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Showing 28301 - 28350Reports From the IPOS/AORTIC Travel Scholars
Eight individuals were awarded travel scholarships allowing them to attend the IPOS/AORTIC Program (International Psycho-Oncology Society/African Organization for Research and Training in Cancer) and share their experiences and efforts toward improving the psychosocial care of patients with cancer...
Surgeon General’s New Report Attributes Smoking as Cause of Death in More Than 20 Million Americans Over Past 50 Years
According to a new Surgeon General’s report issued last month, more than 20 million Americans have died from smoking over the past 50 years. The new report concludes that cigarette smoking kills nearly half a million Americans a year, with an additional 16 million suffering from smoking-related...
50th Anniversary of the First U.S. Surgeon General’s Report on Smoking and Health
“When the first Surgeon General’s Report was released in 1964, more than half of American men and over a third of women smoked and lung cancer had gone from an obscure disease to a leading cause of death. In issuing this pioneering report summarizing the known health risks of smoking, our nation’s...
Health IT Safety Guide
A new set of guides and interactive tools to help health-care providers more safely use electronic health information technology products, such as electronic health records (EHRs), are now available at www.HealthIT.gov. The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC)...
FDA Approves Combination Therapy for Unresectable or Metastatic Melanoma With BRAF V600E/K Mutations
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved trametinib (Mekinist) for use in combination with dabrafenib (Tafinlar) for the treatment of patients with unresectable melanoma or metastatic melanoma with BRAF V600E or V600K mutations. These mutations must be detected by an FDA-approved...
Dabrafenib Receives FDA Breakthrough Therapy Designation for BRAF-Mutated NSCLC
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Breakthrough Therapy designation for dabrafenib (Tafinlar) for the treatment of patients with metastatic BRAF V600E mutation–positive non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who have received at least one prior line of platinum-containing...
Expanded Options for Age and Donor Sources for Transplant
Although many oncologists consider matched sibling donors as the best source of grafts for hematopoietic cell transplantation, two separate studies presented at the recent American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting support the use of alternative donor grafts for patients with lymphoma and acute...
ASCO Proposes New Framework for Medicare Reimbursement
In the fifth installment of the Physician Payment Reform Educational Series, ASCO presents an alternative for oncology reimbursement that recognizes and rewards high-quality, high-value care for patients with cancer. ASCO hopes this proposal will spark conversation within the oncology community and ...
Nearly 40 Practices Receive QOPI® Recertification for High-Quality Cancer Care
Nearly 40 practices have achieved certification through the Quality Oncology Practice Initiative (QOPI®) Certification Program (QCP™) for a second 3-year term. The QOPI Certification Program began certifying practices in 2010 and is now seeing the first wave of practices applying for a second term. ...
Cancer.Net’s Newest Resource—the Cancer.Net Blog
Starting this year, Cancer.Net added a new interactive blog to its list of resources. Using the blog, Cancer.Net will be able to share information in a more timely manner and respond to current events, including breaking news about cancer advances and other topics important to people affected by...
ASCO Cosponsors Inaugural Palliative Care in Oncology Symposium
In October, ASCO will cosponsor the inaugural Palliative Care in Oncology Symposium with the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (AAHPM), the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO), and the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer (MASCC). The Symposium is...
Conquer Cancer Foundation Funds Research in Low- and Middle-Income Countries for the First Time
The Conquer Cancer Foundation of the American Society of Clinical Oncology has announced the four recipients of the inaugural 2014 International Innovation Grant, which is a new program that underscores the Foundation’s continued commitment to improving the care of patients worldwide. The 1-year...
ASCO Member Helps to Strengthen Cancer Care Internationally Through Philanthropy and Volunteer Service
Ian F. Tannock, MD, PhD, DSc, FASCO, Professor of Medical Oncology at Princess Margaret Hospital and University of Toronto, has long been an advocate for ASCO as a truly global society and a leader in cancer care worldwide. It’s something he encouraged during his time on ASCO’s Board of Directors,...
