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Showing 2901 - 2950Adding Nimotuzumab to Chemoradiation Improved Survival in Locally Advanced Head and Neck Cancer
IN PATIENTS with locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck, nimotuzumab—a humanized monoclonal antibody against the epidermal growth factor receptor—in combination with cisplatin and radiotherapy was superior to cisplatin and radiotherapy alone in improving progression-free...
Oncology Organizations Remember Senator John McCain
U.S. Senator from Arizona John McCain passed away on August 25, 2018. The cause of death was glioblastoma multiforme. A number of medical societies issued statements remembering Senator McCain, a few of which are reprinted below. The ASCO Post shares in remembering Senator McCain for his service to ...
Every Day Is a Bonus
I have always been plagued with nagging headaches, so when they intensified in late 2010, I wasn’t too concerned. But when my eyes began involuntarily moving rapidly back and forth as I was writing Christmas cards, I knew the symptoms were a sign of something serious. A magnetic resonance imaging...
Treating Nonmetastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer: Implications of the PROSPER Trial
A MAN in his early 70s sits in our office. His general health is good, and he is feeling well. Yet he is deeply worried. Four years ago, when his prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level rapidly increased after radical prostatectomy and subsequent radiation therapy, he was started on...
If It Isn’t Documented, Does It Count?
“The quality of mercy is not strained. It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven Upon the place beneath.” —William Shakespeare THESE LINES from The Merchant of Venice suggest that mercy should be freely given. However, the metrics of quality is strained, pouring like a thunderous storm obscuring...
A Story of a Mother and Daughter and Cancer
BOOKMARK Title: The Cookie Cure: A Mother-Daughter Memoir of Cookies and CancerAuthors: Susan Stachler With Laura StachlerPublisher: SourcebooksPublication date: February 2018Price: $19.95, paperback, 320 pages Cancer memoirs vary in their voice and message. Some are slapstick humorous attempts to ...
A Daughter Struggles Through Her Father’s Battle With Cancer
BOOKMARK Title: White Hot Grief Parade: A Memoir Author: Alexandra Silber Publisher: Pegasus Books Publication date: July 2018 Price: $25.95, hardcover; 288 pages The sudden death of a loved one produces a different type of trauma for family and friends than the protracted fading away of cancer. ...
Improving the Lives of Patients With Cancer Is Richard L. Schilsky’s Lifelong Mission
In 2009, as Richard L. Schilsky, MD, FACP, FSCT, FASCO, was preparing his Presidential Address for that year’s ASCO Annual Meeting, he came across his 6th grade essay titled “My Ambition,” which foretold with eerie specificity the career path he would follow over the next 6 decades. In the paper,...
Bringing Together Industry, Academia, and Nonprofits to Advance Breast Cancer Research
In 2016, the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF) launched the Drug Research Collaborative, a program the foundation developed to bridge the gap between academic investigators and their access to therapies under investigation and to encourage greater academia-driven research in breast cancer....
Study Examines Link Between Squamous Cell Carcinoma and Recessive Dystrophic Epidermolysis Bullosa
Many patients with the rare skin disease recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB)—commonly called butterfly syndrome—also develop squamous cell carcinoma early in life. Now an international team of scientists led by researchers at the Sidney Kimmel Cancer...
Oncology Organizations Remember Senator John McCain
United States Senator from Arizona John McCain passed away on August 25 of the brain cancer glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). Numerous medical societies issued statements in light of his death, reprinted below. ASCO ASCO President Monica M. Bertagnolli, MD, FACS, FASCO, issued the following...
New Software Aims to Predict Patients’ Resistance to Cancer Treatment
New computer software may be used to predict how cancers may respond to a new drug—before it has ever been given to patients. Researchers hope that this new tool could transform the discovery of cancer drugs by predicting how tumors become resistant to treatment before it first becomes...
Memory Issues in Children With Medulloblastoma Undergoing Radiation Therapy
Children with certain types of brain tumors who undergo radiation treatment are less likely to recall the specifics of events they experienced after radiation than to remember pretreatment happenings, according to a Baylor University study comparing them to children with healthy brains. These...
On Not Being Ready
The ASCO Post is pleased to reproduce installments of the Art of Oncology as published previously in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. These articles focus on the experience of suffering from cancer or of caring for people diagnosed with cancer, and they include narratives, topical essays,...
I Am Too Young for Breast Cancer
Two years ago, when I began having pain and bloody discharge in my left breast, I thought it was the return of a solitary intraductal papilloma I had had in that breast when I was a college student 6 years earlier, so the symptoms didn’t initially alarm me. It wasn’t until I noticed that the mass...
Focus on the Empire State Hematology & Oncology Society
The Empire State Hematology & Oncology Society (ESHOS), a State Affiliate of ASCO, was formed in January 2017 as a merger of three separate hematology and oncology professional organizations in New York. Stuart P. Feldman, MD, of the New York State Society of Medical Oncologists &...
A Firsthand Account of Cancer and Mental Illness
Brain tumors are among the most challenging clinical scenarios faced by the oncology community. Along with devastating physiologic damage, brain tumors often have a dramatic effect on the patient’s cognitive, neurologic, and psychological functions. However, the body of literature focusing on...
