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Showing 3001 - 3050Ensuring 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 ...
Lack of Congruence Among Tools Used to Assess Cancer-Related Cognitive Dysfunction
THE ASSESSMENT of cognitive dysfunction in patients who have undergone chemotherapy is complex, and although a number of strategies are available, each has its limitations, according to Karin Olson, RN, PhD, Professor in the Faculty of Nursing at the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada. At...
CAR T-Cell Therapy in Lymphoma: Challenges Come With Success
THE EMERGENCE of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy has sparked a wave of optimism in hematologic malignancies, but as experience in using CAR T-cell therapy has grown, new challenges have surfaced. A pioneer in the field, David G. Maloney, MD, PhD, enlightened attendees on these issues ...
New Frontiers Being Explored in Multiple Myeloma
BEFORE TOO LONG, oncologists can expect to have an entirely new arsenal in the fight against multiple myeloma. Cutting-edge therapies on the near horizon were described in a presentation by Kenneth Anderson, MD, at the 2018 American Association of Cancer Research’s (AACR’s) inaugural conference on...
Abiraterone or Enzalutamide for Newly Diagnosed Metastatic Castrate-Resistant Prostate Cancer?
WHAT IS THE best choice of treatment for a man with newly diagnosed metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer after treatment with androgen-deprivation therapy—abiraterone acetate (Zytiga) plus prednisone, or enzalutamide (Xtandi)? Both drugs achieve similar cancer control in this setting,...
Medical Preparedness for Nuclear Disaster
ROBERT PETER GALE, MD, PhD, DSc (hc), was on the faculty of the University of California, Los Angeles, School of Medicine for 20 years and has served as Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research. In 1986, he was asked by the...
Why Oncologists Should Decline to Participate in the Right to Try Act
ON MAY 30, 2018, President Donald J. Trump signed into law the Trickett Wendler, Frank Mongiello, Jordan McLinn, and Matthew Bellina Right to Try Act of 2017.1 This law creates an additional and alternative pathway for patients with a “life-threatening disease or condition” to access...
Clinical Cancer Researcher Gini Fleming, MD, Firmly Believes in the Power of Ideas
Gini Fleming, MD, had a peripatetic path to her destination as a gynecologic and breast cancer expert. As a child, she moved around a lot, living in about 10 or 12 different places, so she had no real sense of being born and reared in any particular place. “My parents married young, when my father ...
Academic Oncology and Industry Offer the Best of Both Worlds for Mace L. Rothenberg, MD
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, interviewed Mace L. Rothenberg, MD,...
American Cancer Society Outlines Blueprint for Cancer Control in the 21st Century
The American Cancer Society (ACS) is outlining its vision for cancer control in the decades ahead in a series of articles that began publishing in early July in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians. The series of articles forms the basis of a national cancer control plan, with a blueprint toward the ...
New Tool for Assessing Frailty May Aid in Predicting Survival in Newly Diagnosed Multiple Myeloma
A new frailty index may aid in predicting overall survival for patients newly diagnosed with multiple myeloma, according to a study published by Mian et al in JCO Clinical Cancer Informatics. This tool is important because frailty is a critical factor in treatment decision-making for ...
Steven M. Horwitz, MD, on CD 30+ PTCL Subtypes: Treatment Update
Steven M. Horwitz, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses aggressive subtypes of peripheral T-cell lymphoma and the coming data that may help clarify what could be the most effective treatments.
Alan S. Rabson, MD, Long-Time NCI Deputy Director and Cancer Research Stalwart, Dies at Age 92
MANY IN the cancer research and National Institutes of Health (NIH) community are mourning the loss of long-time National Cancer Institute (NCI) senior leader Alan S. Rabson, MD, who died on July 4 at the age of 92. With a distinguished scientific career that spanned 6 decades and included...
Pseudosophisticated Language and Needless Confusion?
I’ve been a loyal ASCO member since the early 1970s (aka “back in the day”) and wanted to share a growing pet peeve. I thought of attacking an individual author, but my sense tells me the source of my annoyance is really now a cultural problem and one that can only be fixed at the editor level....
Be Prepared to Answer—and Ask—Questions About Integrative Therapy
ASCO HAS ENDORSED the recommendations in the Society for Integrative Oncology (SIO) clinical practice guidelines for integrative therapies during and after breast cancer.1,2 The guidelines “are clear, thorough, and based on the most relevant scientific evidence,” wrote the ASCO expert panel that...
