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Showing 451 - 500Active Surveillance for Early-Stage Prostate Cancer Requires Active Participation by Patient and Clinician
Active surveillance of patients with early-stage prostate cancer “is tackling the problem of overtreatment” and, with rigorous monitoring, “is safe and allows us to treat only patients who need treatment when their cancer progresses,” Ronald C. Chen, MD, MPH, affirmed in an interview with The ASCO...
Integrative Medicine in Pediatric and Adolescent Patients With Cancer
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. The ASCO Post’s Integrative Oncology series is intended to facilitate the...
Looking Into the Future of Psychosocial Oncology
Over the past several decades, the field of psychosocial oncology has matured into an invaluable subspecialty that helps patients with cancer and their caregivers deal with the existential issues that arise in cancer, especially in the advanced-disease setting. In an effort to add to this...
Improve Quality of Life With This Palliative Care Education Resource for Your Patients
Do your patients know that supportive care can help them manage their symptoms and side effects, regardless of age, cancer type, or disease stage? Make sure your patients understand the benefits of palliative care and where to access services with the ASCO Answers Palliative Care booklet. Your...
Northern New England Clinical Oncology Society Supports 2019 International Development and Education Award and Merit Awards
The Northern New England Clinical Oncology Society (NNECOS) is a tristate regional affiliate of ASCO serving oncology practices within Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. A long-time supporter of Conquer Cancer®, the ASCO Foundation, and its Young Investigator Award (YIA) program, NNECOS expanded...
2019 ASCO: Differences in End-of-Life Quality Measures Across U.S. Cancer Centers
In a study presented by Wasp et al at the 2019 ASCO Annual Meeting (Abstract 6507) studying variation in end-of-life care across cancer centers in the United States, researchers found quality of care was lower at centers that served a greater concentration of minorities. However, end-of-life care...
Ahead of the Curve, Breast Cancer Specialist Advocates Prevention Through Exercise and Lifestyle
Breast cancer specialist Julie Gralow, MD, FASCO, Director, Breast Medical Oncology, Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, has a straightforward philosophy about her career: “Cancer is about living, not dying. I enjoy helping my patients with breast cancer take control of their health through leading-edge ...
New Data on Improving Access to Cancer Care, Advances in Precision Medicine Highlighted at 2019 ASCO Annual Meeting
As this special edition of The ASCO Post goes to press, more than 32,000 cancer experts from around the world have convened in Chicago to share the latest clinical cancer research impacting patient care at the 55th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). Advances in...
Debating the Role of Opioids in the Management of Chronic Cancer Pain
Despite the increasing public awareness of the danger of the overuse of prescription opioids, drug overdose deaths continue to rise in the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), from 1999 to 2017, nearly 400,000 people died of an overdose involving...
Uniting the Global Cancer Community to Reduce Deaths From Noncommunicable Diseases
It has been well documented that noncommunicable diseases, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes, now pose the greatest health threat to people living in low- and middle-income countries, surpassing infectious diseases like HIV/AIDS as the leading cause of death and disability.1...
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and WHO Join Forces to Improve Childhood Cancer Survival Worldwide
A report by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) based on data from more than 100 cancer registries in 68 countries shows that from 2001 to 2010, the occurrence of childhood cancer worldwide was 13% more common than in the 1980s.1 In addition, the report’s findings showcase stark...
Members of Congress Express Support for Cancer Policy Priorities During Capitol Hill Event
ASCO and the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) hosted a reception on Capitol Hill for Members of Congress and their staff to underscore the two organizations’ shared policy priorities to improve research and cancer care delivery for patients and survivors. During the...
Expert Point of View: Daniel George, MD
The CARMENA trial presented at the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting, published simultaneously in The New England Journal of Medicine,1,2 and reported in this supplement to The ASCO Post, evaluated the role of nephrectomy in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma. Formal discussant of the trial,...
Expert Point of View: Armin Shahrokni, MD
“Older and frail adults with cancer are the types of patients we deal with every day,” said Armin Shahrokni, MD, a geriatric oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. “The GO2 study is important, and I suspect it will be practice-changing,” he predicted. Older and frail...
Study Finds Less Chemotherapy Noninferior to More in Frail and Elderly Patients With Advanced Gastroesophageal Cancer
A large randomized trial has found that frail and elderly patients with advanced gastroesophageal cancer may be safely and successfully treated with dose-reduced chemotherapy. In the GO2 phase III trial, low doses of oxaliplatin/capecitabine performed similarly to intermediate and high doses of the ...
CDC Issues Clarification on Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain
ASCO, the American Society of Hematology (ASH), and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®) recently acknowledged receipt of a key clarification1 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on prescribing opioids to manage pain from certain conditions. The clarification...
ESTRO 38: Radical Hemithoracic Therapy in Patients With Mesothelioma
Patients with mesothelioma are twice as likely to survive for 2 years or longer if they are treated with a high dose of radiation to the affected side of the trunk, according to research presented by Minatel et al at ESTRO 38, the annual congress of the European Society for Radiotherapy...
