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Showing 2051 - 2100Feminist Author Babette Rosmond Helped Propel the Adoption of Patients’ Rights to Choose Their Cancer Treatment
Then writer and editor Babette Rosmond was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1971, the second wave of the Women’s Liberation Movement that began in the mid-1960s was in its infancy. Still, when told by her doctor that she would need a radical mastectomy—a procedure developed by William Stewart...
SIDEBAR: Don’t Expect Direct Questions from Patients about Pain
Just asking patients “Is there something else you want to address in the visit,” rather than “Is there anything else you want to address in the visit today,” dramatically reduced patients’ unmet concerns during a primary care visit, according to a 2007 study.1 That learning can be applied to...
Pain Remains Prevalent among Oncology Outpatients, with Odds of Undertreatment Twice as High among Minority Patients
In 1994, a landmark study of pain among oncology outpatients prompted a host of pain management initiatives.1 More than 18 years later, a recent study among more than 2,000 cancer outpatients has found that “one-third of the patients who had pain or used analgesics received inadequate treatment for ...
Vismodegib: Novel Agent for Treating Advanced Basal Cell Carcinoma
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 In January 2012, vismodegib (Erivedge) was approved...
One Year of Trastuzumab Remains the Standard of Care in HER2-positive Breast Cancer
For HER2-positive early breast cancer, 1 year of treatment with trastuzumab (Herceptin)—rather than 6 months or 2 years—remains the standard of care, based on two pivotal studies presented at the 2012 European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress. The optimal duration of anti-HER2 adjuvant ...
Ignoring Level 1 Evidence in Invasive Bladder Cancer: Is Ignorance Bliss?
I’ve been part of the uro-oncology community for more than 30 years and have been proud to be involved in a good number of well-powered, enthusiastically subscribed randomized clinical trials. These have dated back to a time before randomization was necessarily the fashion. I have had the pleasure...
Combination of BRAF and MEK Inhibitors Paves Way for Phase III Studies in BRAF-mutated Metastatic Melanoma
Two late-breaking studies presented at the 2012 European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress highlight the promising potential of combining dual BRAF and MEK inhibitors for the treatment of BRAF-mutated metastatic melanoma. A phase II study showed that combining full doses of the BRAF...
2012-2013 Oncology Meetings
November 2012 AACR-NCI-EORTC Molecular Targets and Cancer TherapeuticsNovember 12-16 • San Francisco, California For more information: www.aacr.org Connective Tissue Oncology Society 17th Annual MeetingNovember 14-17 • Prague, Czech Republic For more information: www.ctos.org Controversies in the...
Media Campaign with Real Smokers a Success
Real smokers sharing in graphic terms what it is like to live with disfiguring or disabling tobacco-related diseases were the featured spokespersons for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) national media campaign to encourage smokers to quit. Based on short-term response, the CDC...
Strong Association Increasingly Recognized Between Obesity and Cancer Incidence/Poor Prognosis
The rise in obesity in the United States coincides with greater recognition of the role of obesity in cancer and other diseases.1 While decades of research have indicated a strong association between obesity and cancer, “several forces have made that association increasingly recognized,” according...
Conquer Cancer Foundation of ASCO Honors Researchers for Work in Measuring and Improving Quality of Cancer Care
The Conquer Cancer Foundation of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) recently announced the first-ever recipients of its Quality Care Symposium Merit Awards. This year’s recipients will be recognized at ASCO’s inaugural Quality Care Symposium, taking place November 30 and December 1 in ...
Dong Quai
Scientific Name: Angelica sinensis Common Names: Chinese angelica, dang gui, tang kuei, tan kue Overview Dong quai is a perennial herb indigenous to China, Japan, and Korea. Its root has been used for centuries as a spice, tonic, and medicine. Dong quai is mentioned in Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing, the...
Ruxolitinib: Novel Drug for Myelofibrosis
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 In November 2011, ruxolitinib (Jakafi) was approved for...
Intermittent Androgen Suppression in Prostate Cancer Noninferior to Continuous Suppression, Associated with Some QOL Benefit
A recently reported National Cancer Institute of Canada (NCIC) Clinical Trials Group study, reported by Crook and colleagues in The New England Journal of Medicine, showed that intermittent androgen suppression was associated with noninferior overall survival when compared with continuous...
Expert Point of View: Fausto Roila, MD
Thromboprophylaxis for patients with a central venous catheter is at present not recommended by the international oncologic associations. This is based on the results of four recent randomized controlled trials, three of them double-blind, in which there was no statistically significant difference...
Trastuzumab Emtansine Improves Survival vs Capecitabine plus Lapatinib in Second-line HER2-positive Breast Cancer
Trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1) is an antibody-drug conjugate composed of trastuzumab bound to the cytotoxic microtubule inhibitor emtansine (DM1, derivative of maytansine) by a stable linker. Trastuzumab targets the conjugate to HER2 receptors, and the linker releases the cytotoxic agent when the...
