The members of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) have elected Carlos L. Arteaga, MD, as their President-elect for 2013-2014. Dr. Arteaga is Professor of Medicine and Cancer Biology at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine where he holds the Donna S. Hall Chair in Breast Cancer...
Early trial results in single-agent therapy with the oral Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor ibrutinib have produced excellent responses in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Moreover, ibrutinib is extremely well tolerated, allowing patients to remain on trial and receive the...
The RESONATE trial is randomly assigning patients with refractory or relapsed CLL to either ofatumumab (Arzerra) or the investigational oral agent ibrutinib. Ofatumumab is an anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody like rituximab (Rituxan), but is more potent as a single agent. It was approved for refractory ...
When sentinel node biopsy was shown to predict whether early melanoma had spread to regional lymph nodes, it revolutionized care. Before that, dissection of all regional lymph nodes was the norm for most patients. After that, the standard of care became a sentinel node biopsy and then—only if the...
The pages of medical history are dog-eared with breakthroughs that have transformed medicine and saved lives. One of those dog-eared pages belongs to Emil Frei III, MD, known to his colleagues and friends as Tom. In the dawn of oncology, Dr. Frei, along with his associate, Emil Freireich, MD, did...
Scott C. Goodwin, MD, FSIR, an interventional radiologist and Hasso Brothers Professor and Chair of the Department of Radiological Sciences at the University of California, Irvine, assumed office as the 2013–2014 President of the Society of Interventional Radiology (SIR) during the Society’s 38th...
Forty years ago, President Richard Nixon announced a “war on cancer.” Some of that war’s first battles were won in the field of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with two agents, cytarabine and daunorubicin, receiving U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval based on their ability to produce...
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York recently announced the following appointments: Chief of Lymphoma Anas Younes, MD, has been named Chief of the Lymphoma Service in the Division of Hematologic Oncology, Department of Medicine. An internationally recognized medical oncologist with...
May Northern New England Clinical Oncology Society Spring MeetingMay 17 • Manchester, New HampshireFor more information: www.nnecos.org Iowa Oncology Society Spring Membership ConferenceMay 17-18 • West Des Moines, IowaFor more information: www.ios-iowa.com California Breast Cancer Research...
Commenting on this study, Jan A. Burger, MD, PhD, Associate Professor in the Department of Leukemia, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, and first author of one of the ibrutinib studies presented at the 2012 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology, said that...
In the treatment of breast cancer, a wealth of data from prospective clinical trials and meta-analyses has documented the benefits of radiation to prevent local-regional recurrence and improve survival. Accordingly, important quality indicators in breast cancer care include: (1) receipt of...
If sorafenib (Nexavar) and local ablation techniques are both effective in the treatment of metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma, could they deliver an even greater punch when combined? The concurrent use of interventional radiology approaches and sorafenib for metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma is ...
A proposal to examine the cellular journey from normal skin to precancerous lesion to skin cancer earned Kenneth Tsai, MD, PhD, the Sixth Annual Landon Foundation–AACR Innovator Award for Cancer Prevention Research at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting, held recently ...
June Molecular and Translational Oncology WorkshopJune 14-18 • Fort Myers, FloridaFor more information: www.cancereducationconsortium.org/programs_mtow.html 12th International Conference on Malignant LymphomaJune 19-22 • Lugano, SwitzerlandFor more information: www.lymphcon.ch British...
The University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center and the University of New Mexico Cancer Center, Albuquerque, recently announced the recruitment of four cancer physicians and scientists. The UNM Cancer Center is the Official Cancer Center of the State of New Mexico and one of the nation’s 60...
The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) sends signals that thwart the development of tumor-suppressing microRNAs under conditions of hypoxia, an international team led by scientists at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center discovered. The results were reported in an early online...
A new measure of cell heterogeneity within a tumor may predict treatment outcomes of patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. In a recent report,1 investigators at Massachusetts General Hospital and Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary reported how the mutant allele tumor...
Charles M. Balch, MD, FACS, PhD (hc), was born in Milford, Delaware, where his father was a research chemist for DuPont during World War II. “My father was part of the team that developed rayon for parachutes. It was a top priority program because they couldn’t get nylon from the Philippines. After ...
