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Showing 5451 - 5500MD Anderson, UnitedHealthcare Launch New Cancer Care Payment Model
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and UnitedHealthcare have launched a pilot to explore a new cancer care payment model for head and neck cancers that focuses on quality patient care and outcomes. The collaboration is among the first using bundled payments in a large, comprehensive...
‘Mother of Bone Marrow Transplantation’ Dorothy ‘Dottie’ Thomas Dies at 92
Dorothy “Dottie” Thomas, wife and research partner to 1990 Nobel laureate E. Donnall Thomas, MD, died Friday, January 9, at her home near Seattle. She was 92. Dr. Donnall Thomas, Pioneer of the Bone Marrow Transplant and former Director of the Clinical Research Division at Fred Hutchinson Cancer...
Panelists Lambast, Explore the High Cost of Cancer Drugs
At the 2014 American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting, a symposium on the high cost of cancer drugs proved provocative and a bit testy as panelists presented their various points of view. ‘Medical Darwinian System’ Already known for his outspoken views on the topic is Hagop M. Kantarjian, MD,...
NIH Recruits Three Lasker Clinical Research Scholars
National Institutes of Health (NIH) has selected three researchers as new Lasker Clinical Research Scholars as part of a joint initiative with the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation to nurture the next generation of great clinical scientists. This highly competitive program provides talented...
Venetoclax Gaining Ground in Two Types of Leukemia
Venetoclax, formerly known as ABT-199, is moving forward into phase III development in acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), based on encouraging data from separate phase Ib and II trials presented at the 56th Annual Meeting and Exposition of the American Society...
Complexities of Targeting HER2 in Estrogen Receptor–Positive Breast Cancers
The interactions between the estrogen receptor (ER) and HER2 pathways in breast cancers are clearly complex and remain incompletely understood. Historically, cancers that express both ER and HER2 were thought to be intrinsically resistant to endocrine therapy, likely due to HER2 being the dominant...
Crizotinib in ROS1-Positive NSCLC: A Next Step Forward
Advances in the molecular characterization of non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) have led to the identification of molecularly defined distinct subsets of patients who derive benefit from targeted therapies. Currently, two such groups of agents have moved widely into clinical practice: epidermal...
Survival Benefits of Front-Line Treatment With Nivolumab for Advanced Melanoma Confirmed, Yet Questions Remain
As reported in this issue of The ASCO Post, Robert and colleagues recently published a phase III study comparing the anti–programmed death 1 (PD-1) antibody nivolumab with the standard melanoma chemotherapy dacarbazine in the front-line treatment of patients with advanced BRAF wild-type melanoma.1...
Oncotype DX Ductal Carcinoma in Situ Score Reliably Predicts Tumor Recurrence
Ductal carcinoma in situ, which accounts for 30% of all newly diagnosed breast cancers, does not always evolve into a lesion with metastatic potential. Only a proportion of these cases will progress to invasive breast cancer, but up until recently, it has not been possible to identify reliably...
Cancer.Net Launches PRE-ACT Patient Clinical Trial Education Program
Clinical trials are the key to driving advances in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer, yet, it is estimated that only about 5% of patients with cancer participate in clinical trials. That is why Cancer.Net, ASCO’s patient-facing educational website, has teamed up with Neal Meropol,...
Top 10 Myths About FDA’s Office of Hematology and Oncology Products
INSIDE THE BLACK BOX is an occasional column providing insight into the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and its policies and procedures. In this installment, FDA oncologists Gideon Blumenthal, MD, and Tatiana Prowell, MD, discuss 10 common myths about FDA’s Office of Hematology and Oncology ...
ASCO and AACR Call for Regulation of E-Cigarettes and Other Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems
The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) and ASCO have outlined steps in a joint statement to guide policymakers as they work to minimize the potential negative consequences of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) and other electronic nicotine delivery systems without undermining their...
Top 10 Lessons Learned So Far About Treating Lung Cancer With Immunotherapy
Immunotherapy agents “really work” in treating lung cancer, but they have unique toxicities, are challenging to combine with other therapies, and questions remain about dose and duration, Roy S. Herbst, MD, PhD, stated at the 2014 Chicago Multidisciplinary Symposium in Thoracic Oncology. “There are ...
‘Clinically Meaningful Improvements’ in Survival for Patients With NSCLC When Veliparib Is Added to Carboplatin and Paclitaxel
Adding veliparib to carboplatin and paclitaxel resulted in “clinically meaningful improvements” in progression-free survival and overall survival among patients with previously untreated metastatic or advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), particularly those with squamous histology. The...
Significant Improvement in Progression-Free Survival Using Sunitinib as Switch Maintenance in Advanced NSCLC
Progression-free survival was significantly improved among patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) receiving sunitinib (Sutent) as switch maintenance compared to placebo, according to results of an Alliance phase III trial (Cancer and Leukemia Group B [CALGB] 3067). The effect of...