SIDEBAR: Mammography Study Stokes Overdiagnosis Debate
Overdiagnosis and the harms associated with unnecessary procedures is becoming a vibrant subject in today’s health-care dialogue, with serious implications for providers and patients alike. A new study from the Norwegian Screening Program concluded that 15% to 25% of breast cancers identified on...
Who Should Receive First-line BEACOPP Therapy for Hodgkin Lymphoma?
At the Pan Pacific Lymphoma Conference, held this year in Maui, Hawaii, Andreas Engert, MD, Chairman of the German Hodgkin Study Group, University Hospital of Cologne, Germany, led off the Hodgkin lymphoma section of the conference with a presentation on optimizing the use of BEACOPP (bleomycin,...
Updated Results from T-DM1 and Regorafenib Trials, plus Other Highlights from ESMO 2012
The 35th European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress in Vienna broke all records for attendance, with about 16,000 attendees from all over the world. Some sessions were standing room only, including the Presidential Symposia, the ESMO-ASCO Joint Symposium on genomics in breast cancer, and ...
Oncology Meetings
January 2013 3rd International Conference on Medical, Biological and Pharmaceutical SciencesJanuary 4-5 • Bali, Indonesia For more information: www.psrcentre.org Breast-Gynecological International Cancer CongressJanuary 17-18 • Cairo, Egypt For more information: www.bgicc.eg.net/ Highlights of ASH® ...
Acupuncture: Does It Alleviate Symptoms Associated with Cancer Care?
A therapeutic modality of traditional Chinese medicine, acupuncture has been extensively investigated in Western medical settings. Its clinical use is increasingly common for the management of pain and other conditions. In the oncology setting, research demonstrates that acupuncture can...
The ‘True’ History of the Discovery of Prostate-specific Antigen
I am frequently asked about the “true” history of prostate-specific antigen (PSA). As PSA has become more important, a controversy about its discovery has increased. I lived through much of this history and have known many of the “players.” Here are the relevant facts, as I believe them to be ...
Updates on Ruxolitinib from ASCO and ASH 2012, including Long-term Survival Data
Ruxolitinib (Jakafi), a novel, oral JAK1 and JAK2 inhibitor, was approved by the FDA on November 16, 2011 for patients with intermediate- or high-risk myelofibrosis. The approval was based on its efficacy in reducing spleen size and improving disease-related burdensome symptoms. In the brief In the ...
The Ethics of Rationing Cancer Care
Should cost be a consideration when deciding on treatment for patients with cancer, and if so, what kind of ethical dilemma does that pose for oncologists? With U.S. spending on oncology drugs expected to climb more than 20% annually over the next decade—reaching $173 billion by 2020, according to...
Statin Use Associated with Reduced Cancer-related Mortality in Danish Study
Cancer-related mortality among patients in the Danish population receiving a diagnosis of cancer at age ≥ 40 years between 1995 and 2007 was significantly reduced in those who were receiving statin therapy at the time of diagnosis, according to an analysis reported by Nielsen and colleagues in The...
Radiation Therapy Extends Survival in Elderly Women with Early Breast Cancer
Chronologic age alone should not preclude use of radiation in elderly women with early breast cancer, suggest two studies presented at the 54th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO). Both studies showed a survival improvement in elderly women with early breast cancer ...
Screening for Ovarian Cancer: A Gynecologic Oncologist’s Perspective
The recent U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) Reaffirmation Recommendation Statement concluded that in the population of asymptomatic women without known genetic mutations that increase risk for ovarian cancer, clinicians should not screen for ovarian cancer using transvaginal ultrasound...
Recognizing and Managing Physician Burnout in Oncology
Although job burnout occurs in all professions, it is more common among physicians, according to a study published recently in Archives of Internal Medicine.1 Physicians on the front line of care, such as those working in emergency rooms or in family medicine, experience the highest rates of...
Expert Point of View: Frederick R. Appelbaum, MD
Commenting on the trial of bone marrow vs peripheral blood stem cell transplants, Frederick R. Appelbaum, MD, at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, wrote that the results should change practice. But he added in his editorial, “it will be interesting to see whether it really does.”1...
Bone Marrow Transplants Reduce Risk of Graft-vs-Host Disease Compared to Peripheral Blood
Patients who receive bone marrow transplants are significantly less likely to develop chronic graft-vs-host disease than those who receive peripheral blood stem cell transplants, according to a new, large randomized trial, the first of its kind with unrelated donors. Published recently in The New...
Volume-doubling Time May Help Distinguish Aggressive Cancer from Slow-growing Tumors
Changes in the size of lung tumors over time, as measured by volume-doubling times on low-dose computed tomography, can be used to distinguish aggressive lung cancer from slow-growing or indolent tumors and reduce overdiagnosis that could result in overtreatment and unnecessary morbidity. Results...
Analysis Suggests Screening Mammography Results in Substantial Overdiagnosis with Small Effect on Mortality
An analysis of Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) data from 1976 through 2008 “suggests that whatever the mortality benefit, breast-cancer screening involved a substantial harm of excess detection of additional early-stage cancers that was not matched by a reduction in late-stage...
