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Showing 551 - 600I Don’t Feel Like I Have Incurable Cancer
A series of medical mishaps has led me to a diagnosis of stage IV carcinoid neuroendocrine cancer and a shortened lifespan. This never should have happened. For months in early 2015, I was plagued with all the signs of a serious illness, including chronic stomach, bowel, and digestive issues;...
The Dark Side of Medicine: Physician Suicide
The statistics on physician suicide are stark: Physicians are more than twice as likely to take their own lives as nonphysicians, and more than 400 physicians commit suicide each year in the United States. Moreover, young physicians at the early part of their training are reported to be...
Update on Nonimmunotherapy Advances in Endometrial, Cervical, and Ovarian Cancers
AT THE 12TH ANNUAL New Orleans Summer Cancer Meeting, Thomas Herzog, MD, Deputy Director of the University of Cincinnati Cancer Institute and Professor of the Division of Gynecologic Oncology at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, delivered an update on nonimmunotherapy advances in...
ESMO 2017: MONARCH 3: Abemaciclib as Initial Therapy Improves Outcome in Endocrine-Sensitive Advanced Breast Cancer
The results of the MONARCH 3 trial, presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2017 Congress in Madrid (Abstract 236O_PR), showed that adding the cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) 4/6 inhibitor abemaciclib to endocrine therapy improved progression-free survival compared to endocrine...
Zika Virus Shows Oncolytic Activity Against Glioblastoma Stem Cells in Preclinical Trial
Although Zika virus causes devastating damage to the brains of developing fetuses, it someday may prove to be an effective treatment for glioblastoma. New research from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the University of California San Diego School of Medicine showed that...
Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: Practical Approach, Promising Research
Triple-negative breast cancer has a reputation for being a particularly challenging malignancy, but breast cancer specialist Nancy Davidson, MD, Senior Vice President of the Clinical Research Division at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, put this in perspective in a recent...
Financial Toxicity: Cancer Supportive Care Professionals Consider the Side Effects of Soaring Costs
IS IT POSSIBLE to identify patients with cancer who are at risk for financial stress and intervene to reduce that risk? And could reducing financial stress—or financial toxicity, as it is often called in the context of cancer care—improve both health-related quality of life and physical health?...
Tissue Specimens in Clinical Trials: A Double-Edged Sword
AN INCREASING number of clinical trials require the submission of tissue specimens, either from archived specimens or increasingly from fresh biopsies taken after enrollment into the trial. These specimens can be either mandatory, required to determine whether a given patient has the required...
Breast Cancer and Brain Metastases: Whole-Brain Radiotherapy May Not Be the Answer
FOR PATIENTS WITH BREAST CANCER who have metastases to the central nervous system (CNS), clinicians should think twice before administering whole-brain radiotherapy, according to Kimberly Blackwell, MD, Professor of Medicine and Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology at Duke University Medical...
Spark Discussions About Indoor-Tanning Devices
“Strong evidence suggests that using a tanning bed during adolescence or young adulthood can increase the risk of early-onset melanoma by over 40%,” Jeffrey E. Gershenwald, MD, wrote in an opinion piece for Newsweek.1 Dr. Gershenwald is Professor of Surgical Oncology, Medical Director of the...
Understanding the Cultural Differences Among Ethnic Minorities in Palliative and End-of-Life Care
GUEST EDITOR Addressing the evolving needs of cancer survivors at various stages of their illness and care, Palliative Care in Oncology is guest edited by Jamie H. Von Roenn, MD. Dr. Von Roenn is ASCO’s Vice President of Education, Science, and Professional Development. Because cultural origins...
Expert Point of View: Harold Burstein, MD, Carey Anders, MD, and William Sikov, MD
Several breast cancer experts weighed in on the findings of the APHINITY trial. At an ASCO press briefing, Harold Burstein, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and breast cancer specialist at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, pointed out that investigators estimated a ...
Positive Results for APHINITY, but Value of Benefit of Dual HER2 Blockade Questioned
The results of the long-awaited APHINITY trial are in, and although the phase III study met its primary endpoint, it failed to establish dual HER2 blockade as the optimal adjuvant treatment for early HER2-positive breast cancer. After 3 years of follow-up, the addition of pertuzumab (Perjeta) to...