Oncofertility: An Emerging and Much-Needed Field
The American Cancer Society estimated that in 2015 in the United States, more than 86,000 women younger than age 45 were diagnosed with cancer. Many of them face reproduction and fertility concerns, which could lead to long-term distress and impaired quality of life in survivorship. To shed light...
Psycho-oncology: After Decades of Acceptance, Still an Emerging Field
As the field of psycho-oncology continues to mature, new studies are being conducted to evaluate ways to better address the needs of patients with cancer and their families. The ASCO Post recently spoke with Michael Hoerger, PhD, MSCR, Assistant Professor of Psychology, Psychiatry, and Oncology at ...
SMARTIE Initiative for Advanced Practitioners in Oncology Recognized by Alliance for Continuing Education
AN ONGOING educational initiative, the Study to Measure Advanced Practitioner Retention of Targeted Information and Education (SMARTIE), measures oncology learning and how it is used with advanced practitioners and their patients with cancer. The initiative, conducted by Harborside Medical...
New ESMO Tumor DNA Scale Helps Match Patients to Optimal Targeted Treatments
A new scale for tumor DNA mutations called ESCAT (European Society for Medical Oncology [ESMO] Scale for Clinical Actionability of Molecular Targets) is aiming to simplify and standardize choices for targeted cancer treatment. Information about the development and use of the scale in practice was...
Gene-Expression Predictor for Immunotherapy Response in Melanoma
In a new study, researchers developed a gene expression predictor that can indicate whether melanoma in a specific patient is likely to respond to treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors. Their research was published by Auslander et al in Nature Medicine. “There is a critical need to be...
Impact of Doctor-Patient Communication on Outcomes in Cancer Survivors
A new study from the American Cancer Society has found that patients with cancer who reported greater satisfaction in the way their provider communicated with them received more efficient care, with fewer office visits and better health outcomes. These findings were published by Rai et al in...
BRCA Testing in Medically Underserved Women in Southeastern United States
Medically underserved women in the Southeast region of the United States diagnosed with breast cancer or ovarian cancer may have not received genetic testing that could have helped them and their relatives make important decisions about their health, according to new research from Vanderbilt-Ingram ...
Inaugural Award Recipient Studies Potential of HE4 Blockade as a Novel Immune Therapy in Ovarian Cancer
In 2018, Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) provided funds for Conquer Cancer to establish a Young Investigator Award (YIA) supporting female researchers and underscore the importance of gender diversity in oncology practice and research. “We provided this grant as part of our commitment to empowering...
Breast Cancer Surgeon Hannah Hazard-Jenkins, MD, Deftly Balances Career and Family
GUEST EDITOR Dr. Abraham is the Director of the Breast Oncology Program at Taussig Cancer Institute, and Professor of Medicine, Lerner College of Medicine, Cleveland Clinic. For this installment of the Living a Full Life series, guest editor Jame Abraham, MD, spoke with breast cancer surgeon...
Obesity and Cancer: Complex Interplay of Multiple Factors
The evolving concept that dietary fat plays an important role in the etiology of human cancer emerged more than 50 years ago. Ernst Wynder, MD, whose seminal epidemiologic work led to identifying smoking as a contributory cause of lung cancer, presented a paper in 1967 showing a decided correlation ...
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center to Assist Cancer Center in Beijing
To meet the growing demand for high-quality cancer care in China, Tahoe Hospital Management Co Ltd has reached a 5-year agreement with the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) where health-care professionals from the Pennsylvania-based medical center will assist in the planning and...
Be Prepared to Assist Patients to Make Informed Decisions About Breast Reconstruction Options
Two studies about postmastectomy breast reconstruction were recently published in JAMA Surgery. One study found overall complication rates of 32.9% at 2 years after reconstruction, with women having autologous reconstruction more likely to have complications than those having implant...
Navigating the ‘New Normal’: NCCN Summit Examines Access to High-Quality Cancer Care
It’s not just the leaps in development of precision medicines, the soaring costs, the new payment models, clinical trial designs, sources of data, and federal policies. It’s all of them plus the rapidity with which change is happening that makes this era of oncology exceptional. “I would say...
Cannabinoids for Cancer Pain: Dangerous or Beneficial?
Cannabis has been used in health care for millennia, and its use has been well documented, albeit never definitively integrated into clinical practice. Recent societal changes and the increasing acceptance and availability of cannabis have reignited the medical and public debate around its role in...
Stakeholders Agree: ‘Value’ in Cancer Care Depends on Perspective
In a roundtable discussion moderated by Clifford Goodman, PhD, of The Lewin Group, Falls Church, Virginia, representatives of the patient advocacy community, public and private payers, large and small clinics, and the pharmaceutical industry did not always see eye to eye on what “value” means nor ...
Venetoclax and Beyond: Successfully Targeting BCL2
Although many agents have been able to successfully inhibit the proliferative capacity of cancer cells or disable mutations that spur cancer growth, one area that has proven elusive is the apoptotic pathway—the cell’s means of resisting death. That is until recently. Dysregulation of B-cell...
