Through its community grants program, the Prevent Cancer Foundation is supporting 10 projects that are focused on increasing cancer prevention and early detection in communities across the United States, from Honolulu to Baltimore. The projects were selected through a competitive grants process,...
According to the American Cancer Society, excluding skin cancers, colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer in both men and women in the United States and the second most common cause of cancer deaths. This year, it is expected that more than 51,000 people will die of the malignancy....
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the noninvasive colorectal cancer screening test Cologuard for eligible average-risk individuals aged 45 years and older, expanding on its previous indication for those aged 50 years and older. Cologuard is a stool DNA-based colorectal...
The monoclonal antibody daratumumab has been widely embraced for the treatment of multiple myeloma, but for newly diagnosed patients, its benefit has been proved only in some patients, according to Craig Hofmeister, MD, MPH, Associate Professor of Medicine at the Winship Cancer Institute of Emory...
During the past decade, scientists began to test whether the addition of transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) to treatment with sorafenib could increase survival in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma. Scientists from Taiwan and Japan performed the first large, national-level,...
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. In this installment, Ting Bao, MD, DABMA, MS, and Jyothirmai Gubili, MS, focus on flaxseed because...
The European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) has revealed the 2019 winners of its annual awards. The four distinguished clinicians and scientists will be presented during the ESMO 2019 Congress in Barcelona: Eric Van Cutsem, MD, PhD; Angelo Di Leo, MD, PhD; Cristiana Sessa, MD; and Charles...
The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) has selected 26 members to receive the ASTRO Fellow (FASTRO) designation. The 2019 class of Fellows were recognized during ASTRO’s 61st Annual Meeting in Chicago. The ASTRO Fellows program recognizes individuals who have made significant...
Earlier this month, The Lasker Foundation announced the recipients of its 2019 Lasker Awards for clinical and basic research and public service. Lasker~DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award H. Michael Shepard, PhD,formerly of Genentech, Dennis J. Slamon, MD, PhD, of the University of California,...
Two topics that hematologists are currently grappling with were addressed at the 2019 Debates and Didactics Conference in Sea Island, Georgia, sponsored by Emory University Winship Cancer Institute, by Editor-in-Chief of The ASCO Post, James O. Armitage, MD, FASCO.1 They focus on the emerging role ...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced Project Orbis, an initiative of the FDA Oncology Center of Excellence (OCE). Project Orbis provides a framework for concurrent submission and review of oncology drugs among its international partners. Under this project, the FDA, the...
The battle against cancer is typically waged by the surgeon and oncologist, but a Lexington, Kentucky–based, award-winning restaurateur and chef discovered her role as a foot soldier when she applied her culinary skills to deal with the debilitating side effects of her mother’s lung cancer...
Video-assisted thoracic surgery was associated with lower in-hospital complications and a shorter length of stay compared with open surgery among British patients who were diagnosed with early-stage lung cancer, according to research presented by Lim et al at the International Association for the...
On September 10, The Lasker Foundation announced the winners of its 2019 Lasker Awards: Max D. Cooper, MD, of Emory University, and Jacques Miller, AC, FRS, FAA, of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, will receive the Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award; H. Michael...
On August 15, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a proposed rule to require new health warnings on cigarette packages and in advertisements to promote greater public understanding of the negative health consequences of smoking. The proposed warnings, which feature photo-realistic...
The National Library of Medicine, located in Bethesda, Maryland, was started in 1836 as a small collection of medical books and journals in the office of the U.S. Army Surgeon General. In the ensuing years, the library grew to become the world’s largest and most prestigious biomedical library, with ...
“Live while you’re living, friends,” writes Julie Yip-Williams in her memoir, The Unwinding of the Miracle: A Memoir of Life, Death, and Everything That Comes After. It was The New York Times bestseller when she died of stage IV colon cancer at the age of 42. She is the most recent of several...
On July 30, 2019, pembrolizumab was approved for the treatment of patients with recurrent locally advanced or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus whose tumors express programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1; Combined Positive Score [CPS] ≥ 10), as determined by a U.S. Food and Drug...
On June 10, 2019, pembrolizumab was approved for the first-line treatment of patients with metastatic or unresectable recurrent head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.1,2 Pembrolizumab was approved for use in combination with platinum and fluorouracil (5-FU) for all patients and as a single agent...
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,...
On June 27, 2019, daratumumab was approved for use in combination with lenalidomide and dexamethasone for patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma who are ineligible for autologous stem cell transplantation.1,2 Supporting Efficacy Data Approval was based on findings in the open-label phase...
On May 28, 2019, lenalidomide was approved for use in combination with a rituximab product for previously treated follicular lymphoma and previously treated marginal zone lymphoma.1,2 Supporting Efficacy Data Approval was based on the findings of two clinical trials: AUGMENT (ClinicalTrials.gov...
Over the past 2 years, IBM’s Watson for Oncology cognitive computing system, which uses artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms to generate treatment recommendations, has come under fire for allegedly not delivering on expectations to provide state-of-the-art personalized treatment for patients...
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center recently unveiled plans to expand its Proton Therapy Center. The expansion will more than double the center’s size to more than 160,000 square feet. The estimated completion of the new building is November 2023. The $159 million expansion will...
Syapse and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Oncology Center of Excellence (OCE) have signed a multiyear research collaboration agreement focused on the use of real-world evidence to support regulatory decision-making. Syapse and the OCE will work with stakeholders across the FDA to...
William G. Cance, MD, has been selected as he Chief Medical and Scientific Officer of the American Cancer Society (ACS). Dr. Cance will lead the integration of the ACS Research and Cancer Control departments, unifying its intramural and extramural research; prevention and early detection; patient...
