Heather A. Wakelee, MD, of Stanford University discusses the study that explored the question of whether adding bevacizumab to adjuvant chemotherapy is beneficial in the setting of resected non–small cell lung cancer (Abstract PLEN04.03).
Roy S. Herbst, MD, PhD, of the Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale Cancer Center, discusses his findings of a phase III study comparing carboplatin/paclitaxel or carboplatin/paclitaxel/bevacizumab with or without concurrent cetuximab in advanced non–small cell lung cancer (Abstract PLEN04.01).
Silvia Novello, MD, PhD, of the University of Turin, discusses a much-neglected aspect of lung cancer: It is not just the province of men; women are affected in great numbers as well.
Howard Jack West, MD, of the Swedish Cancer Institute, summarizes three important papers: anlotinib as third-line treatment for refractory advanced non–small cell lung cancer; the EGFR exon 20 mutation as a prognostic/predictive biomarker; and EGFR exon 18 mutations as molecular predictors of...
Eric Lim, MD, of the Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Trust, discusses his findings on the nonspecific symptoms of never-smokers, which suggests that imaging could play a more important role in diagnosing these patients at an earlier stage.
M. Catherine Pietanza, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses rovalpituzumab tesirine, a promising DLL3-targeted antibody drug conjugate, the first precision treatment for small cell lung cancer (Abstract 7LBA).
Cora N. Sternberg, MD, of San Camillo Forlanini Hospital, summarizes a teaching lecture on new targets in renal cell carcinoma, and discusses what to expect for the future of treating RCC.
Clifford A. Hudis, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses this prospective study of endocrine therapy alone in patients with ER-positive, HER2-negative, node-negative breast cancer (Abstract 5BA).
Frederic Amant, MD, PhD, of the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, discusses the important decisions that must be made when a woman is diagnosed with cancer while pregnant: Should treatment be delayed or the pregnancy terminated?
A. Oliver Sartor, MD, of Tulane University School of Medicine, discusses the latest results of a clinical trial on radium-223 dichloride and the improvement in overall survival of men with advanced prostate cancer (Abstracts 2510, 2530).
Matti S. Aapro, MD, of IMO Clinique de Genolier, offered a case presentation and a cross-disciplinary approach to finding the best way to effect a cure with minimal impact on quality of life.
Matteo Lambertini, MD, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses the use of LHRH agonists during chemotherapy to suppress ovarian function as a way to preserve fertility in breast cancer patients (Abstract 1957).
Brian I. Rini, MD, of the Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Institute, discusses the results from a phase III study investigating a multipeptide cancer vaccine in patients receiving sunitinib as first-line therapy for advanced/metastatic renal cell carcinoma (Abstract 17LBA).
Rolf A. Stahel, MD, of University Hospital, Zurich, discusses this phase II trial of erlotinib and bevacizumab in patients with advanced, EGFR-mutated non-small cell lung cancer without T790M mutation. The study was sponsored by The Spanish Lung Cancer Group and the European Thoracic Oncology...
Eduardo Bruera, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses exciting developments in the assessment and management of cachexia, as well as a number of emerging pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic interventions (Abstract 67).
Judith Vick, MD Candidate, of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and Rachelle E. Bernacki, MD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discuss a tool that could help clinicians identify seriously ill patients who would benefit from conversations about their goals and values (Abstract 8).
Diane Portman, MD, of Moffitt Cancer Center, discusses clinical pathways that embed palliative care along the spectrum of care for a variety of cancer disease states.
Lawrence H. Einhorn, MD, of Indiana University Simon Cancer Center, discusses the ways in which a dedicated palliative radiation consult service can improve the quality of palliative cancer care (Abstract 110).
Amelie Harle, MD, of the Christie NHS Foundation Trust, discusses a clinical trial––the first of its kind—designed to assess the efficacy of an antitussive in patients with lung cancer (Abstract 2).
Given the challenges of recruiting patients for palliative care studies, Eric Roeland, MD, of the University of California, San Diego, discusses a way to increase the participation of those with cachexia, with the hope of improving treatment (Abstract 67).
Leonard Gunderson, MD, of the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, discusses PET/CT imaging in upper and lower gastrointestinal cancers, which can be of value as a baseline study prior to treatment, in determining the degree of response to treatment, and in helping decide whether there is a relapse...
Bruce Minsky, MD, of MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses two important papers: results from a prospective trial on quality-of-life outcomes for low-risk HPV-associated oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma, and a prostate cancer radiation therapy study (Abstracts 3, 4).
Anthony Zietman, MD, of Massachusetts General Hospital, discusses the practice-changing results from a study comparing fractionation schedules in patients with low-risk prostate cancer (Abstract LBA6).
Anthony Zietman, MD, of Massachusetts General Hospital, discusses his perspective on the study of bicalutamide during and after radiotherapy in patients following radical prostatectomy and a biochemical relapse (Abstract LBA5).
Vratislav Strnad, MD, PhD, of the University Hospital in Erlangen, discusses results from a European study comparing accelerated partial-breast irradiation using brachytherapy, to the standard treatment of whole-breast irradiation for women with low-risk breast cancer (Abstract LBA7).
Christopher Brian Allard, MD, of Brigham & Women's Hospital, reports on results of the Physicians’ Health Study, which showed that regular aspirin use decreased the risk of lethal prostate cancer in a cohort of American doctors (Abstract 306).
