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Showing 3601 - 3650Measuring and Improving Quality in Oncology Practices
The seed for ASCO’s Quality Oncology Practice Initiative (QOPI®) was planted a decade ago by Joseph Simone, MD, when he contemplated the feasibility of studying a volunteer group of oncologists to measure the quality of care they provide and share those results with their colleagues. Dr. Simone’s...
Expert Point of View: Martin Dreyling, MD and Joshua Brody, MD
Martin Dreyling, MD, Professor at the University of Munich in Germany, said the most important lymphoma studies presented at the 2012 ASH Annual Meeting focused on ibrutinib, the first-in-class Bruton’s tyrosine kinase inhibitor. “Basic science has gone mainstream. We will see a revolution during...
Oral Proteasome Inhibitor May Be a Game-changer in Myeloma
An investigational oral proteasome inhibitor currently known as MLN9708 could make the treatment of multiple myeloma much more convenient and possibly less neurotoxic, according to the results of a phase I/II study of treatment-naive multiple myeloma patients presented at the 54th Annual Meeting of ...
Radiation Therapy for Patients with Invasive Breast Cancer: 3 Weeks Proves as Effective as 5 Weeks
Ten-year follow-up of the two-part UK Standardisation of Breast Radiotherapy Trials (START) supported the 5-year findings, demonstrating that a 3-week course of adjuvant radiation therapy is equivalent to a 5-week course of radiation for women with invasive breast cancer. The update was presented...
National Comprehensive Cancer Network Appoints New CEO
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) recently appointed nationally regarded breast cancer expert Robert W. Carlson, MD, as its new CEO. Previously, Dr. Carlson was Professor of Medicine in the Division of Oncology and Medical Informatics, Stanford University Medical Center; he first...
SIDEBAR: Expect Questions from Patients
Results from the Adjuvant Tamoxifen: Longer Against Shorter (ATLAS) study “will have a follow-on effect of being able to guide physicians about the advantages of longer than 5 years of therapy for the premenopausal woman,” said V. Craig Jordan, OBE, PhD, DSc, Scientific Director at the Lombardi...
'Practice-changing' ATLAS Study Supports 10 vs 5 Years of Tamoxifen Therapy in Women with Breast Cancer
"Practice-changing" is the term several physicians and researchers used when asked by the media to describe the results of a study showing that extending tamoxifen therapy from 5 to 10 years for women with estrogen receptor (ER)-positive breast cancer further reduced recurrence and mortality....
Oncology Trailblazer James F. Holland, MD, Recalls a Time of Unbridled Scientific Excitement
James F. Holland, MD, began his journey into oncology when it was still a nascent discipline, working alongside groundbreaking pioneers in the field such as Drs. Emil “Tom” Frei and C. Gordon Zubrod. Dr. Holland recently shared a glimpse of his role in oncology’s formative years with The ASCO Post. ...
ASCO Decision Aids Intersect Evidence-based Guidelines, Productive Patient Communication
Imagine this common clinical scenario: A 64-year-old woman presents with a new abnormality on a mammogram. A core needle biopsy and subsequent partial mastectomy reveal a 1.8-cm invasive ductal carcinoma. Sentinel lymph nodes are negative for cancer. The tumor is moderately differentiated and is...
Postoperative Radiation Therapy Extends Progression-free Survival in Men with High-risk Prostate Cancer
Postoperative irradiation significantly improves biochemical progression-free survival and local control compared with a “wait-and-see” approach in men with high-risk prostate cancer, according to more than a decade of long-term follow-up in the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of...
Expert Point of View: Martin Dreyling, MD
Martin Dreyling, MD, Professor of Medicine at Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich and Coordinator of the European Mantle Cell Lymphoma Network, commented on the data emerging for ibrutinib in lymphoma. “Ibrutinib is the molecule of the year at ASH,” he told The ASCO Post. “With other molecular ...
Ibrutinib in Mantle Cell Lymphoma Yields 'Unprecedented' Response Rates
The investigational agent ibrutinib demonstrated “unprecedented” single-agent activity in relapsed or refractory mantle cell lymphoma, according to the lead author of an international phase II study reported at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH).1 Durable Responses “The...