Many clinicians are confused by the evolving opioid prescribing guideline issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) meant to stem the rising epidemic of opioid addiction and overdose in the United States.1 Many are also worried about regulatory oversight by the U.S. Drug...
Women Who Conquer Cancer (WWCC) is a groundbreaking program that is committed to supporting early-career female researchers by funding research grants through Conquer Cancer, the ASCO Foundation. Since its inception 6 years ago, the program has raised over $4 million, has funded 21 Young...
ASCO is pleased to announce the 2019–2020 participants in its Leadership Development Program and Education Scholars Program. Leadership Development Program The ASCO Leadership Development Program, which began in 2009, is a year-long program designed to train future leaders in oncology by supporting ...
On July 29, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released its proposed rule for the 2020 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) and other changes to Medicare Part B payment policies, including proposals related to the Quality Payment Program (QPP). At the same time, CMS released...
The deadly nature of most pancreatic tumors is well known, with less than 10% of patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma estimated to survive 5 years after diagnosis. Recent molecular analyses of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma have shown that a patient’s prognosis changes depending on the...
Primary central nervous system (CNS) lymphoma is a rare type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma in which standards of care have not been well established. In light of recent insights into its pathophysiology and the emergence of novel approaches, The ASCO Post asked Tracy T. Batchelor, MD, a specialist in...
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®) is collaborating with CureMD to integrate the NCCN Chemotherapy Order Templates into the CureMD Oncology electronic health records. This collaboration is intended to allow for point-of-care access to treatment recommendations and order templates...
The Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute has announced that thoracic surgeon David I. Sternberg, MD, has joined its medical team. Board-certified in general and cardiothoracic surgery, and specialized in minimally invasive chest surgery, Dr. Sternberg will serve on Karmanos’ Thoracic Oncology...
The Northern California Prostate Cancer Center, an independent oncology practice serving patients with cancer throughout Santa Clara County, has joined the U.S. Oncology Network. The practice, which opened in 2009, was the first prostate-only radiation treatment center in California to obtain a...
The Epithelioid Hemangioendothelioma (EHE) Foundation and Cleveland Clinic recently received a $1 million gift from the Margie and Robert E. Petersen Foundation. The money will support EHE research conducted by Brian Rubin, MD, PhD, Chair of the Robert J. Tomsich Pathology & Laboratory Medicine ...
The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research has awarded a 3-year $6 million grant to support a new phase of discovery for a team of investigators developing, optimizing, and integrating targeted therapies and immunotherapies to improve outcomes for patients with the most common—and most difficult to...
I received a coffee mug from a physician colleague some years ago with the tag line: “Please do not confuse your Google search with my Medical Degree.” Physicians of all stripes and colors can relate to the agony of debunking a “Dr. Google” diagnosis. However, in a fast-evolving health-care...
Karen M. Winkfield, MD, PhD, has made patient advocacy—with a specific emphasis on health equity and access to high-quality care—front and center of her oncology practice since she completed her residency at the Harvard Radiation Oncology Program in Boston, where she noticed that most of the...
At the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) 2019 World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC), two presentations showed that tumor mutational burden is not associated with the efficacy of pembrolizumab in combination with chemotherapy in patients with non–small cell lung cancer...
Recently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Fast Track designation to magrolimab in myelodysplastic syndrome and acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The agency also granted Breakthrough Therapy designations in lung cancer and desmoid tumors, as well as Breakthrough Device designations...
GUEST EDITOR Integrative Oncology is guest edited by Jun J. Mao, MD, MSCE, Laurance S. Rockefeller Chair in Integrative Medicine and Chief of Integrative Medicine Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York. Cancer and its treatments are associated with severe fatigue, depression, ...
Advanced melanoma has become a different entity in the era of immunotherapy and targeted agents. Considering the potential for good outcomes from systemic therapy in advanced disease, has the role of surgery changed? Should it be offered up front or limited to patients with oligometastatic ...
This week, we’ll be talking about an extended follow-up of a phase III trial that investigated first-line nivolumab and ipilimumab vs sunitinib in advanced renal cell carcinoma. Then we’ll go over a research letter that identified strong predictors of response to immune checkpoint inhibitor...
Women who experienced six or more symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) at some point in life had a twofold greater risk of developing ovarian cancer compared with women who never experienced any PTSD symptoms. These findings were published by Roberts et al in Cancer Research. The...
A new clinical guideline from the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) provides recommendations on the use of radiation therapy to treat patients diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, including when radiation treatments are appropriate, as well as the optimal dosing, timing, and...
Bleeding during the first 6 months after discharge from the hospital for acute coronary syndrome may be linked to subsequent cancer diagnosis, according to research presented by Muñoz Pousa et al at the European Society of Cardiology Congress 2019 (Abstract P677). “Our results suggest that patients ...
ASCO has updated its recommendations for the prevention and treatment of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in patients with cancer. “The recommendations were last updated in 2015, but since then, new, significant publications have emerged, which prompted this update,” said Nigel S. Key, MBChB, of the...
Early intervention in smoldering multiple myeloma prevents progression to symptomatic disease and should be strongly considered for patients meeting new criteria for high risk, according to Sagar Lonial, MD, Professor and Chair of Hematology and Medical Oncology and the Anne and Bernard Gray...
Based on the recently published ENZAMET, ARCHES, and TITAN trials,1-3 we now have several choices of systemic combination therapies for men with metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer; the ENZAMET trial is reviewed in this issue of The ASCO Post. In 2019, men are now faced with decisions of...