In patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma, isatuximab in combination with pomalidomide and low-dose dexamethasone nearly doubled progression-free survival when compared with pomalidomide and dexamethasone alone, with a manageable safety profile, according to data from a phase III...
Results of a survey reported by Singh et al in the Journal of Oncology Practice found that a population of primarily patients with cancer enrolled in Georgia’s medical marijuana program reported concerns about the legality of marijuana-related products and their ability to obtain the products. As...
Although there may be a clear role for prophylactic anticoagulation in hospitalized patients and those undergoing surgery, indication for prophylactic anticoagulation for patients with cancer seen in the ambulatory setting has yet to emerge. Until clinical trial data on prophylactic...
The battle against cancer is typically waged by the surgeon and oncologist, but a Lexington, Kentucky–based, award-winning restaurateur and chef discovered her role as a foot soldier when she applied her culinary skills to deal with the debilitating side effects of her mother’s lung cancer...
This week, we’ll be discussing findings presented at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) World Conference on Lung Cancer and the ASCO Quality Care Symposium, including a pooled analysis on 5-year overall survival rates in patients with previously treated non-small...
The emergence of online technologies over the past few decades has fundamentally changed the way society communicates and shares information. This sea change has also had profound influence on the practice of medicine, from real-time information-sharing among colleagues, to having instant access...
Bernardo H. L. Goulart, MD, of Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, discusses his findings that high out-of-pocket costs for oral tyrosine kinase inhibitors may lower survival rates, shorten the duration of therapy, and reduce the number of prescriptions for patients with metastatic EGFR- or ALK-positive...
The National Library of Medicine, located in Bethesda, Maryland, was started in 1836 as a small collection of medical books and journals in the office of the U.S. Army Surgeon General. In the ensuing years, the library grew to become the world’s largest and most prestigious biomedical library, with ...
In 1994, I was a normal, active 15-year-old, who loved cars, sports, and rock music, especially songs from my favorite group, The Clash. In fact, it was while jubilantly dancing alone in my room to one of their tunes that I vomited into my hands, an early symptom of acute myeloid leukemia (AML). I...
“Live while you’re living, friends,” writes Julie Yip-Williams in her memoir, The Unwinding of the Miracle: A Memoir of Life, Death, and Everything That Comes After. It was The New York Times bestseller when she died of stage IV colon cancer at the age of 42. She is the most recent of several...
Imagine undergoing major surgery in a grimy operating room without any form of antisepsis. That was the grim reality in the 1800s, when the ruling theory was that damage from “bad air” was responsible for infections in surgical wounds. Hospitals simply aired out the surgical wards at midday to...
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,...
For this installment of the Living a Full Life series, guest editor Jame Abraham, MD, FACP, spoke with Tatiana M. Prowell, MD, who currently serves as Associate Professor of Oncology in the Breast Cancer Program at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center and as a Medical Officer and...
Many clinicians are confused by the evolving opioid prescribing guideline issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) meant to stem the rising epidemic of opioid addiction and overdose in the United States.1 Many are also worried about regulatory oversight by the U.S. Drug...
On July 29, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released its proposed rule for the 2020 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) and other changes to Medicare Part B payment policies, including proposals related to the Quality Payment Program (QPP). At the same time, CMS released...
The National Cancer Institute (NCI) has awarded 53 grants to researchers in the NCI Community Oncology Research Program (NCORP) to conduct multisite cancer clinical trials and cancer care delivery studies in their communities. In addition to 7 research hubs, these NCI grants went to 32 community...
I received a coffee mug from a physician colleague some years ago with the tag line: “Please do not confuse your Google search with my Medical Degree.” Physicians of all stripes and colors can relate to the agony of debunking a “Dr. Google” diagnosis. However, in a fast-evolving health-care...
Karen M. Winkfield, MD, PhD, has made patient advocacy—with a specific emphasis on health equity and access to high-quality care—front and center of her oncology practice since she completed her residency at the Harvard Radiation Oncology Program in Boston, where she noticed that most of the...
