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Showing 25351 - 25400SIDEBAR: Physician-assisted Suicide
Readers’ comments extracted from www.nejm.org To force people to live simply because we possess the technology to do so does not speak to either the ethics or the morality of such a decision. Suffering has existential dimensions. Symptoms can be treated with greatest chance. My grandfather...
Expert Point of View: Andrew D. Zelenetz, MD, PhD
In a separate interview, Andrew D. Zelenetz, MD, PhD, Chief of the Lymphoma Service at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, said that he found the relapse rate of 20% observed in this study to be quite low, and he wanted to know the characteristics of the 537 patients included in the ...
Study Questions Routine Use of Imaging after Treatment for Diffuse Large B-cell Lymphoma
Most relapses following treatment for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma are detected by abnormalities on physical exam, lab tests, and symptoms—not by routine imaging, according to a study presented at the ASCO Annual Meeting.1 In fact, in a prospective study assessing post-treatment outcomes of...
Expert Point of View: Sandra M. Swain, MD, FACP
Sandra M. Swain, MD, FACP, Immediate Past President of ASCO commented on the findings. “This is an exciting discovery and an example of early success in precision medicine. It’s targeting PI3K-delta, which is overactive in B-cell malignancies and is used in a disease that is very refractory to...
Expert Point of View: Clifford A. Hudis, MD
“This is the beginning of an exciting new chapter in the treatment of cancer,” commented Clifford A. Hudis, MD, President-Elect of ASCO and moderator of the press briefing. “These studies focus on our ability to productively manipulate the immune system by targeting PD-L1 and PD-1, which allows the ...
Potent Activity Shown for First-in-class PI3K-delta Inhibitor in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia
Heavily pretreated patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) responded robustly to the first-in-class small-molecule inhibitor idelalisib (formerly GS1101), in a phase I dose-finding study reported in a press briefing prior to the 2013 ASCO Annual Meeting.1 Idelalisib, a specific inhibitor...
Expert Point of View: Roy S. Herbst, MD, PhD
This study should be placed in the context of treating to cure, said Roy S. Herbst, MD, PhD, Ensign Professor of Medicine and Chief of Medical Oncology at Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut. “If we can further increase the cure rate in stage III non–small cell lung cancer...
Impressive Results Shown for Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors: Anti-PD1 and Anti-PD-L1 Antibodies
Antibody-mediated blockade of the programmed death 1 protein (PD-1) and its ligand (PD-L1) resulted in potent and durable tumor regression and prolonged stabilization of disease in patients with advanced solid tumors, according to early data on these drugs presented at the 2013 ASCO Annual Meeting. ...
'Less Is More' with Regard to Adjuvant Radiation in Stage III Non–Small Cell Lung Cancer
Standard-dose conformal radiotherapy (60 Gy) is more effective and safer than high-dose radiotherapy (74 Gy) in patients with locally advanced stage III non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) undergoing chemotherapy, according to results of the phase III randomized, controlled Radiation Therapy...
One Cancer Center's Approach to Death with Dignity
In November 2008, the Washington State legislature passed the Washington Death with Dignity Act allowing patients with a terminal diagnosis and less than 6 months to live to request and self-administer lethal medication. After considerable internal debate, our cancer center elected to develop a...
Caring for the Whole Patient Both during Active Treatment and at End of Life
Despite studies showing that a majority of patients prefer to die at home rather than in an institutional setting,1 in many parts of the country, over 30% die in nursing homes and over 50% die in hospitals, according to Ira Byock, MD, Director of Palliative Medicine, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical...
SIDEBAR: Understanding the PD-1/PD-L1 Pathway and Its Promise
Tumors can be recognized by the immune system, but they have multiple mechanisms for evading eradication by the immune system. The tumor microenvironment suppresses the immune response, partly because tumors can express molecules that inhibit immune responses. The cancer clinical trials summarized...
For Renowned Researcher, Seeing Basic Science Turn into Promising Therapies Is the 'Holy Grail' of Oncology
“From bench to bedside” is a phrase that captures the essence of modern oncology: Researchers at the bench seek to solve the biologic puzzles of cancer that can translate into the development of therapeutics delivered at the bedside. Owen N. Witte, MD, has spent most of his career as a basic bench...
Innovative Leader in Oncology Is Committed to Tackling the Most Critical Issues in Managed Care
“I’m a Nebraskan,” said Lee N. Newcomer, MD, MHA, a leader in the oncology community who is well known for his innovative efforts to align physician payment and quality of care in ways that will best configure to the rapidly changing health-care environment. Speaking in the flat vowels and neutral...
The Power of Listening: From Candy Striper to the Front Lines of the Early AIDS Pandemic
Alexandra Levine, MD, MACP, the Chief Medical Officer of City of Hope National Medical Center, has traveled to 74 countries, seeking out adventures in some of the world’s most far-flung regions. Her illustrious oncology journey has also been an adventure, from the front lines of the AIDS pandemic...
