The general consensus of breast cancer experts of the initial findings of BCIRG-006 triggered a more judicious use of anthracyclines, and this trend continues. Kathy S. Albain, MD, FACP, FASCO, Professor of Medicine at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine, Maywood, Illinois, said...
Working with specialized oncology teams, a provincial agency in Manitoba, Canada, has developed standardized care plans and guidelines for cancer survivors that are implemented in a transition appointment.1 This appointment, which follows the end of active treatment, marks the transfer of medical...
Most young women diagnosed with breast cancer are not physically active in the months after a cancer diagnosis, but physical activity increased over time. According to data presented at the 2016 Cancer Survivorship Symposium, higher levels of physical activity were seen among women whose oncology...
Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University has named Mylin A. Torres, MD, the new Director of the Glenn Family Breast Center, effective January 19, 2016. She succeeds Ruth O’Regan, MD, who now heads the University of Wisconsin Division of Hematology and Oncology. Dr. Torres is Associate Professor ...
The ASCO Post interviewed Irvin M. Modlin, MD, Emeritus Professor of Gastroenterological Surgery, Yale University School of Medicine, regarding his thoughts on the NETTER-1 results and peptide receptor radionuclide therapies for neuroendocrine tumors. Dr. Modlin led the first study of a peptide...
It was December 9, 1975—a cold morning in the tribal village in Mahuadanr in Bihar, India. The valley was filled with an eerie mist coming down from the hills surrounding the village. Champa, a 5-year-old malnourished girl with sunken eyes, an emaciated face, and a huge ascites, was carried by her...
Monika K. Krzyzanowska, MD, of Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, summarizes a session that she co-chaired on this key topic.
Sandra L. Wong, MD, of the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, summarizes three abstracts for which she was the discussant. The topics were rates of surgical site infections, an online resource for hospital cancer surgery volumes, and barriers to oncology appointments at comprehensive cancer...
Like many men, it never occurred to me that I could get breast cancer. But it turns out it is more common—and deadly—than I thought, with about 2,600 men diagnosed each year with invasive breast cancer and nearly 440 dying of the disease.1 In 2010, I became one of those men, and the diagnosis was...
Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) has named Jaclyn Biegel, PhD, a leading academic expert on pediatric brain tumors, rhabdoid tumors, and cancer cytogenetics, as the Director of the Center for Personalized Medicine at CHLA. Dr. Biegel, who formerly served as Director of the Cancer Cytogenetics ...
Carmen Solórzano, MD, Professor of Surgery and Director of the Endocrine Surgery Center at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC), has been named Chief of the Division of Surgical Oncology and Endocrine Surgery in the Department of Surgery. Dr. Solórzano joined the Vanderbilt faculty in 2010...
Every so often, a memoir comes along in which the story speaks to universal themes. For that magic to occur, the author must step aside at times and let others tell their story, too. Moreover, the writing must be clear, vibrant, and above all else honest to the core. The recently published memoir...
The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) recently welcomed Judy Keen, PhD, as its Director of Scientific Affairs, a position created to expand research participation and collaboration in the field of radiation oncology. As the ASTRO lead on scientific affairs, Dr. Keen will develop and...
“A missed opportunity” is how Susan Higginbotham, PhD, RD, Vice President for Research, American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR), described the “failure” of updated dietary guidelines to recommend limiting consumption of red and processed meat. Doing so would have “the potential to save...
ASCO has announced the creation of the Ellen L. Stovall Award and Lecture for Advancement of Cancer Survivorship Care, intended to recognize and promote the work of pioneers and leaders in the growing field of survivorship. The first award will be presented at the 2017 Cancer Survivorship...
On January 14, 2016, the Cancer Survivorship Symposium opened with An Evening for Cancer Survivors and Caregivers, an event featuring networking, a panel discussion, and an open forum to share the challenges of living with or after a cancer diagnosis. The audience included Symposium attendees as...
Value in cancer care—and how to define it—is a hot topic. There is general agreement that it is some measure of benefit vs cost, but “should the focus be on providing value to patients at a population level or at an individual level?” asked Alan Balch, PhD, CEO of the Patient Advocate Foundation,...