Contralateral Prophylactic Mastectomy: Know the Data When Discussing the Option With Patients
Oncologists need a better understanding of why women choose contralateral prophylactic mastectomies without indication, and they need data to counter their patients’ misperceptions about this treatment choice. “Many women who choose [contralateral prophylactic mastectomy] are not at increased risk...
Tamoxifen Prevention of Breast Cancer Extends More Than 16 Years
The benefits of tamoxifen as primary prevention of breast cancer are well established. The good news is that the benefits live on, with a protective effect that extends up to 22 years. At a median follow-up of 16 years, women treated with 5 years of tamoxifen enjoyed a 29% reduction in the risk of...
Expert Point of View: Brad S. Kahl, MD
AETHERA is the first study to show a significant effect of a post-transplant strategy in patients at high risk of relapse after transplant,” said Brad S. Kahl, MD, Associate Professor at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison. “The question remains whether...
Brentuximab Vedotin Added to Standard Therapy for Advanced-Stage Hodgkin Lymphoma May Improve Results
Several studies presented at the 2014 ASH Annual Meeting supported the use of brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris) in Hodgkin lymphoma. The Reed-Sternberg cells of classical Hodgkin lymphoma typically express CD30, which is targeted by brentuximab vedotin, an anti-CD30 monoclonal antibody conjugated by a ...
Ovarian Suppression Plus Hormonal Therapy May Be Practice-Changing in Premenopausal Hormone Receptor–Positive Early-Stage Breast Cancer
Results of the large International Breast Cancer Study Group (IBCSG)-coordinated SOFT trial present a convincing argument for the addition of ovarian function suppression to adjuvant hormonal therapy to reduce the risk of tumor recurrence in younger women with hormone receptor–positive early-stage...
New Choosing Wisely List, Leukemia Quick-Takes From ASH
Nearly 5,000 scientific abstracts were presented at the 2014 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting and Exhibition in San Francisco. Along with our targeted coverage of the meeting’s key newsmakers, The ASCO Post provides you with these brief reports of other interesting...
ASCO Policy Statement Urges Removal of Barriers to Patient Participation in Phase I Clinical Trials
ASCO has released a policy statement calling for greater access to and education about phase I clinical trials, the first-in-human studies of new agents designed to fight cancer. In “The Critical Role of Phase I Trials in Cancer Research and Treatment” ASCO policy statement, the Society stresses...
Help Your Patients Understand the Importance of Phase I Clinical Trials
Encourage your patients to consider participating in clinical trials, including phase I clinical trials. Direct your patients to www.cancer.net/clinicaltrials for detailed information about the purpose and advantages of clinical trials and why today’s phase I studies are different. On the...
Minimally Invasive Techniques Used to Address Small GIST Lesions
Surgeons at the cutting edge are offering minimally invasive resection to patients with small gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) deemed to be low-risk, according to panelists at a session of the American College of Surgeons 2014 Clinical Congress in San Francisco. “We are seeing more small...
Inotuzumab Ozogamicin Plus Low-Intensity Chemotherapy: A Winner in Older Patients With Leukemia
Inotuzumab ozogamicin combined with a low-intensity chemotherapy called mini-hyper-CVD achieved highly encouraging results in older patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in a phase II study reported at the 56th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology.1 After the...
News Roundup From the 2014 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium
Highlighted here are summaries of four abstracts presented at the 2014 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium: They focus on the EPO-ANE-3010 clinical trial of epoetin alfa (Epogen, Procrit) in anemic patients with metastatic breast cancer, a New York Cancer Consortium trial of fulvestrant (Faslodex)...
Dr. Mary-Claire King Proposes Population Screening in All Young Women for BRCA Mutations
It is not enough for Mary-Claire King, PhD, to have identified the germline BRCA1 mutation associated with hereditary breast and ovarian cancers. Her clinically applicable discovery is one of the world’s greatest in genetics and one for which she has been highly lauded. But not one to rest on her...
E1199 Update: It’s Weekly Paclitaxel for Triple‑Negative Breast Cancer
An update of clinical trial E1199 showed that weekly paclitaxel and every-3-week docetaxel were both more effective than every-3-week paclitaxel in preventing deaths and tumor recurrences, according to Joseph Sparano, MD, Professor of Medicine and Women’s Health at the Albert Einstein College of...
ASCO Releases Annual Report on Progress Against Cancer
ASCO recently released its report, Clinical Cancer Advances 2015: An Annual Report on Progress Against Cancer, and for the first time announced its cancer Advance of the Year: gains made in the treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). The report credited improvements in CLL care with four...
More on Ramucirumab in Metastatic Colorectal Cancer
I am writing in regard to the report and commentary in this issue on the RAISE Trial. To begin, a discussion of this phase III clinical trial presented at the 2015 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium (RAISE study) may not be the most appropriate forum to air legitimate views on finances and...
