In his practice, Mikkael Sekeres, MD, of the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, has not initiated dose reductions of tyrosine kinase inhibitors, but “anecdotally, my patients tell me that they have reduced the dose. Many of them cannot afford to continue treatment indefinitely, and some have side...
Stephen P. Hunger, MD, Chief of the Division of Pediatric Oncology and Director of the Center for Childhood Cancer Research at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and the Jeffrey E. Perelman Distinguished Chair in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia,...
Children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) considered at standard risk for relapse should continue to receive standard-intensity regimens, according to findings from the international randomized AIEOP-BFM ALL 2000 trial.1 A reduced-intensity treatment for children with ALL considered to have ...
The diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer have long been a source of controversy among the oncology community, the political sector, and patient advocacy groups. Most notably, the decision to biopsy a man’s prostate gland rests largely on his prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test numbers, the...
Michael Gnant, MD, Professor of Surgery at the Medical University of Vienna in Austria and President of the Austrian Breast & Colorectal Cancer Study Group, was the invited discussant of the three studies of extended endocrine therapy. “The trials did not reach the necessary statistical levels ...
Extended endocrine therapy with an aromatase inhibitor did not improve disease-free survival in patients with hormone receptor–positive breast cancer enrolled in three studies presented at the 2016 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. The results stand in contrast to the phase III National Cancer...
In the phase III OAK trial reported in The Lancet by Rittmeyer et al, treatment with the anti–programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) antibody atezolizumab (Tecentriq) improved overall survival vs docetaxel in previously treated non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Results of the trial...
Patients who received first-line ceritinib experienced a 45% risk reduction for advanced anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)–positive on–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) compared to a control group that received chemotherapy, according to research presented at the IASLC 17th World...
A revised tumor classification based on more than 70,000 non–small cell lung cancer patients and 6,100 small cell lung cancer patients is now available to lung cancer specialists around the world in the form of the 8th edition of the tumor, node, and metastasis (TNM) classification. The...
The artificial-intelligence platform Watson for Oncology (WFO) achieved a high degree of concordance with the recommendations of a panel of oncologists in a double-blinded validation study, according to results presented at the 2016 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, held December 6 to 10...
Eric P. Winer, MD, of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, summarizes his McGuire lecture on the past and future of breast cancer treatment.
Peter Bach, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, summarizes his plenary lecture on drug costs and their effect on the affordability of cancer care worldwide (Plenary Lecture 3).
Jame Abraham, MD, of the Cleveland Clinic, gives his perspective on study results of extended adjuvant endocrine therapy in postmenopausal women with estrogen receptor–positive breast cancer who have completed previous adjuvant endocrine treatment (Abstract S1-05).
Until 1957, the prevailing thought was that since cancers develop in normal patients, they are not recognized as foreign by the immune system. That changed when Richmond T. Prehn, MD, and his laboratory assistant, Joan Main, showed that tumors induced by chemical carcinogens in mice could...
Reports of rare, but in some cases fatal, cardiac complications when the checkpoint inhibitors ipilimumab (Yervoy) and nivolumab (Opdivo) are used in combination should be taken seriously but should not scare patients away from potentially life-saving drugs, according to Javid J. Moslehi, MD. Dr....
“I am greatly saddened by the death of former Congressman Melvin R. Laird, who, over the course of his distinguished career in public service, played a key role in advancing biomedical research and the mission of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Our thoughts are with his family and the...
Harold J. Burstein, MD, PhD, from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, gives an update on the duration of adjuvant endocrine therapy and offers his expert views on putting the research data into clinical practice.
A few years ago, I had the good fortune to join a research team that intended to create a device to help dying children express their wants and needs despite communication challenges. The brain tumor team at SickKids [also known as The Hospital for Sick Children] had cared for several children...
Matt Ewend, MD, FACS, has been named President of the University of North Carolina (UNC) Physicians. In this role, Dr. Ewend will oversee the physician clinical enterprise of UNC Health Care, which includes more than 2,400 physicians and 600 advanced practice providers in 450 practices spanning...
In recognition of wide-ranging contributions to the fields of cancer prevention; patient care; and basic, translational, and clinical research, seven faculty members from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have been named Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of...
Among the most widely attended sessions at the 2016 Palliative Care in Oncology Symposium in September was the keynote lecture, “Wit, Hex, Vin, Life, Death: Using Wit as a Teaching Tool,” given by Margaret Edson, author of the Pulitzer Prize–winning play Wit. Wit tells the story of an accomplished ...
Steven K. Libutti, MD, FACS, has been named the new Director of Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey and will serve as Vice Chancellor for Cancer Programs for Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences at Rutgers University. When he takes on his new roles in early 2017, Dr. Libutti will be the third ...
Launching a new cancer journal is a risky and arduous endeavor, especially for a specialty publication in resource-challenged countries in the developing world. To succeed, a specialty journal must publish articles from established clinical researchers that quickly garner funding and captivate its...
GUEST EDITOR Physiatry in Oncology explores the benefits of cancer rehabilitation in oncology practice to screen survivors for physical and cognitive impairments along the care continuum to minimize survivors’ disability and maximize their quality of life. The column is guest edited by Sean Smith, ...
Roy S. Herbst, MD, PhD, of Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, was recognized by the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) with a distinguished award at the 17th World Conference on Lung Cancer in Vienna, Austria. Dr. Herbst accepted the Paul A. Bunn Jr. Scientific...
Dong Moon Shin, MD, the Frances Kelly Blomeyer Distinguished Endowed Chair in Cancer Research at Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University, has been named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Dr. Shin is Professor of Hematology and Medical Oncology,...
