CancerCare recently announced the launch of a new edition of A Helping Hand: The Resource Guide for People With Cancer, Financial Edition, a reference guide to assist patients with cancer and their families in navigating the financial resources available to them. A Helping Hand is a comprehensive...
Common Name: Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) Brand Names: Omegaven, Max-EPA The use of dietary supplements by patients with cancer has increased significantly over the past 2 decades despite insufficient evidence of safety and effectiveness. Finding reliable sources of information about...
I think one of the most frightening—and embarrassing—things that can happen to an adult is losing control of your bladder and wetting the bed. When that happened to me in the spring of 2012 while I was on a camping trip with my wife Kimberly and our two teenage daughters, I knew something was very...
At a forum convened by Friends of Cancer Research in September 2013, a panel of experts presented five proposals outlining how sponsors and FDA may be able to improve and expedite the process for the codevelopment and review of a companion diagnostic designed for use with a drug that has received...
A companion diagnostic developed for use with a drug that has received Breakthrough Therapy designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) should automatically be eligible for priority review, according to an expert panel that presented this proposal and four others to the FDA in...
The National Institutes of Health has awarded 10 new grants totaling up to $17 million over the next 4 years to support genomics research in Africa, as part of the Human Heredity and Health in Africa (H3Africa) program. This set of grants is the second disbursement of H3Africa awards and brings the ...
The Institute of Medicine has (IOM) presented the 2013 Gustav O. Lienhard Award to Steven A. Schroeder, MD, whose pioneering efforts to control tobacco use have helped save millions from premature, smoking-related deaths. The award also recognizes Dr. Schroeder’s leadership in general medicine as...
The second largest state in the nation (after Alaska), Texas covers a total area of 268,581 square miles and has a diverse population of over 26 million people. In 1987, the Texas Society of Medical Oncology, now the Texas Society of Clinical Oncology (TxSCO), was formed to address the oncology...
Impaired sleep quality is a concerning problem for many patients with cancer, and pharmacologic treatments come with many negative effects. Several small studies indicate that yoga improves persistent fatigue, sleep disturbance, anxiety, and quality of life, in addition to reducing the need for...
It is estimated that 30% to 90% of patients with cancer experience impairment of sleep quality post-treatment, and such impairment can be severe enough to increase morbidity and mortality. Preliminary evidence indicates that yoga may improve sleep in cancer patients. In a study reported in the...
In a study reported in Clinical Cancer Research, Zhang and colleagues used integrated metabolomics and transcriptomics to investigate gene-metabolic networks and identify metabolic pathways that are perturbed in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. A global metabolite profiling analysis was performed ...
The role of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes in glioblastoma has not been fully defined. In a study reported in Clinical Cancer Research, Rutledge and colleagues assessed the association between tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes and molecular alterations, histologies, and survival in glioblastoma. In...
The worldwide data from prospective studies of the relationship between levels of endogenous sex hormones and breast cancer risk in postmenopausal women show multiple and complex relationships.1 Nine prospective studies (different from those reported here) of women not taking exogenous sex hormones ...
A psychiatrist for more than 40 years, Jimmie C. Holland, MD, Attending Psychiatrist and Wayne E. Chapman Chair at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and Professor of Psychiatry, Weill Medical College of Cornell University in New York, is internationally recognized as the founder of the...
Translating basic discoveries into new treatments that tangibly improve human health requires innovative collaborations and resources, as well as a diverse, highly trained workforce. To help meet these needs, the National Institutes of Health recently announced more than $79 million in fiscal year...
As reviewed in this issue of The ASCO Post, Sahgal et al reported a multi-institutional analysis aimed at clarifying the risk of developing either new or progressive vertebral body compression fractures following high-dose spinal stereotactic body radiation therapy. In the period studied, they...
The news that she is both pregnant and has been found to have a potentially lethal malignancy is one of the most emotionally wrenching events any young woman ever faces. Understandably, the patient, her partner, their families, and even their caregivers find this experience fraught with anxiety and ...
