ASCO has announced the appointment of David Kerr, MD, DSc, as founding Editor-in-Chief of the Society’s new Journal of Global Oncology (JGO). Dr. Kerr will set the editorial scope and vision for JGO, an online-only, open-access journal, which will focus on cancer care, research, and care-delivery...
Renowned physician and researcher Guido Marcucci, MD, has joined City of Hope in a key leadership role within the institution’s new Hematologic Malignancies and Stem Cell Transplantation Institute. As Director of the Gehr Family Center for Leukemia Research and as Chief of the Division of...
Thomas J. Smith, MD, has been selected by the American Cancer Society to be the recipient of the 2015 Trish Greene Quality of Life Award. This award honors the life and work of the late Patricia (Trish) Greene, RN, PhD. As progress in the detection and treatment of cancer prolonged lives and...
In 1995, I was diagnosed with advanced colorectal cancer and given little chance to live. The dire diagnosis came years after being assured by several physicians that the problem I was having with rectal bleeding and anemia was nothing more than the result of an internal hemorrhoid. Busy raising...
The text and photographs on this page are excerpted from a four-volume series of books titled Oncology Tumors & Treatment: A Photographic History, by Stanley B. Burns, MD, FACS. The photos below are from the volume titled “The Radium Era: 1916–1945.” To view additional photos from this series...
The American Society for Radiation Oncology’s (ASTRO) Board of Directors has announced three additions to the Society’s management team: Emily Wilson has been named Executive Vice President; Dave Adler has been promoted to Vice President of Advocacy; and Anne Hubbard has been promoted to Director...
Case 1: Prerequisites for classification of myeloid neoplasm Question 1: Which statement is the one best explanation for the discrepancy observed between the blast percentage by bone marrow aspirate visual inspection and the flow-cytometry study? Correct Answer: C. Flow-cytometry study may not be...
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...
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...
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 ...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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 ...
Soon after publication of The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer (Scribner) in 2010, the book’s author Siddhartha Mukherjee, MD, PhD, received a call from Laura Ziskin, a film producer and cofounder of Stand Up To Cancer, who was interested in obtaining the film rights to Dr....
Acclaimed documentarian Ken Burns (The Civil War, Baseball, Jazz, The Central Park Five, and The Roosevelts: An Intimate History) has been making films for more than 35 years. His most recently completed project, scheduled to air on PBS this spring, is Ken Burns Presents Cancer: The Emperor of All...
Ken Burns Presents Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies, A Film by Barak Goodman will be broadcast on PBS on March 30, March 31, and April 1. Check local listings for broadcast times. Like the book it’s based on, the television documentary Ken Burns Presents Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies, A...
Andrew K. Lee, MD, has been named Medical Director of the Texas Center for Proton Therapy. Dr. Lee launched proton therapy treatment at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center almost 9 years ago, treating the facility’s first proton therapy patient in 2006. In his new role, Dr. Lee will...
The second annual Harrington Prize for Innovation in Medicine has been awarded to oncologist/researcher Douglas R. Lowy, MD, Chief of the Laboratory of Cellular Oncology and Deputy Director of the National Cancer Institute. The Harrington Prize for Innovation in Medicine, established in 2014 by...
Two years ago, ASCO collaborated with the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine to develop the Virtual Learning Collaborative, a virtual quality improvement program intended to address the complex care needs of patients with advanced cancer and the care quality for all patients with...
Due in part to the refinement of bone marrow transplantation and its many innovations, some leukemias that once were death sentences now have cure rates of up to 90%. As research in transplantation and other promising areas accelerates, we are on the verge of breaking new clinical boundaries in...
Patrick Hwu, MD, Chair of Melanoma Medical Oncology and Sarcoma Medical Oncology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, has been named Division Head of Cancer Medicine. He will take over from Richard Champlin, MD, who has been acting Division Head on an ad interim basis. Dr. ...
The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) has announced 11 new fellows of the AACR Academy. The AACR Academy is an entity that recognizes individuals who have made exceptional contributions to cancer research and/or cancer-related biomedical science. Only individuals whose work has had a...
James D. Murphy, MD, MS, Assistant Professor in the Department of Radiation Medicine at the University of California, San Diego, received a 2012 Conquer Cancer Foundation (CCF) of ASCO Young Investigator Award for his research focusing on access to the delivery of palliative radiation therapy. Dr....
Recent research1 conducted by Robert H. Pierce, MD, and his colleagues investigating why PD-1 (programmed cell death protein 1) inhibitors result in remarkably durable clinical remissions in some patients with melanoma, whereas others reap a short-term benefit or no benefit at all is showing that...
