteristically out of touch for a few weeks, and I had a nagging feeling the severe pain in her psoas muscle caused by advancing ovarian cancer—which had plagued her for months and she described as in a “league of its...
A Proposal for Patient-Selected Controlled Trials: Good Science and Good Medicine
The Clinical Trials and Translational Research Advisory Committee (CTAC) of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) met for the 22nd time on March 12, 2014, in their ongoing effort to improve efficiency and effectiveness of cancer clinical trials. A significant portion of the meeting addressed lagging...
Margin Reassessment in Breast-Conservation Therapy
Significant progress has been made in local-regional and systemic treatments of breast cancer. Most patients currently diagnosed with breast cancer in the United States are diagnosed with early-stage disease and achieve excellent outcomes with breast-conservation therapy. Indeed, outcomes have...
NCCN Roundtable: When a Parent Has Cancer
Attendees at this year’s annual conference of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) not only got up to date on the Guidelines but left with a better understanding of how children deal with a parent’s cancer, and how oncology providers can best help. Panelists for the NCCN roundtable...
'Small Practices Like Mine'
Recently, I participated in ASCO’s Congressional news briefing in Washington, DC, following the release of its report, The State of Cancer Care in America: 2014. During my presentation I talked about the workforce shortage of approximately 1,500 medical oncologists that is predicted by 2025. A...
Cancer Care Under the Affordable Care Act
The problematic rollout of the Affordable Care Act’s website, HealthCare.gov, made good political theater, but while much of the heated discussion centered on the plan’s need to enroll “young invincibles,” America’s cancer care system and the older patients it serves were also affected by parts of...
Marie-Josée and Henry R. Kravis Foundation Provides $100 Million Gift to Support Precision Oncology Work at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center has launched an initiative to improve cancer care and research through genomic analysis. The new program will reshape clinical trials and speed the translation of novel molecular discoveries into routine clinical practice. The Marie-Josée and Henry R. Kravis...
Conquering Cancer With 2013 Career Development Award Recipient Rebecca A. Gardner, MD
Rebecca A. Gardner, MD is an Assistant Professor at the University of Washington and Attending Physician at Seattle Children’s Hospital. She received a 2013 Conquer Cancer Foundation of ASCO Career Development Award (CDA) for her project “Autologous T cells genetically modified to express a CD19...
Expert Point of View: Sherene Loi, MD PhD
Sherene Loi, MD PhD, Head of the Translational Breast Cancer Genomics Lab at the Peter McCallum Cancer Centre, Victoria, Australia, commented on the N9831 study presentation and referred to her group’s own work on tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes. These investigators have shown a positive association ...
Coping With the Aftermath of Cancer
Even now, 3 years after I was diagnosed with breast cancer, I’m still struggling with how it is possible to have a normal mammogram and 6 months later be confronted with stage II estrogen/progesterone–positive, HER2-positive breast cancer. The news was especially devastating to hear because it...
Discontinuing Statins Near the End of Life Is Safe, Can Reduce Symptom Burden, and Is Generally Acceptable to Patients
Discontinuing statins for patients near the end of life is safe, saves money, spares patients from swallowing yet another pill and from the symptoms associated with statins, and is generally welcomed by patients. That last bit might come as a surprise to some physicians who worry that discontinuing ...
FDA Launches 'OpenFDA' Initiative to Ease Access to Public Health Data
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has launched openFDA, a new initiative designed to make it easier for web developers, researchers, and the public to access large, important public health datasets collected by the Agency. In alignment with the recent Presidential Executive Order on Open...
2001 Young Investigator Award Recipient Pasi Jänne, MD, PhD, Presents Research on Promising New Therapy for Treatment-Resistant NSCLC
At the 2014 ASCO Annual Meeting, Pasi Jänne, MD, PhD, Professor of Medicine at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, presented findings from a phase I study of AZD9291, a new mutant-selective EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor that offers a promising new treatment option for patients ...
Navigating Cancer in the Era of Personalized Medicine: Rev 2014 Explores Emerging Issues, Ideas for Action
Diagnosed with stage IV non–small cell lung cancer in 2011, Stephen Wright turned to patient support groups where he learned about the anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) mutation and a new drug that targeted it, crizotinib (Xalkori). He asked—then insisted—that he be tested for the mutation. He found ...
Concurrent Immunotherapy Pays Off in Advanced Melanoma
In advanced melanoma, two immune checkpoint inhibitors may be better than one, according to the promising outcomes of a study reported at the 2014 ASCO Annual Meeting. Concurrent treatment with the anti–CTLA-4 antibody ipilimumab (Yervoy) and nivolumab, an antibody targeting the programmed death...
International Leader in Urology, Professor John Fitzpatrick, Dies
His life was gentle, and the elements So mixed in him that Nature might stand up And say to all the world, “This was a man!” —William Shakespeare I have too many positive memories of John to regale you with here,” said Roger Kirby, MD, in a tribute to his close friend and colleague, John Michael...
Avoiding Antioxidant-Drug Interactions During Cancer Treatment
Many potential drug-nutrient interactions can affect cancer treatment. It is important to consider these interactions given the significant use of supplements and other self-treatment options during cancer care. Antioxidants account for a large portion of the $32 billion in supplement industry...