Ali McBride, PharmD, MS, BCOP, Named 2019–2020 ACCC President
Ali McBride, PharmD, MS, BCOP, was named 2019–2020 President of the Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC) during its 45th Annual Meeting & Cancer Center Business Summit on March 22, 2019. Dr. McBride is the Clinical Coordinator of Hematology/Oncology at The University of Arizona...
2019 ASCO Annual Meeting Global Health Track
ASCO Annual Meeting attendees with an interest in global health will find a deep portfolio of relevant sessions in the 2019 program. A preliminary list of global health–related sessions is below; visit am.asco.org or check the 2019 iPlanner for the most updated program information, including...
Dance/Movement Therapy: Getting to Feelings That Have No Words
Dance/movement therapy is a complementary modality that is being explored for symptom control and for improving the quality of life of patients with cancer, especially pediatric patients. Self-expression as well as the creative and interpersonal aspects of dance/movement therapy can help patients...
House Calls With Her Physician Father Sparked an Interest in Palliative Care for Janet L. Abrahm, MD
Nationally regarded palliative care expert Janet L. Abrahm, MD, was born and reared in San Francisco. Her father was a solo practitioner who saw medicine as a great profession. “My father would come home from his office for dinner and when he finished, he’d do house calls, often bringing us with...
SABR-COMET: Stereotactic Ablative Radiotherapy vs Standard Palliative Treatment in Oligometastatic Cancers
Results of the phase II SABR-COMET trial reported by Palma et al in The Lancet indicate that stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR) was associated with improved survival vs standard palliative treatment in patients with oligometastatic cancers, although it was also associated with...
Opioid-Related Hospitalizations Among Patients With Cancer in the United States
In a study reported in a research letter in JAMA Oncology, Chua et al found that opioid-related hospitalizations among American patients with cancer are rare, increasing at a very low rate, and consist mostly of hospitalization for nonheroin opioid poisoning. The study analyzed trends and risk...
CDC Issues Clarification on Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain in Patients With Cancer and Sickle Cell Disease
ASCO, the American Society of Hematology (ASH), and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®) are pleased to acknowledge receipt of a key clarification from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on prescribing opioids to manage pain from certain conditions. ...
Effect of Increased VA Hospice Care on Use of Aggressive Care and Costs for Veterans With Advanced Lung Cancer
In a study reported in JAMA Oncology, Mor et al found that veterans with advanced lung cancer treated in Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Centers with high hospice use were more likely to receive concurrent cancer care but less likely to receive aggressive care. Moreover, veterans treated at...
Preventive Medication Use in the Last Year of Life in Older Patients With Cancer
A new study reveals that preventive medications—such as those to lower blood pressure or cholesterol, or to protect bone health, among others—are commonly prescribed during the last year of life of older adults with cancer, even though they are unlikely to provide meaningful benefits....
Differences in Medical Cannabis Use in Patients With and Without Cancer
People with and without cancer are more likely, over time, to use a more potent form of medical marijuana with increasingly higher amounts of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), a new study published by Kim et al in the Journal of Palliative Medicine has shown. “Although there is growing...
ASCO Multidisciplinary Cancer Management Course in Azerbaijan: A Well-Attended Success
The National Center of Oncology (NCO) in Azerbaijan partnered with ASCO, the American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP), and the Oncology Nursing Society (ONS) to conduct a highly successful Multidisciplinary Cancer Management Course (MCMC) in September 2018 in Baku, Azerbaijan. The conference...
Caring: Isn’t That Why We Went to Medical School?
YOU CANNOT write about caring; you must practice it. None of us went to medical school thinking we would be an oncologist or a neurosurgeon or a stem cell biologist. But we did have vague aspirations of wanting to help others: to be involved in other lives. It was an altruistic avocation; how...
New England Cancer Specialists to Join Dana-Farber Cancer Care Collaborative
The Dana-Farber Cancer Institute announced recently that New England Cancer Specialists is the newest member of the Dana-Farber Cancer Care Collaborative. Participation in the Collaborative reflects a demonstrated commitment to excellence by meeting a wide array of standards and best practices....
Sweet Surrender
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,...
National Consensus Project Clinical Practice Guidelines: Improving Education on the Tenets of Palliative Care
The provision of palliative care (primary or specialty) is paramount to providing excellent quality care to all patients with cancer. Palliative care is associated with improving the quality of life, mood, and survival in patients with cancer. In fact, ASCO guidelines recommend that patients with...
National Consensus Project Releases 4th Edition of Clinical Practice Guidelines for Quality Palliative Care
As reported by Betty R. Ferrell, PhD, MA, FAAN, FPCN, of the Division of Nursing Research and Education, City of Hope Medical Center, Duarte, California, and colleagues in the Journal of Palliative Medicine, the National Consensus Project (NCP) of the National Coalition for Hospice and Palliative ...
Innovative Research to Improve the Supportive Care Needs of Cancer Survivors
First launched in 2014, the Palliative Care in Oncology Symposium introduced a nascent interdisciplinary approach to the treatment of both the physical and psychological symptoms of cancer to improve disease outcome and quality of life for patients. Today, it has evolved into a leading forum for...