Although fewer Medicare patients with cancer died in the hospital in 2010 than in the years 2003–2007, aggressive treatment continues at the end of life, according to a new report from the Dartmouth Atlas Project.1 The findings also show that a significant number of patients were likely to receive...
For clinicians and health service researchers striving to improve care for people living with life-threatening conditions, September was a sobering month. The Dartmouth Atlas group released a brief report on Trends in Cancer Care Near the End of Life1 showing that while the proportion of patients...
ASCO has developed resources to educate and assist oncology practices in transitioning to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) 10th Edition of its International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) coding system. Practices are encouraged to prepare for the transition before the...
The Conquer Cancer Foundation (CCF) Grants and Awards Program has been instrumental in helping launch the careers of hundreds of aspiring cancer researchers around the world over the past 30 years. Since the first grant provided in 1984, Conquer Cancer Foundation–funded scientists have become some...
In collaboration with the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) Foundation’s Choosing Wisely® campaign, ASCO recently released a second “Top Five” opportunities list of common practices or procedures in oncology whose clinical value is not supported by available evidence and if eliminated, can ...
Interim data from a Phase IB trial evaluating the investigational anti-PD-1 immunotherapy, MK-3475, in patients with previously treated non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) were presented recently at the 15th World Conference on Lung Cancer in Sydney, Australia. Edward Garon, MD, Director of Thoracic ...
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 On September 30, 2013, pertuzumab injection (Perjeta)...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is taking two actions to further enhance the agency’s ongoing efforts to prevent and resolve drug shortages. The FDA has released a strategic plan called for in the Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act (FDASIA) of 2012 to improve the...
All medical care should seek to achieve one or more of three goals: to relieve suffering, to prevent future suffering, or to prolong life. Care for cancer is no exception, and minimizing suffering from cancer and prolonging life has primarily resulted from advances in treatment. Although there are...
Oncology and medicine as a whole are likely to benefit from a variety of technologic innovations recently showcased at the third annual The Atlantic Meets the Pacific symposium, according to Peter P. Yu, MD, President-Elect of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, and medical oncologist and...
The Institute of Medicine recently announced 10 foreign associates during its 43rd Annual Meeting. They are: Sir Sabaratnam Arulkumaran, PhD, DSc, FRCS, FRCOG, St. George’s University of London Patrick Couvreur, PhD, PharMD, University of Paris-Sud, France Professor the Lord Darzi of Denham, PC,...
INSIDE THE BLACK BOX is an occasional column providing insight into the FDA and its policies and procedures. In this first installment, FDA Clinical Reviewers Laleh Amiri-Kordestani, MD, and Suparna Wedam, MD, discuss FDA’s recent approval of pertuzumab (Perjeta) for the neoadjuvant treatment of...
In an interview with The ASCO Post following FDA’s recommendation that sales of ponatinib (Iclusig) be suspended, (see here) Brian J. Druker, MD, Director of Oregon Health & Science University Knight Cancer Institute and JELD-WEN Chair of Leukemia Research, had concerns about obtaining the drug ...
Hepatocellular carcinoma is a devastating disease worldwide. Although advances in liver transplantation, surgery, and locoregional therapies have made tumor control or even cure possible for a minority of patients, the majority of patients diagnosed with hepatocellular carcinoma will develop...
Both pemetrexed (Alimta) and gefitinib (Iressa) are standard second-line treatments for advanced nonsquamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in East Asia. In a phase II trial (CTONG 0806) reported at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer’s 15th World Conference on Lung...
Over the past decade, Fadlo R. Khuri, MD, Professor and Roberto C. Goizueta Distinguished Chair of Hematology and Medical Oncology, and Deputy Director of the Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University, Atlanta, has focused his research and clinical career on investigating novel approaches in the ...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has asked the manufacturer of the tyrosine kinase inhibitor ponatinib (Iclusig) to suspend marketing and sales of the drug because of the risk of life-threatening blood clots and severe narrowing of blood vessels. Ariad Pharmaceuticals has agreed to...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today approved hydrocodone bitartrate extended-release capsules (Zohydro ER) for the management of pain severe enough to require daily, around-the-clock, long-term treatment and for which alternative treatment options are inadequate. The drug, a Schedule...