William Sellers, MD, a widely respected cancer researcher with extensive experience in cancer genomics and therapeutic discovery, is returning to the Broad Institute of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and Harvard Medical School (HMS) as a...
Ellen V. Sigal, PhD, Chair and Founder of Friends of Cancer Research (Friends) began the annual meeting with a conversation with Douglas R. Lowy, MD, National Cancer Institute (NCI) Acting Director, and Robert M. Califf, MD, U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner. “Cancer research is ...
ASCO recently released its Criteria for High-Quality Clinical Pathways in Oncology, a set of 15 interrelated criteria that provide an overarching framework for assessing pathway programs in the United States. ASCO developed the criteria to guide stakeholders in assessing the quality, utility, and...
University of North Carolina (UNC) Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center member Michael R. Kosorok, PhD, has been named a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the world’s largest general scientific society and publisher of the journal Science. Dr. Kosorok, who ...
In September 2016, ASCO announced its latest offering to oncology practices: the ability to complete all Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS) requirements through the user-friendly Quality Oncology Practice Initiative (QOPI®) platform at no cost. By completing the PQRS module by December 31,...
We have an incredible opportunity for you to make an amazing impact at the Conquer Cancer Foundation! An anonymous donor is offering a Matching Gift Challenge, which will double the value of every gift we receive by December 31—dollar for dollar—up to $64,000! This amount is enough to fund one of...
The Kidney Cancer Association has supported 12 kidney cancer research projects through the Conquer Cancer Foundation of ASCO Young Investigator Award (YIA) program over the past decade. Early seed funding from the Kidney Cancer Association is advancing research, improving the lives of ...
The American Society of Hematology (ASH) recognized Representative David McKinley (R-WV) and Roy Wu, PhD, former Chief of the Clinical Grants and Contracts Branch for the Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), with awards for their outstanding advocacy for...
David Tuveson, MD, PhD, will succeed Bruce Stillman, AO, FAA, FRS, as Director of the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Cancer Center. Dr. Tuveson is the Roy J. Zuckerberg Professor of Cancer Research at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, the Head of the Lustgarten Foundation Pancreatic Cancer Research...
The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) honored two renowned researchers for their work in breast cancer at the 2016 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS), held December 6–10 in San Antonio, Texas. Fergus J. Couch, PhD, of the Mayo Clinic, will receive the 9th Annual AACR...
In a statement released December 7, ASCO President Daniel F. Hayes, MD, FACP, FASCO, said, “ASCO applauds the U.S. Senate for their decisive vote today to pass the 21st Century Cures Act and authorize funding for the Beau Biden Cancer Moonshot and National Institutes of Health Innovation ...
City of Hope’s Ravi Salgia, MD, PhD, Chair of the Department of Medical Oncology and Therapeutics Research, has received an accolade that recognizes his decades-long dedication to treating patients with lung cancer and researching new therapies. Dr. Salgia received the 2016 Asclepius Award from...
The University of Nebraska Board of Regents voted to rename an area of the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) in honor of a longtime professor who has made extraordinary contributions to the institution. The Center for Leukemia and Lymphoma Research, established in 2003, was renamed by...
African Americans are more than twice as likely as their white counterparts to be diagnosed with multiple myeloma, and twice as likely to die from this form of cancer. Research presented at the 9th American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Conference on the Science of Cancer Health...
In November, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center celebrated its 75th anniversary with a week-long series of events that raised nearly $15 million to support its efforts in patient care and in the investigation and treatment of cancer. Housed on 16 million square feet in the city of...
In a small, early phase trial, a high percentage of patients who had exhausted most traditional treatments for chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) saw their tumors shrink or even disappear after an infusion of a highly targeted, experimental chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell immunotherapy...
Children and young adults with relapsed or refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) who receive chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy targeting CD22, a protein found on the surface of leukemic cells, appear to mount a clinical response and, in some cases, achieve remission....
ASCO today released Criteria for High-Quality Clinical Pathways in Oncology, a set of 15 inter-related criteria that provide an overarching framework for assessing pathway programs in the United States. ASCO developed the criteria to guide stakeholders in assessing the quality, utility, and...
Like many patients in the chronic phase of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), my cancer was discovered during a routine physical, when an off-the-chart white blood cell count signaled a serious problem that my primary care physician attributed to unspecified internal bleeding. Fortunately for me, my...
Bing Zhang, PhD, a computational biologist with a focus on cancer bioinformatics, has been named the newest McNair Scholar at Baylor College of Medicine. The McNair Scholar program at Baylor identifies influential researchers in breast and pancreatic cancers, juvenile diabetes, and neuroscience....
The American Society of Hematology (ASH) will recognize the late David Grimwade, PhD, formerly of King’s College London and Guy’s and St. Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust with the 2016 Exemplary Service Award for his exceptional years of service and dedication to the Society’s global programs that...
The American Society of Hematology (ASH) will recognize J. Evan Sadler, MD, PhD, of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, and Ayalew Tefferi, MD, of Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, with the 2016 Henry M. Stratton Medal for their seminal contributions in the areas of basic and...
Prior to the 20th century, there were very few specific therapies for disease. Many diseases, especially cancers and infections, resulted in accumulations of fluid or pus in body cavities. Physicians had to become masters of the trocar, needle, and catheter. They learned to artfully remove fluid...
Elisabeth Heath, MD, FACP, Leader of the Genitourinary Oncology Multidisciplinary Team and the Patricia C. and E. Jan Hartmann Endowed Chair for Prostate Cancer Research at the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, was recently honored with the Michigan Cancer Consortium’s inaugural Champion...