ICML 2017: 3-Year Follow-up Showed Fourfold Progression-Free Survival Benefit With Ibrutinib vs Temsirolimus at First Relapse in Mantle Cell Lymphoma
Three-year follow-up data from the phase III RAY study in patients with relapsed or refractory mantle cell lymphoma were presented at the 14th International Conference on Malignant Lymphoma (ICML) in Lugano, Switzerland. These results demonstrated that the subset of patients treated with ibrutinib...
ASCO 2017: Impact of Patient Age on Molecular Alterations in Colorectal Tumors
Younger patients with colon cancer appear to have more than three times as many mutations in their tumors as older patients, which could lead to more effective treatment decisions, according to researchers at Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center. In a new study, they found that tumor...
What Is Appropriate Treatment of Oligometastatic Hormone-Sensitive Prostate Cancer?
As the subtleties of metastatic prostate cancer become increasingly recognized, treatment should evolve accordingly, said Jessica M. Clement, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Connecticut Health System and Neag Cancer Center, Farmington. Of particular interest to Dr. Clement ...
Expect Questions From Patients Who ‘Do Everything Right’ but Still Develop Cancer
A study reported in Science found that more than two-thirds of human cancers are caused by random mutations made during DNA replication.1 “The main message we would like to convey is that even for many patients who follow all of the guidelines from the advisory bodies—they don’t smoke, exercise...
‘It Is What It Is’
Mark looked at me shyly through his oversized Elvis Costello–style glasses. Was he feeling embarrassed by his own reply or just waiting for my reaction? He was sitting between his mom and dad, wearing a t-shirt with a huge Minion print. His braces showed when he smiled, something he does often in...
Are Oncologists Discussing Exercise With Patients?
It is well documented that physical activity benefits patients with cancer, both during and after treatment. Exercise helps patients combat both the physical and psychological impacts of cancer treatment, giving them a sense of well-being, control, stress reduction, and empowerment. However,...
AUA 2017: Association of Oncotype DX Genomic Prostate Score Test With Prostate Cancer–Specific Death and Metastases in Early-Stage Disease
New results presented at the 2017 American Urological Association (AUA) Annual Meeting from a large, community-based, multicenter clinical validation study conducted at Kaiser Permanente confirmed that the Oncotype DX Genomic Prostate Score (GPS) test is a strong independent predictor of prostate...
ASCO 2017: Increase in Early-Stage Cancer Diagnoses After Implementation of the Affordable Care Act
An analysis of nearly 273,000 patients showed that between 2013 and 2014 there was a 1% increase in the percentage of breast, lung, and colorectal cancers diagnosed at the earliest, most treatable stage. Considering the thousands of people diagnosed with these cancers annually, a 1% increase in...
Immune System Is Shaping the Future of Multiple Myeloma Treatment
From immunomodulatory agents and proteasome inhibitors to steroids, alkylators, and antibodies, recent years have witnessed an explosion of drug approvals for multiple myeloma. The challenge now, said Amrita Krishnan, MD, FACP, is figuring out how to incorporate them all, particularly in the...
‘Out-of-the-Box’ Approach Plus Temozolomide Extends Survival in Glioblastoma
Using a novel approach called tumor-treating fields—which involves the delivery of low-intensity electric fields to the brain by a patient-operated device—along with standard-of-care temozolomide therapy improved overall survival and progression-free survival vs temozolomide alone in patients with...
Prostate-Specific Antigen Testing Rates Appear to Level Off After Recent Drop
Declines in prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing that came after changes in government screening guidelines have abated in recent years, according to a new study. In JAMA Internal Medicine, American Cancer Society (ACS) investigators led by Stacy A. Fedewa, PhD, wrote that about 1 in 3 men aged...
Accelerating Pediatric Drug Development: Master Protocols May Be a Way to Go
Development of pediatric cancer drugs has long lagged behind adult drug development for two major reasons: The process is more difficult, and childhood cancer is rarer by far than adult cancer. These and other phenomena in pediatric oncology were the subject of a workshop held by the Friends of...