The pages of medical history are dog-eared with breakthroughs that have transformed medicine and saved lives. One of those dog-eared pages belongs to Emil Frei III, MD, known to his colleagues and friends as Tom. In the dawn of oncology, Dr. Frei, along with his associate, Emil Freireich, MD, did...
June 2nd International Breakthrough Breast Cancer Conference– Triple Negative Breast CancerJune 26-28 • London, United KingdomFor more information: www.breakthroughconference.org.uk MASCC/ISOO 2013 International Cancer Care SymposiumJune 27-29 • Berlin, GermanyFor more information: mascc.kenes.com ...
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) recently joined the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston to establish a network of sites for clinical trial testing of innovative blood cancer therapies in community oncology settings across the country. This Blood Cancer Research Partnership (BCRP) will...
Lynn Mara Schuchter, MD, the C. Willard Robinson Professor of Hematology-Oncology and Program Leader of the Melanoma Program at Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, commented at a press briefing that the study “will ultimately be practice-changing.” She noted,...
The American Medical Association (AMA) recently introduced the 21 members of its Board of Trustees for the coming year following elections held during the Annual Meeting of the AMA House of Delegates. The new Chair of the AMA Board of Trustees is David O. Barbe, MD, MHA, a Family Medicine physician ...
July WIN 2013 Symposium: Personalized Cancer Therapy: From Innovation to ImplementationJuly 10-12 • Paris, FranceFor more information: www.winsymposium.org 12th International Congress on the Future of Breast CancerJuly 18-20 • Huntington Beach, CaliforniaFor more information:...
The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) Research Network recently reported the results of an integrated analysis of the genomic features of 373 endometrial carcinomas.1 This report joins previously published results of similar analyses in ovarian, breast, and colorectal cancers, squamous cell carcinoma of...
The search for a biomarker of benefit from mTOR inhibitors in breast cancer fell flat in an exploratory genetic analysis of the BOLERO-2 trial, presented at the 2013 ASCO Annual Meeting by Gabriel N. Hortobagyi, MD, FACP, Professor of Breast Medical Oncology at The University of Texas MD Anderson...
A trio of presentations at the ASCO Annual Meeting focused on two promising investigational drugs for the treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). These two drugs—idelalisib and obinutuzumab—join a list of new approaches showing potential. Idelalisib Alone A phase I dose-ranging study of...
At the 2013 ASCO Annual Meeting, studies evaluating the addition of bevacizumab (Avastin) to standard therapy in newly diagnosed glioblastoma multiforme patients did not meet their primary endpoints. When paired with irinotecan, however, bevacizumab showed activity in MGMT-unmethylated tumors....
Men who have metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer and have used docetaxel reported a higher prevalence and greater severity of pain than docetaxel-naive patients, according to results of an anonymous survey conducted at five comprehensive cancer centers in the Prostate Cancer Clinical...
July 14th International Lung Cancer CongressJuly 25-27 • Huntington Beach, CaliforniaFor more information: www.gotoper.com/conferences Up Close and Personalized: The 2nd International Congress on Personalized MedicineJuly 25-28 • Paris, FranceFor more information: www.upcp.org Multidisciplinary...
Attendees at the ASCO Annual Meeting are faced with a major challenge of trying to attend as many important sessions as they can over a 4-day period. Our challenge is to feature the major news in The ASCO Post. In addition to our regular comprehensive coverage of key presentations, the following...
Long-term follow-up of Cancer and Leukemia Group B (CALGB) trial 9343 confirmed and extended 5-year results that in women age ≥ 70 years with clinical stage I, estrogen receptor (ER)-positive breast cancer treated with lumpectomy followed by tamoxifen, “irradiation adds no significant benefit in...
August Hematology and Medical Oncology Best PracticesAugust 15-22 • Arlington, VirginiaFor more information: www.gwumc.edu/cehp/hemoncbestpractices/ Best of ASCO® Los AngelesAugust 16-17 • Los Angeles, CaliforniaFor more information: boa.asco.org ISEH – Society for Hematology and Stem Cells 42nd...