Expert Genitourinary Oncologist's Drive Led Her from Baghdad to the United States
Born in Baghdad, Iraq, renowned prostate and bladder cancer specialist Maha H. Hussain, MD, FACP, Professor of Medicine and Urology at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, remembers that she always wanted to become a doctor. She had strong role models in three uncles who were...
UICC President Balances Innovation and Pragmatism to Reduce the Global Burden of Cancer
Mary K. Gospodarowicz, MD, FRCPC, is determined to help reduce the worldwide burden of cancer, a problem of epic proportions. Her approach is simple: adopt what works and reject what doesn’t. Much progress in the fight against cancer can be made without waiting for the next paradigm-changing...
Pioneering Oncologist's Research on Cisplatin Revolutionized Testicular Cancer Treatment
Lawrence H. Einhorn, MD, grew up in Dayton, Ohio, in a time and place that he describes as pleasant and community-oriented. Throughout his distinguished career, Dr. Einhorn has maintained strong roots in the Midwest. “After finishing high school, I did my undergrad at Indiana University and went to ...
After a Distinguished Career, Trailblazing Swiss Oncologist Remains Devoted to Addressing the Global Cancer Challenge
Switzerland, a landlocked country with a population about that of New York City, has four geographic regions, each with its own official language. Internationally regarded lymphoma and breast cancer expert, Franco Cavalli, MD, FRCP, was born and raised in Locarno, a town in the Italian region of...
Distinguished Researcher Changed the Face of Hematologic Malignancies
Clara D. Bloomfield, MD, grew up in a steadfastly academic environment that spurned typical children’s entertainment such as comic books or television. Born in New York City during World War II, she moved to Washington, DC, with her family while her father, an expert on labor and industrial...
Prolific Surgical Oncologist Understands the True Value of Mentorship
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 Road to ASCO Presidency, Paved by Education and Persistence
ASCO President Clifford A. Hudis, MD, grew up in northeast Philadelphia in the 1960s, a robust period in U.S. history dominated by American industry and ingenuity. His early memories are of a hard-working blue-collar neighborhood of identical row and semidetached twin houses and of a time of...
Emil 'Tom' Frei III, MD 1924–2013
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...
Anniversary Issue: Narratives in Oncology
The ASCO Post is pleased to present this special anniversary issue in recognition of the publication’s 4th year serving the oncology community. We hope you enjoy this commemorative supplement profiling several of the many leaders in the oncology community. In coming issues of The ASCO Post and in...
FDA Clears Multicenter Trial of Treatment for Hair Loss Related to Chemotherapy
The FDA has approved initiation of a multicenter trial of the DigniCap System, a scalp-cooling device for chemotherapy-related hair loss. The trial is the second and final phase of study for the DigniCap System. A pilot study previously conducted by researchers at the University of California San...
'Matriarch of Modern Cancer Genetics,' Janet D. Rowley, MD, Helped Propel the Field of Molecular Oncology
Even as a child, Janet D. Rowley, MD, found the intellectual order and logic of science appealing. Born on April 5, 1925, in New York, Dr. Rowley’s parents, Hurford and Ethel Ballantyne Davison, moved the family to Chicago 2 years later. Both educators, the Davisons encouraged their only child in...
Strength of Patient-Oncologist Alliance Linked to Willingness to Adhere to Treatment in Young Adults
Among young adults with advanced cancer, developing a strong alliance with their oncologist was associated with greater perceived social support, a greater willingness to adhere to treatment, and greater adherence to oral medication, according to results of a study published in the Journal of...
DCIS Score Quantifies Risk of Recurrence after Excision
The ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) Score, a multigene expression assay, quantifies the risk of local recurrence and invasive local recurrence for women with DCIS treated with surgical excision, researchers reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. “The DCIS Score can aid clinical...
No Added Benefit from Radiotherapy after Lumpectomy/Tamoxifen in Older Women
Long-term follow-up of Cancer and Leukemia Group B (CALGB) 9343 “confirms and extends the earlier report 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...
Chemotherapy-induced Peripheral Neuropathy Results in Dose Limiting and Less Chemotherapy Overall
Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy events resulted in limiting the dosing of chemotherapy in a significant proportion of women with nonmetastatic breast cancer being treated with paclitaxel, and those who had their dose reduced or discontinued received significantly less cumulative drug,...
Liver-first Approach to Colorectal Cancer with Synchronous Hepatic Metastases
“The liver-first approach for patients with colorectal cancer with synchronous liver metastases is possible but is associated with a wide range of survival outcomes, despite protocol similarities between studies,” according to a review of four cohort studies identified by a literature search. “All...
SIDEBAR: Expect Questions about Preventive Double Mastectomies
For women who are considering prophylactic bilateral mastectomies, “I strongly encourage genetic testing, Todd M. Tuttle, MD, MS, said in an interview with The ASCO Post about the increased interest in preventive double mastectomy following Angelina Jolie’s disclosure that she had the procedure to...
