Hodgkin lymphoma is generally thought to be a malignancy with a favorable prognosis. Overall, approximately 80% of patients will have durable, long-term remissions with initial chemotherapy. Some patients, however, demonstrate evidence of disease progression, and these patients usually receive...
The article “Shining a Spotlight on Epithelioid Hemangioendothelioma,” written by Jane Gutkovich and published in the April 10, 2015, issue of The ASCO Post, generated an enthusiastic response from the patient and advocate community of individuals with this rare cancer. Here, we are pleased to...
I first met Michael Katz, MBA, in 2004, 3 years after my brother, Dom, was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, and we were at a crossroads in his care and needed advice. Although an experimental regimen of thalidomide (Thalomid) and dexamethasone had successfully put Dom in remission for a year (the...
The ASCO Post is pleased to reproduce installments of the “Art of Oncology” as published previously in the Journal of Clinical Oncology (JCO). These articles focus on the experience of suffering from cancer or of caring for people diagnosed with cancer, and they include narratives, topical essays,...
The following essay by Kishore K. Dass, MD, is adapted from The Big Casino: America’s Best Cancer Doctors Share Their Most Powerful Stories, which was coedited by Stan Winokur, MD, and Vincent Coppola and published in May 2014. The book is available on Amazon.com and thebigcasino.org. Born in...
A famous Talmudic question asks: “What is truer than the truth?” The answer: “The story.” This is the story of my personal journey in search of meaning and the development of an approach to care for patients with advanced cancer, which I came to call “meaning-centered psychotherapy.” In terms of...
The recent publication of the results of our National Cancer Institute (NCI) RO1-funded randomized controlled trial of meaning-centered group psychotherapy for advanced cancer patients in the Journal of Clinical Oncology,1 and the accompanying summary published in this issue of The ASCO Post,...
James Allison, PhD, was named a recipient of the 2015 Pezcoller Foundation–American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) International Award for Cancer Research at the 2015 AACR Annual Meeting. Dr. Allison, Chair of Immunology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, was acknowledged ...
Multidisciplinary Cancer Management Courses (MCMCs) offered by ASCO International, in collaboration with other organizations, seek to improve cancer care globally through the promotion of interdisciplinary cancer management. Attendees of select MCMCs have the option to attend a 1- to 2-day training ...
Although the idea of using viruses to target cancer cells dates back more than 100 years, technologic advances in the genetic engineering of viruses are now making it possible to safely test oncolytic virotherapy as a valid strategy against cancer cells. One type of genetically engineered virus...
The combination of docetaxel plus prednisone has been a standard therapy in advanced prostate cancer since 2004.1 Since then, there have been multiple randomized phase III trials comparing this standard of care with additional drug therapy. None has demonstrated improvement in outcome. Lenalidomide ...
Dear Dr. Wilson: I am writing to express our family’s deepest and heartfelt appreciation for the lifesaving care you and your team provided for our son, Patrick…. I don’t know how widely it is known that you save lives at the National Cancer Institute—offering hope to people like Patrick, who have...
John L. Marshall, MD, a global leader in the research and treatment of gastrointestinal cancers, grew up in Lexington, Kentucky, in a family that put high value on education. As a young boy, science was already on his mind; he enjoyed the explorative nature that chemistry and biology offered....
Due to childhood health issues, Sandra J. Horning, MD, formed an opinion about doctors at a young age: They were good people who helped other people. By her early teens, Dr. Horning began to ponder a career in medicine, which offered the possibility of blending her love of science with a career...
Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard announced a $10 million gift from the Gerstner Family Foundation, which will expand cancer research at Broad Institute and broaden collaborations with Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. The research will focus on the...
Margaret Foti, PhD, MD (hc), CEO of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), was honored for her “dedication and commitment to solving cancer through research” and for her “passionate advocacy for increased federal funding for cancer research and biomedical science,” at Massachusetts...
On April 1, 2015, Douglas R. Lowy, MD, became Acting Director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI), succeeding Harold Varmus, MD, who left NCI to join the faculty of Weill Cornell Medical College in New York. (See “The Next Step in a Storied Career,” in the May 25, 2015 issue of The ASCO Post.)...