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive patients with relapsed/refractory lymphoma can safely undergo autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation, according to results of a phase II multicenter trial presented at the 56th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting and Exposition in...
Biliary tract cancers are challenging, but a large genomic profiling study has identified potentially clinically relevant genomic alterations in up to two-thirds of patients.1 “The diverse landscape of clinically relevant genomic alterations in biliary tract cancers can serve as targets for...
Jaffer A. Ajani, MD, Professor of Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, discussed the two studies. He emphasized the impressive cytoreductive activity of AMG 337. “Granted, it was only 13 patients, but in 13 patients, 8 [responders] is a...
The MET pathway appears to be important in gastroesophageal cancers, but response to a targeted agent may depend on the class of drugs. A robust response to the novel small-molecule MET inhibitor AMG 337 was observed, but a monoclonal antibody targeting MET fell flat, in studies reported at the...
Since 1990, the annual global death toll from cancer has risen about 40%, and that number is projected to increase from the current level of approximately 8 million cancer deaths per year to more than 13 million by 2030. The poorer, resource-challenged regions of the world will suffer a...
Precision medicine—and its promise to revolutionize how we understand disease and care for our patients—is a concept that oncology has understood and embraced for well over a decade. But millions of Americans recently heard about the concept for the first time when President Obama announced a...
A study presented at the 2015 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium calls into question the use of active surveillance in patients with intermediate-risk prostate cancer. Patients with intermediate-risk prostate cancer managed with active surveillance had almost a four times higher risk of prostate...
The likelihood of impending death of patients with advanced cancer “is one of those questions that many people want to know about, but they are too afraid to ask,” David Hui, MD, MSc, said in an interview with The ASCO Post. Dr. Hui is lead author of a study, published in Cancer, on clinical signs...
In a recently published study of patients with advanced cancer whose status was systematically documented twice a day, from the time of admission to a palliative care unit until death or discharge, investigators identified eight physical signs associated with death within 3 days. Taken together...
The following essay by Eric M. Genden, MD, is adapted from The Big Casino: America’s Best Cancer Doctors Share Their Most Powerful Stories, which was coedited by Stan Winokur, MD, and Vincent Coppola and published in May 2014. The book is available on Amazon.com and thebigcasino.org. There’s...
Following news of Dr. Varmus’ planned departure from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), ASCO issued the following statement: ASCO is enormously grateful for the service and leadership of Harold Varmus, MD, as Director of the National Cancer Institute [NCI]. During Dr. Varmus’ tenure, the...
Harold Varmus, MD, who has led the National Cancer Institute (NCI) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for nearly 5 years, has announced that he will step down from his post, effective March 31, 2015. “It has been our great fortune to have Dr. Varmus at the helm of the NCI,” said NIH...
A Century of Progress The text and photographs on these pages represent the establishment of oncology as a viable medical specialty during the late 1800s and showcase the early medical advances and treatments in cancer. The images and captions are excerpted from a four-volume series of books titled ...
In Don Quixote, the 1605 Spanish literary masterpiece by Miguel Cervantes, “Balsam of Fierabras” is mentioned often as a therapeutic panacea. It calls for mixing rosemary, wine, oil, and salt. As the story goes, the knight relied heavily on this herbal preparation to relieve him of pain from the...
BookmarkTitle: The Patient Will See You Now: The Future of Medicine Is in Your HandsAuthor: Eric Topol, MDPublisher: Basic BooksPublication date: January 2015Price: $28.99; hardcover, 384 pagesMost books about health care center on fixing broken parts of the massive $3 trillion system, as seen with ...
Seattle Children’s Hospital announced that the Board of Trustees has named Jeff Sperring, MD, Chief Executive Officer, effective early in May. Dr. Sperring, who currently serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of Riley Hospital for Children at Indiana University Health, will continue to...
More than 35 ASCO members contributed personal essays to a recently published collection of stories about humanism in medicine, including ASCO Past Presidents Paul A. Bunn, Jr, MD, FASCO, and Emil J. Freireich, MD, FASCO, and current President-Elect Julie M. Vose, MD, MBA, FASCO. The Big Casino:...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently announced the appointment of Geoffrey Kim, MD, as Director of the Division of Oncology Products 1 (DOP1) in the Office of Hematology Oncology Products. Dr. Kim assumed this position effective March 22, 2015. Dr. Kim previously served as the...
Disparities of care that result in poorer outcomes among certain populations have long been an issue addressed by the cancer community and its major organizations such as ASCO. While ethnicity and race play key roles in this ongoing debate over equitable allocation of our precious health-care...