The second-generation immunomodulatory drug pomalidomide (Pomalyst) “has shown impressive results in patients with multiple myeloma who are refractory to lenalidomide [Revlimid] and bortezomib [Velcade],” according to a review of clinical data leading to the drug’s approval by the FDA. In February, ...
Mindfulness-based cancer recovery was shown to be superior to supportive-expressive group therapy “for decreasing symptoms of stress and also for improving overall quality of life and social support” among women who had stage I to III breast cancer and were assessed as experiencing distress,...
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,”...
E-cigarettes are in the news, in advertising, and in stores, and because their public use is still largely unregulated, they may be in your face. Being prepared to answer questions about their use may help patients make wise decisions. What are e-cigarettes? Electronic cigarettes or 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...
Ipilimumab (Yervoy) is a fully humanized immunoglobulin (Ig)G1 monoclonal antibody that binds to and inhibits cytotoxic T-lymphocyte–associated antigen 4 (CTLA-4). It acts as a T-cell potentiator, leading to increases in T-cell activation and interleukin-2 secretion. Ipilimumab is U.S. Food and...
Nearly 200 scientists and stakeholders in the research community attended Research!America’s National Health Research Forum on September 12, at the Newseum’s Knight Conference Center in Washington, DC. Research!America’s President and CEO, Mary Woolley, opened the program. “The theme for this...
The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) Board of Governors recently approved 71 awards, totaling more than $114 million over 3 years, to fund comparative clinical effectiveness research designed to answer questions most important to patients and those who care for them. The awards...
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital recently announced that William E. Evans, MD, Director and CEO, has decided to retire from his executive post in July of 2014. Dr. Evans has been with the organization for more than 40 years and has served as CEO for the past 10 years. Indelible Mark on History ...
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital officials have named Larry Kun, MD, as Clinical Director and Executive Vice President. Dr. Kun will guide all aspects of clinical care and oversee clinical operations, clinical effectiveness practices and patient care quality programs for the 7,800 patients who ...
As a young girl, Nancy Davenport-Ennis remembers hearing her parents tell stories about families struggling to pay their health-care expenses following a diagnosis of a serious illness like cancer. But it wasn’t until 3 decades later when she was coping with her own diagnosis of breast cancer and...
Created in 2009, Donatori di Musica is a nonprofit network of musicians, health-care professionals, volunteers, patients, and their families, who organize free concerts in oncology departments throughout Italy. Only established professional musicians are invited to perform, and since the program’s...
“Surely again, to heal men’s wounds by music’s spell.” —Euripides, Medea (480-406 BC) Commonly defined as organized sound, music has a unique power to stir human emotions, moods, and impressions. The salutary effect of music on the sick has been reported since antiquity. Aristotle and Plato wrote...
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...
NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center has appointed Felice Schnoll-Sussman, MD, Director of its Jay Monahan Center for Gastrointestinal Health. Dr. Schnoll-Sussman, has served as the Center’s Director of Research since 2007 and Acting Director since 2012. As Director, Dr....
The Wisconsin Association of Hematology & Oncology (WAHO) is among the youngest of ASCO’s State Affiliates. Formerly known as the Wisconsin Association of Medical Oncologists, WAHO was officially formed just 2 years ago and is already having an impact on oncologists and patients with cancer...
Recently the American Psychosocial Oncology Society (APOS) and the International Psycho-Oncology Society (IPOS) held a fundraising event, Cruise for a Cause: Improving Psychosocial and Supportive Cancer Care, to raise money to advance the science and practice of psychosocial care for patients with...
Guest Editor 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...
The next 10 years are expected to usher in unprecedented advances in oncology, including molecularly driven diagnostic and therapeutic developments, whole genome sequencing that results in true precision-based medicine, survivorship care plans that address long-term quality of life concerns, and...
Looking back, my son Max’s fall as he was running after another little boy while playing baseball was such a blessing. Although he landed on his right arm, the fall didn’t seem severe enough to cause him to cry out in such excruciating pain. But after several hours of icing the bruise failed to...
The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) released its list of five radiation oncology-specific treatments that are commonly ordered but may not always be appropriate as part of the national Choosing Wisely® campaign, an initiative of the American Board of Internal Medicine Foundation....
Adding the chemotherapy drug cisplatin to a treatment plan of radiation therapy and high–dose rate brachytherapy for patients with stage IIIB cervical cancer is beneficial, according to research presented recently at the American Society for Radiation Oncology’s 55th Annual Meeting.1 Study Details...
Protecting the stem cells that reside in and around the hippocampus substantially reduces the rate of cognitive decline in patients during whole-brain radiotherapy without a significant risk of recurrence in that area of the brain, a new study shows. Results of the phase II clinical trial of...
A shorter course of androgen suppression therapy prior to radiation therapy, when compared to an extended course of androgen suppression therapy, yields comparable outcomes and fewer adverse effects for intermediate-risk prostate cancer patients, according to research presented recently at the 55th ...
Men with advanced prostate cancer typically receive hormonal therapy to reduce the level of androgens in their bodies. Although hormone therapy alone will not cure prostate cancer, lowering androgen levels can reduce the size of prostate tumors or stall their growth. A secondary analysis of the...
Metastasis to bone is the hallmark of prostate cancer and a major source of disease-related morbidity and mortality. In addition to prostate cancer cells, other major players in the vicious interactive cycle of prostate cancer bone metastasis are osteoblasts, osteoclasts, and mineralized bone...