Results from the Costa Rica HPV 16/18 Vaccine Trial indicate that 4-year efficacy against 12-month HPV 16/18 persistent infection was similarly high among women who received one, two, or the recommended three doses of the bivalent HPV16/18 L1 virus-like particle vaccine (Cervarix). The findings...
In general, we have come to think of mismatch repair–deficient colon cancer as having a more favorable prognosis, being less likely to metastasize to regional nodes or distant sites, and being resistant to fluoropyrimidines. Much of our data, however, come from trials combining stage II and III...
The 2013 European Cancer Congress (ECC), held September 27 to October 1 in Amsterdam, was jointly sponsored by the European Society of Medical Oncology, the European Cancer Organization, and the European Society of Radiation Oncology. With the Congress theme being “Reinforcing Multidisciplinarity,” ...
The Institute of Medicine (IOM) recently announced the names of 70 new members and 10 foreign associates during its 43rd Annual Meeting. “It is an honor to welcome our highly distinguished colleagues to the Institute of Medicine,” said IOM President Harvey V. Fineberg. “These individuals have...
Formal discussant of the AURELIA and ICON7 presentations, Rebecca Kristeleit, MD, University College London Hospital, London, said that a consistent message in both trials was the benefit of bevacizumab (Avastin) in high-risk disease. “Angiogenesis seems to be a particular driver of advanced...
The investigational oral vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) inhibitor cediranib extended progression-free survival when given with platinum-based chemotherapy and improved overall survival when given as maintenance therapy in patients with recurrent ovarian cancer. Experts are hopeful that...
Formal discussant Clifford Hudis, MD, ASCO President and Chief of the Breast Cancer Service at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, commented that the findings were not surprising. “The results of TH3RESA nicely reflect the EMILIA trial and are consistent with those of anti-HER2...
Results of the phase III TH3RESA trial show that the antibody-conjugate ado-trastuzumab emtansine (Kadcyla), formerly known as T-DM1, extends progression-free survival in women with advanced HER2-positive breast cancer that progressed on two or more previous HER2-directed therapies including...
Since its introduction, the positron-emission tomography (PET) scan has shown great potential to improve our ability to care for patients with lymphoma. By demonstrating which masses seen on a computed tomography (CT) scan represent viable tumor, and by identifying viable tumor in places that were...
In September, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academies issued its report, Delivering High-Quality Cancer Care: Charting a New Course for a System in Crisis,1 published more than a decade after its first study on the quality of cancer care in the United States. The authors of the...
In the treatment of metastatic or locally advanced unresectable melanoma, the anti–CTLA-4 monoclonal antibody ipilimumab (Yervoy) conveys long-term survival benefits, with some patients alive out to 10 years, according to the largest survival analysis of the immunomodulating agent, presented at the ...
Analysis of data from 58,172 patients identified from Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) registries as having stage I or II endometrial adenocarcinoma found that pelvic radiotherapy and lymphadenectomy were associated with statistically significantly reduced noncancer mortality,...
Only nodal status and tumor size provided statistically significant prognostic information for predicting recurrences 5 to 10 years after diagnosis for postmenopausal women with early estrogen receptor–positive breast cancer enrolled in the monotherapy arms of the ATAC (Arimidex, Tamoxifen, Alone...
The percentage of American adults aged 50 to 75 who are up-to-date with recommended screening for colorectal cancer “increased from 54% in 2002 to 65% in 2010, primarily driven by increased use of colonoscopy,” according to data from the 2012 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey....
I was diagnosed with stage IVB squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue in 2007, when I was just 33 years old, but the cancer had started to show itself long before then. I first noticed a white dot on the left side of my tongue in 2002, and as time went on, the sore became annoying and hurt when it...