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Showing 3851 - 3900A Concerned Physician Reflects on Today’s Doctor-Patient Relationship
Doctoring isn’t what it used to be. Like many other professions, it has gone through a multitude of changes ostensibly to improve efficiencies and lower costs. The digital age has reshaped clinical practice from the front office to the exam room. And with the advent of electronic health records...
Managing Upper Extremity Dysfunction in Breast Cancer Survivors
With an increased number of breast cancer survivors and patients with metastatic disease living longer, it is imperative for oncology care providers to manage issues of new and chronic upper extremity dysfunction as a result of the malignancy itself or its treatment. As one of my patients...
Complexities in the Diagnosis and Management of Amyloidosis
Question 1: What is the next best step for this patient? Correct Answer: C. Determination of amyloid subtype. Expert Perspective Amyloidosis encompasses a heterogeneous group of diseases bound by the characteristic deposition of amyloid fibrils in soft tissues and bone marrow, and it could be...
Complexities in the Diagnosis and Management of Amyloidosis
Case Study A 70-year-old man is referred to your clinic for a consultation. Recently, a diagnosis of IgG monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) was established. Medical history is significant for essential hypertension, type II diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidemia, and atrial...
Relapse of Leukemia After Bone Marrow Transplantation: Cytomegalovirus Infection Has No Protective Effect
Recent studies on a small number of patients with leukemia treated with bone marrow transplantation have suggested that the presence of the common cytomegalovirus (CMV) in patients or their donors may protect against relapse or even death after the transplant. A large international study published...
QOPI Certification Program Certifies First International Practice
On June 1, 2016, ASCO announced that the Contemporary Oncology Team of Athens, Greece, as part of the new international pilot project, is the first international practice to receive Quality Oncology Practice Initiative (QOPI®) certification through QOPI Certification Program, LLC (QCP). What is...
Regarding Beau
Like most pediatric hematologists/oncologists, my career has been a journey, hoping to discover ways to improve the outcomes for children and adolescents with cancer. I have been blessed to work with outstanding colleagues in the United States and throughout the world. And of equal importance, I...
What’s Driving the Rising Rates of Colorectal Cancer in Young Adults?
The study statistics are alarming—and perplexing. According to an analysis of data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) colorectal cancer registry, colon cancer incidence among young adults aged 20 to 34 is expected to increase 90% by 2030, and the incidence of rectosigmoid...
Expert Point of View: Elizabeth Mittendorf, MD, PhD
The discussant of these studies was Elizabeth Mittendorf, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Breast Surgical Oncology at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston. Dr. Mittendorf noted that approximately 3% of U.S. breast cancer patients present with de novo stage IV disease. For...
The Age of the Atomic Hematologists/Oncologists
Every longstanding culture has ages: The Minoans were followed by the Mycenaeans and, later, the Hellenistic peoples. And so it is with hematology/oncology. A descriptive age dominated predominately by histopathologists was followed by an age of experimentalists. Development of the atomic bombs...
Assessment of Fitness, Function, and Quality of Life Essential in Treatment of Older Patients With CLL
Significant progress has been made in the past 2 decades in the care of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Recently, the therapeutic armamentarium has expanded for such patients with the introduction of new targeted agents. CLL is predominantly a disease of the elderly, with a...
Combination of Nivolumab and Ipilimumab Moves Forward in NSCLC
How best to combine new immunotherapies is a burning question in oncology. A new study in the CheckMate series suggests that nivolumab (Opdivo) and ipilimumab (Yervoy) can be safely and effectively combined as first-line treatment of advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC),1 but further study...
ASCO Outlines Opposition to Medicare Part B Demo for Senate Finance Hearing
ASCO voiced its strong opposition to the proposed Medicare Part B demonstration project in comments submitted on June 28 for the U.S. Senate Finance Committee hearing, “Examining the Proposed Medicare Part B Drug Demonstration.” ASCO underscored the urgent need to advance a fairer...
CAP, IASLC, and AMP Seek Public Comments on Revised Lung Cancer Molecular Testing Guideline
The College of American Pathologists (CAP), the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC), and the Association for Molecular Pathology (AMP) announced today the open comment period for the revised evidence-based guideline, “Molecular Testing Guideline for Selection of...
Lawrence O. Gostin, JD, LLD, Appointed to National Cancer Advisory Board
President Barack Obama has tapped Lawrence O. Gostin, JD, LLD, Georgetown University Professor and Faculty Director of the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown Law, to serve as a member of the National Cancer Advisory Board (NCAB). He will serve a 6-year term. The 18 ...
I Was Not Shown Compassion by My Medical Team
At my last screening mammogram in 2015, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The technician took the usual four x-rays of my breasts, and I was told I could leave. So it was especially shocking to get a phone call from the radiologist a week later telling me that I had to come back for an additional ...
Precision Medicine Clinical Trial for Metastatic Pancreatic Cancer Now Open at Multiple Sites
The first clinical trial to compare standard-of-care chemotherapy with molecularly tailored therapy (also known as precision medicine) for metastatic pancreatic cancer is now enrolling patients at multiple sites around the country. Patients who have been treated with one round of chemotherapy for...
