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Showing 26801 - 26850Statin Use Associated with Reduced Cancer-related Mortality in Danish Study
Cancer-related mortality among patients in the Danish population receiving a diagnosis of cancer at age ≥ 40 years between 1995 and 2007 was significantly reduced in those who were receiving statin therapy at the time of diagnosis, according to an analysis reported by Nielsen and colleagues in The...
Bevacizumab Added to Radiation and Chemotherapy Improved Progression-free Survival in Newly Diagnosed Glioblastoma
Recently announced results of the phase III AVAglio study showed that bevacizumab (Avastin) in combination with radiation and temozolomide chemotherapy increased progression-free survival (a co-primary endpoint) by 36% compared to radiation and temozolomide chemotherapy plus placebo (hazard ratio...
ASTRO Names Neurosurgeon Mark P. Carol, MD, 2012 Honorary Member
The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) has named Mark P. Carol, MD, a distinguished leader in the fields of intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) and image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT), as its 2012 Honorary Member. The title of Honorary Member is the highest honor ASTRO...
Expert Point of View: Meena S. Moran, MD
“Breast cancer in the geriatric population is a major health issue. Of the more than 230,000 new cases diagnosed annually, somewhere between 40% and 50% will occur in women 65 and over. Furthermore, the elderly population has been and will continue to increase exponentially over time,” stated Meena ...
Radiation Therapy Extends Survival in Elderly Women with Early Breast Cancer
Chronologic age alone should not preclude use of radiation in elderly women with early breast cancer, suggest two studies presented at the 54th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO). Both studies showed a survival improvement in elderly women with early breast cancer ...
Expert Point of View: Vinai Gondi, MD
This memantine study is a critical first step in understanding and delaying cognitive deterioration in brain metastasis patients, noted formal discussant Vinai Gondi, MD, Associate Director of Research at the CDH Proton Center in Warrenville, Illinois, and Clinical Associate Professor at the...
Memantine Provides Modest Improvement in Cognition after Cranial Irradiation
Memantine, a drug used to treat Alzheimer’s disease, slowed cognitive decline in patients with brain cancer treated with whole-brain radiation therapy in a phase III trial reported at the 54th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO), held recently in Boston. Cognitive...
Gene-expression Profiles of Triple-negative Breast Cancers Differ between African American and Native African Women
Triple-negative breast cancers in African-American women and native African women have differing gene-expression profiles that may have implications for treatment, according to the first study to directly compare tumor gene expression between these populations. Results were reported at the Fifth...
Current Perspectives on Triple-negative Breast Cancers
Triple-negative breast cancer—which lacks expression of the estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, and HER2 oncogene—is a challenge for oncologists. The emergence of data showing strong heterogeneity for this subtype of breast cancer creates even more confusion regarding prognosis and...
Cabozantinib Approved for Treatment of Progressive Metastatic Medullary Thyroid Cancer
The FDA recently approved cabozantinib (Cometriq), for the treatment of patients with progressive metastatic medullary thyroid cancer. Cabozantinib is a small molecule that inhibits the activity of multiple tyrosine kinases, including RET, MET, and VEGF receptor 2. The approval was based on the...
Screening for Ovarian Cancer: A Gynecologic Oncologist’s Perspective
The recent U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) Reaffirmation Recommendation Statement concluded that in the population of asymptomatic women without known genetic mutations that increase risk for ovarian cancer, clinicians should not screen for ovarian cancer using transvaginal ultrasound...
SIDEBAR: How to Reduce Burnout
Although definitive solutions to preventing or overcoming burnout are still being researched, Michael P. Kosty, MD, a member of ASCO’s Workforce Advisory Group and Director of the Scripps Green Cancer Center, said taking regularly scheduled time off and pursuing outside interests may help. “It...
Recognizing and Managing Physician Burnout in Oncology
Although job burnout occurs in all professions, it is more common among physicians, according to a study published recently in Archives of Internal Medicine.1 Physicians on the front line of care, such as those working in emergency rooms or in family medicine, experience the highest rates of...
