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Showing 5651 - 5700The Need for a Multidisciplinary Approach to Combating Cancer-Related Pain
The statistics are staggering. Despite the development of novel analgesics and the increasing awareness of the importance of adequately controlling pain from cancer or its treatment, up to 50% of patients undergoing treatment and between 70% and 90% of patients with advanced disease experience some ...
Anti–PD-1 Superior to Chemotherapy in the KEYNOTE-002 Trial
Immunotherapy, once considered a niche treatment for a few specific cancers, has rapidly emerged as an additional pillar of cancer therapeutics. With the proliferation of promising results, clinical trials, and new drug approvals, one cannot help but be amazed that only 3 years have elapsed since...
Older Patients With Cancer: A Growing Population in Need of Evidence-Based Care
The 2013 Institute of Medicine (IOM) report Delivering High Quality Cancer Care: Charting a New Course for a System in Crisis1 identified the dearth of evidence on older adults as a major quality-of-care issue. The U.S. population is aging at a rapid rate, and cancer is a disease that primarily...
Patient and Survivor Care Studies Yield Useful Results to Improve Quality of Life
Recent studies have yielded useful results that clinicians can put into practice, some right now, to help improve the quality of life for patients with cancer. Concerns addressed included cachexia, pain, “chemobrain,” and fertility preservation. At the Best of ASCO®/Chicago meeting, Arif Kamal,...
AZD9291 Updates Encouraging for Treatment-Resistant NSCLC
At the 16th World Conference on Lung Cancer, several studies showed consistent activity with the investigational third-generation inhibitor AZD9291 in patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) that is resistant to epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitors....
NCCN Turns 20: Value-Based Care Has Arrived
Twenty years ago, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) began as a cooperative effort of 12 prestigious cancer centers, working to define and promote national guidelines for the care of patients with cancer. A major goal was to encourage uniformity in the management of malignant...
Important Caveats to Consider Concerning Low-Dose Daily Aspirin for the Primary Prevention of Colorectal Cancer
The use of low-dose aspirin by most adults aged 50 to 59 for the primary prevention of colorectal cancer is now included in the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) updated draft recommendation statement, “Aspirin to Prevent Cardiovascular Disease and Cancer.”1 The release of the statement...
Answers: Primary Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma of the Central Nervous System
Question 1: What is the most likely diagnosis for this patient? Correct Answer: B. Primary central nervous system lymphoma. Expert Perspective In an immunocompetent host, the differential diagnosis of isolated or multiple brain lesion(s) includes autoimmune etiologies such as neurosarcoidosis,...
FDA Grants Orphan Drug Designation to Bivalent Vaccine for Neuroblastoma
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted orphan drug designation to MabVax Therapeutics’ vaccine for the treatment of relapsed or recurrent high-risk neuroblastoma in remission or with limited residual disease after best available treatment. The bivalent vaccine is intended to elicit ...
Alternative Therapies: Knowledge Is Power, but Consider the Source
The use of dietary supplements and other complementary and “alternative” therapies by patients with cancer has increased significantly over the past 20 years despite insufficient evidence of safety and effectiveness. Finding reliable sources of information about complementary therapies can be...
Community Research Forum Holds 2015 Annual Meeting, Explores Developments and Strategies in Conducting Clinical Research
ASCO’s Community Research Forum (CRF) held its 2015 Annual Meeting September 20–21 at ASCO Headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia. Over 75 physician investigators, program directors, and research staff attended the meeting, representing a wide range of community-based practices and research sites...
Important Research in the Palliative Care of Patients With Cancer
The emphasis at this year’s Palliative Care in Oncology Symposium, held earlier this month in Boston, was on patient-centered care throughout the cancer continuum. The meeting attracted more than 650 attendees and included six general sessions featuring best practices in communication,...