Use Questions From Patients to Help Them Make Informed Treatment Decisions
Recent reports about treatment options for patients with ductal carcinoma in situ, and the ensuing debate and comments played out in the media, may prompt increased questions from patients. A review summarizing data about these treatment options concluded that surgery and radiation therapy “remain...
Surgery and Radiation Therapy Remain Standard of Care for Managing Ductal Carcinoma in Situ
A review of more than 50 studies (many randomized controlled trials) concluded that surgery and radiation therapy “remain standard-of-care treatment options” in the management of ductal carcinoma in situ.1 The review continues the widely reported discussion on managing ductal carcinoma in situ,...
Something Happened
Over the years, my patients have been my most important teachers. I’ve learned so much from them about human nature and the resilience of the human spirit. When my time came to pass through the fire and confront the same challenges they and their families face so bravely and with such compassion, ...
A Journalist’s Cancer Saga
Readers of the recently published memoir A Series of Catastrophes & Miracles: A True Story of Love, Science, and Cancer find out that the book has a happy ending on the cover page of chapter 1. Spoiler: I lived, writes the author, Mary Elizabeth Williams, an acclaimed journalist with a list...
An Exotic Journey Into Immunotherapy
In his new book, Sharks Get Cancer, Mole Rats Don’t: How Animals Could Hold the Key to Unlocking Cancer Immunity in Humans, James S. Welsh, MD, examines a wide array of animal and human biologic phenomena, searching for clues that might help us unlock the full power of the human immune system....
Moonshot Program for … Compassion
A 65-year-old patient with widely metastatic pancreatic cancer was emergently transferred to our facility in the early hours of the morning with free air suggestive of a perforated viscus. The patient is from a small town several hundred miles away from our academic center, which can be quite...
Vanguard Practices Support Sharing Big Data With CancerLinQ™
CancerLinQ LLC, recently announced that it has completed agreements with 36 vanguard oncology practices from around the country to begin implementing the tool. According to physicians at the vanguard practices, gaining access to the experience of oncology practices across the country motivated...
Meet Thomas G. Roberts, Jr, MD
Thomas G. Roberts, Jr, MD, is Managing Member at Farallon Capital Management, LLC and Chair of the Conquer Cancer Foundation of ASCO Board of Directors and Executive Committee. What led you to oncology prior to your career in finance? TGR: As an intern at Massachusetts General Hospital, I was...
Clinical Conversations: Attendee Questions From the Cancer Survivorship Symposium
The inaugural Cancer Survivorship Symposium, held in January 2016, drew more than 800 attendees across the cancer-care spectrum—far exceeding the goal of 500 attendees. As a way to continue the discussion from the meeting, several faculty members responded to questions from General Sessions 5 and...
Geriatric Patients With Cancer and the Problem of Polypharmacy
Older patients with cancer generally have multiple comorbidities, with each often requiring separate medications. Studies have shown that polypharmacy and inappropriate drug use are prevalent among older cancer patients, leading to an enormous amount of preventable adverse events, many requiring...
Pembrolizumab in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: Emerging New Treatment Modality
Lajos Pusztai, MD, DPhil, Professor of Medicine, Chief of Breast Medical Oncology and Co-Director of Cancer Genetics Research Program at Yale Cancer Center, New Haven, Connecticut, commented on KEYNOTE-012. He remarked that the overall response rate of 18.5% to the single agent is similar to...
Nivolumab or Ipilimumab Treatment May Increase Risk of Developing Autoimmune Joint and Tissue Disease
Case reports on 13 patients with cancer suggest that patients taking the immunotherapeutics ipilimumab (Yervoy) and nivolumab (Opdivo) may be at higher-than-normal risk of developing autoimmune joint and tissue diseases, including inflammatory arthritis, according to a preliminary study by Johns...
Tackling the Symptoms of Long-Term Fatigue and Insomnia in Cancer Survivors
Fatigue and sleep disruption are common occurrences for most patients diagnosed with cancer. Simply having a serious physical illness like cancer along with its associated pain, hospitalization, and treatment, as well as the attendant psychological impact, all contribute to the onset of fatigue...
A Conquer Cancer Foundation Award Helps to Launch a Pioneering Study in Liposarcoma
Mark A. Dickson, MD, has been fascinated by science and medicine since he was in high school. After graduating magna cum laude from Harvard University in 1999, Dr. Dickson pursued a medical degree from the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University in New York. Once he decided on a...
Ixazomib: A Relevant Addition to Myeloma Therapy
In 2015, four new drugs were approved for the treatment of multiple myeloma by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration: panobinostat (Farydak), daratumumab (Darzalex), elotuzumab (Empliciti), and ixazomib (Ninlaro). Of them, the first three are drugs with unique new targets, whereas ixazomib is the...
Medical Decision-Making: At the Heart of Care for Older Patients With Cancer
Although oncology has moved toward a personalized approach to care, medical decision-making within the context of multidisciplinary care has broad public health implications. To shed light on this and other relevant issues, The ASCO Post recently spoke with William Dale, MD, PhD, of the University ...