The past 3 years have witnessed transformative changes in the way that solid tumors and hematologic malignancies are approached, in almost every instance now including consideration of some form of immunomodulation in the first- or later-line therapeutic setting. The greatest success has occurred...
Kenneth C. Frazier, JD, Chairman and CEO of Merck & Co., Inc., was elected Chairman of the Board of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA). Mr. Frazier formerly held the position of Chairman-Elect and succeeds Ian C. Read, Chairman and CEO of Pfizer, Inc. New Officers ...
ASCO, together with 30 organizations, have sent a letter to President Obama asking for his leadership in giving the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the authority to regulate e-cigarettes and other currently unregulated tobacco products. The 2009 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control ...
This year’s Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer contains the first national combined data set on the incidence of four major breast cancer subtypes by race/ethnicity, poverty level, geography, and other factors. The findings show that “there are unique racial/ethnic-specific incidence...
“What’s past is prologue.” —William Shakespeare Today, a cancer drug under study in a clinical trial is commonly provided for a finite period of time after the study closes to accrual. If that drug were not yet U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved when the study began, the complimentary ...
The ability to interrogate cancer cells at the genomic, proteomic, immunologic, and metabolomic levels will transform oncology care from one that relies mainly on trial-and-error treatment strategies based on the anatomy of the tumor to one that is more precisely based on the tumor’s molecular...
The ASCO Annual Meeting highlights the latest research and treatment advances in oncology, with more than 28,000 oncology professionals attending each year. ASCO wishes to acknowledge the volunteers on this year’s Cancer Education and Scientific Program Committees, and thank them for their time and ...
This is a significant study. About 30% of patients who undergo breast-conserving surgery or partial mastectomy are likely to have positive margins. Optimal treatment is to remove the entire tumor surgically and then follow with radiation. Standard practice requires reexcision for positive margins,” ...
The fundamental challenge in treating children with cancer centers on how to help relieve their suffering while they undergo difficult care. Typically, they do not yet have adult coping skills, and even if they had some ability to cope, many of the issues they face during treatment are...
From Wrigley Field to McCormick Place, Chicago residents and visitors felt the energy surrounding the launch of The Campaign to Conquer Cancer during the ASCO 2015 Annual Meeting. The Conquer Cancer Foundation of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (CCF) threw out the ceremonial first pitch...
Johnson & Johnson named Bert Vogelstein, MD, of Johns Hopkins University, Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the winner of the 2015 Dr. Paul Janssen Award for Biomedical Research for his breakthroughs in oncology research, which have spanned more than 2 ...
In a study reported in The Lancet Oncology and reviewed in this issue of The ASCO Post, Brian Rini, MD, of the Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Institute, and colleagues showed that a 16-gene assay recurrence score could predict postoperative outcome in patients with stage I to III clear cell renal...
Researchers at The Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center at Duke University are being barraged by patients wishing to enroll in their clinical trial of an engineered poliovirus for recurrent glioblastoma. This comes as a result of a CBS 60 Minutes interview with lead researcher Matthias...
This combination [lenvatinib and everolimus] is a potential game-changer in metastatic renal cell carcinoma. We’ve studied other combinations to no avail; for example, bevacizumab [Avastin] plus everolimus had no advantage over everolimus alone. Other combinations are too toxic, such as sunitinib...
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) announced that it has received the largest gift in its history, a commitment of $150 million, from long-time MSK board member David H. Koch. This unprecedented contribution will fund a state-of-the-art outpatient medical facility to be known as The David ...
Gene therapy pioneer John A. Zaia, MD, has been named Director of the Center for Gene Therapy within City of Hope’s Hematologic Malignancies and Stem Cell Transplantation Institute. Internationally known and respected for his groundbreaking research into potential gene therapy treatments for HIV,...