Treatment Options Expanding for Neuroendocrine Tumors
Patients with advanced neuroendocrine tumors have two promising new treatment options, according to studies that earned spots in the Presidential Session of the 2015 European Cancer Congress, held recently in Vienna, Austria. The phase III studies evaluated the mTOR inhibitor everolimus (Afinitor)...
ASCO-Endorsed ASTRO Guidelines: Searching for Consensus on Radiotherapy for Endometrial Cancer
Endometrial cancer is the most common gynecologic cancer, but there has been little consensus about the appropriate indications for adjuvant therapy. One reason for the lack of consensus is the absence of randomized studies in endometrial cancer that report an overall survival benefit. This may be...
Equanimity
The following essay by S. Vincent Rajkumar, 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. It was...
ASCO Announces Candidates for 2016 Election
Seventeen distinguished ASCO members have been selected by the ASCO Nominating Committee as candidates for open leadership positions within the Society. They include the office of President-Elect, four seats on the Society’s Board of Directors, and three seats on the ASCO Nominating Committee....
The Future of ASCO: President-Elect Candidates Share Their Vision
S. Gail Eckhardt, MD, FASCO, is a tenured Professor at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, where she also holds the Stapp Harlow Chair in Cancer Research. She has been a faculty member at the institution since 1999 and was Division Head of Medical Oncology from 2006–2014. Currently, she...
Management of Aromatase Inhibitor–Induced Musculoskeletal Symptoms: A Physiatric Approach
Aromatase inhibitors have demonstrated efficacy in reducing the risk of breast cancer recurrence in hormone receptor–positive patients, but medication compliance can be limited by uncomfortable side effects, including musculoskeletal pain and dysfunction. Musculoskeletal symptoms have been reported ...
Clinical Trials Actively Recruiting Patients With Lung Cancer
The information contained in this Clinical Trials Resource Guide includes actively recruiting clinical studies for patients with lung cancer. The trials are investigating DNA, RNA, and protein changes contributing to carcinogenesis; new prevention strategies; combination therapies; radiation,...
Survival and Bevacizumab in Early Breast Cancer: Time to Reconsider?
In metastatic HER2-negative breast cancer, several trials have shown that the addition of the anti–vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) monoclonal antibody bevacizumab (Avastin) to different chemotherapy regimens significantly improved response rates and progression-free survival by various...
ASCO Recommendations for Use of White Blood Cell Growth Factors: What Remains the Same and What Has Been Modified
Neutropenic complications remain the main dose-limiting toxicity of cancer chemotherapy treatment and are associated with considerable morbidity, mortality, and costs.1 Although patients who have experienced a prior neutropenic event are at increased risk of subsequent events, several studies have...
Ovarian Cancer Trialists Forming Work Group to Standardize Definition of Pathologic Complete Response
Ovarian cancer clinical trialists are forming a working group to develop a standard definition of pathologic complete response in ovarian cancer treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Such agreement within the field potentially would enable the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to consider...
Primary vs Metastatic Breast Cancer: The Genetic Landscape Varies
Breast tumors that recur appear to have a different genetic profile than those that do not, and they often demonstrate targetable mutations, according to the largest study of genetic sequencing of breast cancer tissue to date.1 This finding was presented at the 2015 European Cancer Congress. “We...
PD-1/PD-L1 Inhibitors Show Promise in Additional Tumor Types
While inhibitors of programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) or its ligand (PD-L1) are becoming established in melanoma, non–small cell lung cancer, and renal cell carcinoma, their efficacy is also being evaluated in numerous other tumor types, with promising results, according to studies presented...
Update on Clinical Trials in Metastatic Prostate Cancer
Despite the proliferation of new drugs to treat prostate cancer, further progress is proving somewhat elusive, according to three trials presented at the 2015 European Cancer Congress. One study had positive results with orteronel maintenance therapy in patients with metastatic castration-resistant ...
Is Health Care in the United States a Basic Human Right or an Entitlement?
