Everything about my breast cancer diagnosis, from my presentation to diagnosis, was strange. In the spring of 2006, I was performing my monthly breast self-exam when I felt a hard lump in the upper left quadrant of my left breast. Having lost a good friend to breast cancer 4 years earlier, I was...
A national survey conducted by Zhu et al to identify patient preferences among colorectal cancer screening modalities to improve population adherence to colorectal cancer screening has found, when presented with a choice, most individuals with an average risk of colorectal cancer prefer stool-based ...
At 33, I’m not living the life I had imagined for myself. If cancer hadn’t interrupted my plans, I would be serving in the United States Army Special Forces by now, a profession that was inspired by my father’s career as a military officer and helicopter pilot and one that I had dreamed about since ...
The findings from a recent study of patients with cancer who had an exceptional response to chemotherapy are yielding new clues on the molecular changes in patients’ tumors. These findings may explain the genetic alterations contributing to these patients’ dramatic and long-lasting responses to...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Joseph A. Unger, PhD, and colleagues, a large retrospective observational study investigating the association between socioeconomic deprivation and outcomes among patients with cancer enrolled in clinical trials has found that compared to patients...
I’m a person who doesn’t like uncertainty. I’m also a worrier. So, when my hand kept going to the same spot on the upper part of my left breast near my chest wall, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something wasn’t quite right, which persisted even after a routine mammography failed to find any...
The results from a recent study showcase the disturbing prevalence of sexual dysfunction as a treatment side effect of cancer and gender disparity in how the problem is addressed by physicians.1 The study, conducted by James Taylor, MD, MPH, Chief Resident in the Department of Radiation Oncology at ...
A study by Salerno et al published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention investigating the association of a cancer diagnosis and poor ambulatory function of survivors and subsequent mortality has found that cancer survivors with poor ambulatory function had a two to three times...
Although guidelines exist for the use of several clinical prediction models based on logistic regression to help estimate the risk of lung cancer before treatment decision-making, they almost all focus on solitary pulmonary nodules, and have not shown accuracy in predicting malignancy in multiple...
In 2020, ASCO established the Steering Group on Cancer Care Delivery and Research in a Post-Pandemic Environment to evaluate the changes made in oncology care delivery, clinical research, and regulatory oversight in response to the COVID-19 pandemic as well as to make recommendations on how to...
I had my first experience with cancer when I was just 3 or 4 years old and complained to my mother that my “tummy hurt.” I was diagnosed with Wilms tumor, the same cancer my 18-month-old brother died of before I was born. I remember being in the hospital for weeks at a time and being known by...
To hear an interview with Dr. Freireich by Daniel F. Hayes, MD, FASCO, of the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center and Past President of ASCO, visit the Journal of Clinical Oncology’s podcast, Cancer Stories, wherever you get your podcasts. In this episode, the Cancer Stories podcast reflects ...
Legendary oncologist Emil J Freireich, MD, FASCO, died from COVID-19 on February 1, 2021, at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, where he had worked for 50 years. He was 93. During a career that spanned more than 6 decades, Dr. Freireich was relentless in pursuing cures...
In December 2015, I thought I was through with cancer. I was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2011 after a routine blood test showed that my prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level was high. I underwent prostatectomy, and although it was clear the cancer had breached the capsule of the prostate, for ...
The medical career of Richard L. Schilsky, MD, FACP, FSCT, FASCO, spans more than 4 decades and includes a roster of nearly unprecedented accomplishments in patient care, research, and mentoring. He has held leadership positions in academia, first at the University of Chicago, where he spent the...
B-cell–depleting immunotherapy may cause B-cell aplasia and impair the body’s immune response. A retrospective, multicentric French study of patients with lymphoma and persistent COVID-19 infection has found that those treated with B-cell–depleting therapies within the previous 12 months had nearly ...
Due to concerns that patients with cancer may be at higher risk for contracting the coronavirus—and may have more severe complications if infected—during the COVID-19 pandemic, hospitals and clinical practices have changed protocols to routine cancer care to reduce patients’ exposure to the virus....
