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Showing 21801 - 21850Never a Dull Moment: A Day in the Life of an Oncology Fellow
Oncology fellows represent the future of cancer care, bringing the best and brightest young doctors into a rigorous training environment that molds their future career paths. Due to an impending workforce shortage in cancer care, the public health-care demands placed on today’s oncology fellows...
Teens and Young Adults with Cancer Want a Voice in End-of-life Care
A top the list of concerns of adolescents and young adults with a life-threatening cancer are these two considerations: being able to choose the kind of medical treatment they want (or do not want) and expressing their wishes to family and friends about how they want to be remembered, according to...
Expert Point of View: Ian Smith, MD
Invited discussant Ian Smith, MD, of The Royal Marsden Hospital and Institute of Cancer Research in London, commented at the ESMO meeting that while all three arms of NeoALLTO, especially the arm with dual HER2 blockade, achieved good pathologic complete response rates, “the breast-conserving...
Lumpectomy Rates Inconsistent with Response Rates in Early Breast Cancer
Achieving a pathologic complete response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy does not always reduce the aggressiveness of breast cancer surgery, according to an analysis of the NeoALLTO trial presented at the 2012 European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress in Vienna.1 Carmen Criscitiello, MD, of ...
Online Prostate Cancer Information Is Written at Reading Levels above Many Americans’ Literacy Skills
Although 61% of Americans are going online to access health information,1 many of them may not understand what they find there, including information about prostate cancer treatment options. According to a new study published in The Journal of Urology,2 as many as 90 million Americans have literacy ...
Community Research Forum Addresses Conundrums Common to Community Practices that Conduct Research
It is every research site’s biggest concern. The National Cancer Institute (NCI), the FDA, or drug company sponsors could arrive at any time to comb through a site’s documents related to a specific trial. It’s called an audit, and it’s common. And yet, not all sites that conduct research have...
ASCO Top Five List Highlighted in IOM Workshop
As part of the Institute of Medicine’s (IOM) National Cancer Policy Forum workshop on delivering affordable cancer care in the 21st century, ASCO’s Top Five list was highlighted as an example of a way to improve quality of care for patients while reducing unnecessary costs. Lowell Schnipper, MD,...
FDA Expands Abiraterone’s Use for Late-stage Prostate Cancer
In December, the FDA approved an expanded indication for abiraterone acetate (Zytiga) in combination with prednisone for the treatment of patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. Trial Design The approval was based on a trial randomly assigning patients with metastatic...
New Drug Application Submitted for Radium-223 for the Treatment of Castration-resistant Prostate Cancer with Bone Metastases
Bayer HealthCare announced that the company has submitted a New Drug Application to the FDA seeking approval for radium Ra 223 dichloride (radium-223), an investigational compound for the treatment of patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer with bone metastases. “If approved, radium-223...
Gene Profiling Directs Site-specific Therapy for Carcinoma of Unknown Primary Site
Patients with carcinoma of unknown primary site usually receive empiric therapy (eg, with taxane/platinum or gemcitabine/platinum regimens), resulting in a median overall survival of approximately 9 months. As reported recently in Journal of Clinical Oncology, Hainsworth and colleagues have shown...
Accountable Care Organizations: The New Normal?
The accountable care organization was introduced into our lexicon during a public meeting of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission in 2006, and the term became ubiquitous when it was specified in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010. After the November 6 election, accountable...
Peter P. Yu, MD, Elected ASCO President, 2014–2015, Others Named to ASCO Board
Peter P. Yu, MD, has been elected President of ASCO for a 1-year term beginning in June 2014. He will take office as President-Elect during the ASCO Annual Meeting in Chicago in June 2013. Additionally, three new members were elected to the ASCO Board of Directors, and three new members were...
Management of Brain Metastases
Pearls in Neuro-oncology is guest edited by Tracy Batchelor, MD, Director, Division of Neuro-Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, and Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Boston. The series is intended to provide the practicing oncologist with guidance in managing...