Toni Choueiri, MD, of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, summarizes key points from a session he chaired on clear and non-clear cell renal cancer, including information on molecular genetics and its impact on treatment, how to treat patients with non-clear cell histology, and the best strategy for...
Bernard J. Escudier, MD, of the Institut Gustave Roussy, discusses in French a subgroup analyses of this phase III study of cabozantinib vs everolimus in patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (Abstract 499).
Bernard J. Escudier, MD, of the Institut Gustave Roussy, discusses a subgroup analyses of this phase III study of cabozantinib vs everolimus in patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (Abstract 499). To see the French language version of this video, click here.
Jennifer A. Ligibel, MD, of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses the physical activity behaviors and weight changes in a study cohort of young women with breast cancer (Abstract 166).
Lewis E. Foxhall, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, summarizes this session in which presenters covered a range of issues, including the medical home, tools to facilitate communication with cancer survivors, EMRs, reimbursement, and coordinating care with primary care...
Dana Barnea, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses data that suggest annual palpation of the thyroid is an adequate and safe means of screening childhood and young adult cancer survivors, a population at high risk for this type of cancer (Abstract 254).
Tara O. Henderson, MD, MPH, of the University of Chicago, summarizes a session on the multidisciplinary approaches to survivors with medical needs beyond cancer treatment.
Rachel Lynn Yung, MD, of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses her study of a clinic-based intervention for overweight cancer survivors, which resulted in weight loss and improvements in fitness and physical functioning (Abstract 167).
Yoon-Koo Kang, MD, PhD, of the Asan Medical Center, discusses findings from this multicenter, phase II/III study of ado-trastuzumab emtansine vs a taxane in patients with previously treated HER2-positive locally advanced or metastatic gastric/gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma (Abstract 5).
Krzysztof Bujko, MD, of the Maria Skłodowska Curie Memorial Cancer Centre, discusses the results of a multicenter Polish study on neoadjuvant chemoradiation for fixed cT3 or cT4 rectal cancer (Abstract 489).
Richard S. Finn, MD, of the University of California Los Angeles Medical Center, summarizes a session on treatments for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (Abstract 192).
Patricia A. Ganz, MD, of the University of California at Los Angeles, discusses the limited sensitivity and specificity of surveillance testing for cancer recurrence and finding a better way to reassure patients about their continuing care.
ASCO applauds President Obama for his bold vision to launch a national effort on cancer, which he described during his State of the Union address on January 12, 2016. We also join him in recognizing Vice President Biden’s leadership in calling for a “moonshot” that will reduce the cancer-related...
The recently updated U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommendation once again confirmed the value of screening mammography, concluding that the benefit of mammography outweighs the harms of screening in all age groups from age 40 through age 74. It emphasizes that both women and...
Ten years ago, ASCO created the Journal of Oncology Practice to address a gap in the literature; there were no peer-reviewed journals dedicated to the practical issues of delivering quality oncology care. The original research and editorials published in JOP focus on care delivery topics such as...
ASCO recently announced that the Journal of Oncology Practice (JOP) will be printed on a monthly basis and offer new resources to supply oncology professionals with cutting-edge information on cancer care delivery. Doubling its content, the expanded journal also features clinical information from a ...
A longitudinal case-controlled analysis of the probability of attaining normality after achieving 60: A perspective from the social sciences based on expert ethnographic insights.” So begins a long and charmingly erudite birthday card to internationally regarded biostatistician Norman Breslow, PhD, ...
In a phase II pilot study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Scott Kopetz, MD, PhD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, and colleagues found little clinical activity of vemurafenib (Zelboraf) in patients with metastatic BRAF-mutated colorectal cancer.1 The BRAF V600E...
Passion is a much-needed virtue in one who seeks to change the world for the better. When you combine intelligence, stamina, iron-willed determination, the grace of an ambassador, and simple human likability with passion, you get that rare person who can turn words and ideas into reality. Such a...
I love reading The ASCO Post, but I have a suggestion. For your reports on drug development, how about making it a policy to note the class or type of any new agent being discussed—ie, a brief description of the drug’s mechanism of action? For example, a recent issue included a nice article...
The authors of an ovarian cancer screening study published in The Lancet1 and many of the experts commenting on the study in the media agree that the results of multimodal screening are encouraging and could reduce mortality from ovarian cancer, but further follow-up is needed. Considering that the ...
An article in The New York Times1 about an ovarian cancer screening study published in The Lancet2 is headlined, “Early Detection of Ovarian Cancer May Become Possible,” and leads with the promise of reduced mortality with multimodal screening for ovarian cancer. An article in MedPage Today3 about...
"A solid triple but not a home run” is how Karen H. Lu, MD, characterized a study in The Lancet reporting a reduction in deaths from ovarian cancer with the use of multimodal ovarian cancer screening.1 Dr. Lu’s remark was one of several, mostly but not universally, favorable and optimistic comments ...
Rakesh Jain, PhD, the A. Werk Cook Professor of Radiation Oncology (Tumor Biology) at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, and Mary-Claire King, PhD, Professor of Genome Sciences and Medicine (Medical Genetics) at the University of Washington, have been selected as recipients...