The ASCO Post is pleased to introduce “Hematology Expert Review,” a new feature including a case report detailing a particular hematologic condition followed by questions. Answers to each question appear with expert commentary. In this first installment, we present two cases of older men with...
A new report from the Institute of Medicine (IOM) provides recommended guidelines about what data should be shared at key times in a clinical trial. In its report, Sharing Clinical Trial Data: Maximizing Benefits, Minimizing Risk, an IOM committee concludes that sharing data is in the public...
The 2015 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium takes place February 26 to 28 in Orlando, Florida. Direct your patients to www.cancer.net/blog to read about the latest research on prostate, bladder, kidney, testicular, and other genitourinary cancers being presented at the meeting. ■ © 2015. American...
As of January 6, Republicans hold the majority in both houses of the 114th Congress. They hold 54 seats in the U.S. Senate and 245 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. At the state level, Republicans now hold an increased majority of governorships and legislatures that will consider numerous ...
Tomorrow’s cancer breakthroughs depend on making sure that talented young researchers have the chance to succeed today. Providing early funding for women in clinical oncology research is the singular goal of Women Who Conquer Cancer, a meaningful program of the ASCO-affiliated Conquer Cancer...
ASCO and the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) released a joint statement in January to guide policymakers as they work to minimize the potential negative consequences of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) and other electronic nicotine delivery systems. Tobacco use, according to the ...
Six of the studies featured in the recently released Clinical Cancer Advances 2015: ASCO’s Annual Report on Progress Against Cancer were led by researchers that whom Conquer Cancer Foundation (CCF) funded early in their careers through its signature Young Investigator Award (YIA) and Career...
Oncologists and other related health-care providers now have an online platform for the discussion of the growing area of tumor molecular profiling tests and studies. In January, ASCO launched the Molecular Oncology Tumor Boards, a series of monthly user-driven discussions designed to help...
Two years ago, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), the nonprofit organization that evaluates and accredits more than 9,000 medical residency programs in the United States, began phasing in implementation of its Next Accreditation System for graduate medical education,...
In a recent issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology,1 and as reviewed in this issue of The ASCO Post, an ASCO expert endorsement panel reviewed and endorsed, with minor qualifications, the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) clinical practice guidelines for management of familial/genetic ...
A novel product created to help reduce medication non-adherence was recently recognized by the 2014 Pharma Choice Awards as the top innovative branded technology. The product, called “remind-a-cap” is a customizable and patented pill bottle cap with an ergonomic dial to set for next dosing. The cap ...
Approximately 5% to 6% of cases of colorectal cancer are associated with germline mutations conferring an inherited predisposition for disease. As reported by Stoffel and colleagues in the Journal of Clinical Oncology,1 ASCO has endorsed, with qualifying statements, the European Society for Medical ...
Male breast cancer represents less than 1% of all breast cancers, which partially explains why so little is known about the disease. Two presentations at the 2014 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium focused on the characteristics of male breast cancer drawn from a large international registry and...
Discussion of the TNT trial was brisk at the 2014 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. George Sledge, MD, Professor of Medicine and Chief of Oncology at Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, California, called the study “intriguing” and commented: “The platinum results, I believe, are...
The TNT trial, presented at the 2014 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, provided no evidence that unselected advanced triple-negative breast cancer patients are more likely to respond to carboplatin than to docetaxel.1 However, patients with BRCA1/2 mutations do have a greater response and a...
Earlier this month the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a final national coverage determination that provides for Medicare coverage of screening for lung cancer with low-dose computed tomography (LDCT). Effective immediately, Medicare will now cover lung cancer screening...
The ASCO Post announces a new department on geriatric oncology to be published on an occasional basis. Geriatrics for the Oncologist is guest edited by Stuart Lichtman, MD, and developed in collaboration with the International Society of Geriatric Oncology (SIOG). Visit SIOG.org for more on...
In a study that reflected clinical practice, treatment of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma based on the results of interim positron-emission tomography (PET) was feasible; however, switching PET-positive patients to an alternative treatment still resulted in inferior treatment outcomes, and the...
Two orally administered proteasome inhibitors—oprozomib and ixazomib—looked encouraging in multiple myeloma studies presented at the 2014 ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition. Study Details for Oprozomib Oprozomib, given as a single agent in a dose-escalation study of heavily pretreated patients,...
Limited-stage nonbulky diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) carries an excellent prognosis, and radiotherapy provides no value in patients who obtain a complete response, according to the phase III 02-03 trial from the Lysa/Goelams group, presented at the 56th American Society of Hematology (ASH)...
These results are fantastic,” said David Steensma, MD, a hematologist-oncologist at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, Boston. “We have long wanted agents for AML [acute myelogenous leukemia] like we have for APL [acute promyelocytic leukemia], noncytotoxic chemotherapy...
Although the data are preliminary, single-agent AG-221 therapy targeted to the IDH2 (isocitrate dehydrogenase 2) mutation holds great promise as a nonchemotherapy approach to the treatment of advanced hematologic malignancies, including relapsed/refractory acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) and...
Commenting on this study, David Steensma, MD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School in Boston, said that longer follow-up is needed, especially in light of the lack of overall survival benefit, which may have been due to salvage therapy. “Sorafenib clearly has activity in...
Sorafenib (Nexavar) added to chemotherapy improved event-free survival and relapse-free survival in younger patients with acute myeloid leukemia, according to results of the randomized, controlled phase II SORAML trial.1 However, no significant improvement in overall survival has been seen to ...
David Ilson, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, criticized the trial presented by Dr. Penniment at the 2015 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium for lacking a chemotherapy-alone arm. “Chemotherapy alone, in phase III trials, has achieved dysphagia relief in 70% of patients,”...
