In an analysis from the COVID-19 Impact Survey reported in JCO Oncology Practice, Islam et al found that U.S. adult cancer survivors were more likely to report mental health–related symptoms vs adults without cancer during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Study Details Data for the analysis ...
In a single-institution study reported in JCO Oncology Practice, Larbi et al found that a high proportion of patients with cancer and their caregivers were unfamiliar with available complementary and integrative medicine services. The primary barriers to accessing complementary and integrative...
In November, ASCO announced that Julie R. Gralow, MD, FACP, FASCO, will succeed Richard L. Schilsky, MD, FACP, FSCT, FASCO, as Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of the Society. Dr. Gralow will begin her new position on February 15, 2021. Dr. Gralow’s long relationship with ASCO dates back to 1995, when...
Stephen A. Cannistra, MD, FASCO, was among the first scientists to define the mechanisms by which ovarian cancer cells spread throughout the peritoneal cavity. His work further defined the role of apoptosis in mediating chemotherapy-induced killing of ovarian cancer cells, as well as the...
ASCO has elected Eric P. Winer, MD, FASCO, a long-time member and volunteer, to serve as President for the term beginning in June 2022. He will take office as President-Elect during the ASCO Annual Meeting in June 2021. Five new members were also elected to the ASCO Board of Directors and the...
In an Italian single-institution study reported in JCO Oncology Practice, Merz et al evaluated the use of electronic medical record–assisted telephone follow-up (E-TFU) of breast cancer survivors to minimize hospital exposure over a 3-month period during the COVID-19 pandemic. The strategy was...
In a study reported in JCO Oncology Practice, Wu et al found that almost two-thirds of patients undergoing active cancer management who were diagnosed with COVID-19 over a 4-month period in 2020 had significant delays in planned management. Study Details The retrospective study involved data on...
In a single-institution study reported in JCO Oncology Practice, Shah and Neal found that only a small proportion of unplanned hospital encounters were related to anticancer therapy among patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), with almost one-quarter of such encounters being considered...
New recommendations aimed at advancing the status of global oncology as an academic discipline were published in November as a special article in JCO Global Oncology.1 The field of global oncology is important. According to the World Health Organization,2 cancer is the second-leading cause of death ...
In a single-institution study reported in JCO Oncology Practice, Bernardo H.L. Goulart, MD, and colleagues found that higher out-of-pocket costs for tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) were associated with reduced adherence to and increased discontinuation of TKI therapy—as well as poorer overall...
ASCO has elected Eric P. Winer, MD, FASCO, a longtime member and volunteer, to serve as its President for the term beginning in June 2022. He will take office as President-Elect during the ASCO Annual Meeting in June 2021. Five new members were also elected to the ASCO Board of Directors and the...
In a single-institution study reported in JCO Oncology Practice, Nadler et al describe the development of an intervention at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Toronto, that succeeded in increasing referrals of patients with gastrointestinal cancer to a cancer rehabilitation program. As stated by the ...
In a study of data from a Medicare fee-for-service population reported in JCO Clinical Cancer Informatics, Debra Patt, MD, PhD, MBA, and colleagues found that the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a “substantial decrease in cancer screenings, visits, therapy, and surgeries among older patients with ...
In a study reported in JCO Oncology Practice, Ferrario et al found a sizable increase in end-of-life intensive care unit (ICU) admissions and a small but significant increase in emergency department visits over time among commercially insured women younger than age 65 with metastatic breast cancer...
Oncology providers familiar with ASCO’s guideline on older adults with cancer are two to four times more likely to conduct a geriatric assessment on patients with cancer over the age of 65, according to the first international ASCO survey aimed at determining if and how often cancer providers are...
In a study reported in JCO Oncology Practice, Schad et al found that modifying the prostate cancer clinical pathway in an integrated oncology network to designate moderately hypofractionated external-beam radiotherapy (mHF-EBRT) as the recommended curative EBRT monotherapy in low- and...