IPOS/AORTIC Conference Aims to Bring Comprehensive Care to Patients in Africa
More than 1,000 scientists from 66 countries, including 32 of the 52 African countries, attended the African Organization for Research and Training in Cancer (AORTIC) 9th International Conference on Cancer in Africa, held this past November in Durban, South Africa. The theme of the 2013 meeting was ...
ASCO President Issues Statement on Major Decline in Lung Cancer
Editor’s note: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently issued a report on lung cancer incidence trends in the United States.1 According to the report, incidence rates for lung cancer have decreased between 2005 and 2009, the period evaluated. Lung cancer incidence has...
Expert Point of View: Matthew Ellis, MB, PhD
Matthew Ellis, MB, PhD, Professor of Medicine and the Anheuser-Busch Chair in Medical Oncology at Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, commented for The ASCO Post on the emerging field of research on drugging PI3K mutations. Critical Mechanisms “Multiple somatic lesions in breast...
Drugging PI3K in Breast Cancer: Findings From SABCS 2013
Components of the phosphatidylinositide 3-kinase/mammalian target of rapamycin (PI3K/mTOR) pathway are deregulated in many human cancers, with about 30% of breast cancers harboring PIK3CA gene mutations. Emerging research shows that these mutations may render estrogen receptor alpha-positive tumors ...
Lung Cancer Screening Facts
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force has posted a supplemental fact sheet for clinicians on its final recommendation statement on screening for lung cancer.1 This resource is meant to help health-care professionals talk about lung cancer screening with their patients and determine if screening...
Common Mutations May Impact Neoadjuvant Treatment Outcomes in Breast Cancer
Emerging research is suggesting that outcomes from neoadjuvant chemotherapy may be correlated with two genetic mutations that are common in breast cancer—PIK3CA and TP53. Their presence may affect response to treatment, and mutational shift after treatment may affect survival, according to studies...
Expert Point of View: Andrew D. Zelenetz, MD, PhD
Andrew D. Zelenetz, MD, PhD, Chair of the Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma Guideline Panel of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) and former Chief of the Lymphoma Service at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, commented on the study by Yamshon et al for The ASCO Post. He said the...
‘R-Squared’ Lymphoma Treatment: Possible Markers of Response Identified
A correlative analysis of a study evaluating lenalidomide (Revlimid) plus rituximab (Rituxan) in patients with indolent non-Hodgkin lymphoma found that increases in the levels of several cytokines correlated with response to treatment. The study by investigators from the University of California...
Expert Point of View: Nathan Fowler, MD
“The future is increasingly bright for patients as we move into an era of effective nonchemotherapy treatment options,” commented Nathan Fowler, MD, Associate Professor in the Department of Lymphoma/Myeloma at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston. “Over the past several years, ...
Lenalidomide/Rituximab Doublet a Potential Front-Line Treatment in Some Lymphomas
The biologic doublet of lenalidomide (Revlimid) plus rituximab (Rituxan) can achieve high response rates and durable remissions in lymphoma, according to a parade of phase II studies presented at the 2013 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting in New Orleans. The immunomodulatory agent ...
Cancer Genes, Promiscuity, and the National Debt
There is no doubt that this is a halcyon period in oncology. The unraveling of the genome has been tremendously important, and finally has helped us to move treatment selection from an era of rational empiricism to one of refined, molecular prognostication. In the care of breast cancer, the impact...
Major Cancer Advances in 2013 Highlight Importance of Federal Funding
About one-third of the most important clinical advances in cancer last year were made possible at least in part through federal funding, according to ASCO’s annual report on progress in cancer, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.1 Significant Declines in Funding The report, “Clinical...