Screening and Risk-reduction without Testing Positive for BRCA Mutation
Many women who do not test positive for a BRCA mutation undergo additional ovarian cancer screenings and risk-reducing procedures, despite limited data to determine the effectiveness of these interventions among an average-risk population. Results of an analysis of data from 1,077 women who were...
Green Tea
The use of dietary supplements by cancer patients has risen significantly over the past 2 decades 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...
Oncology Meetings
January 2013 Breast-Gynecological International Cancer CongressJanuary 17-18 • Cairo, EgyptFor more information: www.bgicc.eg.net/ Highlights of ASH® San Diego, CA and Toronto, CanadaJanuary 18-19 • San Diego, CA and Toronto, Ontario, CanadaFor more information: www.hematology.org/meetings...
Oncology Meetings
February Highlights of ASH® Miami, FL and San Francisco, CAFebruary 1-2 • Miami, Florida, and San Francisco, CaliforniaFor more information: www.hematology.org/meetings Optimizing Outcomes in Colorectal CancerFebruary 7 • Boston, MassachusettsFor more information: www.omedlive.com Interventional...
Most Patients Do Not Report that Cure Is Highly Unlikely with Chemotherapy for Advanced Cancer
Chemotherapy for metastatic lung or colorectal cancer can provide palliation and modestly prolong life, but is not curative. In a study recently reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Jane C. Weeks, MD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Insitute, and colleagues found that the majority of patients...
ASCO Decision Aids Intersect Evidence-based Guidelines, Productive Patient Communication
Imagine this common clinical scenario: A 64-year-old woman presents with a new abnormality on a mammogram. A core needle biopsy and subsequent partial mastectomy reveal a 1.8-cm invasive ductal carcinoma. Sentinel lymph nodes are negative for cancer. The tumor is moderately differentiated and is...
Turmeric
The use of dietary supplements by cancer patients has risen significantly over the past 2 decades 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...
Treatment of HER2-positive Disease in 2013
From the initial discovery of the HER2 family of receptors in the mid-1980s to the present, a “wealth of riches” has been uncovered in terms of agents that can target pathways relevant to this aggressive breast cancer type, notes Hope S. Rugo, MD, Director of Breast Oncology and Clinical Trials...
Abiraterone in Patients with Metastatic Castration-resistant Prostate Cancer and No Prior Chemotherapy
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 December 10, 2012, abiraterone acetate (Zytiga)...
Abiraterone Benefits Patients with Metastatic Prostate Cancer Who Have Had No Previous Chemotherapy
The androgen biosynthesis inhibitor abiraterone acetate (Zytiga) has been shown to increase radiographic progression-free survival and delay clinical decline and initiation of chemotherapy in a clinical trial in castration-resistant patients with metastatic prostate cancer who have had no prior...
We Need Gemtuzumab Available Again to Treat AML
The word “revival” signifies a renewed use or acceptance after a period of inactivity; similarly, the word “resurrection” refers to the concept of an entity coming back to life after death. In the past year, these terms have been used frequently by us (and others) in articles calling for the return ...
Expert Point of View: Philip Agop Philip, MD and Alan P. Venook, MD
Philip Agop Philip, MD, Head of the Multidisciplinary Team for Gastrointestinal and Neuroendocrine Oncology and Neuroendocrine at Karmanos Cancer Institute at Wayne State University, Detroit, was the formal discussant of the paper at the Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium. He said the positive...
Expert Point of View: David J. Kuter, MD, PhD
David J. Kuter, MD, PhD, Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, and Director of the Center for Hematology at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, commented on the findings for The ASCO Post. “TOPPS is a good attempt to address whether transfusions are helpful as prophylaxis in patients...
Large Epidemiologic Studies Re-examine Hazards of Smoking
“Smokers lose at least one decade of life expectancy, as compared with those who have never smoked,” and the increased risk of death from cigarettes smoking “are now nearly identical for men and women,” according to two separate studies published online by TheNew England Journal of Medicine. One...
Fitness: Can Exercise Lengthen Survival in Patients with Cancer?
Regular physical activity has long been associated with decreased risk of disease, including many types of cancer. Such benefits may translate into increased life expectancy of up to 4.5 years, with even the lowest levels of activity providing some survival advantage.1 Most strikingly, however,...
Study Shows New Approach Connecting Smokers to Quit Lines Increases Smoking Cessation Treatment Enrollment
Self-identified smokers directly connected to a tobacco cessation quit line are 13 times more likely to enroll in a treatment program as compared to smokers who are handed a quit line referral card and encouraged to call on their own, according to a new study published online in JAMA Internal...
Jane Cooke Wright, MD, ASCO Cofounder, Dies at 93
The practice of oncology advances incrementally; each step forward, no matter how painfully small at times, leads to the next. The oncology community readily offers tribute to predecessors in the field who took those first steps into the uncharted regions of cancer care, without which today’s...
Colorectal Cancer: A Decade of Progress
The 2013 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium marked the 10th anniversary of the meeting. Richard M. Goldberg, MD, the Klotz Family Chair in Cancer Research, Professor of Medicine, and James Cancer Hospital Physician-in-Chief at The Ohio State University, looked back over the decade to highlight the...