In a single-institution study reported in JCO Oncology Practice, Smith Giri, MD, MHS, and colleagues found that 27% of patients with cancer aged 60 or older reported financial distress in response to a query prior to starting systemic therapy. Numerous demographic and geriatric assessment...
In a study reported in JCO Oncology Practice, Anand P. Jillella, MD, and colleagues found that physician education on the main causes of death during induction treatment for acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL)—and comanagement of cases with expert physicians—resulted in a low early mortality rate...
As in past years, the results from ASCO’s 2020 National Cancer Opinions Survey showed a startling dichotomy in the perceptions of Americans on a variety of health-care issues. As expected, the two major events this year, the COVID-19 pandemic and a national reckoning over racial injustice,...
Jame Abraham, MD, FACP, has been named Deputy Editor of ASCO’s JCO Oncology Practice (JCO OP). Dr. Abraham is Chairman of the Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology at Cleveland Clinic and Professor of Medicine at Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine. The mission of JCO OP, now in...
In a retrospective analysis reported in JCO Oncology Practice, Durani et al found that use of surveillance imaging in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) decreased following publication of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) Choosing Wisely recommendations to limit such imaging ...
A new study finds that the racial composition of clinical trials involving radiation therapy does not match that of the U.S. population. Examining trials from the past 23 years, researchers found that roughly 12% of trial participants were Black, which is less than the 13% population composition of ...
In a National Cancer Database analysis reported in JCO Oncology Practice, Champion et al identified patterns in disease characteristics, time to surgery, and overall survival among Hispanic patients of different races and among Hispanic and non-Hispanic women of the same race. Study Details The...
In an observational cohort study reported in JCO Oncology Practice, Powell et al found that the use of whole-breast hypofractionated radiotherapy increased among patients with breast cancer with health insurance plans from one national health-care organization after the implementation of a virtual...
The increasing incidence rates of skin cancer in the United States are staggering. It is the most common cancer diagnosed in the country, and current estimates show that about 9,500 Americans are diagnosed with skin cancer every day. Over the course of a year, more than 3 million people are...
ASCO called for new actions to reduce disparities in cancer outcomes affecting racial and ethnic minorities, rural populations, sexual and gender minorities, people without insurance, and other disadvantaged populations. In a policy statement published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology (JCO),...
The well-loved Art of Oncology section of the Journal of Clinical Oncology (JCO) and its pioneering podcast are both resonating as never before, as cancer specialists are prompted into deeper reflections about the poignant moments that give life meaning by the COVID-19 pandemic. JCO’s Art of...
Global oncology refers to the application of the concepts of global health to cancer and implies an approach to the practice of oncology that acknowledges the reality of limited resources in parts of the world. The Global Oncology Young Investigator Award (YIA) from ASCO and Conquer Cancer, the...
In a study reported in JCO Oncology Practice, Ziakas et al found that Medicare Part D spending on oncology drugs increased markedly between 2013 and 2017, with spending increasing at a rate markedly greater than that attributed to all other medical care providers. Study Details Medicare Part D...
JCO Oncology Practice has published an article on rural cancer care as part of the State of Cancer Care in America series. “Closing the Rural Cancer Care Gap: Three Institutional Approaches” draws from data presented during the second State of Cancer Care in America live event as well as supporting ...
“In line with the emergence of targeted therapies, molecular biomarker testing in metastatic colorectal cancer has evolved over the past decade,” noted Jeanne Tie, MD, MBChB, FRACP, who acknowledged there is confusion about the best ways to use molecular testing in the clinic. Dr. Tie, who is...
Research published by London et al in JCO Clinical Cancer Informatics found significant decreases nationwide in the number of patients seen for cancer-related care as the COVID-19 pandemic progressed during the first few months of 2020. The most significant decline was seen in encounters related to ...