This week, we’ll be talking about an extended follow-up of a phase III trial that investigated first-line nivolumab and ipilimumab vs sunitinib in advanced renal cell carcinoma. Then we’ll go over a research letter that identified strong predictors of response to immune checkpoint inhibitor...
Pregnancy after breast cancer appears to be safe in patients with germline BRCA mutations—and particularly among those with BRCA1 mutations—according to new research. Limited data are available on the safety of pregnancy and reproductive outcomes in patients with breast cancer and BRCA mutations,...
Early intervention in smoldering multiple myeloma prevents progression to symptomatic disease and should be strongly considered for patients meeting new criteria for high risk, according to Sagar Lonial, MD, Professor and Chair of Hematology and Medical Oncology and the Anne and Bernard Gray...
Drug costs and requirements for prior authorization of treatment plans pose barriers to cancer treatment and can potentially affect outcomes for many patients, according to two studies that will be presented at the ASCO Quality Care Symposium. The studies respectively examine how the high...
When The ASCO Post asked physician-scientist Maura L. Gillison, MD, PhD, where she was from, she answered, “North America.” Actually, she was born in Canada, but her father worked for a large international company, so the family moved regularly through Canada, the United States, and Mexico. “I...
A growing number of middle and high school students are being exposed to secondhand aerosols from electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) by living with or being around individuals who are vaping, according to data from a national survey. Such exposure increased rapidly in 2018 compared to the years...
ASCO Breakthrough: A Global Summit for Oncology Innovators was created, in part, to recognize our increasingly large and international community of members, to bring a meeting to their area, to go outside the United States, and shake up our own thinking. Why is now the time to organize a summit...
At the 2019 ASCO Annual Meeting, and simultaneously in The New England Journal of Medicine, we heard the third paper reporting results from TAILORx.1,2 The first, in 2015,3 indicated that women with node-negative breast cancers with Oncotype DX recurrence scores less than 11 did extremely well...
In the wake of the opioid crisis in the United States, patients with cancer pain are often undeservedly confronted with rigid barriers to receiving the opioids they need. To compound this problem, the research around opioids in cancer pain has been limited—placebo-controlled trials are lacking,...
You don’t have to be a geriatrician to properly evaluate and manage older patients with cancer. The wave of older patients with cancer predicted over 30 years ago is now fully upon us. The oncology community finds itself ill-prepared to manage the increased number of older patients. It is not just...
Thomas Paul Slavin, Jr, MD, of City of Hope National Medical Center, where he is Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Medical Oncology, Division of Clinical Cancer Genomics, and a Program Member of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, commented on these substudy findings. The...
A cell-free DNA test based on the presence of DNA methylation has proven highly specific as a multicancer detection test and appears especially good at detecting high-risk malignancies. In most cases, it can also accurately pinpoint the tumor’s tissue of origin, researchers reported at the 2019...
The Cancer Research Institute (CRI), a nonprofit organization dedicated to the discovery and development of immunotherapies for all types of cancer, recently unveiled the inaugural cohort of scientists chosen for the CRI Lloyd J. Old STAR Program (Scientists Taking Risks). Each “STAR” will receive...
BOOKMARK Title: Breast Fitness: An Optimal Exercise and Health Plan for Reducing Your Risk of Breast CancerAuthors: Anne McTiernan, MD, PhD; Julie Gralow, MD; and Lisa TalbottPublisher: St. Martin’s PressPublication Date: October 2000 (first edition)Price: $48.75, hardcover, 352 pages The...
The Companion of the Most Distinguished order of St. Michael and St. George (CMG) is generally reserved for ambassadors and leaders of the United Kingdom’s defense and security services. Only 1, 750 appointees are permitted. This year, the Head of M16, the Secret Intelligence Service, was in the...