Expert Point of View: Frederick R. Appelbaum, MD
Commenting on the trial of bone marrow vs peripheral blood stem cell transplants, Frederick R. Appelbaum, MD, at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, wrote that the results should change practice. But he added in his editorial, “it will be interesting to see whether it really does.”1...
Bone Marrow Transplants Reduce Risk of Graft-vs-Host Disease Compared to Peripheral Blood
Patients who receive bone marrow transplants are significantly less likely to develop chronic graft-vs-host disease than those who receive peripheral blood stem cell transplants, according to a new, large randomized trial, the first of its kind with unrelated donors. Published recently in The New...
Persistent Survival Benefit in Patients with Untreated Disease Treated with Bortezomib Added to Melphalan and Prednisone
A final analysis of the phase III VISTA trial (Velcade as Initial Standard Therapy in Multiple Myeloma: Assessment with Melphalan and Prednisone) found a persistent significant benefit in overall survival with VMP (bortezomib, melphalan, prednisone) vs MP (melphalan, prednisone) in patients with...
Four-plus Cups of Coffee Daily Linked to Lower Risk of Death from Oral/Pharyngeal Cancer
Consuming four or more cups per day of caffeinated coffee could almost halve the risk of dying from oral/pharyngeal cancer compared to drinking no coffee or drinking it only occasionally, researchers reported in the American Journal of Epidemiology. “A dose-related decline in relative risk was...
Chlorambucil, but Not Fludarabine, Confers Significant Benefit in Older Patients with CLL
Among patients aged 70 years and older with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), “front-line therapy with fludarabine does not improve outcomes” compared to chlorambucil (Leukeran), according to an analysis of patients enrolled in successive front-line Cancer and Leukemia Group B (CALGB) studies...
Volume-doubling Time May Help Distinguish Aggressive Cancer from Slow-growing Tumors
Changes in the size of lung tumors over time, as measured by volume-doubling times on low-dose computed tomography, can be used to distinguish aggressive lung cancer from slow-growing or indolent tumors and reduce overdiagnosis that could result in overtreatment and unnecessary morbidity. Results...
Analysis Suggests Screening Mammography Results in Substantial Overdiagnosis with Small Effect on Mortality
An analysis of Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) data from 1976 through 2008 “suggests that whatever the mortality benefit, breast-cancer screening involved a substantial harm of excess detection of additional early-stage cancers that was not matched by a reduction in late-stage...
Screening and Risk-reduction without Testing Positive for BRCA Mutation
Many women who do not test positive for a BRCA mutation undergo additional ovarian cancer screenings and risk-reducing procedures, despite limited data to determine the effectiveness of these interventions among an average-risk population. Results of an analysis of data from 1,077 women who were...
SIDEBAR: Expect Questions from Patients
A study finding that a diet high in total carbohydrates can increase the risk of cancer recurrence and mortality doesn’t mean that patients need to totally avoid carbohydrates, any more than previous findings about increased risk from a Western pattern diet means patients can’t eat any red meat....
Patients Treated for Colon Cancer Can Reduce Risk of Recurrence with Balanced Diet and Lower Carbohydrate Intake
In the News focuses on media reports that your patients may have questions about at their next visit. This continuing column will provide summaries of articles in the popular press that may prompt such questions, as well as comments from colleagues in the field. Patients who have received standard...
Green Tea
The use of dietary supplements by cancer patients has risen significantly over the past 2 decades despite insufficient evidence of safety and effectiveness. Finding reliable sources of information about dietary supplements can be daunting. Patients typically rely on family, friends, and the...
ASCO CEO Discusses the Society’s Initiatives
Created in 1964,a the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) has become the world’s preeminent professional cancer organization, with more than 30,000 members in the United States and abroad, unified by its founders’ “common concern for the patient with cancer.” The ASCO Post recently spoke...