The Egyptian study presented by Brian Baumann, MD, of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, was a “valiant effort” to determine whether sequential adjuvant chemotherapy added to adjuvant radiation would improve disease-free survival, said formal discussant of this trial Elizabeth Plimack,...
The use of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening has led to a dramatic rise in the number of men diagnosed with low-grade prostate cancer. Active surveillance is recommended to manage patients with favorable-risk, low-grade prostate cancer, with the goal of avoiding overtreatment of these...
An ongoing pilot study, designed to assess dynamic indices of insulin and glucose homeostasis in childhood cancer survivors exposed to abdominal radiation, has found a variety of derangements in glucose and insulin homeostasis in this cohort.1 According to an analysis presented at the 2016 Cancer...
A randomized clinical trial examining the effect of a 15-week healthy living program on weight loss in cancer survivors showed a 5.3% decrease in baseline body weight in those participating in the program.1 “Cancer survivors randomized to a 15-week clinic-based weight-loss intervention lost an...
CancerLinQ LLC, a wholly owned nonprofit subsidiary of ASCO, has named three new members to its leadership team. David Dornstreich, Robert Merold, and Jennifer L. Wong recently joined CancerLinQ LLC and, in their various roles, will be utilizing their extensive strategic experience to fully realize ...
Second malignancies were not more common among patients who underwent radiotherapy for rectal cancer. In fact, radiotherapy appeared to offer some degree of protection against subsequent cancers, according to the findings of a study from the Netherlands reported at the 2016 Gastrointestinal Cancers ...
As neoadjuvant treatment for locally advanced rectal cancer, a shorter course of radiation therapy followed by chemotherapy may be as good as, or better than, standard chemoradiotherapy, according to a study from the Polish Colorectal Study Group presented at the 2016 Gastrointestinal Cancers...
Patients with pancreatic cancer who received adjuvant chemotherapy at a high-volume center had superior median and 5-year overall survival than did patients who were treated in a community setting, according to the results of a study presented at the 2016 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium.1 This...
Striking the right balance between under- and oversurveillance of cancer survivors is challenging, and oncology providers are best served by knowing and following guidelines—though they can change often. Cancer recurrence and second cancers are two of the major threats to the health of cancer...
Although the results may not yet be as impressive as those seen in melanoma, lung, and kidney cancers, monoclonal antibodies targeting the programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) are producing responses, with some durability, in gastrointestinal cancers, according to studies presented at the 2016...
A retrospective analysis of human papillomavirus (HPV) antibodies in patients treated for oropharyngeal cancers linked to HPV infection suggests at least one of the antibodies could be useful in identifying those at risk for a recurrence of the cancer, said scientists at The Johns Hopkins...
Cancer immunotherapy expert Crystal Mackall, MD, joined the Stanford University School of Medicine faculty on January 1 as Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine, as well as Associate Director of the Stanford Cancer Institute and Co-Medical Director of the Stanford Laboratory for Cell and Gene...
The first sign that I could have a life-threatening illness was a bout of severe dizziness, which sent me first to a general practitioner for a physical examination and then to an ear specialist for more tests. At just 24 and in excellent health, the sudden onset of dizziness didn’t initially set...
ASCO will honor Patricia A. Ganz, MD, an accomplished medical oncologist and renowned advocate for improving the quality of cancer care from prevention through survivorship, with its first annual Joseph V. Simone Award and Lecture for Excellence in Quality and Safety in the Care of Patients With...
The following essay by William N. Harwin, 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. My wife...
Bookmark Title: The Fear Cure: Cultivating Courage as Medicine for the Body, Mind, and Soul Author: Lissa Rankin, MD Publisher: Hay House, Inc Publication date: February 23, 2015 Price: $25.99; hardcover, 336 pages Fear is a healthy survival mechanism, a fight-or-flight response designed to put...
According to the most recent estimates, 55% to 65% of women who inherit the BRCA1 mutation and about 45% of women who inherit the BRCA2 mutation will develop breast cancer by the time they are 70 years old. There is also a substantial increase in the probability of developing ovarian cancers in...
