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Showing 4501 - 4550Need for Data Capture Crucial, Now and After ‘Meaningful Use’
It’s never enough. Whether it is the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), other payers, pharmaceutical manufacturers, or specialty companies, one can never provide enough data. When will it all end? The problem, or the opportunity for many, is that it won’t end. The need for discrete ...
Oncologists Need Hands-on Approach in Developing Next Generation of EHRs
The electronic health record system offered by vendors is more like a filing cabinet, not the sophisticated, interactive database needed by busy oncologists, according to Kevin S. Hughes, MD, FACS, Co-Director, Avon Comprehensive Breast Evaluation Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, who...
Medical Students Can Now Be ASCO Members, Thanks to an Intern Who Pressed
ASCO has just added a membership category for medical students, spurred on by—you guessed it—a medical student. Daniel G. Stover, MD, knew he wanted to go into oncology from very early on. But when he contacted ASCO to join as an intern, having just graduated from Vanderbilt School of Medicine, he...
A Conversation with Ezekiel J. Emanuel, MD, PhD
Last September, Ezekiel J. Emanuel, MD, PhD, a leading scholar in bioethics and health-care policy, was named the Diane v.S. Levy and Robert M. Levy University Professor and Vice Provost for Global Initiatives at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. His appointment will be shared between ...
FDA Announces Bevacizumab Decision: Agency Will Revoke Breast Cancer Indication
On November 18, FDA Commissioner Margaret A. Hamburg, MD, said she is revoking the agency’s approval of the breast cancer indication for bevacizumab (Avastin) after concluding that the drug has not been shown to be safe and effective for that use. Bevacizumab will remain on the market as an...
SIDEBAR: Expect Questions from Your Patients
“The message” of a meta-analysis of 17 randomized trials of breast-conserving surgery with or without radiation, “should be that the benefits of radiation are not temporary, that it provides an increased chance of cure,” Thomas A. Buchholz, MD, told The ASCO Post. The meta-analysis was conducted by ...
MD Anderson Cancer Center’s New President Has a Bold Vision
On September 1, 2011, Ronald A. DePinho, MD, became only the fourth President in the 70-year history of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. Dr. DePinho spent the previous 14 years as head of Dana-Farber’s Belfer Institute for Applied Cancer Science. In a recent interview...
The Newly Diagnosed Patient with Cancer and Access to Care
A study presented at the 2011 ASCO Annual Meeting raised concerns that newly diagnosed cancer patients are having trouble seeing an oncologist. Interviews with several cancer centers and community practices, however, suggest that the process runs smoothly, for the most part. Majority of Patients...
Help Your Patients Start Off Healthy in 2012
The beginning of a new year is an opportunity for a fresh start for many, including people with cancer. To help your patients set and achieve their health and wellness goals, direct them to Cancer.Net (www.cancer.net), ASCO’s patient website, where they can learn about seven steps for a healthier...
ASCO President Michael P. Link, MD, Joins Colleagues in Honoring a Friend and Touching the Future through Philanthropy
As an active member of ASCO, and as a leader of the Society in recent years, ASCO President Michael P. Link, MD, has a long history of giving to the Society-affiliated Conquer Cancer Foundation. “Our family has always felt that it’s a good thing to support,” he said. “The Foundation supports...
Highlights of Bladder Cancer Research Include Novel Agents and New Approach to Identifying Biomarkers
It is an exciting time for researchers involved in developing new therapies for bladder cancer. More agents are in clinical development, drugs with novel mechanisms and novel trial designs are being implemented, and functional collaboration is occurring in the field, according to Noah Hahn, MD,...
Integrative Oncology: Essential to Cancer Care
During the 1960s and 1970s, the concept of an expanded approach to oncologic treatment encompassing “body, mind, and spirit” grew in patient popularity and morphed into two basic categories: “alternative” and “complementary” therapies. Together, these later became known by the acronym CAM, for...