Geriatrics for the Oncologist is guest edited by Stuart Lichtman, MD, FACP, FASCO, and developed in collaboration with the International Society of Geriatric Oncology (SIOG). Visit SIOG.org for more on geriatric oncology. The elderly population in the United States is growing, and by the year...
Approximately 10% to 15% of patients with advanced non–small cell lung (NSCLC) cancer have mutations in the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) in tumor cells. Specific therapies to inhibit the activity of EGFR-mutated NSCLC have now been clearly shown to improve response rate and...
Cyrus Ghajar, PhD, a metastatic breast cancer researcher at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, has received a $4.1 million Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program (BCRP) “Era of Hope” Scholar Award. The Department of Defense’s BCRP is the second biggest funder of breast cancer...
At the 2015 ASCO Annual Meeting, both ASCO and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) unveiled details of new precision medicine trials that will greatly expand the number of patients with cancer who are benefiting from targeted agents. The trials will match a patient’s tumor molecular profile with an ...
In monitoring patients with melanoma at high risk for relapse, surveillance imaging with 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose–positron-emission tomography (FDG-PET)/computed tomography (CT) can detect asymptomatic metastases and thus facilitate early treatment, according to Australian investigators who presented ...
Jeffrey L. Wolf, MD, Director of the Myeloma Program at the University of California, San Francisco, formally discussed the ENDEAVOR study at the ASCO Annual Meeting. He commented that the “doubling” in progression-free survival is “impressive” and said that “time will tell if this difference...
We’ve seen how dramatically patients’ lives can change when they are matched with the right treatment at the right time in their disease course. Although this is still an exception and not the rule, we believe collaborative research approaches will make this kind of precision medicine a reality for ...
It is a humbling experience to reach 90 and to have a party and to have friends of the caliber I have. I think what keeps me going is the pleasant activities I have with Drs. Beatriz Pogo [MD, DMSc, Professor of Medicine, Hematology and Medical Oncology at Mount Sinai] and Stella Melana [PhD,...
When Emil J Freireich, MD, retires from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center on September 1, he will have spent 50 years at the institution and a total of 60 years in the pursuit of curing childhood leukemia as well as other cancers and in the educational development of young...
The Pew Charitable Trusts and the Alexander and Margaret Stewart Trust announced the newest class of Pew–Stewart scholars for cancer research on June 11. Five standout scientists, nominated by the country’s leading cancer research institutions, will receive 4 years of flexible funding to pursue...
In 1964, when the first seven physicians who founded ASCO met, I doubt they imagined what a successful Society they were forming. At that time, cancer treatments were just beginning to have some early successes with a few cytotoxic therapies, new radiation modalities, and improved surgical...
In June, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (Memorial) in New York announced it had appointed Clifford A. Hudis, MD, FACP, Chief of Breast Medicine Service, to a newly created position of Vice President for Government Relations and Chief Advocacy Officer. In addition to his new role, Dr. Hudis ...
An anticancer therapy may be hailed as a breakthrough in some corners, whereas its value may be hotly contested in others. In an effort to bring clear, unbiased perspective to new expensive therapies, the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) has created a valuable tool for oncologists,...
www.fasciacongress.orgwww.fasciacongress.org SEPTEMBER 2015 World Molecular Imaging CongressSeptember 2-5 • Honolulu, Hawaii For more information: www.wmis.org/meetings/ International Palliative Care WorkshopSeptember 3-5 • Fez, Morocco For more information:...
Medical oncologist and lung cancer researcher Karen Reckamp, MD, MS, has been named Medical Director for Clinical Research Operations at City of Hope. In this newly created position, Dr. Reckamp will expand her current role as Chair of the Cancer Protocol Review and Monitoring Committee, in which...
Earlier this summer, Lidia Schapira, MD, FASCO, a medical oncologist at Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center and Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, was named Editor-in-Chief of Cancer.Net, ASCO’s patient information website. Prior to taking on this role, Dr....
In May 2015, Johnson & Johnson announced its partnership with New York University (NYU) School of Medicine in New York to create a first-of-its kind independent bioethics panel to review requests made to the company for compassionate use of an investigational drug and determine how the company...