ASCO Endorses Guidelines for Integrative Therapies During and After Breast Cancer Treatment
RECOMMENDATIONS IN the Society for Integrative Oncology (SIO) clinical practice guidelines for integrative therapies during and after breast cancer treatment “are clear, thorough, and based on the most relevant scientific evidence,” concluded an ASCO expert panel that reviewed the guidelines.1,2...
Is the Move to a Value-Based Health-Care Delivery System Feasible?
In 2015, Congress passed the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization ACT (MACRA), which aims to move Medicare toward reimbursement based more on outcomes and values, a goal, in theory, shared by the oncology community. To shed light on the complicated and problematic attempt to restructure the...
When Can Patients With Gleason 6 Prostate Cancer Safely Undergo Active Surveillance?
Prior to ASCO’s 2016 endorsement of the Cancer Care Ontario (CCO) guideline on active surveillance in the management of localized prostate cancer,1 most men—over 90%—diagnosed with low-risk localized disease were treated with active therapy.2 Today, about 50% of American men with low-risk disease...
Answers to Hematology Expert Review Questions
Question 1 Which of the following is one of the four major criteria for the diagnosis of essential thrombocythemia? Correct Answer: A. Platelet count ≥ 450 × 109/L. Expert Perspective The diagnosis of essential thrombocythemia requires that all four major criteria or the first three major...
The WHO Classification of Tumors of Hematopoietic and Lymphoid Tissues
The ASCO Post is pleased to present Hematology Expert Review, an ongoing feature that quizzes readers on issues in hematology. In this installment, Drs. Abutalib and Medeiros explore the recently updated World Health Organization (WHO) classification of hematopoietic and lymphoid tissue...
Four Generations of Doctors, One Oncologist, in the Family of Hanna K. Sanoff, MD, MPH
Medicine is a family tradition for Hanna K. Sanoff, MD, MPH. “I was born and reared in a suburb just outside of Philadelphia and lived there my whole life until after college. I was one of those people who always knew they wanted to be a doctor. There were four generations of physicians on my...
Delayed Skin Effects of Anti–PD-1 Therapy
Patients with cancer receiving anti–programmed cell death protein 1 (anti–PD-1) therapies who develop lesions, eczema, psoriasis, or other forms of autoimmune diseases affecting the skin may experience those adverse reactions on a delay—sometimes even after treatment has...
In Cases Where Early Detection of Metastatic Disease Offers No Advantage, Why Conduct Routine Surveillance?
“What is a reasonable plan of follow-up for patients with cancers for which early detection of metastatic disease offers no advantage?” Posing that question during his Presidential Address at the 2018 Society of Surgical Oncology (SSO) Annual Cancer Symposium, Kelly M. McMasters, MD,PhD,...
Oral Taxane Shows Strong Activity and Good Tolerability in Metastatic Breast Cancer
As first-line treatment for metastatic breast cancer, the oral taxane tesetaxel produced a 45% confirmed response rate and was well tolerated, producing little alopecia or neuropathy, according to Andrew D. Seidman, MD, and colleagues from several cancer centers. Dr. Seidman, of Memorial Sloan...
Expert Point of View: Shannon Westin, MD
Shannon Westin, MD, Associate Professor, Department of Gynecologic Oncology and Reproductive Medicine at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, served as an ASCO expert for the press briefing and made several comments. “What we’re learning is that among tumors with...
Geographic Differences in End-of-Life Cancer Care
When it comes to how much end-of-life care a patient with cancer receives, geography may, indeed, be destiny, according to new research led by Harvard Medical School that found differences in this type of cancer care across different parts of the country. The findings, published by Keating et al...
Expert Point of View: David Graham, MD, FASCO and Richard Schilsky, MD, FACP, FASCO, FSCT
ASCO expert David Graham, MD, FASCO, of the Levine Cancer Institute in Charlotte, North Carolina, was encouraged by the IMpower131 findings. “This is one more example of how immunotherapy is making steady gains against a number of cancers. Immunotherapy has been shown to be effective in other...
8-Year Update of SOFT and TEXT Trials: Positive but Not Definitive
At the 2017 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS), the International Breast Cancer Study Group (IBCSG) and its collaborators presented the 8-year updates of the key modern trials of ovarian function suppression after local treatment for young women with resected breast cancer.1 These updates...
Immunotherapy in Merkel Cell Carcinoma: ‘Field Has Been Thrown on Its Head’
At the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting, investigators presented long-term follow-up data for immunotherapy in patients with Merkel cell carcinoma and new data for its use in the neoadjuvant setting. The results drew high interest from attendees and a number of questions were raised following the...