Survival Benefit Achieved with Four Drugs plus Maintenance in Myeloma
An overall survival benefit in newly diagnosed multiple myeloma was attained with a four-drug induction regimen followed by a duet for maintenance in a study from the Italian GIMEMA network. Antonio Palumbo, MD, Chief of the Myeloma Unit at the University of Torino in Italy, reported the findings...
SIDEBAR: Expect Questions from Patients with Diabetes and Cancer
Patients with diabetes and cancer need to know that some chemotherapy drugs and adjuvant agents may require modifications in how they manage their diabetes. For example, patients who are receiving steroids might have to further restrict their diet to keep blood sugar levels under control. “You...
Keeping Diabetes under Control Is Critical to Good Outcomes for Patients Who Also Have Cancer
In the News focuses on media reports that your patients may have questions about at their next visit. This continuing column will provide summaries of articles in the popular press that may prompt such questions, as well as comments from colleagues in the field. Cancer and diabetes can be comorbid...
Betting Against the Odds
I knew the two tumors in my left breast were cancerous even before I got the pathology results back on my biopsy. I could clearly see the tumors on the digital mammogram my doctor ordered, and when the radiologist pointed out that they had spikes radiating from the edges and that he was scheduling...
David A. Karnofsky's Early Contributions to Cancer Research Helped Establish Oncology as a Medical Discipline
For nearly 30 years, from the time he was a young resident at the Collis P. Huntington Memorial Hospital for Cancer Research of Harvard University, until his death from lung cancer on August 31, 1969, David A. Karnofsky, MD, dedicated himself to the pursuit of scientific excellence and the...
Hematology/Oncology Team Joins NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center
The Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center (HICCC) at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center has welcomed five new clinician-scientists specializing in leukemia. These practitioners joined the HICCC faculty in early January 2013. The new staff members are Mark G....
Treatment of HER2-positive Disease in 2013
From the initial discovery of the HER2 family of receptors in the mid-1980s to the present, a “wealth of riches” has been uncovered in terms of agents that can target pathways relevant to this aggressive breast cancer type, notes Hope S. Rugo, MD, Director of Breast Oncology and Clinical Trials...
A Look at the Patient Navigator Program in Breast Cancer
In 1990, Harold P. Freeman, MD, established the nation’s first patient navigation program at Harlem Hospital Center in New York (see accompanying article here). Since then, Dr. Freeman’s vision has gained national attention and is currently being looked at in a demonstration project across multiple ...
The Doctor Who Championed Patient Navigation in Harlem
After completing his residency at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Harold P. Freeman, MD, arrived at Harlem Hospital Center in 1967, where the overwhelming majority of his patients presented with late-stage disease. That early experience with underserved patients would shape his career as...
Abiraterone in Patients with Metastatic Castration-resistant Prostate Cancer and No Prior Chemotherapy
In the Clinic provides overviews of novel oncology agents, addressing indications, mechanisms, administration recommendations, safety profiles, and other essential information needed for the appropriate clinical use of these drugs. Indication On December 10, 2012, abiraterone acetate (Zytiga)...
Abiraterone Benefits Patients with Metastatic Prostate Cancer Who Have Had No Previous Chemotherapy
The androgen biosynthesis inhibitor abiraterone acetate (Zytiga) has been shown to increase radiographic progression-free survival and delay clinical decline and initiation of chemotherapy in a clinical trial in castration-resistant patients with metastatic prostate cancer who have had no prior...
Expert Point of View: C. Kent Osborne, MD
C. Kent Osborne, MD, Professor of Medicine and Molecular and Cellular Biology at Baylor College of Medicine and Director of the Lester and Sue Smith Breast Center at Baylor told The ASCO Post that this is “brand new” data that “looks very interesting.” He noted that groups for whom letrozole is the ...