Roswell Park Cancer Institute Announces Candace S. Johnson, PhD, as 15th President and Chief Executive Officer
The Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) Board of Directors has named Candace S. Johnson, PhD, as the Institute’s 15th President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Dr. Johnson will be the first female leader for this 117-year-old comprehensive cancer center. “Over the past few months, we have met...
Capsaicin
Scientific name: 8-methyl-N-vanillyl-6-nonenamide Brand names: Zostrix cream 0.025% or 0.075%, Salonpas Gel-Patch Hot, Sinus Buster (homeopathic intranasal spray). The use of dietary supplements by patients with cancer has increased significantly over the past 20 years despite insufficient evidence ...
ASCO Endorsement of ESMO Guidelines on Hereditary Colorectal Cancer Syndromes
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 ...
New Product May Help to Reduce Non-Compliance
A novel product created to help reduce medication non-adherence was recently recognized by the 2014 Pharma Choice Awards as the top innovative branded technology. The product, called “remind-a-cap” is a customizable and patented pill bottle cap with an ergonomic dial to set for next dosing. The cap ...
Shedding Light on the Mystery of Male Breast Cancer
Male breast cancer represents less than 1% of all breast cancers, which partially explains why so little is known about the disease. Two presentations at the 2014 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium focused on the characteristics of male breast cancer drawn from a large international registry and...
Oral Proteasome Inhibitors Advancing in Multiple Myeloma Trials
Two orally administered proteasome inhibitors—oprozomib and ixazomib—looked encouraging in multiple myeloma studies presented at the 2014 ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition. Study Details for Oprozomib Oprozomib, given as a single agent in a dose-escalation study of heavily pretreated patients,...
High Hopes for AG-221 in Advanced Leukemia
Although the data are preliminary, single-agent AG-221 therapy targeted to the IDH2 (isocitrate dehydrogenase 2) mutation holds great promise as a nonchemotherapy approach to the treatment of advanced hematologic malignancies, including relapsed/refractory acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) and...
Expert Point of View
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...
Lee Schwartzberg, MD, Appointed Vice Chairman of Caris Centers of Excellence Network
Caris Life Sciences, a biosciences company focused on precision medicine, announced the designation of West Cancer Center in Memphis as a Center of Excellence site in the Caris Centers of Excellence for Precision Medicine Network. Additionally, Lee S. Schwartzberg, MD, Medical Director of West...
Theodore Lawrence, MD, PhD, Named Director of University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center
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...
Bringing the History of Cancer to Film
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...
Douglas R. Lowy, MD, Receives Harrington Prize for Innovation in Medicine
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...
Palbociclib as Initial Endocrine-Based Therapy in Postmenopausal Women With Metastatic Breast Cancer
In the Clinic provides overviews of novel oncology agents, addressing indications, mechanisms, administration recommendations, safety profiles, and other essential information needed for the appropriate clinical use of these drugs. On February 3, 2015, palbociclib (Ibrance) was granted...
Improving the Quality of Palliative Care in Oncology
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...
The Search for Optimal Adjuvant Breast Cancer Chemotherapy: The End of an Era?
Using a complex and innovative study design, Budd and colleagues from the Southwest Oncology Group (SWOG) addressed, in a randomized multicenter trial,1 an issue that has been under evaluation for over 40 years—namely, what are the optimal dose and schedule for adjuvant breast cancer chemotherapy?...
Highlights From the 2014 Palliative Care in Oncology Symposium
The inaugural 2014 Palliative Care in Oncology Symposium was held October 24 to 25 in Boston. Over 200 abstracts were presented, covering topics such as the integration of palliative care into treatment and the financial hardships facing people living with cancer. The following abstracts were among ...
Aged to (Im)Perfection: Age-Related Clonal Hematopoiesis?
Five decades ago, the analysis of metaphase chromosomes in the hematologic malignancies provided our first broad glimpse into the genetic anatomy of a malignant cell. Today, the advent of high-throughput methods such as next-generation sequencing, capable of surveying the entire genome, provides an ...
Clonal Hematopoiesis With Somatic Mutations Increases Risk of Hematologic Cancer, Mortality, and Cardiovascular Disease
In two studies recently reported in The New England Journal of Medicine,1,2 whole-exome sequencing of DNA from peripheral blood cells of individuals unselected for hematologic phenotype showed that clonal hematopoiesis with somatic mutations is increasingly common with increasing age and is...
Crizotinib Crosses Another Finish Line in Lung Cancer
Treatment of anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)–positive lung cancer has been one of the great success stories in oncology in the past decade. First discovered in lung cancer in 2007, ALK rearrangements are found in 3% to 5% of patients and define a distinct molecular subgroup of the disease with...
FDA Approves Palbociclib in Combination With Letrozole for Advanced Breast Cancer
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted accelerated approval to palbociclib (Ibrance) in combination with letrozole for the treatment of postmenopausal women with estrogen receptor–positive, HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer who have not yet received an endocrine-based therapy....