Angelina Jolie's Disclosure of Prophylactic Bilateral Mastectomy: A Positive Example for Women with BRCA Mutations?
Angelina Jolie, in a New York Times article entitled “My Medical Choice,”1 disclosed that having a BRCA1 mutation and an estimated 87% risk of breast cancer, “I decided to be proactive and minimize the risk as much I could. I made a decision to have a preventive double mastectomy.” She was writing...
New Susceptibility Variants for Childhood ALL in Ethnically Diverse Populations
Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is the most common cancer in children, and the incidence of the disease varies by ethnicity. Available evidence indicates an inherited predisposition to ALL, but the genetic basis of ALL susceptibility in diverse ancestry has not been examined in detail. Xu and...
Epigenome-wide Study of DNA Methylation in Breast Cancer Using Prospectively Collected Samples
Available data suggest that DNA methylation in blood is a potential epigenetic marker of cancer risk, but this has not been evaluated on a genome-wide scale in prospective studies of breast cancer. Xu and colleagues measured DNA methylation at 27,578 CpG sites (ie, DNA regions where cytosine and...
Serum miR-21 as Diagnostic and Prognostic Biomarker in Colorectal Cancer
The oncogenic microRNAs miR-21and miR-31 negatively regulate tumor-suppressor genes. Toiyama and colleagues conducted a series of studies to assess their potential as serum biomarkers in colorectal cancer. Screening in medium from two colorectal cancer cell lines and serum analysis in 12 patients...
Elevated Serum miR-1290 May Distinguish Early Pancreatic Cancer
In studies to identify circulating microRNA levels that could distinguish low-stage pancreatic cancer from healthy and disease controls, Li and colleagues, measured 735 microRNAs in pancreatic cancer case and control sera and selected 18 microRNA candidates for validation in an independent set of...
Circulating Tumor Cells with ALK Rearrangement in ALK-positive NSCLC
The diagnostic test for ALK rearrangement in non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) for crizotinib (Xalkori) treatment currently uses biopsy or fine-needle aspiration. Pailler and colleagues assessed whether ALK rearrangement could be detected using circulating tumor cells. They analyzed circulating...
FDA Approves Lenalidomide for Relapsed/Refractory Mantle Cell Lymphoma
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved lenalidomide (Revlimid) for the treatment of patients with mantle cell lymphoma whose disease has relapsed or progressed after two prior therapies, one of which included bortezomib (Velcade). Clinical Trial The approval was based on the results of...
Living Without Fear
Even before I had a colonoscopy to determine the cause of abdominal pains I had been having, I instinctively knew that the news wouldn’t be good. A colonoscopy and subsequent pathology report confirmed stage IIIC colorectal cancer. Because I was just 47 years old at the time of my diagnosis and had ...
Focus on the Georgia Society of Clinical Oncology
With a roster of over 600 members that includes community and institutional oncologists, administrators, registered nurses, and patient navigators, the Georgia Society of Clinical Oncology (GASCO) is one of ASCO’s largest State Affiliates. Founded in 1986, the Atlanta-based Society is active in...
Trametinib in Unresectable or Metastatic Melanoma with BRAF V600E or BRAF V600K Mutation
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 May 29, 2013, trametinib (Mekinist) was approved by...
Oncology Meetings
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 ...
Partnership Seeks to Accelerate Development of Innovative Therapies
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...
Orphan Drug Status Granted for Novel Targeted Therapy to Treat Rare Hematologic Cancer
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Orphan Drug designation to Stemline Therapeutics’ SL-401 for the treatment of blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm, a rare and aggressive hematologic malignancy for which there is no effective treatment. SL-401 also has Orphan Drug...
Vitamin D and Cancer: A Uniform Dose Is Unlikely to Fit All Patients
Integrative Oncology is guest edited by Barrie R. Cassileth, MS, PhD, Chief of the Integrative Medicine Service and Laurance S. Rockefeller Chair in Integrative Medicine at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York. The Integrative Medicine Service at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center...
How to Recognize and Manage Hand-Foot Syndrome Due to Capecitabine or Doxorubicin
Dermatologic Events in Oncology is guest edited by Mario E. Lacouture, MD, an Associate Member in the Division of Dermatology, Department of Medicine, at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York. He is a board-certified dermatologist with a special interest in dermatologic conditions that...
Dabrafenib for Unresectable or Metastatic Melanoma with BRAF V600E Mutation
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 May 29, 2013, dabrafenib (Tafinlar) was approved for ...
Improving Treatment and Care for Patients with Primary Brain Cancers
Despite advances in neuroimaging, the development of focused radiation therapy, and more effective chemotherapy, life expectancy for patients with primary malignant tumors of the brain and spinal cord remains stubbornly low at between 15 and 18 months. However, there are significant advances on the ...
Treating Both the Physical and Psychological Symptoms of Cancer
A growing number of people with cancer are being treated on an outpatient basis. At the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center of New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center in New York, to ensure that the psychosocial and psychiatric needs of these patients were being...