Conquer Cancer Foundation Awards Oncology Fellows for GI Cancer Research
The Conquer Cancer Foundation of ASCO Merit Awards will be presented to 20 leading oncology trainees for their important contributions to gastrointestinal cancer research. This year’s recipients will be recognized at the 2012 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium, which takes place January 19-21 in...
SIDEBAR: Expect Questions from Your Patients
The current lack of awareness about the high risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) among people being treated for cancer as outpatients means “there’s a great role for provider education,” Alok Khorana, MD, told The ASCO Post. Here are Dr. Khorana’s answers to some likely questions from patients....
Outpatients Need to Be Aware of High Risk of Developing Venous Thromboembolism
Most patients who develop venous thromboembolisms (VTE) while being treated for cancer, do so as outpatients, according to results of a retrospective, observational study comparing the incidence of VTE among inpatients and outpatients with cancer. Yet many outpatients do not even realize that they...
First Genomic-based Pediatric Trials Launched in Neuroblastoma
Last November, Dell announced it was donating an initial $4 million including cloud-computing technology to speed up development of personalized medicine trials for children with neuroblastoma and other pediatric cancers. According to the American Cancer Society, about 650 children under the age of ...
Joining ASCO’s ACT Network Offers Variety of Advocacy Opportunities
Are you looking for ways to discuss the issues that impact the oncology community with members of Congress? Doing so is easier than you think. ASCO’s ACT Network provides many different opportunities to contact your policymakers, including the ability to draft your own message to your member of...
ASCO Launches FASCO Designation
ASCO has announced the designation of Fellow of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, otherwise known as FASCO. Formerly called the ASCO Statesman Award and launched in 2007, the distinction is designed to honor ASCO’s most active volunteer members. “The FASCO status represents recognition for ...
NIH Director Calls for Rigorous Evaluation of Integrative Medicine to Provide Evidence of Efficacy
“Many new frontiers exist in integrative medicine,” NIH Director Francis Collins, MD, PhD, stated in his keynote address at the Eighth International Conference of the Society for Integrative Oncology (SIO) in Cleveland. “The evidence is overwhelming that these approaches are being used by many...
Sipuleucel-T Should Be Used Early in Metastatic Castrate-resistant Prostate Cancer, before Chemotherapy
When sipuleucel-T (Provenge) was approved by FDA in April 2010, it was the first vaccine to be approved as a treatment for prostate cancer and was hailed as a major advance. Although sipuleucel-T is now reimbursable by Medicare, some physicians are not clear about when to use it, and patients who...
NIH Panel Endorses Active Surveillance in Low-risk Prostate Cancer
Active surveillance of localized prostate cancer is a viable management option that should be offered to low-risk patients in place of immediate treatment, said a panel of experts convened by the National Institutes of Health. A fairly new concept, active surveillance takes a more proactive...
SIDEBAR: Expect Questions from Your Patients
When patients and family members have concerns about depression, they often bring them up with the staff, not with the treating oncologist. “I think that people with cancer don’t want to distract their medical oncologist or their surgeon by talking about their mood,” Dr. Massie noted. “Some people ...
Depression Is Dangerous among Patients with Cancer, but Talking and Pharmacologic Treatments Can Be Effective
In the News focuses on media reports that your patients may have questions about at their next visit. This continuing column will provide summaries of articles in the popular press that may prompt such questions, as well as comments from colleagues in the field. “Depression is a very dangerous...
Oncologists Examine Promise vs Reality of Personalized Medicine
Personalized medicine: It’s a phrase that reverberates across all cancer meetings. “Matching the right drug to the right patient” will be accomplished, in the not too distant future, through genomic sequencing of the tumor and targeted, less toxic therapy. This much has been established—or has it?...
CancerConnect Offers Online Alternative Networking for Patients
Social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter are rapidly growing, giving patients with cancer a place to connect with others. But an alternative networking website claims to be a more comprehensive, responsible, “commercial-free” alternative. Over 10,000 patients with cancer have registered at ...