Creating Hybrid Academic-Community Cancer Centers to Improve Patient Care
Five years ago, the Helen F. Graham Cancer Center and Research Institute at Christiana Care Health System in Newark, Delaware, and The Wistar Institute, a National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated biomedical research center, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, joined forces to collaborate on...
Treatment Update in Gastric, Pancreatic, and Colorectal Cancers
Although new gastrointestinal cancers are on the rise, advancements in their treatment, as well as the upcoming results of perioperative trials, could prove to be “clinical practice game-changers,” declared Thomas J. George, Jr, MD, FACP, at the 2016 Community Oncology Conference in Orlando,...
Expert Point of View: Taofeek Kunle Owonikoko, MD
Formal discussant Taofeek Kunle Owonikoko, MD, of Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, commented that this preliminary study looks promising for a new antibody-drug conjugate. “To me, what is intriguing about these data is the efficacy signal in the third-line setting, especially for the ...
Expert Point of View: Peter C. Enzinger, MD
Not so FAST? The study discussant Peter C. Enzinger, MD, Director of the Center for Esophageal and Gastric Cancer at Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women’s Cancer Center, Boston, viewed the findings of the FAST trial as promising but voiced several considerations, as did Gulam A. Manji, MD, PhD,...
Influence of Age and Comorbidities on Rates of Colorectal Cancer Screening in the Elderly
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a common and costly disease, largely of the elderly, with nearly 25% of cases diagnosed among patients aged 75–84 years. However, but the guidelines for CRC screening of Americans aged 75 or older vary according to the source. In a study published by Klabunde et al...
ASCO Announces New Award Honoring Visionary Leader Allen S. Lichter, MD, FASCO
During the 2016 Annual Meeting, ASCO announced the creation of the Allen S. Lichter Visionary Leader Award to recognize ASCO members who have transformed the oncology field or significantly advanced the mission of ASCO, the Conquer Cancer Foundation, or CancerLinQ, LLC, through their leadership,...
Expert Point of View: Patricia Ganz, MD
Moderating a press conference where Dr. Chen presented his study findings, Patricia Ganz, MD, Director of Cancer Prevention and Control Research at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, called this study “interesting and important.” She continued:...
Trastuzumab Biosimilar Shows Efficacy and Safety Comparable to Reference Product in Phase III HERITAGE Trial
A new biosimilar version of the monoclonal antibody trastuzumab (Herceptin) is getting close to the finish line in the race to develop biosimilars in oncology. The new antibody, MYL-1401O, demonstrated comparable efficacy and safety compared with trastuzumab as front-line treatment of women with...
ASCO Releases the Updated Version of Its Value Framework
Last June, ASCO published its initial concept for a value framework in the Journal of Clinical Oncology (JCO).1 The framework, developed by ASCO’s Value in Cancer Care Task Force, is designed to provide a standardized approach to assist physicians and patients in assessing the “value” of a new...
ASCO 2016: Hispanic and Black Young Adults With Cancer May Be More Likely to Die of Their Disease
Hispanic white and non-Hispanic black cancer patients between ages 15 and 29 may be more likely than same-aged white patients to die of their disease, according to a University of Colorado Cancer Center study presented by Colton et al at the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting (Abstract 6557). The finding is...
ASCO Updates Value in Cancer Care Framework
On May 31, 2016, ASCO published an updated framework for assessing the relative value of cancer therapies that have been compared in clinical trials. The framework, published by Schnipper et al,1 defines value as a combination of clinical benefit, side effects, and improvement in patient symptoms...
Breast Density Legislation: An Opportunity for Better Risk Assessment
Dense breasts are not an automatic indication for additional imaging. Instead, breast density generally provides an opportunity for improved risk assessment, according to Kevin Hughes, MD, of Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston. “More than 20 states have mandated that women be informed of...
The Importance of Listening to Patients
My experience with cancer, or more accurately, cancers, is complicated. In 2002, after returning from a medical mission to Honduras, I noticed a bean-sized lymph node above my left clavicle. As an oncology-certified nurse, I knew not to ignore any unusual nodules that pop up on the body and asked...
Rising
There were once two patients with leukemia. Other than their diagnoses and their ages, these two men had nothing in common. Meet Michael Michael was an artist—a sculptor. He had large, sensitive, blue eyes and a quiet, pensive manner. His acute observational power led him to ponder deep questions...
An Unusual Memoir of Cancer
“A book about the future must be written in advance. Later I won’t have the energy. So I will do it now.” So begins The Iceberg, a memoir set in Britain of a woman, Marion Coutts, whose husband was diagnosed with a brain tumor, which eventually killed him. Unfortunately, cancer memoirs flood the...
The Best HCAHPS Score: A Rodeo Invitation
An otherwise healthy, actively working, independent 60-year-old patient came to us with a several months’ history of abdominal pain. He had been seen by other physicians prior to coming to us for a second opinion. Our workup revealed a large cystic lesion emanating from the pancreas but involving ...
Low-Dose Chemical Exposure and Cancer
According to estimates from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), environmental toxic exposures are responsible for between 7% and 19% of human cancers. However, the 2008–2009 President’s Cancer Panel Annual Report estimated that the “true...