ASCO Selects 2017–2018 Health Policy Fellows
ASCO has announced that Alexander Chin, MD, MBA, and Joanna C. Yang, MD, have been selected for the 2017–2018 ASCO Health Policy Fellowship program, now entering its second year. The fellowship, aimed at early career oncologists, provides the skills necessary to monitor and shape the regulatory and ...
Different Subtypes of Acute Myeloid Leukemia Create Both Clinical and Research Challenges
Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is the most common leukemia in adults. Each year, about 20,000 Americans will be diagnosed with AML, and roughly 10,000 people in this country will die of the disease. AML progresses quickly, and unless treatment begins soon and is effective , the prognosis is grim....
Expert Point of View: Jonathan Ledermann, MD
Invited discussant Jonathan Ledermann, MD, of UCL Cancer Institute, University College London, said the ARIEL2 results for rucaparib (Rubraca) add to the evidence base for PARP (poly ADP-ribose polymerase) inhibition in ovarian cancer established by olaparib (Lynparza). It’s been about 2 years...
An Oncology Care Model: One Institute’s Experience
At this year’s ASCO Quality Care Symposium, Blase N. Polite, MD, MPP, Associate Professor of Medicine at The University of Chicago Medical Center, examined his practice’s experience with the Oncology Care Model, a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services test payment and delivery program...
Increased Recognition of Colorectal Cancer in Young Adults, Even Those Aged 20 to 29, as Evidence Continues to Accumulate
The incidence of colorectal cancer continues to increase among young adults, with the sharpest increase among those aged 20 to 29, according to a recent article in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.1 This trend has been called disturbing and ominous, but the widely reported results of...
Leading Oncology Professional Societies Launch CancerLinQ® Ambassadors Program
CancerLinQ LLC, a wholly owned nonprofit subsidiary of ASCO, and the Oncology Nursing Society (ONS) have recently formed the CancerLinQ® Ambassadors Program. This new collaboration is a national practice engagement initiative that will provide on-the-ground support and guidance to CancerLinQ...
CancerLinQ: Big Data for Quality Benchmarking
At this year’s ASCO Quality Care Symposium, CancerLinQ’s Vice President and Medical Director, Robert S. Miller, MD, shed light on CancerLinQ’s current and future value in the oncology community.1 Dr. Miller opened by explaining to the audience that CancerLinQ™ is an instrument for quality...
Gut Bacteria May Enhance, or Hamper, Response to Anti–PD-1 Agents
The microbiome has become an area of intense interest for many health-related reasons. Add to this list the potential for a positive or a negative effect on responsiveness to immunotherapy. Gut microbiota that were more diverse, and that contained an abundance of a particular bacterial species,...
Thoracic 2017: SBRT Offers Curative Option for Patients With Lung Cancer Aged 80 and Older
Patients in their 80s and 90s who have early-stage lung cancer but cannot undergo an operation can be treated safely and effectively with stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT), according to research presented by Cassidy et al at the 2017 Multidisciplinary Thoracic Cancers Symposium (Abstract...
Value-Based Approaches to the Rising Costs of Cancer Drugs
It’s no secret that cancer drug costs have skyrocketed out of control, with some treatments costing as much as $100,000 to $200,000 per year and even upward. This has put tremendous strain on the U.S. health-care system, while causing financial toxicity and bankruptcy for many patients. Peter B....
Immunotherapy for Head and Neck Cancer: ‘The Fourth Modality Has Arrived’
“This is a big deal. This is going to change all of oncology, not just head and neck cancer,”1 Tanguy Seiwert, MD, remarked following a summary by Jeffrey Sosman, MD, on advances in immunotherapy for treating cancer.2 Dr. Sosman, Director of the Melanoma Program and Clinical Director of Cancer...
An Oncologist’s Straightforward Guide for Women With Breast Cancer
If you Google the search term “breast cancer,” about 155,000,000 results will pop up in .83 seconds. Add to that pamphlets, journal articles, and library shelves bending under the weight of books written about breast cancer. That’s a mind-bending amount of information to parse through for the...