Coping With the Aftermath of Cancer
Editor’s note: In the July 10 issue of The ASCO Post, this article by Marie Krejci as told to Jo Cavallo was published; however, the published version was incomplete in that it did not reflect important updates made by Ms. Krejci. We apologize to Ms. Krejci for this error and to our readers for any ...
Do We Need So Much Emphasis on ‘Quality Care’?
Unfortunately, when I see The ASCO Post, my first impression is that you enable a group of researchers (part-time clinicians) to pontificate about their own agendas. The agenda that seems to be missing is the presentation of information that either supports or refutes the freight train of “quality...
Focus on the Ohio Hematology Oncology Society
The Ohio Hematology Oncology Society (OHOS) was formed 2 decades ago to advocate for and provide educational seminars and networking opportunities to hematologists and medical oncologists throughout the states of Ohio and West Virginia. Today, the society is focused on the needs of its nearly 200...
The Road to Progress in Lung Cancer Treatment
Despite promising new agents and therapeutic approaches, 5-year lung cancer survival rates have lagged far behind those of most other malignancies. To shed light on some of the important issues facing lung cancer experts, The ASCO Post recently spoke with internationally recognized lung cancer...
Illumination to Innovation: Transforming Data Into Learning
“Illumination” is a provocative word, evoking as it does the banishment of the darkness of ignorance by the light of new knowledge. Today, we are benefiting from a steady stream of new knowledge about the molecular basis of cancer and the interaction between host and tumor immunology. The concept...
FDA Grants Breakthrough Therapy Designation to Investigational Chimeric Antigen Receptor Therapy for Relapsed/Refractory ALL
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Breakthrough Therapy status to CTL019, an investigational chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) therapy for the treatment of pediatric and adult patients with relapsed/refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). The Breakthrough Therapy filing...
Taking Charge of Your Care
The first sign I had that something might be wrong was an uncontrollable itch all over my body. Although I had never had anything like that before, the problem was easy to initially dismiss. I’m a respiratory therapist and visit patients in their homes daily, so I chalked up the itchiness to an...
Focus on the Florida Society of Clinical Oncology
The Florida Society of Clinical Oncology (FLASCO) was founded in 1977, just 13 years after the founding of ASCO. Today, the Society has had such an impact on the practices of medical, radiation, surgical, gynecologic, and pediatric oncologists throughout the state, membership has risen to over...
Book Excerpt: Family
I've witnessed incredible courage and zest for life among so many patients from so many walks of life—individuals committed to helping others in spite of their own adversity. Forty years ago, when survival for patients with multiple myeloma was a matter of months, I knew that every person I sat...
A Book of Solid Advice and ‘Silver Linings’ for Patients With Breast Cancer
Title: The Silver Lining: A Supportive & Insightful Guide to Breast CancerEditors: Hollye Jacobs, RN, MS, MSWPublishing Platform: CreateSpace Publication information: Simon & Schuster, published March 2014. Available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Indiebound, and other local bookstores....
African Medical Education Is Being Transformed by U.S. Program
Medical education in sub-Saharan Africa is being revitalized and expanded through a U.S.-funded effort that is dramatically increasing enrollment, broadening curricula, upgrading Internet access, and providing cutting-edge skills labs and other technologies. In the first substantial publication by...
Getting Results: How Oncologists and Pathologists Can Work Together to Facilitate Molecular Testing
Advances in molecular testing mean that highly specific information can be detailed about the molecular characteristics of a patient’s tumor, as well as indications of potential responsiveness to targeted therapy. But getting those detailed results from the pathologists can be a challenge to many...
The Evolving Role of Surgery in Germ Cell Tumors
Over the past several decades, the role of postchemotherapy surgery for advanced testicular cancer has evolved with regard to patient selection, surgical planning, lymph node dissection, and surgical technique. To add clarity to this complex clinical setting, The ASCO Post recently spoke with...
Who Will Care for Patients With Cancer?
The workforce numbers show a disturbing trend. According to a recent study by ASCO, by 2025, overall demand for oncology services is projected to grow by 40%, but physician supply is predicted to increase by only 25%, generating a shortage of 2,258 oncologists providing full-time equivalent...
How Pharmaceutical Companies Are Partnering With Patient Advocates to Ensure Access to Oncology Care
Thomas P. Sellers, MPA, has been a tireless advocate for patients’ rights for more than 20 years. A 15-year prostate cancer survivor and only child, Mr. Sellers said it was his mother’s death from lung cancer when she was 51, followed by the death of his father from glioblastoma multiforme that led ...
A New Book Explores an Old Subject: Aging
Title: Lighter as We Go: Virtues, Character Strengths, and AgingAuthors: Mindy Greenstein, PhD, and Jimmie Holland, MDPublisher: Oxford University Press Publication date: September 2014Price: $27.95; Hardcover, 320 pages Death is the universal experience shared by Earth’s 7 billion or so...