Oncology Meetings
January 2013 Breast-Gynecological International Cancer CongressJanuary 17-18 • Cairo, EgyptFor more information: www.bgicc.eg.net/ Highlights of ASH® San Diego, CA and Toronto, CanadaJanuary 18-19 • San Diego, CA and Toronto, Ontario, CanadaFor more information: www.hematology.org/meetings...
Six Presidential Appointees Named to National Cancer Advisory Board
President Barack Obama recently announced his intent to nominate the following individuals to the National Cancer Advisory Board: David Christiani, MD; Judy E. Garber, MD; Liz Jaffee, MD; Beth Karlan, MD; Mack Roach III, MD; and Charles Sawyers, MD. David Christiani, MS, MD, MPH, is the Elkan Blout ...
I’m Not the Same Person I Was before Cancer
It’s not clear to me—and my doctors can’t say with any certainty—whether taking birth control pills for many years had anything to do with my getting breast cancer 3 years ago, at age 44. But the cancer growing in my left breast was diagnosed as stage I, estrogen receptor–positive. Although I never ...
The Rise of the Vintage Readers Book Club
Providing care beyond medical treatment, the multidisciplinary field of psychosocial oncology addresses the psychological, social, and emotional health of the patient with cancer. On an occasional basis, The ASCO Post will explore the realm of psychosocial oncology with a column guest edited by...
New Appointments at Cancer Centers Nationwide
Two new physicians have joined a growing team of cancer experts at Carolinas HealthCare System’s Levine Cancer Institute in Charlotte, North Carolina. Joshua S. Hill, MD, surgical oncologist, joins Levine Cancer Institute after completing a fellowship in surgical oncology at The University of Texas ...
Physician-Scientist Judah Folkman, MD, Faced Years of Skepticism Before His Theory of Angiogenesis Was Proven
That Moses Judah Folkman would buck tradition, breaking his family’s long line of rabbinical succession and pursuing a career in science and medicine instead, was evident from the time he was a young child. Born in Cleveland on February 24, 1933, the first child of Rabbi Jerome and Bessie Folkman,...
NCI Director Assesses Barriers to Faster Progress in Cancer Research
At a National Press Club media event in Washington, DC, on September 25, 2012, National Cancer Institute (NCI) Director Harold E. Varmus, MD, addressed a group of 75 reporters and officials. His discussion focused on impediments—biologic, economic, institutional, and cultural—to faster cancer...
President Obama Signs High-mortality Cancer Bill into Law
Just hours before the end of the 112th Congress, constitutional deadline for approval of a bill passed by that Congress, President Barack Obama signed into law the first legislation requiring comprehensive plans of research action for high-mortality cancers, with lung and pancreatic cancers given...
Never a Dull Moment: A Day in the Life of an Oncology Fellow
Oncology fellows represent the future of cancer care, bringing the best and brightest young doctors into a rigorous training environment that molds their future career paths. Due to an impending workforce shortage in cancer care, the public health-care demands placed on today’s oncology fellows...
SIDEBAR: ASCO’s Cancer Treatment Summaries for Survivors
ASCO has developed treatment summaries and survivorship care plans for specific cancers, as well as cancer adjuvant treatment plans and summaries, and guidelines for follow-up care to help survivors maintain information about their cancer and a record of their medical history to use as they...
SIDEBAR: Young Survival Coalition Launches Post-treatment Navigator
In December, the Young Survival Coalition released What’s Next? A Young Woman’s Post-treatment Navigator, a survivorship guide to help young breast cancer survivors improve their quality of life after treatment ends. The Young Survival Coalition developed the guide after a 2010 survey it conducted...
Teens and Young Adults with Cancer Want a Voice in End-of-life Care
A top the list of concerns of adolescents and young adults with a life-threatening cancer are these two considerations: being able to choose the kind of medical treatment they want (or do not want) and expressing their wishes to family and friends about how they want to be remembered, according to...
