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Showing 6001 - 6050Many Cancer Patients at Risk for Hepatitis B Virus Reactivation
In 2015, no cancer patients should be cured of their malignancy only to die of reactivation of hepatitis B virus (HBV),” according to Anna S. Lok, MD, the Alice Lohrman Andrews Research Professor in Hepatology and Director of Clinical Hepatology at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. “I...
Antiangiogenesis Plus Chemotherapy Pursued in Advanced Bladder Cancer
Two separate phase II studies lend support to the concept of antiangiogenesis in advanced bladder cancer. The combination of an antiangiogenic agent and chemotherapy may fulfill an unmet need in this disease, the studies suggest. Both studies were presented at the 2015 Genitourinary Cancers...
Our Aging Population: Challenges in Caring for Older Patients With Cancer
Managing older-aged cancer patients represents one of the major challenges to our health-care system. Caring for older cancer patients, with their frequent multiple morbidities and a variable health status, requires special integration of an oncologic and geriatric approach. Moreover, our aging...
Health-Care Fraud and Abuse: Implications for Oncology
Health-care fraud is a long-standing problem in the United States, accounting for $75 billion in government expenses per year,1 while total spending on government health-care programs is over $1 trillion. Two decades ago, the Department of Justice increased its efforts to combat health-care fraud....
Remembering Neurosurgeon and Writer Paul Kalanithi, MD
What initially drew me to read the eloquent essay by Paul Kalanithi, MD, in The New York Times—“How Long Have I Got Left?”—was its provocative title.1 What kept me there was the moving description of his quick transition from healthy physician with a brilliant career in neurosurgery to terminally...
Radiotherapy in Good-Prognosis DLBCL
I was disturbed by the article on “Radiotherapy in Good-Prognosis DLBCL” published recently in The ASCO Post.1 As a practicing radiation oncologist for 30 years, I have seen the evolution of radiation techniques (and philosophy) for non-Hodgkin lymphoma progress from regional—or even...
I Refuse to Capitulate to Cancer
Editor’s note: We regret to announce that Paul Kalanithi, MD, passed away on March 9, 2015. Dr. Kalanithi was Chief Resident in Neurological Surgery at Stanford University when he shared his story, reprinted here, with The ASCO Post just over 1 year ago, in March 2014. We extend our deepest...
Colorectal Cancer Is Significantly Increasing Among Younger Adults and Being Diagnosed at Later Stages
A growing body of literature indicates that the incidence of colorectal cancer is rising among people under age 50, according to Jason A. Zell, DO, MPH. Dr. Zell is the corresponding author of one of the two recent studies finding significant increases in colorectal cancer among adults aged 20 to...
Shining a Spotlight on Epithelioid Hemangioendothelioma
In the winter of 2013, my son, Dmitriy, now 26, had a cough that wouldn’t go away. After several rounds of antibiotics failed to halt the persistent problem, a pulmonologist we consulted ordered a chest x-ray, which showed a large tumor lodged between Dmitriy’s lungs. Although the doctor said the...
A Surgeon Cuts to the Chase
BookmarkTitle: The Cost of Cutting: A Surgeon Reveals the Truth Behind a Multibillion-Dollar IndustryAuthor: Paul A. Ruggieri, MDPublisher: Berkley BooksPublication date: September 2014Price: $16.00; paperback, 320 pages The woman seated on the exam table was lean and fit and seemed perfectly at...
The Ongoing Struggle Against Tobacco: Past Accomplishments, Future Steps
In 1913, 10 doctors and 5 laypersons in New York founded the American Cancer Society (ACS). At that time, a cancer diagnosis was almost always fatal and was rarely discussed in public. The Society’s original charter was to raise awareness about cancer, and although that mission has remained firm,...
Refining the ‘Right Patient, Right Drug’ Pairing in Cancer Care: RAS Profiling in Metastatic Colorectal Cancer
In an important post hoc analysis (reviewed in this issue of The ASCO Post), Van Cutsem and colleagues have further refined our knowledge of who are the “right” patients with metastatic colorectal cancer to receive treatment with cetuximab (Erbitux).1 This refinement was accomplished through the...
The ASPIRE Trial of Carfilzomib in Relapsed Myeloma: A Major Step Forward
Currently in myeloma, there are at least five new agents that are either approved or in the late-stage of development with impending approval. Major questions in the field relate to how we, as clinicians, will use these new agents and where they will fit in the overall treatment schema. The phase...