Faster Rituximab Infusion for Previously Untreated Follicular Non-Hodgkin and Diffuse Large B-cell Lymphomas
On October 19, 2012, FDA approved a 90-minute infusion for rituximab (Rituxan) starting at cycle 2 for patients with previously untreated follicular non-Hodgkin or diffuse large B-cell lymphoma who do not experience a grade 3 or 4 infusion-related reaction during cycle 1.1 Patients with clinically...
Omacetaxine for Chronic or Accelerated Phase CML Patients with Resistance/Intolerance to Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors
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 October 26, 2012, the FDA granted accelerated...
Fixed-dose Apixaban Reduces Risk of Recurrent Venous Thromboembolism
Venous thromboembolism is a frequent problem in cancer patients, and approximately 20% of all patients who develop the disease have a recurrence. Extending treatment with two fixed doses of the investigational agent apixaban, a factor Xa inhibitor without laboratory monitoring, may provide a...
Tumor Grade Is Associated with Risk for Venous Thromboembolism
Recent data suggest that risk for venous thromboembolism is associated with biologic aggressiveness of cancer. Findings in the Vienna Cancer and Thrombosis Study, recently reported by Ahlbrecht and colleagues in Journal of Clinical Oncology, indicate that patients with higher-grade tumors are at...
Developing Cancer Care Pathways for the New Environment
As community practices and the insurance industry seek cost-effective ways to adapt to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the evolving concept of cancer care pathways is emerging as a strategy that may help control oncology costs and add value to care. At ASCO’s recent Quality Care...
Measuring and Improving Quality in Oncology Practices
The seed for ASCO’s Quality Oncology Practice Initiative (QOPI®) was planted a decade ago by Joseph Simone, MD, when he contemplated the feasibility of studying a volunteer group of oncologists to measure the quality of care they provide and share those results with their colleagues. Dr. Simone’s...
Expert Point of View: Martin Dreyling, MD and Joshua Brody, MD
Martin Dreyling, MD, Professor at the University of Munich in Germany, said the most important lymphoma studies presented at the 2012 ASH Annual Meeting focused on ibrutinib, the first-in-class Bruton’s tyrosine kinase inhibitor. “Basic science has gone mainstream. We will see a revolution during...
Excellent Preliminary Results for Ibrutinib in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia
Although still in preliminary testing with no phase III data, ibrutinib is poised to become an important new agent for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Two phase II trials reported at the 54th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) found that ibrutinib achieved...
Umbilical Cord Blood Transplant: Two Units are No Better Than One in Children with Hematologic Malignancies
Use of two partially HLA-matched units of umbilical cord blood were not superior to a single unit if it contained an adequate number of hematopoietic stem cells, according to a randomized study by the Blood and Marrow Clinical Trials Network. Results were reported at the 54th Annual Meeting of the...
Oral Proteasome Inhibitor May Be a Game-changer in Myeloma
An investigational oral proteasome inhibitor currently known as MLN9708 could make the treatment of multiple myeloma much more convenient and possibly less neurotoxic, according to the results of a phase I/II study of treatment-naive multiple myeloma patients presented at the 54th Annual Meeting of ...
Radiation Therapy for Patients with Invasive Breast Cancer: 3 Weeks Proves as Effective as 5 Weeks
Ten-year follow-up of the two-part UK Standardisation of Breast Radiotherapy Trials (START) supported the 5-year findings, demonstrating that a 3-week course of adjuvant radiation therapy is equivalent to a 5-week course of radiation for women with invasive breast cancer. The update was presented...
Overall Survival Benefit Achieved with Pomalidomide in Advanced Myeloma
Support for the oral immunomodulatory agent pomalidomide for multiple myeloma took a step forward when the phase III MM-003 trial showed a survival advantage in patients with advanced disease, in addition to a doubling in progression-free survival, when pomalidomide was given with low-dose...