Richard I. Fisher, MD, to Join Fox Chase Cancer Center and Temple University School of Medicine
On March 1, 2013, leading cancer center administrator and nationally recognized hematology/oncology expert Richard I. Fisher, MD, will assume leadership roles at Fox Chase Cancer Center, a member of the Temple University Health System, and Temple University School of Medicine, Philadelphia....
French Investigators Prospectively Test Genomically Driven Treatment in Metastatic Breast Cancer
Whole-genome DNA analysis prospectively identified alterations in metastatic tumors that could be individually targeted with molecular agents, in a study presented at the 2012 European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress by Fabrice André, MD, of Institut Gustave-Roussy, Villejuif, France....
Expert Point of View: Ian Smith, MD
Invited discussant Ian Smith, MD, of The Royal Marsden Hospital and Institute of Cancer Research in London, commented at the ESMO meeting that while all three arms of NeoALLTO, especially the arm with dual HER2 blockade, achieved good pathologic complete response rates, “the breast-conserving...
Lumpectomy Rates Inconsistent with Response Rates in Early Breast Cancer
Achieving a pathologic complete response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy does not always reduce the aggressiveness of breast cancer surgery, according to an analysis of the NeoALLTO trial presented at the 2012 European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress in Vienna.1 Carmen Criscitiello, MD, of ...
Online Prostate Cancer Information Is Written at Reading Levels above Many Americans’ Literacy Skills
Although 61% of Americans are going online to access health information,1 many of them may not understand what they find there, including information about prostate cancer treatment options. According to a new study published in The Journal of Urology,2 as many as 90 million Americans have literacy ...
ASCO Report Encourages Further Discussion to Improve REMS Development, Communication
The oncology community—including providers, patients, and industry—and the FDA should continue to work together to improve the agency’s Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies (REMS) program, according to the report of the ASCO REMS Working Group published online by the Journal of Oncology...
Community Research Forum Addresses Conundrums Common to Community Practices that Conduct Research
It is every research site’s biggest concern. The National Cancer Institute (NCI), the FDA, or drug company sponsors could arrive at any time to comb through a site’s documents related to a specific trial. It’s called an audit, and it’s common. And yet, not all sites that conduct research have...
Give Your Patients the Latest GI Research News
During the upcoming Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium, to be held on January 24–26, direct your patients to www.cancer.net/gisymposium, where they can get research highlights from the 2013 Symposium. Also, your patients can download or listen to podcasts with ASCO experts explaining what this...
Call for Abstracts: 2013 ASCO Annual Meeting
Groundbreaking research in cancer care is the cornerstone of ASCO’s Annual Meeting, and the deadline for submitting abstracts to be considered for presentation or publication at this year’s Meeting is fast approaching. The submission deadline is February 5 at 11:59 PM (EST). Late-Breaking Abstracts ...
New ASCO Statement Outlines Agenda to Advance Cancer Survivorship Care
In response to the needs of a growing population of cancer survivors, ASCO has released a position statement, recently published online in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. Developed through the work of the ASCO Cancer Survivorship Committee, the statement outlines a comprehensive agenda for...
ASCO Secures Major Funding and Data License Agreements for CancerLinQ™
ASCO has secured $3 million in new funding and key data sharing arrangements to support the development of CancerLinQ™, a ground-breaking information technology initiative that aims to achieve higher quality, higher value cancer care with better outcomes for patients. ASCO’s Conquer Cancer...
ASCO Top Five List Highlighted in IOM Workshop
As part of the Institute of Medicine’s (IOM) National Cancer Policy Forum workshop on delivering affordable cancer care in the 21st century, ASCO’s Top Five list was highlighted as an example of a way to improve quality of care for patients while reducing unnecessary costs. Lowell Schnipper, MD,...
FDA Expands Abiraterone’s Use for Late-stage Prostate Cancer
In December, the FDA approved an expanded indication for abiraterone acetate (Zytiga) in combination with prednisone for the treatment of patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. Trial Design The approval was based on a trial randomly assigning patients with metastatic...