Expert Point of View: Lajos Pusztai, MD, DPhil
Lajos Pusztai, MD, DPhil, Professor of Medicine and Director of Breast Medical Oncology at Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, who was the formal discussant of the papers by Sikov et al and Rugo et al, said there is mounting evidence for using carboplatin. He and his own research team have...
Addition of Carboplatin to Standard Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Supported by SABCS Studies
The achievement of a pathologic complete response in patients with triple-negative breast cancer was boosted by the addition of carboplatin to a standard neoadjuvant chemotherapy regimen, and by the addition of veliparib, an investigational oral PARP inhibitor, plus carboplatin to a standard...
Role for Reduced-Intensity Conditioning Regimen in AML After Allogeneic Transplantation
Reduced-intensity conditioning and myeloablative-conditioning regimens following allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation in children with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) resulted in comparable survival, according to a study published in Blood. The study evaluated 181 patients, 39 treated with...
Corrections to Note
In the January 15, 2014, issue of The ASCO Post, three errors occurred. These errors have since been corrected and revised versions of the articles may be viewed online at ASCOPost.com or via the QR code here. The errors were as follows below. Trastuzumab Dosing In the article “HER2-Positive...
Leukemia/Lymphoma Pioneer Geoffrey P. Herzig, MD, Dies
Many of the advances that have bettered mankind are attributed to those who were driven by a primary passion. Geoffrey P. Herzig, MD, lived the better part of his life with a primary passion: conducting research to increase the cure rate of leukemia and lymphoma patients. His friend and colleague,...
Donald L. Morton, MD, an Icon in Surgical Oncology, Dies
“Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It’s perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we’ve learned something from yesterday.” —John Wayne Donald L. Morton, MD, transformed the management of melanoma and breast cancer by...
Anticipated Shortage of Oncologists Will Strain Ability to Provide Quality Cancer Care
An update of the ASCO 2007 oncology workforce study found that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, when fully implemented, may “modestly exacerbate” anticipated workforce shortages, increasing the demand for oncologists and radiation oncologists by 500,000 visits per year. “Unless...
Pomalidomide Plus Low-Dose Dexamethasone: Important New Option in Relapsed/Refractory Multiple Myeloma
Pomalidomide (Pomalyst) plus low-dose dexamethasone significantly improved progression-free survival compared to pomalidomide alone in patients with relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma enrolled in a multicenter, open-label study, the phase II part of the MM-002 trial. The study confirmed the...
In CLL With Coexisting Conditions, Chlorambucil Produces Better Outcomes With Obinutuzumab Than With Rituximab
A randomized phase III trial conducted in 26 countries found that combining chlorambucil (Leukeran) with an anti-CD20 antibody—either obinutuzumab (Gazya) or rituximab (Rituxan)—produced better outcomes among patients with previously untreated chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and coexisting...
High Expression of hENT1 Can Predict Better Survival Among Patients on Postsurgical Gemcitabine
High levels of expression of the human equilibrative nucleoside transporter 1 (hENT1) were associated with longer median survival of patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma receiving gemcitabine, according to an analysis of clinical data and cancer tissue collected from the European Study Group for ...
High Plasma Alkylresorcinols Associated With Reduced Risk of Distal Colon but Not Overall Colorectal Cancer
In a study reported in Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Kyrø and colleagues found that high levels of plasma alkylresorcinols, biomarkers of dietary whole-grain wheat and rye intake, were associated with reduced risk of distal colon cancer. The study involved prediagnostic plasma samples...
CYB5A Induces Autophagy, and Higher Expression Improves Survival in Pancreatic Cancer
Loss of 18q22.3 is a prognostic marker in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. In a study reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Giovannetti and colleagues assessed the role of 18q22.3-encoded CYB5A in pancreatic cancer prognosis and autophagy modulation. In the study, both resected ...
Effect of Cyclophosphamide Mediated by Gut Microflora
In a study reported in Science, Viaud and colleagues showed that the antitumor activity of cyclophosphamide is dependent on the effect of this agent on gut microflora. In mouse studies, the investigators found that cyclophosphamide altered the composition of microbiota in the small intestine,...