According to the National Cancer Institute, in 2020, 89,500 adolescents and young adults (AYAs) aged 15 to 39 were diagnosed with cancer, and of these, 84.6% are expected to survive their cancer for 5 years after diagnosis. However, the results from a study by De et al published in the Journal of...
Sometimes there just is no escaping cancer. I thought I had done everything right. I was diligent about adhering to my annual physical exams, including mammograms, and routinely performed breast self-exams to spot any early changes in my breasts. Still, in the summer of 2015, I was diagnosed with...
In November, ASCO announced that Julie R. Gralow, MD, FACP, FASCO, will succeed Richard L. Schilsky, MD, FACP, FSCT, FASCO, as Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of the Society. Dr. Gralow will begin her new position on February 15, 2021. Dr. Gralow’s long relationship with ASCO dates back to 1995, when...
Electronic health record–based artificial intelligence may help uncover new risk factors in the development of early-onset colorectal cancer, according to study findings presented by Parker et al at the AACR Virtual Special Conference: Artificial Intelligence, Diagnosis, and Imaging (Abstract...
Although efforts have been made by various medical societies, including ASCO, over the past decade to address the needs of sexual and gender minorities in the cancer care setting, research shows that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning (LGBTQ) patients continue to face...
Cancer has been an intimate part of Nancy Borowick’s life since her mother, Laurel, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1997, when Nancy was 12. She began photographing her mother’s journey with the disease after the cancer recurred in 2009 for her final project for the Documentary Photography and ...
Six months before my diagnosis of metastatic colorectal cancer, in 2016, at age 38, I told my mom, “I feel like I’m dying.” Even though more than 10 specialists I had seen over the previous 8 years for unexplained bouts of abdominal pain and bloating, fatigue, and constipation kept assuring me that ...
The text and photographs here are excerpted from a four-volume series of books titled Oncology: Tumors & Treatment, A Photographic History, The Radium Era 1916–1945 by Stanley B. Burns, MD, FACS, and Elizabeth A. Burns. The photographs appear courtesy of Stanley B. Burns, MD, and The Burns...
Multiple myeloma is the second most common blood cancer, after non-Hodgkin lymphoma, diagnosed in the United States. In 2020, it is estimated that about 32,270 people will be diagnosed with the cancer, and despite advances in more effective treatments, nearly 13,000 will die of the disease.1...
A study by Ivy Abraham, MD, of the University of Illinois at Chicago, and colleagues, investigated the contribution of structural violence, specifically neighborhood socioeconomic status, on the racial/ethnic differences in the survival of patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). They found that ...
In 2017, a workgroup task force, made up of medical students and faculty at George Washington University, Texas Christian University, and the University of North Texas Health Science Center, conducted a literature review to identify best practices for teaching and learning about race and culture in ...
A new study published by Codipilly et al in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention investigated the trends in incidence, stage at presentation, and survival outcomes of young-onset esophageal adenocarcinoma—defined as patients aged 50 and younger at diagnosis—over the past 4 decades....
It has been well documented that, collectively, Black individuals have the highest death rates and shortest survival of any racial/ethnic group in the United States for most cancers. Black men also have the highest cancer incidence.1 Although the causes of these inequities are complex and include...
Although the exact incidence of treatment-related lymphedema among cancer survivors is unknown—most likely due to its prolonged latency period—it can be a lifelong chronic side effect that negatively impacts survivors’ quality of life. Although the condition is often linked to treatment for breast...
Extended follow-up results from the phase III monarchE trial showed that adding the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor abemaciclib to standard adjuvant endocrine therapy continued to improve invasive disease–free survival in patients with high-risk, node-positive, early-stage, hormone receptor...
When I was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer in 2018, my first thought was, I hope my three young children do not lose two parents to cancer. My husband, Ricky, had survived two bouts of cancer, early-stage colorectal cancer and, most recently, stage I kidney cancer. Like Ricky’s two...