Expert Point of View: Philip Agop Philip, MD and Alan P. Venook, MD
Philip Agop Philip, MD, Head of the Multidisciplinary Team for Gastrointestinal and Neuroendocrine Oncology and Neuroendocrine at Karmanos Cancer Institute at Wayne State University, Detroit, was the formal discussant of the paper at the Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium. He said the positive...
Solving a 30-year Mystery
When I began experiencing severe neck and back pain about 9 years ago, I had no idea it could be a late side effect from the radiation therapy I had received 31 years ago to treat my Hodgkin lymphoma. And none of the doctors I’ve seen over the past decade have been able to make the connection...
Expert Point of View: Sandra Swain, MD, FACP
Sandra Swain, MD, FACP, Medical Director of the Washington Cancer Institute, MedStar Washington Hospital Center, Washington, DC, moderated the San Antonio session where the dose-dense chemotherapy studies were presented, and commented on the findings of the two studies. iddETC Trial With regard...
The Challenges and Rewards of Neuro-oncology
Despite the extremely difficult clinical challenges posed by brain tumors, mortality rates in this disease have decreased somewhat over the past several decades due, in part, to advances in surgical techniques and therapies. The ASCO Post recently discussed contemporary issues in neuro-oncology...
On Radiation and Cancer Risk
We owe our life to radiation. The universe was created in a thermonuclear explosion, and continued existence of life on Earth depends on plants using chlorophyll to capture light energy emitted by the sun (and exploding supernovas) and converting it into chemical energy, with the subsequent...
Study Finds Young Cancer Survivors Often Skip Checkups
Athough the majority of the more than 69,000 adolescents and young adults (AYAs) diagnosed with cancer each year will survive their disease, many of them will experience interruptions in their education and a derailment in their career tract, curtailing their lifetime earning potential and reducing ...
FOLFOXIRI Plus Bevacizumab Is Superior to FOLFIRI Plus Bevacizumab in Metastatic Colorectal Cancer
For the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer, better outcomes were achieved when bevacizumab (Avastin) was added to FOLFOXIRI (leucovorin, fluorouracil [5-FU], oxaliplatin, irinotecan), rather than FOLFIRI (leucovorin, 5-FU, irinotecan), in the phase III TRIBE trial conducted at 35 Italian...
My Life Will Never Be Normal
After being diagnosed with stage II invasive ductal carcinoma in my right breast in 2004, I did an Internet search to learn more about my treatment options so I could be prepared when I met with my oncologist to discuss my treatment plan. I was especially interested in therapies that would be...
Study Shows New Approach Connecting Smokers to Quit Lines Increases Smoking Cessation Treatment Enrollment
Self-identified smokers directly connected to a tobacco cessation quit line are 13 times more likely to enroll in a treatment program as compared to smokers who are handed a quit line referral card and encouraged to call on their own, according to a new study published online in JAMA Internal...
IBM's Watson Goes Through Basic Training in Oncology
While IBM’s Watson supercomputer may have defeated two former champions on the TV game show Jeopardy! 2 years ago, it is now facing its greatest challenge yet: deciphering huge amounts of scientific data and interpreting clinical information to help oncologists make personalized evidence-based...
Preparing for the Next Superstorm: Protecting Patients during Natural Disasters
When Hurricane Sandy slammed into the East Coast last October, the magnitude of devastation it left in its wake exceeded even the most dire predictions. Eighty mile per hour winds and record storm surges destroyed antiquated electrical grids and flooded subway stations, leaving much of New York...
Expert Point of View: Elizabeth Mittendorf, MD
“This study confirms previously published racial disparities in access to care, but factors that drive these disparities have not been elucidated,” stated Elizabeth Mittendorf, MD, Department of Surgical Oncology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston. The study was...
Expert Point of View: Clifford A. Hudis, MD and Daniel F. Hayes, MD
Clifford A. Hudis, MD, Chief of the Breast Cancer Medicine Service at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, commented after the presentation, “It strikes me that these findings are parallel to those shown with PAM50 by Liu et al at this meeting.” In that study,1 based on the Cancer and...