FDA Approves Ponatinib to Treat CML and Philadelphia Chromosome–positive ALL
In December, the FDA granted accelerated approval to ponatinib (Iclusig) for the treatment of adult patients with chronic-, accelerated-, or blast-phase chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) that is resistant or intolerant to prior tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy or Philadelphia chromosome–positive...
National Comprehensive Cancer Network Appoints New CEO
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) recently appointed nationally regarded breast cancer expert Robert W. Carlson, MD, as its new CEO. Previously, Dr. Carlson was Professor of Medicine in the Division of Oncology and Medical Informatics, Stanford University Medical Center; he first...
Pivotal Trial Shows Robust Activity of Ponatinib in Some Heavily Pretreated Leukemias
The pivotal phase II Ponatinib Ph+ ALL and CML Evaluation (PACE trial) found that 1 year of treatment with the novel investigational drug ponatinib achieved robust activity in heavily pretreated patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and Philadelphia chromosome–positive acute lymphoblastic...
Last-minute ‘Fiscal Cliff’ Deal by Congress Again Averts Medicare Cuts to Physicians
A last-minute patch to the sustainable growth rate formula included in the “fiscal cliff” deal averted massive cuts to oncologists who care for and treat Medicare patients. “This end-of-year crisis management once again demonstrates the critical need for fundamental reform of the Medicare...
Does Health-care Quality Translate to Value?
On March 23rd, 2010, President Obama signed into law the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, enacting sweeping change in our health-care system. An underlying theme of the legislation is the realignment of our payment system so that it places value over volume of services. At ASCO’s first...
Are We Winning the War on Cancer?
On December 23, 1971, President Richard Nixon signed the U.S. National Cancer Act. This date is widely considered to mark the beginning of the so-called “War on Cancer,” although that phrase was introduced only later on. Over recent decades, journalists have from time to time questioned whether we...
Adjuvant Tamoxifen for Women with ER-positive Breast Cancer: 10 Years Superior to 5 Years
Five years of tamoxifen has long been considered the standard of care as adjuvant therapy for women with estrogen receptor–positive breast cancer. However, extending tamoxifen treatment for 10 years reduced the risk of dying by 29% during the second decade after diagnosis compared with standard...
More Thoughts on Rationing Cancer Care
I read the article about “The Ethics of Rationing Cancer Care” with interest (The ASCO Post, Dec 15, 2012). The issue of rationing (or rational) care has likely been debated since Hippocrates. Yet the topic has become a focus of acute interest with the current fiscal crises facing countries around...
E-mail Reminders to Providers May Improve Documentation of Code Status in Patients with Advanced Disease
E-mail reminders to providers at the start of each new chemotherapy regimen may improve the rate and timing of code status documentation for patients with advanced lung cancer, according to a study in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. Jennifer S. Temel, MD, and colleagues from Massachusetts General ...
No Difference in Toxicity with Proton Radiotherapy vs Less Costly Intensity-modulated Radiotherapy
A national sample of Medicare beneficiaries treated for prostate cancer with intensity-modulated radiation therapy or proton radiotherapy found that proton radiotherapy “was rare and expensive and associated with only a modest and transient reduction in genitourinary toxicity,” reported James B....
Adding Temsirolimus to Letrozole Did Not Improve Survival but Might Benefit Patients under 65
Adding temsirolimus (Torisel) to letrozole did not improve progression-free survival in patients with aromatase inhibitor–naive, estrogen receptor (ER)-positive advanced breast cancer, but exploratory analysis indicated the combination could benefit postmenopausal patients ≤ 65. In their Journal of ...
Younger Patients with Family History of Breast Cancer at Similar Risk of Bilateral Disease as Those with BRCA Mutations
Women who are diagnosed with breast cancer before age 55 and have a first-degree family history of bilateral disease have risks of contralateral breast cancer similar to women with deleterious mutations of BRCA1 and BRCA2, according to a study recently published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, ...