FDA Approves Telotristat Ethyl for Carcinoid Syndrome Diarrhea
On February 28, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved telotristat ethyl (Xermelo) tablets in combination with somatostatin analog therapy for the treatment of adults with carcinoid syndrome diarrhea that somatostatin analog therapy alone has inadequately controlled. About...
SWOG Launches National Immunotherapy Clinical Trial for Rare Cancers
People with rare cancers now have the option of joining a national clinical trial testing leading-edge immunotherapies for a wide variety of tumor types. It’s the first federally funded immunotherapy trial devoted to rare cancers. Despite their name, rare cancers make up more than 20% of cancers...
Quality-of-Life Data From KEYNOTE-024: First-Line Pembrolizumab vs Chemotherapy in Advanced NSCLC
When used as first-line therapy for advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), pembrolizumab (Keytruda) yields better health-related quality of life than platinum-based chemotherapy, suggest new data from the randomized phase III KEYNOTE-024 trial.1 After 15 weeks of treatment, changes in scores...
ECCO 2017: Some Patients With Early-Stage Breast Cancer May Benefit More From Breast-Conserving Therapy Than Mastectomy
Breast-conserving therapy (breast-conserving surgery combined with radiation therapy) may be superior to mastectomy in certain patients with breast cancer, according to results from the largest study on this topic to date, presented at the 2017 European Cancer Congress (Abstract 4LBA). Although...
SWOG Launches National Immunotherapy Clinical Trial for Rare Cancers
People with rare cancers now have the option of joining a national clinical trial testing leading-edge immunotherapies for a wide variety of tumor types. It’s the first federally funded immunotherapy trial devoted to rare cancers. Despite their name, rare cancers make up more than 20% of...
Expert Point of View: Steven Vogl, MD
Presentation of the PERTAIN study data by lead author Grazia Arpino, MD, PhD, was met with high interest at the 2016 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. Steven Vogl, MD, of the Bronx, New York, commented, “This is a very complicated study for me, but it seems that at least half your patients got...
Study Suggests No Evidence for Screening Mammography Cutoff Age
An analysis of data from nearly 6 million screening mammograms found no evidence for a clear cutoff age to stop breast cancer screening. Screening mammography among women aged 75 years was associated with higher cancer detection and lower recall rates than among younger women in the study. These...
Exploring Practical Strategies for Cancer Care in Low-Resource Settings
One of the featured “Big Debates” at the 2016 World Cancer Congress in Paris addressed this question: Are scarce resources best applied to prevention rather than treatment? Many experts do not see prevention vs treatment in such stark terms or even as a realistic scenario. It’s a false dichotomy,...
Expert Point of View: Sergio A. Giralt, MD
Sergio A. Giralt, MD, Chief of the Adult Bone Marrow Transplant Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, and the Melvin Berlin Family Chair in Multiple Myeloma, commented on the findings of the StaMINA trial for The ASCO Post. He said the results of the largest randomized U.S....
Seven MD Anderson Faculty Elected Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
In recognition of wide-ranging contributions to the fields of cancer prevention; patient care; and basic, translational, and clinical research, seven faculty members from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have been named Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of...
Novel Immunotherapy Combinations May Be the Future of Melanoma Treatment
The future treatment of melanoma may rely on combinations of immunotherapy agents beyond the current checkpoint inhibitors, and they are entering clinical trials, according to Jeffrey Weber, MD, PhD, Deputy Director of the Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Cancer Center at New York University Langone...
Dave, Dave, Dave
It was 1983, and I was in my third year as an attending physician at a major East Coast university medical center and just 5 years out of fellowship. As was common at the time, I saw and treated all malignancies except leukemia and gynecologic cancers. In the middle of a typically busy day at the ...
A Lung Cancer Specialist Talks About Value in Cancer Care
Over the past few years, the term value-based cancer care has become integrated into the vernacular of the oncology community. Value is a subjective term, which is defined largely by its clinical setting. However, value in cancer care is evaluated by the multiple stakeholders involved in the...