Partial Breast Irradiation with Brachytherapy in Early Breast Cancer: Retrospective Analysis Looks at Trends and Guidelines
Accelerated partial breast irradiation using brachytherapy (APBIb) as an alternative to whole-breast irradiation (WBI) after breast-conserving surgery has been rapidly adopted in the United States, but the majority of patients receiving APBIb may not be considered suitable for it. A retrospective...
ASCO Membership Categories Offer a Place for Everyone
If your work touches those who have cancer, you have a place within ASCO. That’s the message that the organization, during its 48 years, has gotten across in many ways, not the least of which is its membership categories, which have expanded right along with the field of cancer care. “ASCO is...
Epigenetic Therapy Shows Positive Results in Late-stage Lung Cancer
A small phase I/II clinical study from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore found that epigenetic therapy with a combination of azacitidine (Vidaza) and entinostat (an investigational agent) produced responses in some patients with refractory advanced non–small cell lung cancer. The study results, ...
Study Questions Use of Partial Breast Brachytherapy in Older Women
Partial breast brachytherapy is less effective and more toxic than whole-breast irradiation when used after lumpectomy, suggests an analysis of Medicare claims data. In the 2000–2007 study of more than 130,000 older women with breast cancer—the largest of its kind to date—the rate of mastectomy in...
Drug Shortages Hit Oncology Hard: Experts Weigh in on Challenges and Solutions
Periodic drug shortages are an unavoidable reality in our complicated pharmaceutical supply chain; however, over the past several years, drug shortages have expanded to crisis levels, putting vulnerable patients at risk. In 2010, there were 178 drug shortages reported to the FDA, 132 of which were...
Expert Point of View: Maintenance Rituximab vs Retreatment Rituximab in Patients with Low–Tumor-Burden Follicular Lymphoma
The findings of RESORT1 have tremendous implications, both clinically and economically, commented Andrew D. Zelenetz, MD, Chief of the Lymphoma Service at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, in an interview. “The maintenance arm received rituximab [Rituxan] every 3 months...
Three Novel Agents Show Promise in Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia
Susan O’Brien, MD, Professor in the Department of Leukemia at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, has a special interest in novel developments in the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). At the 2011 ASH Annual Meeting, she discussed her picks of top newsmakers in ...
Expert Point of View: Ponatinib Continues to Impress in Patients with Leukemia
At the 2011 ASH Annual Meeting, Pierre Laneuville, MD, Director of Hematology at McGill University in Montreal, predicted that ponatinib may be “the drug that will replace them all” in the treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia. Dr. Laneuville explained his rationale, recalling that in the pivotal...
Can Molecular Profiling Identify ER-positive Patients Destined for Relapse?
Estrogen receptor (ER)-positive breast cancer often recurs years after the initial diagnosis, and understanding the patterns of timing regarding relapse could identify patients needing more aggressive treatment. At the 2011 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, several investigative teams reported...
Facing the Future without Fear of Breast Cancer Recurrence
A year ago, I was living my dream. Married to a wonderful man, Danny, and with two young children to raise, Karl, 7, and Marcus, 4, I had given up a career in accounting to be a stay-at-home mom. At age 34, I was enjoying life, helping my children with their homework and going to their soccer and...
A Patient with Cancer Saw a Need and Left a Living Legacy
It is well documented that the rigors of delivering cancer care can unintentionally supersede valuable doctor-patient communication. Before he died in 1995, Kenneth B. Schwartz, a patient with cancer at Massachusetts General Hospital, recognized this phenomenon and founded the Kenneth B. Schwartz...
Which Is Better: Peripheral Blood or Bone Marrow as Unrelated Donor Stem Cell Source?
Over the past decade, the use of peripheral blood stem cells has increased, and now about 75% of unrelated living donor transplants are performed using peripheral blood stem cells without supportive data in the unrelated donor setting. This trend is called into question by results of a large phase...