That Moses Judah Folkman would buck tradition, breaking his family’s long line of rabbinical succession and pursuing a career in science and medicine instead, was evident from the time he was a young child. Born in Cleveland on February 24, 1933, the first child of Rabbi Jerome and Bessie Folkman, ...
Endometrial cancer is the fourth most common cancer diagnosed in the United States, and the seventh most common cause of cancer death among women.1 This year, nearly 66,000 women will be diagnosed with the cancer, and about 12,600 will die of the disease.2 And although endometrial cancer is one of...
In October 2020, Her Royal Highness Princess Dina Mired of Jordan ended her 2-year tenure as President of the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC), a global organization with more than 1,198 members from 172 countries and territories committed to reducing the cancer burden and...
An analysis by Bhalla et al of multiomics data from newly diagnosed patients with multiple myeloma has identified 3 main patient groups and 12 prognostic subgroups (as well as potential vulnerabilities in each subgroup) based on five data types generated from genomic and transcriptomic patient...
It has been well documented that, collectively, Black individuals have the highest death rate and shortest survival of any racial/ethnic group in the United States for most cancers. Black men also have the highest cancer incidence. Although the causes of these inequities are complex, a study by...
Studies show that non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) have higher mortality rates than non-Hispanic White patients diagnosed with the disease, despite lower rates of incidence, more favorable genetics, and a younger age at disease onset. A study by Abraham et...
A research brief by Carrot-Zhang et al published in Cancer Discovery investigating inherited lung cancer risk—especially in nonsmokers—in Latin America has found that independent of smoking status, variation in EGFR and KRAS mutation frequency in Latin American patients with lung cancer was...
A study investigating a computational method that integrates deep learning on histology specimens with clinicodemographic variables has found that the artificial intelligence may help predict response to immune checkpoint blockade among patients with advanced melanoma. This computational approach...
You could call it a sixth sense, but the moment I felt a lump in my left breast I knew it was cancer, although it would take several weeks to confirm the diagnosis. When I saw my primary cancer physician and told him of my concern, he said: “Don’t worry. Men don’t get breast cancer; it’s a woman’s...
Although William Dameshek, MD, is renowned for his work in hematology, especially in advancing the understanding of myeloproliferative disorders and their interrelatedness, his early interest in medicine was instead focused on such diverse diseases as hyperthyroidism and typhus fever. Born on May...
Numerous studies over the past 4 decades have chronicled the lack of progress in improved outcomes for adolescents and young adults (AYAs)—defined by the National Cancer Institute as those ranging in age from 15 to 39—diagnosed with cancer compared with children and older adults diagnosed with the...
A study by Quyen D. Chu, MD, MBA, FACS, and colleagues published in the journal Cancer investigated how expansion of the Medicaid provision in the the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) affected breast cancer care in Louisiana. The state is the third poorest in the country and has one ...
A new study by Tsay et al sheds light on the role the lung microbiome may play in lung cancer pathogenesis and prognosis. According to the study’s findings, enrichment of the lungs with oral commensal microbes was associated with advanced-stage disease, worse prognosis, and tumor progression....
Launched in 2018 at the University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor, the Integrative Oncology Scholars Program has trained 50 oncology professionals in evidence-based complementary therapies in the treatment of patients with cancer. Another 50 trainees are expected to complete the program by ...
The text and photograph here are excerpted from a four-volume series of books titled Oncology: Tumors & Treatment, A Photographic History, The X-Ray Era 1901–1915 by Stanley B. Burns, MD, FACS, and Elizabeth A. Burns. Photograph courtesy of Stanley B. Burns, MD, and The Burns Archive. A few...
I think my age and apparent good health contributed to a delay in my diagnosis of glioblastoma multiforme. The first symptom I had of the cancer appeared on December 26, 2014, when I was 32 years old. My family and I had just gotten home from celebrating the Christmas holiday with our relatives...
As in past years, the results from ASCO’s 2020 National Cancer Opinions Survey showed a startling dichotomy in the perceptions of Americans on a variety of health-care issues. As expected, the two major events this year, the COVID-19 pandemic and a national reckoning over racial injustice,...