Intact Gut Microbe Populations Improve Response to Chemotherapy
Gut microflora affect local and systemic inflammatory responses, and inflammation is involved in both pathogenesis and treatment of cancers, but it is unclear whether gut microflora affect inflammation in the sterile tumor microenvironment. In a study reported in Science, Iida and colleagues...
Expect Questions from Patients
Like all early detection strategies, screening mammography involves trade-offs,” H. Gilbert Welch, MD, MPH, and Honor J. Passow, PhD, of the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy & Clinical Practice, Hanover, New Hampshire, wrote in a Special Communication in JAMA Internal Medicine.1 They...
Confronting Uncertainty About the Harms and Benefits of Screening Mammography
“If women are to truly participate in the decision of whether or not to be screened [for breast cancer using mammography], they need some quantification of its benefits and harms,” asserted H. Gilbert Welch, MD, MPH, Professor of Medicine, and Honor J. Passow, PhD, Instructor, at The Dartmouth...
UN Agency Issues World Cancer Report 2014
A new global cancer report1 compiled by the United Nations’ International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) shows, as a single entity cancer is the biggest cause of mortality worldwide, and there were an estimated 8.2 million deaths from cancer in 2012. The report also noted that global cancer...
Nothing Prepared Me for Cancer
Fourteen years ago, when I was just 29, I was feeling weak and fatigued and had severe pain in my abdomen. I’d had these symptoms for about a year, but none of the several doctors I saw or any of the tests they performed could find the source of my problems. I even had one nurse practitioner tell...
2014 Oncology Meetings
FEBRUARY European Society for Medical Oncology Sarcoma and GIST 2014February 18-19 • Milan, ItalyFor more information: www.esmo.org 2014 BMT Tandem MeetingAmerican Society for Blood and Marrow TransplantationFebruary 19 - 23 • Orlando, FloridaFor more information: www.asbmt.org Multidisciplinary...
Lessons Learned in Cancer Care Communication
Over the past several decades, outcomes data have traced the success stories in cancer research and therapeutics. However, during those decades of increasingly rapid scientific breakthroughs, certain psychosocial components in the continuum of cancer care were often overlooked. One such element is...
NIH Names First Chief Officer for Scientific Workforce Diversity, Hannah Valantine, MD
National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Francis S. Collins, MD, PhD, has appointed Hannah Valantine, MD, to Chief Officer for Scientific Workforce Diversity. Dr. Valantine will lead NIH’s effort to diversify the biomedical research workforce by developing a vision and comprehensive strategy...
Guest Editor: Barrie R. Cassileth, MS, PhD
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...
Kava
Kava Scientific Name: Piper methysticum Common Names: Kava-kava, kawa, kavain, rauschpfeffer, intoxicating long pepper, tonga, yagona, and yaqona. Overview Kava, a perennial shrub indigenous to the Hawaiian Islands and the Pacific Rim, is known for its relaxant effects and used for social and...
Ongoing NCI-Funded Clinical Trials Actively Recruiting Patients With Hematologic Cancers: Multiple Myeloma
Study Type: Non-Randomized Phase I/Interventional Study Title: Multicenter Phase I Study of Th1/Tc1 Immunotherapy Following Autologous Hematopoietic Progenitor Cell Transplantation in High-Risk Multiple Myeloma Study Sponsor and Collaborators: National Cancer Institute; Hackensack University...
Richard J. Gannotta, DHA, FACHE, Named President Northwestern Memorial Hospital
Northwestern Memorial HealthCare (NMHC) has announced that it has named Richard J. Gannotta, DHA, FACHE, President, Northwestern Memorial Hospital and Senior Vice President, NMHC effective this month. Dr. Gannotta was President of Duke Raleigh Hospital of the Duke University Health System. “Rick is ...