SIDEBAR: Expect Questions from Patients
Results from the Adjuvant Tamoxifen: Longer Against Shorter (ATLAS) study “will have a follow-on effect of being able to guide physicians about the advantages of longer than 5 years of therapy for the premenopausal woman,” said V. Craig Jordan, OBE, PhD, DSc, Scientific Director at the Lombardi...
'Practice-changing' ATLAS Study Supports 10 vs 5 Years of Tamoxifen Therapy in Women with Breast Cancer
"Practice-changing" is the term several physicians and researchers used when asked by the media to describe the results of a study showing that extending tamoxifen therapy from 5 to 10 years for women with estrogen receptor (ER)-positive breast cancer further reduced recurrence and mortality....
Social Media Is Helping My Brother Fight Kidney Cancer
My brother, Rick Thomas, is a great guy. I’m not just saying that because he’s my brother. He’s funny, warm, and kind to everyone he meets. He became a commercial airline pilot for American Airlines after flying C-5s in the Air Force for 12 years and has always been a responsible person and a...
Internationally Renowned Gynecologic Cancer Researcher Joins Ohio State
Internationally renowned uterine cancer researcher and geneticist Paul Goodfellow, MD, PhD, will lead a new team of three researchers devoted to gynecologic oncology research at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research...
Oncology Trailblazer James F. Holland, MD, Recalls a Time of Unbridled Scientific Excitement
James F. Holland, MD, began his journey into oncology when it was still a nascent discipline, working alongside groundbreaking pioneers in the field such as Drs. Emil “Tom” Frei and C. Gordon Zubrod. Dr. Holland recently shared a glimpse of his role in oncology’s formative years with The ASCO Post. ...
Helping Patients Prepare for Cancer Treatment Decisions
Under the stress of a cancer diagnosis and overwhelmed with the influx of information, patients often report that they feel unprepared to engage fully in the discussion with their health-care provider around a critical treatment decision. Consequently, the Cancer Support Community—an international...
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...
Cisplatin Linked to Significantly Increased Risk of Venous Thromboembolism
Patients with advanced solid tumors treated with cisplatin-based chemotherapy had a significantly increased risk of venous thromboembolic events, according to a meta-analysis of 38 randomized phase II and III trials evaluating cisplatin-based vs non–cisplatin-based chemotherapy. The trials involved ...
Patients Receiving Higher-intensity Chemotherapy for ALL Are at Greater Risk for Cognitive Deficits, Researchers Report
Omitting cranial irradiation from the treatment regimen for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) may help preserve global cognitive abilities. “Treatment with chemotherapy alone is not without risks,” however, noted researchers from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis. “The St. Jude...
Cabozantinib in Metastatic Medullary Thyroid Cancer
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 November 29, 2012, cabozantinib (Cometriq) was...
ASCO's CancerProgress.Net: Where We've Come From, Where We Are, and Where We're Going
The British science historian James Burke once wrote, “If you don’t know where you’ve come from, you don’t know where you are.” To tell the story of where we are in the treatment of people with cancer and how we got there, ASCO launched an ambitious history project in 2011 with a new website,...
New England Journal of Medicine Article Reports Inferior Outcome in Using Alternative Treatments to Counter Mechlorethamine Shortage
ASCO Immediate Past President Michael P. Link, MD, recently coauthored a perspectives piece in The New England Journal of Medicine on the impact of drug shortages on children with cancer. The paper, “The Impact of Drug Shortages on Children with Cancer — The Example of Mechlorethamine,” describes...
Coalition of Cancer Cooperative Groups Celebrates 10 Years of Clinical Trial Participation Awards
For any community practice, participation in a clinical trial can be a time-consuming, intense commitment. But this commitment is integral to the advancement of new methods and therapies, which is why the Coalition of Cancer Cooperative Groups has exactly one mission: increasing clinical trial...