A Dose of Destruction and Tough Love for Health Care
Title: The Creative Destruction of Medicine: How the Digital Revolution Will Create Better Health Care Author: Eric Topol, MD Publisher: Basic Books Publication date: February 1, 2012 Price: $27.99 / $31.00 (CAN), Hardcover, 320 pages More information: http://creativedestructionofmedicine.com/...
Career Development Award Recipient Susan K. Parsons, MD, Supports Next Generation of Researchers
Like all pediatric oncologists, Susan K. Parsons, MD, MRP, knows that when a child is diagnosed with cancer, it happens to the whole family. Siblings must cope with everything from disruption of routine to reduced parental attention, to the often-new possibility of mortality. Parents must navigate...
Inefficient Markets Impede Cancer Pain Relief
The potent analgesic property of morphine was first isolated in 1804, and after more than 2 centuries morphine is still the gold standard for moderate to severe pain. It is relatively easy to produce, and compared to most pharmaceuticals, morphine is dirt-cheap. Therein lies the cruel conundrum:...
Expert Point of View: Two Novel Agents Prolong Survival in Advanced Prostate Cancer
“My comment on the AFFIRM trial is ‘wow, very impressive.’ The median survival and the declines in PSA levels are impressive, and this is going to change the way we care for patients in our practices,” said Nicholas Vogelzang, MD, medical oncologist with Comprehensive Cancer Centers of Nevada and...
Two Novel Agents Prolong Survival in Advanced Prostate Cancer
Two novel agents with distinct mechanisms of action join ranks of treatments that extend survival for patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer: MDV3100 and radium-223. Both drugs achieved a survival advantage compared with placebo, with relatively benign side-effect profiles, according to ...
Surviving Cancer Means Making Many Difficult Decisions
The best advice I received after getting a diagnosis of stage I invasive lobular carcinoma in my left breast was from my radiologist, who told me, “Remember, be your own best advocate.” Those words have stayed with me through my 6-year struggle with breast cancer and its aftermath. Extraordinary...
SIDEBAR: Expect and Ask Questions about Sex and Fertility Preservation
What most concerns the adolescent and young adult population? “If they are worried about anything, it is sex and having families,” according to Archie Bleyer, MD. Years ago, he said, “oncologists were so worried about just getting them in remission, treating their cancers, and getting them to...
Adolescents and Young Adults with Cancer: A Distinct Population of Patients Who Need to Be Treated Differently
In the News focuses on media reports that your patients may have questions about at their next visit. This continuing column will provide summaries of articles in the popular press that may prompt such questions, as well as comments from colleagues in the field. Cancer among adolescents and young...
AACR Urges Congress to Maintain, Preferably Increase, Cancer Research Funding
December 23, 2011, marked the 40th anniversary of the National Cancer Act. To mark that occasion, on February 2, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) held a Congressional briefing, attended by about 100 legislative aides, to remind Congress that the war on cancer is far from over....
Research Funding Key to Continued Progress in Cancer Care
American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) President and ASCO member Judy Garber, MD, MPH, recently spoke with The ASCO Post about the findings of AACR’s landmark Cancer Progress Report,1 In addition, she offered her perspective on the current and future state of cancer research. Project...
Pre–Annual Meeting Seminar Series Kicks Off
This year, ASCO is cosponsoring a new series of intimate, discussion-based seminars to be held just before the start of the Annual Meeting in June. The three seminars, which start at 1:00 PM on Thursday, May 31, and continue through noon on Friday, June 1, the first day of the Annual Meeting, are: ...
ASCO Launches Community Research Forum to Tackle Top Research Conundrums
Just how many research-focused staff members is it optimal to have when conducting clinical trials in a community-practice setting? To properly gauge that, should the practice look closely at how many studies it’s working on? The complexity of those studies? The number of patients enrolled? Some...
Rising Costs in Radiation Oncology Linked to Medicare Coverage
In the ongoing debate over how to control rising cancer care costs, it is vital to identify usage patterns of expensive new technologies. A recent study examined the relationship between Medicare reimbursement and the increasing use of intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT).1 The ASCO Post...