Radioligand Therapy Achieves Responses in Metastatic Prostate Cancer
In a prospective, single-center, single-arm phase II trial reported at the 2019 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium, a novel approach using a tumor-specific radioligand therapy that binds to prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) (lutetium-177 PSMA-617 -[LuPSMA]) achieved responses in a majority of...
2019 GU Cancers Symposium: Small Trial of LuPSMA in PSMA-Positive, Metastatic, Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer
A single-arm, phase II trial in men with prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA)-positive, metastatic, castration-resistant prostate cancer that progressed despite standard therapies found that a majority of men treated with a novel, targeted radiation therapy called lutetium-177 PSMA-617...
Advancing the Science and Art of Integrative Oncology
In 2019, we will mark the 20th year of the establishment of the Integrative Medicine Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK), which helped lay the foundation for the emerging field of integrative oncology. Over the past 2 decades, academic cancer institutions, including The...
Integrative Oncology Scholars Program: Model for Evidence-Based Complementary Care
THE FIRST full year of educational training in the practice of complementary therapies is now underway at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor through its Integrative Oncology Scholars Program, which launched in 2017. The program, which is supported through a 5-year grant from the National...
Site of Care May Affect Racial and Ethnic Minorities’ Access to Palliative Treatment
For patients at the end of life, palliative care can prolong survival and improve the quality of life for patients with a life-threatening illness and for their families—but studies have found that racial and ethnic minorities are less likely to receive end-of-life palliative care than...
Oncology Pioneer V. Shanta, MD, Has Long Championed Access to Quality Cancer Care
In this installment of the Living a Full Life series, guest editor Jame Abraham, MD, interviewed V. Shanta, MD, an internationally renowned oncologist and Chairperson of the Cancer Institute in Adyar, Chennai, India. Dr. Shanta has been with the Institute since 1955, holding several positions...
Changing Perceptions on Surgical Intervention for Geriatric Patients With Cancer: Role of the SIOG Surgical Task Force
Surgery is an integral part of treatment of elderly patients with solid malignancies. The times we are living in will be remembered by health-care providers for the significant “contradictions” in the medical and surgical care of elderly patients with cancer. On the one hand, it has been...
BEAT AML Umbrella Trial: Bringing Personalized Medicine to Acute Myeloid Leukemia
THE MULTIARM, multicollaborative BEAT AML umbrella trial demonstrated the feasibility of using next-generation sequencing to assign treatment tailored to individual genomics of elderly patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) within 7 days. This may prove to be a major advance, since typically...
Lori J. Pierce, MD, FASTRO, FASCO, Elected ASCO President for 2020–2021 Term
ASCO has elected Lori J. Pierce, MD, FASTRO, FASCO, a long-time member and volunteer, to serve as its President for the term beginning in June 2020. She will take office as President-Elect during the ASCO Annual Meeting in Chicago in June 2019. Six new members were also elected to the ASCO Board of ...
Impact of Survival Predictions on Aggressive End-of-Life Care Among Patients With Metastatic Cancer
In a single-institution study reported in the Journal of Oncology Practice, Sborov et al found that inaccurate prediction of life expectancy can be associated with greater likelihood of aggressive end-of-life care among patients with metastatic cancer receiving palliative radiation therapy. Study...
Improving Palliative Care in Low-Resource Settings
In 2016, ASCO published an update to its Clinical Practice Guideline, “Integration of Palliative Care Into Standard Oncology Care,” which provides evidence-based recommendations for symptom management, clarification of treatment goals, support of coping and distress management, and coordination of...
The Great Opioid Debate: Treating Cancer Pain Safely
As the number of opioid-related deaths continues to rise in the United States, stakeholders are struggling to make sense of the crisis. At the 2018 Palliative and Supportive Care in Oncology Symposium, two experts in the field, Charles F. von Gunten, MD, PhD, and Leslie J. Blackhall, MD,...
Immunotherapy-Related Toxicities May Be More Common Than Originally Reported
Immunotherapy has significantly improved the overall survival of patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and is generally better tolerated than traditional chemotherapies, but the results of a retrospective study suggested that immunotherapy side effects may be more common than initially...
New NCCN Member Institution: Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania
In November, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN) announced that Abramson Cancer Center (ACC) of the University of Pennsylvania will become the organization’s 28th Member Institution. The Abramson Cancer Center’s membership will include the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania...
Has Scalp Cooling Reached the Level of Standard of Care?
Does evidence of the effectiveness and safety of scalp cooling to reduce hair loss among women being treated for breast cancer mean that scalp cooling is a new standard of care? “I would suggest that it is,” stated Mikel Ross, MSN, RN, AGNP-BC, of the Breast Medicine Service, Memorial Sloan...
Hippocampus-Sparing Whole-Brain Radiotherapy and Neurocognitive Function in Patients With Brain Metastases
ANALYSIS OF a phase III trial has confirmed that conformal avoidance of the hippocampal dentate gyrus using intensity-modulated radiotherapy during whole-brain radiotherapy for brain metastases preserves neurocognitive function and improves patient-reported symptom burden while achieving similar...