The Emerging Role of Radiation Therapy in Gastrointestinal Cancers
The use of radiation therapy in the treatment of gastrointestinal cancer has evolved over the past several decades, in a gradual, stepwise fashion. Since most gastrointestinal cancers are diagnosed at a locally advanced stage, coupled with the inherent sensitivity of most parts of the...
Current Progress Against Cancer and What Lies Ahead in the Next Decade
In January, ASCO released its report, Clinical Cancer Advances 2015: An Annual Report on Progress Against Cancer,1 which details research advances over the past decade that have led to longer survival and better quality of life for the more than half-a-million people diagnosed with cancer each...
Global Oncology Launches Global Cancer Project Map With NCI
Nonprofit Global Oncology, Inc (GO) announced the launch of the Global Cancer Project Map, a novel online resource and virtual information exchange connecting the global cancer community. Developed by Global Oncology in collaboration with the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Center for Global...
Adjuvant Chemotherapy and Overall Survival in Muscle-Invasive Bladder Cancer: Still Climbing the Mountain
Muscle-invasive bladder cancer can be a lethal disease despite curative intent local therapy, with 5-year survival that can be as low as 30% based on the extent of T status and/or lymph node involvement. The use of neoadjuvant chemotherapy with MVAC (methotrexate, vinblastine, doxorubicin, and...
Breast Cancer Management in Review
Anyone who has attended the major oncology meetings knows that research from clinical trials in breast cancer often dominates the stage, with countless abstracts featuring new and updated results. To help the readers of The ASCO Post stay up to date with the latest discoveries and findings...
Results of RTOG 0617 Reconsidered
Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) 0617 was a study initially designed to address an important issue in radiation oncology regarding the treatment of stage III non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC): Are outcomes improved with high-dose as opposed to standard-dose thoracic radiation therapy? The...
State Oncology Societies Join ASCO’s Call on Congress to Replace SGR Formula
In a show of solidarity, state oncology societies from across the United States joined ASCO in its call on Congress to repeal Medicare’s Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula before the current payment patch expires. In a letter to U.S. House and Senate leadership, 48 signatories, representing tens ...
ASCO Commends U.S. House of Representatives for Voting to Repeal the SGR, Urges Senate to Pass Legislation
We applaud the House of Representatives for passing legislation that eliminates the Sustainable Growth Rate [SGR] formula and takes a giant leap toward meaningful and urgently needed Medicare physician payment reform. Cancer incidence among Medicare beneficiaries is expected to increase by 67% by...
Too Early to Use Genome Sequencing for Breast Cancers in the Clinic
The role of next-generation sequencing (high-throughput technologies that allow DNA and RNA to be analyzed more quickly and inexpensively than earlier techniques) in breast cancer remains unclear and at present is primarily a research tool. Therefore, clinicians should be cautious in using genetic...
Should Oncologists Be Ordering Breast Cancer Gene Panels?
Two oncologic surgeons squared off at the 32nd Miami Breast Cancer Conference to debate whether breast cancer genetic susceptibility panel testing is ready for routine use in the clinic. J. Michael Dixon, MD, Professor of Surgery and Consultant Surgeon at the Edinburgh Breast Unit in the United...
Scalp Cooling Caps Offer Option to Prevent Hair Loss During Chemotherapy
Hair loss remains one of the most dreaded side effects of chemotherapy, particularly for women. Scalp cooling caps worn by patients during chemotherapy infusion and for brief periods of time before and after offer these patients an option to preserve 50% or more of the hair on their heads. Although ...
Too Young to Have Cancer
The first inkling I had that something could be seriously wrong occurred just over a year ago, when I was suddenly inflicted with such severe heartburn it kept me awake at night. Prescriptions from my doctor for ranitidine (Zantac) and meloxicam (Mobic) not only failed to tamp down the fiery pain,...
Ann Partridge, MD, MPH, Confronts Challenges Facing Young Women With Breast Cancer With Support From Conquer Cancer Foundation Improving Cancer Care Grant
Ann Partridge, MD, MPH, Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Founding Director of the Program for Young Women With Breast Cancer at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, received a 2010 Improving Cancer Care Grant (ICCG) for her project “Improving the Care of Young Women with...
Researcher Spotlight on Conquer Cancer Foundation International Innovation Grant Recipient Mya Thida, MBBS
In 2014, Mya Thida, MBBS, of Myanmar, was awarded one of the first-ever Conquer Cancer Foundation of ASCO International Innovation Grants. This grant was created to fund novel research projects that may significantly improve cancer control in low- and middle-income countries. One year later, Dr....