Mercy Killers is a one-man show that details the consequences of a medical health-care catastrophe (breast cancer) in a family.1 This disturbing fictional account is actually a daily event in cancer centers: losing insurance for technicalities, losing a home because of an inability to pay the...
The Role of Botulinum Toxin in Head and Neck Cancer
Head and neck cancer and its treatment can result in a variety of neuromuscular and musculoskeletal pain and functional sequelae. Commonly seen conditions in patients with the disease include neck pain and spasm, hemifacial spasm, trismus, dysphonia, dysarthria, neuropathic pain, and salivary...
Graviola
The use of dietary supplements by patients with cancer has increased significantly over the past 25 years despite insufficient evidence of safety and effectiveness. Finding reliable sources of information about dietary supplements can be daunting. Patients typically rely on family, friends, and the ...
Updated Guidelines for Treating Stage IV NSCLC: Trying to Keep Up
In late August 2015, Gregory A. Masters, MD, and colleagues published an update to the ASCO guidelines for systemic therapy for stage IV non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), summarized in this issue of The ASCO Post.1 This builds on the full guidelines published in 20092 and the additional switch...
ASCO Clinical Practice Guideline Update: Systemic Therapy for Stage IV NSCLC
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Gregory A. Masters, MD, and colleagues, ASCO has issued a clinical practice guideline update on systemic therapy for stage IV non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).1 Recommendations are based on an update committee systematic review of randomized...
Getting the Content and the Message Right in Breast Cancer Screening Guidelines
According to recent national headlines, the American Cancer Society (ACS) now recommends that women at average risk of breast cancer should “screen later and less often.”1 While the new ACS recommendations (summarized in this issue of The ASCO Post) might initially be taken as casting doubt on the...
How QOPI® Is Improving Oncology Care
Launched in 2002 as a pilot program to promote excellence in oncology care, the origins of ASCO’s Quality Oncology Practice Initiative (QOPI®) date as far back as 1997, when the Institute of Medicine (IOM) created a National Cancer Policy Board to assess the state of cancer care in the United...
TAPUR: ASCO’s First Clinical Trial Addresses Critical Gaps in Understanding of and Access to Targeted Therapies
ASCO is preparing to expand the boundaries of precision medicine with the launch of its first clinical trial. At a press briefing during the 2015 ASCO Annual Meeting, the Society formally announced its plans for the Targeted Agent and Profiling Utilization Registry (TAPUR) study. At a time when...
The State of Progress in Hematologic Malignancies
The number of targeted therapies approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the treatment of a variety of cancers, especially hematologic malignancies, continues to rise. In 2014 alone, 4 of the 10 new agents directed at discrete molecular targets approved by the FDA were for blood...
ASH Announces Stephen S. Chung, MD, as Inaugural Jake Wetchler Foundation ASH Scholar for Pediatric Innovation Recipient
The American Society of Hematology (ASH) recently announced that Stephen S. Chung, MD, will receive the inaugural Jake Wetchler Foundation ASH Scholar Award for Pediatric Innovation for his research on the mechanisms of bone marrow failure syndromes. This work could ultimately lead to an improved...
Actionable Targets Identified in Brain Metastases
New research shows that paired primary tumor and brain metastases share a common ancestor, but as the metastases develop in the brain, they exhibit novel genetic alterations that can activate a number of signaling pathways. More than half of the mutations represent potential therapeutic targets....
Lenvatinib in Refractory Thyroid Cancer: Survival Benefit or Not?
In the original phase III SELECT trial, no overall survival benefit was observed for lenvatinib (Lenvima) vs placebo in progressive radioactive iodine–refractory differentiated thyroid cancer. Overall survival was a secondary endpoint in that trial. However, in an updated analysis of SELECT, which...
Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center at Duke Receives $7 Million Outstanding Investigator Award
The Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center at Duke has received nearly $7 million in funding under the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) Outstanding Investigator Award program for work on two novel immunotherapy approaches to treat brain tumors. The award recognizes the work of principal...