In a trial (ALSYMPCA trial) reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, Chris Parker, MD, from Royal Marsden Hospital in Surrey, UK, and colleagues compared the alpha emitter radium-223 dichloride (Xofigo) with best standard of care in men with castration-resistant prostate cancer and bone...
Julie Livingston, PhD, MPH, is a Professor of History at Rutgers University. She is also an African historian with interdisciplinary training in public health and anthropology. Among other issues, her work considers the challenges of delivering oncology services in southern Africa, where there is a ...
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....
On September 30, 2013, the FDA granted accelerated approval to pertuzumab (Perjeta) in combination with trastuzumab (Herceptin) and docetaxel for patients with early-stage breast cancer in the neoadjuvant setting. Pertuzumab is the first FDA-approved drug for the neoadjuvant treatment of breast...
In a study recently published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute and summarized in this issue of The ASCO Post, we found a relationship between alcohol intake between menarche and first pregnancy and risk for breast cancer. Placing this study in context can help us interpret the data...
Adult alcohol consumption during the previous year is related to breast cancer risk, and breast tissue is particularly susceptible to carcinogens between menarche and first full-term pregnancy. In a study reported in Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Ying Liu, MD, PhD, of Washington...
The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) selected health-care researcher Jean B. Owen, PhD, as the 2013 Honorary Member, the highest honor ASTRO bestows on distinguished cancer researchers, scientists, and leaders in disciplines other than radiation oncology, radiobiology, and radiation...
The RAPID trial compared accelerated partial-breast irradiation using three-dimensional (3D) conformal external-beam radiation therapy vs whole-breast irradiation in women with invasive or in situ breast cancer ≤ 3 cm. As reported by Ivo A. Olivotto, MD, FRCPC, of the British Columbia Cancer...
Over the past decade, the field of metastatic renal cell carcinoma therapy has witnessed the development of multiple drugs targeting the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) pathway, based on the underlying biology of renal cell carcinoma that leads to reliance on angiogenic signaling. The...
Pazopanib (Votrient) and sunitinib (Sutent) have been shown to provide progression-free survival benefit compared with placebo or interferon in phase III trials in metastatic renal cell carcinoma. In a noninferiority trial reported in The New England Journal of Medicine by Robert J. Motzer, MD, of...
Fourteen distinguished ASCO members have been selected by the ASCO Nominating Committee as candidates for open leadership positions within the Society for the 2014 ASCO Election. Biographic information and interviews with each candidate, as well as instructions for casting a proxy ballot, will be...
ASCO’s popular Advanced Cancer Care Planning booklet was recently updated with a different look and new content. Designed to help patients, families, and caregivers find the information they need to guide them through an advanced cancer diagnosis, this booklet is the newest addition to the ASCO...
As part of its continued effort to monitor and assess the impact of oncology drug shortages, ASCO will be conducting the third round of its biannual survey of members. The results of the first two surveys indicated that serious problems persist in the accessibility of life-extending oncology drugs, ...
Leadership has been cited as a critical success factor for improving access to cancer care in low- and middle-income countries.1 Effective clinical leaders in these countries can be transformative by supporting the development of cancer treatments to meet the needs of their patients, by advocating...
Sheldon Davidson, MD, has been an ASCO member for nearly 30 years, and has been a donor to the Conquer Cancer Foundation since its origins as The ASCO Foundation nearly 15 years ago. As a practicing oncologist, Dr. Davidson’s explanation for why he has chosen to support the Conquer Cancer...
Paul F. Engstrom, MD, Acting Chairman of Medical Oncology and Senior Vice President of Extramural Research Programs at Fox Chase Cancer Center was recently honored by the Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC) at the organization’s 30th National Oncology Conference in Boston. Dr. Enstrom...
Reigning in the nation’s runaway medical costs was an underlying theme of President Obama’s health-care reform platform. Citing projects like The Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care, which documented large gaps in the quality, costs, and outcomes of health services around the country, the...
The Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (MMRF) has announced two open access gateways, the MMRF Researcher Gateway, which will upload genomic data as it becomes available and make it accessible to all researchers, and the MMRF CoMMunity Gateway, which will aggregate subtypes of myeloma patients...
The American Society of Radiologic Technologists has provided a preparation checklist to assist women in preparing for their annual mammograms. Tips include: Schedule your mammogram just after your menstrual period, when your breasts are less tender. Wear a two-piece outfit on the day of your...
Since the discovery of BRCA1 and BRCA2, investigators have sought to determine whether the presence of a germline mutation independently influences the outcome of a breast cancer diagnosed in a woman with an inherited mutation. The question is highly relevant to an unaffected woman with a mutation, ...
In a study reported in Journal of Clinical Oncology, Tomasz Huzarski, MD, PhD, of Pomeranian Medical University, Szczecin, Poland, and colleagues from the Polish Hereditary Breast Cancer Consortium assessed survival among women with early-onset breast cancer with and without BRCA1 mutation and...
1945: Hugh J. Creech, PhD, begins his 31-year career at the Institute. Dr. Creech would become widely recognized for pioneering work in developing chemotherapy agents. 1959: Peter C. Nowell, MD, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and his research fellow David A. Hungerford, Fox Chase...
On October 8, 1904, a group of Philadelphia physicians and businessmen who were concerned about the escalating incidence of cancer in the city signed a charter that established the American Oncologic Hospital, one of the nation’s first hospitals solely devoted to cancer care. Seven decades later—2...
More active support and interventions by physicians are required to get patients who still smoke to stop, according to two articles published online by the Journal of Oncology Practice (JOP),1,2 and to prevent school-aged children and adolescents from starting to use tobacco, according to a U.S....