Jonathan W. Friedberg, MD, MMSc, has been appointed as the next Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Clinical Oncology (JCO), the flagship journal of ASCO. JCO publishes cutting-edge research on the diagnosis and treatment of patients with cancer and is one of the most highly cited oncology journals...
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,...
In a study reported in JCO Oncology Practice, Stephanie L. Graff, MD, and colleagues found that patients with breast cancer seen by a physician with training in using an established pathway for genetic counseling and testing referral were more frequently referred for such services vs patients seen...
In an Australian study reported in JCO Oncology Practice, Piercey et al found that routine blood tests have little utility in detecting relapse or progression of disease during active surveillance of patients with indolent non-Hodgkin lymphoma. As stated by the investigators, “Patients with...
In a single-institution study reported in JCO Oncology Practice, Watson et al found that screening for and treating detected dental infections prior to initiation of induction chemotherapy for patients with newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia (AML) were associated with a significant reduction in ...
In a single-institution study reported in JCO Oncology Practice, Kouzy et al found that gastrointestinal (GI)-related patient-reported outcomes among those receiving chemoradiation for anal cancer improved vs baseline at 1 week after treatment initiation, were worse vs baseline at 5 weeks, but did...
Although the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) has recommended extended-fraction radiation therapy (more than 10 fractions) not be routinely used for palliation of bone metastases,1 a recently published retrospective cohort study using Medicare data for more than 12,000 patients found ...
An analysis of radiation therapy patterns among more than 12,000 Medicare patients treated for bone metastases found that 23.4% received extended-fraction radiation therapy, “wasting both health-care dollars and precious patient time,” according to the investigators.1 One-third of the treating...
A new infographic in the May 2020 print and online issues of JCO Oncology Practice (JCO OP) outlines paths to implementing ASCO’s Patient-Centered Oncology Payment (PCOP) model—an alternative payment model designed to support transformation in cancer care delivery and reimbursement while ensuring...
In an article published in JCO Oncology Practice, David Waterhouse, MD, MPH, of Oncology Hematology Care, Cincinnati, Ohio, and colleagues presented the results of a recent ASCO survey of clinical programs on the early impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the performance of oncology clinical...
The global toll of breast cancer on women is staggering. In 2018, nearly two million new breast cancer cases were diagnosed, an increase of more than 20% since 2008,1 and mortality rates have increased by 14%, bringing the annual number of deaths worldwide from the cancer to more than 611,625.2...
In a study reported in JCO Oncology Practice, Emily H. Castellanos, MD, MPH, and colleagues found that the requirement for Medicare Oncology Care Model (OCM) practices to report biomarker testing of patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has not substantially altered the...
An article recently published in JCO Oncology Practice (JCO OP) written by the ASCO Ethics Committee focused on the causes of burnout in oncology, as well as intervention methods. The article provides recommendations for individuals, organizations, and the Society to address burnout and ensure...
In a retrospective analysis reported in JCO Oncology Practice, Grover et al found that enterocolitis flares occurred in approximately one-quarter of patients with preexisting inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) or microscopic colitis who received immune checkpoint inhibitors for the treatment of solid ...
Over the years I have become increasingly proud of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. I believe that ASCO is unique among specialty societies—at least in the various disciplines of oncology and hematology. Our Society is amazingly democratic (ie, with an independent nominating process and...
It has been 5 years since ASCO has been part of a new publication, the last being the Journal of Oncology Practice (JOP). As the ASCO Board and leadership evaluated the publication mix we recognized there was a gap that needed to be filled. The Journal of Clinical Oncology (JCO), now 25 years old, ...
In a single-institution study reported in JCO Oncology Practice, Goyal et al found that use of the Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale (ESAS) self-assessment tool during weekly on-treatment physician visits was associated with reduced symptom severity vs routine symptom management in patients...
Recently, an article and accompanying infographic published in JCO Oncology Practice examined the impact pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) have on cancer care delivery. The article is part of ASCO’s State of Cancer Care in America series, which explores challenges and opportunities in today’s...