A cohort study of 2,238 men who were evaluated for infertility at a clinic in Texas from 1989 to 2009 found that those men who had azoospermia, a condition in which no measurable sperm is present, had a 2.2-fold higher cancer risk compared with those who were nonazoospermic. The study was published ...
This issue of The ASCO Post summarizes the results of an important study recently published in The New England Journal of Medicine by Yong and colleagues. As outlined, investigators from the National University of Singapore Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine have identified re-expression of SALL4 as a ...
Ibrutinib is a first-in-class oral covalent inhibitor of Bruton’s tyrosine kinase, a mediator of the B cell-receptor signaling pathway implicated in the pathogenesis of B-cell cancers. As reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Michael L. Wang, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson...
That the United States spends twice as much on health care than other industrialized countries—about $2.8 trillion in 2012—without reaping appreciably better outcomes1 is not news. The topic has been dissected on the front pages of leading newspapers for years and was the subject of the entire...
I’ve been the caretaker for my husband Will since he suffered three strokes in March 2011, followed by a diagnosis of leukemia a few months later. Now, our roles have reversed, and Will is taking care of me as I go through treatment for stage III follicular non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). It’s been a...
September Georgia Society of Clinical Oncology 2013 GASCO Annual MeetingSeptember 6 • Atlanta, GeorgiaFor more information: www.gasco.us SGI Summit Turkey 2013: Innovations in Obstetrics and GynecologySeptember 6-8 • Istanbul, TurkeyFor more information: www.sgiturkey2013.org/ Breast Cancer...
Lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer-related death in the world. In the United States alone, an estimated 228,190 new cases of lung cancer and 159,480 deaths from lung cancer will occur in 2013. These are alarming statistics when compared to the next four common causes of cancer-related...
I am writing with regard to two articles on the ethical imperative of clinical equipoise written by Susan O’Brien, MD, and Stephen J. Schuster, MD, and published recently in The ASCO Post.1,2 I was a victim of Pharmacyclics’ policies during one of their randomized ibrutinib trials (PCI-32765)...
The complexity of the pathologic condition called cancer,” according to a Viewpoint article in the Journal of the American Medical Association,1 “complicates the goal of early diagnosis.” Failure to recognize that cancers are heterogeneous, and that not all progress to metastases and death, can...
September Inflammation, Microbiota, and CancerSeptember 19-20 • Bethesda, MarylandFor more information: ncifrederick.cancer.gov/events/microbiota/agenda.asp Continuum Cancer Centers of New York Conference on Quality of Care in OncologySeptember 20 • New York, New YorkFor more information:...
QCP™: Recognizing Excellence The QOPI® Certification Program (QCP™) recognizes medical oncology and hematology/oncology practices that are committed to delivering the highest quality of cancer care. QCP evaluates an individual practice’s performance in areas that affect patient care and safety. The ...
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, recently announced that Charles and Daneen Stiefel, of Raleigh, North Carolina, have pledged $10 million to the Head and Neck Cancer Center at MD Anderson. In honor of their generosity, the institution will name the Charles and...
Disease recurrence is a devastating event after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation as treatment for acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Median time to relapse is approximately 4 months and the majority of relapses occur within 2 years after transplant. The prognosis is usually poor....
E-cigarettes are one of the many issues addressed in the Tobacco-Free Teens app developed at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. “What we are trying to say to teens is that you might as well avoid trying any of the cigarettes, or small cigars, or nicotine delivery devices, such as e-cigarettes,”...
“I’ve seen a lot of puzzled people,” Alexander V. Prokhorov, MD, PhD, said, referring to people who see others using electronic or e-cigarettes. That puzzlement can go beyond wondering why people are smoking in public places and whether they are breaking the law, or just being annoying, to...
October International Clinical Trials Workshop October 17-18 • Santiago, Chile For more information: www.asco.org/ASCOv2/About+ASCO/International+Affairs/International+Clinical+Trials+Workshops 64th Annual Scientific Meeting of The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of RadiologistsOctober...
The Republic of Botswana is slightly smaller than the state of Texas and with a population of just over 2 million people it is one of the world’s most sparsely populated countries. Botswana was among Africa’s poorest countries at the time it gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1966....