Palliation of dysphagia associated with advanced esophageal cancer can be effectively accomplished with radiotherapy alone, without the addition of chemotherapy, according to a multinational phase III study presented at the 2015 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium.1 “There was no significant...
Investigators from Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida, have reported an approach to pancreatic cancer that downstages some locally advanced patients to borderline resectable status and achieves a negative surgical margin rate exceeding 96%. The study earned a Merit Award at the 2015...
Targeting one of the deadliest cancers and seeking to fill an unmet need, drug development in pancreatic cancer is an area of high interest. This was certainly the case at the 2015 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium, where results were impressive for some novel agents but disappointing for several...
When melanoma patients develop metastases to the gastrointestinal (GI) tract or pancreas, resection of these lesions may improve survival, according to two single-institution studies presented at the 2015 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium. In a study that earned a Merit Award, researchers reported ...
The National Board of Physicians and Surgeons (NBPAS) President Paul Teirstein, MD, released his own statement shortly after Dr. Baron’s letter was released: “ABIM’s recent press release is clearly a step in the right direction. Suspending the practice assessment and patient safety requirements of...
Peter Paul Yu, MD, FACP, FASCO, ASCO President, made the following remarks following ABIM’s recent announcement concerning maintenance of certification: “Last year, the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) released a new process for maintenance of certification (MOC) that many physicians felt ...
The American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) announced substantial changes to its Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program and indicated a desire to work more closely with the internal medicine community. ABIM President and CEO Richard J. Baron, MD, MACP, reached out to diplomates via e-mail to ...
One of the disheartening aspects of becoming a senior medical administrator is that you have the opportunity to view the health-care system from two sides. From the Presidential suite, it is clear that there is increasing chaos in health care in the United States, characterized by blowouts of...
Commenting on the RAISE study at a press briefing held during the 2015 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium, moderator Smitha S. Krishnamurthi, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, acknowledged that improvements of 1 to 2 months in...
The phase III international RAISE trial found that ramucirumab (Cyramza) extends survival when given with chemotherapy to metastatic colorectal cancer patients who progress on treatment,1 but some experts commented that “financial toxicity” might be an issue, given the modest benefit. “The RAISE...
Tyrosine kinase inhibitors “are associated with numerous adverse effects, many of which are cutaneous and can affect patients’ quality of life and impede their adherence to long-term treatment,” National Cancer Institute (NCI) investigators concluded after studying the adverse effects of the...
The persistent disparity in colon cancer survival by race seemed to be related more to differences in health at diagnosis than to differences in subsequent treatment, according to an analysis of data from the Survey, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER)–Medicare database. “Our study suggests that...
An overall high-quality diet at least 12 months before a diagnosis of ovarian cancer “was associated with a statistically significant 27% lower risk of death after ovarian cancer,” an analysis of dietary data from the Women’s Health Initiative showed. The protective effect was strongest among women ...
Dianne Knight, MD, Physician in the Supportive Care Medicine Department at Moffitt Cancer Center, has been honored with the designation of Fellow of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. The Academy is the professional organization for physicians and other health care...
In 2000, measles was declared eliminated from the United States,” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). That statement appeared in the same document reporting a large multistate outbreak of measles linked to an amusement park in California and that “has spread to more...
With the large outbreak of measles that has spread to more than a dozen states, questions from parents of children with cancer should be expected and encouraged. Parents should “talk to their physician about what the level of risk may be for their child who is undergoing cancer treatment (or has...
Measles outbreaks in the United States during 2014 and early 2015 have yielded an unprecedented number of cases nationwide, raising concerns about the threat measles poses to cancer patients (especially children) who may be at risk for severe complications and even death due to measles infection....
One of the early giants in the field of cancer prevention, Lee W. Wattenberg, MD, died on December 9, 2014, at the age of 92. A native New Yorker, Dr. Wattenberg received his BS from City College of New York in 1941 and then went on to attain his medical degree from the University of Minnesota...
Caris Life Sciences, a biosciences company focused on precision medicine, announced the designation of West Cancer Center in Memphis as a Center of Excellence site in the Caris Centers of Excellence for Precision Medicine Network. Additionally, Lee S. Schwartzberg, MD, Medical Director of West...
Theodore S. Lawrence, MD, PhD, has been named Director of the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center. Dr. Lawrence succeeds Max S. Wicha, MD, who founded the Cancer Center 27 years ago. “This is a tremendous program, with talented and dedicated faculty and staff, a terrific research...
The John A. Hartford Foundation announced that Terry Fulmer, PhD, RN, FAAN, University Distinguished Professor and Dean of the Bouvé College of Health Sciences at Northeastern University, will become its new President. Dr. Fulmer, who is also Professor of Public Policy and Urban Affairs in the...
Western Connecticut Health Network (WCHN) has named gynecologic oncologist Thomas J. Rutherford, MD, PhD, an expert in the area of ovarian cancer, as the Network Physician Director of Cancer Services. As Director, Dr. Rutherford will create a new model of cancer delivery in the dynamic environment ...
ASCO expresses deep gratitude to Margaret Hamburg, MD, for her 6 years of vision and progress as Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Dr. Hamburg, one of the longest-serving FDA commissioners, leaves a legacy of important advances in regulatory science and medicine. The...
MARCH Advanced Prostate Cancer Consensus ConferenceMarch 12-14 • St. Gallen, Switzerland For more information: www.prostatecancerconsensus.org NCCN Annual Conference: Advancing the Standard of Cancer CareMarch 12-15 • Hollywood, Florida For more information:...
ASCO Answers: Managing the Cost of Cancer Care explains the various costs associated with cancer treatment, including health-care coverage through the Affordable Care Act. It also provides a list of financial resources available to help offset expenses related to care and tips for organizing...