A study by Duffy et al in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology reported on specific gene variations affecting the number and types of moles on the body and their role in causing skin cancer. “The goal was to investigate the genetic underpinnings of different mole classes, or...
GUEST EDITOR Dr. Abraham is the Director of the Breast Oncology Program at Taussig Cancer Institute, and Professor of Medicine, Lerner College of Medicine, Cleveland Clinic. For this installment of the Living a Full Life series, Guest Editor Jame Abraham, MD, FACP, spoke with Gilberto de Lima...
The National Cancer Institute (NCI) has awarded 53 grants to researchers in the NCI Community Oncology Research Program (NCORP) to conduct multisite cancer clinical trials and cancer care delivery studies in their communities. In addition to seven research hubs, these NCI grants went to 32...
IN A NEW COLLABORATION, the American Cancer Society and the Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance have joined forces to fund multidisciplinary research projects to explore new ways of detecting, treating, and preventing ovarian cancer relapse and to improve quality of life among those diagnosed with...
The staff of The ASCO Post were sad to learn of the passing of Michael D. Becker on July 9, 2019. When Michael was diagnosed with human papillomavirus (HPV)-related oropharyngeal cancer in 2015, he made the decision to go public with his diagnosis to raise awareness of the importance of having...
According to politicians and the media, such as award-winning journalist Beth Macy, we are in the midst of the worst drug crisis in American history. Sparked first by oxycodone and broadening into heroin and fentanyl, opioid addiction is indeed ravaging communities across the nation, largely in...
Since the 1970s, there has been an alarming increase in obesity. According to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 70% of Americans are either overweight or obese. Excess body weight is linked to numerous diseases, including more than 14 types of cancers. ...
In medical school, I learned a five-step model on how to deliver bad news to a patient. I still fall back on this method, time and again, in my primary care clinic; I have even used it when giving really tough feedback to a learner who is struggling in some aspect of performance. But I honestly...
Researchers have developed a new method for tracking residual disease in patients with breast cancer that could one day help doctors better tailor treatments and prevent unnecessary surgeries for some people with the disease. Findings were published by McDonald et al in Science Translational...
On July 10, ASCO led a coalition in a day of action in support of the Covering Life-Saving Investigations Needed in Cancer and Other Life-Threatening Conditions Through Timely Use of Resources for Easy and Affordable Treatment from Medicaid for Enrollees in Need Today Act (CLINICAL TREATMENT Act,...
Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, part of the University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine, has been named a National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated cancer center. The NCI designation recognizes Sylvester as among the top cancer centers in the United States. Sylvester joins a...
The state of Washington is adding a public option to its health insurance marketplace; Massachusetts, Connecticut, and others have passed laws requiring that payers cover fertility preservation procedures for patients with cancer. Many states are seeking to expand Medicaid eligibility, and some, in ...
Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy is a major clinical problem, and better therapies are needed for both its treatment and prevention. According to Charles Loprinzi, MD, a medical oncologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, to devise better preventive and treatment approaches,...
In patients with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer (SCLC), adding trilaciclib to standard-of-care chemotherapy demonstrated meaningful delays in deterioration of myelosuppression-related symptoms, according to Jared Weiss, MD, of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, Chapel Hill,...
Diversity, inclusion, and gender equality were prevalent themes for 2019 that ran throughout the ASCO Annual Meeting. From the first year that featured free onsite child care for attendees, to a session on “Establishing a Mutually Respectful Environment in the Workplace,” as well as a Plenary...
On August 2, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted approval to pexidartinib (Turalio) capsules for the treatment of adult patients with symptomatic tenosynovial giant cell tumor (TGCT) associated with severe morbidity or functional limitations and not responsive to improvement with...
Many patients with cutaneous T-cell lymphoma contract Staphylococcus aureus infections in the skin. In a new study, researchers have shown that aggressive treatment with antibiotics for patients with these infections not only inhibits the staphylococcal bacteria—but also the cancer...