These data will help us personalize treatment for our patients. We still don’t know which women with a favorable cancer like ductal carcinoma in situ are most likely to progress. This is an unmet need,” said C. Kent Osborne, MD, Director of the Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center at Baylor College of...
Ductal carcinoma in situ is a relatively benign form of breast cancer (stage 0), yet up to 10% of women with ductal carcinoma in situ will have a recurrence within 10 years. At present, there is no way to identify which women will recur, so standard treatment is lumpectomy plus radiation therapy....
Emily Sedgwick, MD, Associate Professor of Radiology at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, indicated that the study by Holt et al is the first description of the synthetic two-dimensional (2D) screening approach and has the strength of being prospective in design. Future evaluations would benefit ...
Neoadjuvant treatment with a chemotherapy-free, anti-HER2 regimen yielded high rates of pathologic complete response in patients with HER2-positive, hormone receptor-positive early breast cancer in the phase II WSG-ADAPT HER2+/HR+ (ADAPT) trial presented at the 2015 San Antonio Breast Cancer...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently announced the appointment of an Acting Deputy Office Director and an Associate Director of Clinical Science in its Office of Hematology and Oncology Products (OHOP). Acting Deputy Office Director Amy E. McKee, MD, was recently announced as the...
Atezolizumab achieved excellent results in a cohort of patients with platinum-resistant urothelial cancer enrolled in a large phase II trial known as IMvigor 210.1 Overall response rates were greatly improved over those with historical controls, and responses were durable. Although expression of...
Although patients with poor-risk metastatic testicular germ cell tumors continue to have less favorable outcomes, the bar has been raised by contemporary treatment. There is still room for improvement in managing metastatic testicular germ cell tumors, especially in poor-risk patients, but if...
A 70-year-old female patient underwent a cardiac procedure to repair her mitral valve, and at the same time, she also underwent a coronary artery bypass grafting. She had an uneventful course for the first four postoperative days. On the sixth postoperative day, she started complaining of abdominal ...
Matthew J. Loscalzo, LCSW, of the City of Hope, discusses the ways in which a person’s gender influences how he or she reacts to and copes with a cancer diagnosis and treatment.
The recently updated U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommendation once again confirmed the value of screening mammography, concluding that the benefit of mammography outweighs the harms of screening in all age groups from age 40 through age 74. It emphasizes that both women and...
Passion is a much-needed virtue in one who seeks to change the world for the better. When you combine intelligence, stamina, iron-willed determination, the grace of an ambassador, and simple human likability with passion, you get that rare person who can turn words and ideas into reality. Such a...
An article in The New York Times1 about an ovarian cancer screening study published in The Lancet2 is headlined, “Early Detection of Ovarian Cancer May Become Possible,” and leads with the promise of reduced mortality with multimodal screening for ovarian cancer. An article in MedPage Today3 about...
"A solid triple but not a home run” is how Karen H. Lu, MD, characterized a study in The Lancet reporting a reduction in deaths from ovarian cancer with the use of multimodal ovarian cancer screening.1 Dr. Lu’s remark was one of several, mostly but not universally, favorable and optimistic comments ...
Rakesh Jain, PhD, the A. Werk Cook Professor of Radiation Oncology (Tumor Biology) at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, and Mary-Claire King, PhD, Professor of Genome Sciences and Medicine (Medical Genetics) at the University of Washington, have been selected as recipients...
Bookmark Title: The New Generation Breast Cancer Book: How to Navigate Your Diagnosis and Treatment Options—and Remain Optimistic—in an Age of Information Overload Author: Elisa Port, MD Publisher: Ballantine Books Publication date: September 2015 Price: $20.00; paperback, 320 pages When a new...
Bookmark Title: Empty Hands, A Memoir: One Woman’s Journey to Save Children Orphaned by AIDS in South Africa Author: Sister Abegail Ntleko Publisher: North Atlantic Books Publication date: September 1, 2015 Price: $12.95; paperback, 176 pages With the development of the multidrug highly active...