Genomic Test Identifies Patients With Prostate Cancer in Need of Intensified Salvage Therapy
Prostate cancer has been slow to catch up with breast cancer in terms of using biomarkers, but a new study represents progress in this regard. A genomic classifier called Decipher® provides important information that can be used to make treatment decisions for men with prostate cancer and a rising...
Changing the Outlook for Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia
Small-molecule inhibitors, especially ibrutinib (Imbruvica) and idelalisib (Zydelig), have greatly changed the outlook for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia. William G. Wierda, MD, PhD, Professor and Center Medical Director in the Department of Leukemia at The University of Texas MD...
Genomics Now Driving Treatment of Waldenström’s Macroglobulinemia
The treatment of Waldenström’s macroglobulinemia has been greatly impacted by an understanding of its genomics, according to Steven P. Treon, MD, PhD, of Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women’s Cancer Center and Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, Boston. Dr. Treon brought listeners up to date on ...
Neratinib Improves Disease-Free Survival in Early-Stage HER2-Positive Breast Cancer
Patients with early-stage HER2-positive breast cancer who received neratinib as extended adjuvant therapy demonstrated improved invasive disease–free survival, with an absolute benefit of 2.3% at 2 years.1 However, these results of the ExteNET trial, previously presented at the 2015 ASCO Annual...
Nationally Regarded Oncology Nurse Practitioner, Mary Pazdur, RN, MSN, Remembered by Friends and Colleagues
Oncology nurse practitioner Mary Pazdur, RN, MSN, spent her professional life bettering the clinical care and outcomes of cancer patients, culminating in her career at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), in the Laboratory of Tumor Immunology and Biology, working with patients on cancer vaccine...
Cancer Survival Improves in Europe, With Wide Regional Variations
EUROCARE-5, the latest in a series of comprehensive reports on the state of cancer survival in Europe, shows an improvement in 5-year survival from 1998 to 2007, with large variations among regions of Europe, according to a presentation at the European Cancer Congress.1 Furthermore, although 5-year ...
Foot Care in Oncology: The Cancer Patient From Ankle to Toe
There is as yet no clinical or research focus on foot complications that result from cancer therapies. Foot conditions, however, are common and have a considerable negative impact on patients’ ambulation, quality of life, and consistent dosing of antineoplastic agents.1-4 There are currently no...
Cancer Care in Low-Resource Areas: Some Improvements Over the Years, but Serious Problems Remain
Low- and middle-income countries bear a larger share of the global cancer burden than does the developed world,” said Greta Massetti, PhD, Associate Director for Science, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Division of Cancer Prevention and Control and Co-Chair of the National Cancer...
Cancer Researchers and Clinicians Elected as 2015 AAAS Fellows
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Council elected 347 fellows for 2015, in recognition of their contributions to innovation, education, and scientific leadership. The tradition of electing AAAS fellows began in 1874 to recognize members for their scientifically or...
Nodal Irradiation in Node-Positive Breast Cancer: It Is Not Time to Change Practice
Management of the regional nodes in breast cancer has evolved from the era of the extended radical mastectomy to exclusion of axillary dissection in appropriately selected patients. Throughout this evolution, studies of nodal irradiation have been shown to improve locoregional control, usually...
Regional Nodal Irradiation in Early Breast Cancer Yields Significant Disease-Free Survival Benefit in Two Trials
Two phase III trials recently reported in The New England Journal of Medicine indicated that the addition of regional nodal irradiation was associated with no or marginal overall survival benefit but significantly improved disease-free survival in patients with early-stage breast cancer.1,2 NCIC...
Evidence-Based Practice Needed in End-of-Life Care
Evidence-based oncology practice is a systematic approach to problem solving for cancer care providers, characterized by the use of the best evidence currently available for clinical decision-making. Over the past several decades, the oncology community, led by its major organizations such as ASCO...