Early Study Shows Elasticity of Cancer Cells May Determine Where Pancreatic Cancer Metastases Form
Pancreatic cancer often metastasizes to the liver or lungs. The prognosis is better for patients with metastases in the lungs. However, the organ that is more likely to be affected depends on the cancer cells’ ability to alter their characteristics and shape—as a research team at the...
American Cancer Society Outlines Blueprint for Cancer Control in the 21st Century
The American Cancer Society (ACS) is outlining its vision for cancer control in the decades ahead in a series of articles that began publishing in early July in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians. The series of articles forms the basis of a national cancer control plan, with a blueprint...
Palliative Care Preferences in Male Patients With Cancer
Men with advanced cancer are 30% less likely than women to consider palliative care, according to a University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) study. Researchers believe the findings reflect social norms about gender roles, as well as widespread messages in the media and society about...
Today’s Breakthroughs Require Year-Round Support
PROMISING BREAKTHROUGHS in cancer care don’t just happen overnight; they result after years of hard work by the brightest minds in cancer research. Yet many are unaware of the vast resources necessary to fuel cutting-edge research projects. Increasing awareness around this issue is vital to...
Testicular Cancer Survivors and Adequate Screening for Long-Term Heart Disease
TESTICULAR CANCER is among the most common cancers in young men. The majority of patients are cured of their disease, but a newly published study shows many remain at risk for later complications from chemotherapy or other treatments. The study, published by Mohammad Abu Zaid, MD, Assistant...
A Humble Beginning Built on Commitment: The Life and Times of Lee S. Schwartzberg, MD, FACP
In this edition of the Living a Full Life series, guest editor Jame Abraham, MD, interviewed medical oncologist Lee S. Schwartzberg, MD, FACP, Executive Director at the West Cancer Center, Memphis. Dr. Schwartzberg’s major research interests are new therapeutic approaches to breast cancer,...
Treatment Beyond Disease Progression in Melanoma: Challenge Centers on Knowing Who May Benefit
Dr. Weiss is Assistant Professor (Medical Oncology), Developmental Therapeutics, Melanoma Program, Yale Cancer Center. Dr. Sznol is Professor of Medicine (Medical Oncology); Co-Director, Cancer Immunology Program, Yale Cancer Center Co-Director, Yale SPORE in Skin Cancer, New Haven, Connecticut. ...
Expert Point of View: David Rimm, MD, PhD
“TUMOR MUTATIONAL burden is an emerging biomarker independent of programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) level. There are a few reasons for enthusiasm. Tumor mutational burden is a compelling biomarker for response and progression-free survival. Six-month progression-free survival is 50% with a...
Expert Point of View: Jedd Wolchok, MD, PhD
“THIS IS a wonderful presentation and a very exciting trial,” said formal discussant Jedd Wolchok, MD, PhD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York. Despite the remarkable advances achieved with anti–programmed cell death protein 1 and ligand 1 (anti–PD-1/anti–PD-L1) treatment, “there...
Expert Point of View: Parameswaran Hari, MD
FORMAL DISCUSSANT Parameswaran Hari, MD, of the Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, was impressed by many aspects of the bb2121 study, which represents the “largest and most mature” data set for the chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell approach in myeloma, he noted. According to Dr. Hari,...
Study of PI3K Inhibitor Added to Fulvestrant in Advanced Breast Cancer Affirms Proof-of-Principle
IN PATIENTS with advanced breast cancer harboring a PIK3CA mutation, the addition of the PI3 kinase (PI3K) inhibitor taselisib to endocrine therapy with fulvestrant (Faslodex) significantly improved progression-free survival compared with fulvestrant alone, in the international phase III SANDPIPER...
Pooled Study Analysis Explores the Use of CDK4/6 Inhibitors in Metastatic Breast Cancer
RESEARCH TO DATE has not been able to identify a subgroup of patients with estrogen receptor–positive HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer who do not derive benefit from the addition of inhibitors of cyclin-dependent kinases 4/6 (CDK4/6) to endocrine therapy, according to a study by the U.S. Food ...
With Compassion Toward None, With Technology for All?
Imagine health care in the not too distant future… JOHN IS GOING about his usual Saturday at home, when his health-care–enabled smart watch alerts him to a sudden rise in his heart rate. As he is wondering about the reason, he feels a sharp pain in his left lower quadrant. The tachycardia...
Flight Attendants May Be at Increased Risk of Breast, Skin Cancers
Flight attendants showed an elevated incidence of several types of cancer compared with the general population, according to findings published by McNeely et al in Environmental Health. “Our findings of higher rates of several cancers among flight attendants is striking given the low rates...