Program Offers Unique Intervention for Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia
If Anand P. Jillella, MD, has his way, no future patient with acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) will experience a delay in treatment or lack for an expert consult—and few, if any, will die of this condition. Mortality from APL is much higher than most oncologists think, especially during the first ...
#WeConquerCancer: Creative Fundraisers From Committed Conquerors
Conquer Cancer Foundation donors are a consistently creative bunch when it comes to encouraging others to help conquer cancer: Tyler invited his friends and family to a charity spin class; elementary school students in Malibu, California, sold bracelets in honor of their principal; Steve competed...
Expert Point of View: Richard L. Schilsky, MD
Information on the drivers of cancer care is important in helping to deliver higher-quality and potentially less costly cancer treatments, noted Richard L. Schilsky, MD, ASCO’s Chief Medical Officer, in a commentary accompanying the study by Dotan et al.1 Moreover, practice change can be a complex ...
John H. Saiki, MD, SWOG Investigator, Dies at 77
John “Jack” Harris Saiki, MD, Professor Emeritus at the University of New Mexico Department of Medicine, Hematology/Oncology Division, lived the history of modern day oncology with a career spanning 44 years. In the early days of his career, with the support of a grant from the federally funded New ...
How Evolutionary Game Theory Is Offering Clues to Disrupt Cancer Cell Metabolism
Kenneth J. Pienta, MD, and his colleagues at Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore are using the principles of evolutionary game theory to learn how cancer cells cooperate within a tumor to gather energy and metastasize. Game theory, the mathematic study of strategic decision-making that is commonly...
ASTRO Honors Jasan Zimmerman With 2014 Survivor Circle Award
The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) presented the 2014 Survivor Circle Award to San Francisco Bay Area resident and cancer survivor Jasan Zimmerman during ASTRO’s 56th Annual Meeting held recently in San Francisco. The Survivor Circle Award recognizes a cancer survivor who lives in...
I Work for You
The following essay by James O. Armitage, MD, is excerpted from The Big Casino: America’s Best Cancer Doctors Share Their Most Powerful Stories, which was co-edited by Stan Winokur, MD, and Vincent Coppola and published in May 2014. The book is available on Amazon.com and at thebigcasino.org. The ...
Using Electronic Health Records to Improve Communication With Patients
Clinicians may argue that electronic health records (EHRs) interfere with the patient-physician relationship, and patients may complain about “distracted doctors,” too busy with computer screens to make eye contact, but according to Thomas W. LeBlanc, MD, MA, of Duke University School of Medicine...
Gene Therapy Betters Chemotherapy Tolerance, Effectiveness in Small Glioblastoma Study
Using gene therapy and a combination of chemotherapy drugs, researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center have been able to enhance the tolerance and effectiveness of medications used in treating glioblastoma while also protecting healthy cells from their toxic effects. The report,...
Immunotherapy Research of James P. Allison, PhD, Has Led to a Paradigm Shift in the Treatment of Cancer
James P. Allison, PhD, has been bucking the status quo since he was a teenager growing up in the small agricultural town of Alice, Texas, in the 1950s and 1960s. He first butted heads with authority figures when he was in high school and learned that his biology class had omitted the teaching of...
National Cancer Institute Launches the National Clinical Trials Network to Expedite Scientific Advances
In March, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) transformed its Cooperative Group Program into the National Clinical Trials Network (NCTN). Spurred by recommendations in the Institute of Medicine (IOM) 2010 report, A National Cancer Clinical Trials System for the 21st Century: Reinvigorating the NCI...
Complications No Different Between Open and Robot-Assisted Radical Cystectomy When Open Urinary Diversion Performed
We read the letter to the editor in the July 24, 2014, issue of The New England Journal of Medicine entitled, “A Randomized Trial of Robot-Assisted Laparoscopic Radical Cystectomy,” with great interest.1 Provocative Results In the letter, reviewed in this issue of The ASCO Post, Bochner and...
Patient-Reported Outcomes in Hematology and Oncology Product Development
INSIDE THE BLACK BOX is an occasional column providing insight into the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and its policies and procedures. In this installment, Virginia Kwitkowski, MS, RN, ACNP-BC, and Elektra Papadopoulos, MD, MPH, discuss FDA’s current approach to the review of study...
European Researchers at 13-Year Follow-up: Increased Absolute Benefit of PSA Screening in Prostate Cancer Mortality, but Time for Population-Based Screening Has Not Arrived
The 13-year follow-up of the European Randomized Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer (ERSPC), reported by Fritz H. Schröder, MD, PhD, Professor Emeritus of Urology at Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and colleagues in The Lancet, showed that prostate-specific...
Studies Help Refine Management of Prostate Cancer
Several studies reported at this year’s ASCO Annual Meeting address gray areas in the management of prostate cancer, according to Evan Y. Yu, MD, Associate Professor at the University of Washington and the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance. “In prostate cancer, probably the most excitement has happened...
Overscreening for Prostate, Breast, Colorectal, and Cervical Cancer Can Raise Costs and Harm Patients
Analyses of data from 27,404 people aged 65 and older participating in the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) from 2000 through 2010 suggest that overscreening for prostate, breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer screening “is common in both men and women, which not only increases health care ...