Small Study Looks at Physician-Patient Discussions About Lung Cancer Screening
National guidelines advise doctors to discuss the benefits and harms of lung cancer screening with high-risk patients. A small study (n = 14) by researchers from the University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center reported there is a gap between what guidelines...
Unraveling the Mystery of What Gives Exceptional Responders Their Superpower
Once dismissed as rare medical miracles that overcame overwhelming odds to thwart cancer, exceptional responders to cancer treatment are now the subject of intense study. In 2015, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) announced the launch of its Exceptional Responders Initiative, with the goal of...
For Hodgkin Lymphoma, PD-1 Blockade Is Not the Final Answer
Although programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) blockade is highly effective in Hodgkin lymphoma, not all patients respond, and not all responses are durable. Stephen M. Ansell, MD, PhD, Chair of the Mayo Clinic Lymphoma Group and Professor of Medicine at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, described...
Assay Uses Big Data to Predict Responses to Immunotherapy
In the age of big data, cancer researchers are discovering new ways to monitor the effectiveness of immunotherapy treatments. Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg~Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy developed a new way to use bioinformatics as a gathering tool to determine how ...
CMS Proposes Extended 340B Cuts for 2019
ON JULY 25, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released its 2019 Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System proposed rule. Among other provisions, the proposal would extend 2018 reimbursement cuts to the 340B Drug Pricing Program to include currently excepted, off-site...
TAILORx: How to Apply This Landmark Study
TAILORx changes the configuration of the ball field and the shape of the ball in deciding which women will be recommended chemotherapy after resection of node-negative, hormone receptor–positive breast cancer. TAILORx was presented by Joseph Sparano, MD, at the 2018 ASCO Plenary Session and...
Meeting the Challenges of Immunotherapy-Related Toxicities
In 2011, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved ipilimumab (Yervoy), an anticytotoxic T-lymphocyte– associated antigen 4 (CTLA-4), the first checkpoint inhibitor for the treatment of advanced melanoma.1 Since then, several more checkpoint inhibitors directed at both the programmed...
My Incidentally Discovered Cancer
In February 2015, there was no indication that my life was about to radically change. I was a practicing attorney and happily raising two young children with my husband. At 40 years old, I was healthy—or so I thought—and had no physical symptoms to alert me to the devastating news that was about to ...
Actively Recruiting Clinical Trials Focused on Neurotoxicities of Treatment
The information contained in this Clinical Trials Resource Guide includes actively recruiting clinical studies focused on neurotoxicities of cancer treatment. These studies focus on the effects of chemotherapy on cognitive function, changes in resting state brain networks after stem cell...
Ensuring Quality With Patient-Reported Outcomes and Electronic Health Records
Accurately assessing the quality of cancer care over the continuum of treatment requires a special set of metrics and data-gathering methods. Moreover, with a growing number of cancer survivors, the post-treatment care involves primary care providers who are adept at managing the comorbidities...
Is Some DNA Worthless?
BOOKMARK Title: Junk DNA: A Journey Through the Dark Matter of the GenomeAuthor: Nessa CareyPublisher: Columbia University PressOriginal publication date: April 2015Price: $22.95, paperback, 360 pages When biologists first delved into the human wonder of genes in the 1970s, they eventually...
A Celebrity Gadfly’s Reflections on His Death and Other Things Meant to Irritate
BOOKMARK Title: MortalityAuthor: Christopher HitchensPublisher: Twelve: Hachette Book GroupOriginal Publication Date: May 13, 2014Price: $19.95, paperback, 128 pages “There are no atheists in foxholes” is an aphorism used to contend that in times of extreme fear, such as during war or facing a...
Is Universal Health Care a Human Right?
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) provided oncology services to people with cancer who had previously been denied coverage. And for that reason alone, many oncologists supported its passage. However, even though the U.S. health-care system remains in the crosshairs of partisan politics, parties on both ...
ASCO and Friends Submit Recommendations to FDA Aimed at Reducing Barriers to Clinical Trial Participation
ASCO and Friends of Cancer Research (Friends) have submitted recommended language to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for five guidance documents on ways to broaden eligibility criteria for cancer clinical trials. The recommendations are part of an ASCO...
Reishi Mushroom
The ASCO Post’s Integrative Oncology series is intended to facilitate the availability of evidence-based information on integrative and complementary therapies sometimes used by patients with cancer. Ting Bao, MD, DABMA, MS, and Jyothirmai Gubili, MS, present information on the use of reishi...
Research Finds Failings in Some Apps Used for the Diagnosis of Skin Cancer
In the scramble to bring successful apps for the diagnosis of skin cancer to market, there is a concern that a lack of testing is risking public safety, according to research led by the University of Birmingham. The research, outlined at the British Association of Dermatologists Annual...
New Tool for Assessing Frailty in Patients With Newly Diagnosed Multiple Myeloma
A NEW “frailty index” may predict overall survival for patients newly diagnosed with multiple myeloma, according to a study published in JCO Clinical Cancer Informatics.1 Frailty is a critical factor in treatment decision-making for many patients with multiple myeloma, as many of these patients are ...