Expert Point of View: Laura J. van ’t Veer, PhD and Andrew Seidman, MD
Laura J. van ’t Veer, PhD, Leader of the Breast Oncology Program at the University of California, San Francisco, Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, commented on the findings. “These investigators confirm in a robust meta-analysis that neoadjuvant chemotherapy response is different...
Expert Point of View: William M. Grady, MD and Jordan Berlin, MD
William M. Grady, MD, of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, a member of the news planning team for the symposium, commented, “There has been considerable interest in determining whether molecular alterations in primary colorectal cancer are more accurate prognostic indicators than ...
Finding New Strategies to More Effectively Treat Pancreatic Cancer
While some progress has been made in understanding the molecular pathogenesis, genetic risk factors, and genomics of pancreatic adenocarcinoma, the disease remains one of the most challenging malignancies. According to Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) figures, 44,000 people were...
Quizartinib Data Encouraging in Phase II Investigations of FLT3 Mutation–positive Acute Myeloid Leukemia
The investigational oral FLT3 inhibitor quizartinib appears to be a safe and effective treatment for patients with relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML), according to results of a phase II trial presented at the 54th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) in...
Bendamustine/Rituximab Noninferior to Standard Chemotherapy for Advanced Indolent Non-Hodgkin and Mantle Cell Lymphomas
The combination of bendamustine (Treanda) and rituximab (Rituxan), or BR, was found to be noninferior to commonly used chemotherapy with R-CHOP (rituximab plus cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone) or R-CVP (rituximab plus cyclophosphamide, vincristine, and prednisone) in...
Second-line Docetaxel Improves Esophageal and Gastric Cancer Survival
A phase III study from the United Kingdom has shown that second-line treatment with docetaxel improves overall survival of patients with advanced esophagogastric cancer.1 The strategy has already been widely adopted, but COUGAR-02 is the first study to provide definitive evidence of a survival...
Targeted Therapy Gaining Ground in the Second-line Treatment of Gastric Cancer
In gastric cancer, the concept of targeted therapy assumed clinical significance when the addition of trastuzumab (Herceptin) to chemotherapy improved survival by almost 3 months in the ToGA trial.1 Another anti-HER2 agent, lapatinib (Tykerb), now looks promising, as does an agent targeting the...
Expert Point of View: William K. Oh, MD
Formal discussant William K. Oh, MD, Chief of the Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Professor of Medicine and Urology, and the Ezra M. Greenspan, MD, Professor in Clinical Cancer Therapeutics at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, was not convinced that corticosteroids...
Expert Point of View: Anthony D’Amico, MD
Now there are mature data from three trials comparing adjuvant radiotherapy vs a wait-and see approach in men following radical prostatectomy, said formal discussant Anthony D’Amico, MD, Dana-Farber Cancer Center and Harvard Medical School, Boston, at the Genitourinary Cancers Symposium. Despite...
Reduced Risk of PSA Failure with Adjuvant Radiotherapy vs Wait-and-see Approach in Stage T3 Prostate Cancer
Extended follow-up of the German ARO 96-02 trial shows that adjuvant radiotherapy reduces the risk of biochemical failure in men whose prostate cancer extends through the prostate capsule (stage T3), compared with a wait-and-see approach, after radical prostatectomy. Adjuvant radiotherapy reduced...
Cancer Has Made Me A Better Doctor
After six recurrences of colorectal cancer, the chances it will recur again are high. But if I concentrate on that, I couldn’t live my life. In retrospect, I should have paid attention sooner to the abdominal pain I was experiencing and not dismiss it as a simple case of gas. But at age 47 and with ...
Building CancerLinQ: The Road to Faster, More Efficient Treatment Delivery
In June, Clifford A. Hudis, MD, Chief of the Breast Cancer Medicine Service and Attending Physician at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, and Professor in the Department of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College, will begin his term as President of ASCO. Among Dr. Hudis’ priorities will be...
Expert Point of View: Robert A. Wolff, MD and Jordan Berlin, MD
Robert A. Wolff, MD, Professor in the Department of Gastrointestinal Oncology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, observed, “The bevacizumab seemed to leverage the capecitabine with a magnitude of benefit that is very reminiscent of the initial trials with...