Triple Negative Breast Cancer Foundation Works to Change the Treatment Landscape of an Aggressive Form of Breast Cancer
Hayley Dinerman, Cofounder and Executive Director of the Triple Negative Breast Cancer Foundation, remembers how she and a group of close female friends first learned about the devastating effects of triple-negative breast cancer. It was 2005 when these new mothers, who had recently formed a...
Preparing for the ‘Silver Tsunami’ and the Impact of an Aging Population on Cancer Care
“Older adults constitute the only increasing natural resource in the entire world.” —Linda Fried, PhD, Columbia School of Public Health The good and bad news about our changing demographic world is that the population of older adults is increasing in the United States and worldwide. While it is...
In Search of ‘Just’ Prices: Questioning the High Cost of New Cancer Drugs
As the oncology community begins the slow and often difficult-to-define transition from volume to value in the delivery of cancer care, the relationship between the price and value of certain high-priced cancer drugs is getting more scrutiny. We generally correlate the efficacy of a new drug and...
Aspirin as Adjuvant Therapy for Colon Cancer: Is the Time Right?
Aspirin has long proved to be a multipotent drug, with efficacy as a pain reliever, anti-inflammatory agent, antiplatelet agent, and cardioprotective agent. In the cancer world, a large literature has accumulated demonstrating its ability to prevent various epithelial malignancies, most notably...
Evidence of Recurrence-Free, Disease-Free, and Overall Survival Benefit of Aspirin and COX‑2 Inhibitor Use in Stage III Colon Cancer
In an analysis from the Cancer and Leukemia Group B (CALGB) 89803 adjuvant trial reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Kimmie Ng, MD, MPH, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, and colleagues found consistent trends suggesting benefit of aspirin use and cyclo-oxygenase-2...
Opioid-Reduction Strategy for Postoperative Pain After Breast Cancer Surgery
One persistent and potentially debilitating problem breast cancer patients suffer with is postoperative pain. Studies show that proper pain management is an essential component in the healing process, but undertreatment of pain symptoms remains an ongoing issue in the oncology community. Opioids,...
Should We Be Worried If Patients Tolerate Endocrine Therapy Well?
When meeting with patients to discuss adjuvant endocrine therapy for breast cancer, the question often arises, “How will I know that the treatment is working?” While the efficacy of these treatments has been demonstrated for the majority of patients in multiple large randomized clinical trials,...
20 Years of NCCN: The Best Is Yet to Come
As the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) celebrates its 20th year, The ASCO Post asked its Chief Executive Officer, Robert W. Carlson, MD, to reflect on the organization’s accomplishments, mission, and future and on the role he may have played in its success. The Early Years You became...
Noncommunicable Diseases Are the Leading Cause of Death in Low- and Middle-Income Countries
The greatest health threat to people living in low- and middle-income countries is no longer infectious diseases like HIV/AIDS, which has seen a 33% decline in the global rate of new infections since 2001.1 It is the rise of noncommunicable diseases (including cancer, cardiovascular disease, and...
Heal Thy Patient … Reflections on the Human Side of Medicine
The first time I met Mrs. X and her husband was to discuss the surgical treatment options for pancreatic cancer. She had just been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer at her local hospital and was being referred to a tertiary care center for operative management. Mrs. X and her husband were no...
PRIME II and the Omission of Radiation Therapy in Low-Risk, Elderly Patients Undergoing Breast Conservation: The Time Has Come
Despite the high prevalence of breast cancer worldwide, it is important to recognize that > 40% of all cases occur in women aged 65 years or older in both the United States and the United Kingdom.1,2 Breast cancers in older patients are more often associated with indolent features and with...
Chemotherapy Trial Results Overestimate Survival for Elderly Medicare Patients With Lung and Pancreatic Cancers
Results of clinical trials evaluating chemotherapy regimens for advanced pancreatic and lung cancers “tended to correctly estimate survival for Medicare patients aged 65 to 74 years but to overestimate survival for older Medicare patients by 6 to 8 weeks,” Elizabeth B. Lamont, MD, MS, of...
Cancer Has Left an Indelible Mark on Me
Even though today I’m cancer-free, the experience of getting a cancer diagnosis and going through treatment leaves an indelible mark on your psyche—as well as your body—that time doesn’t erase. Once you have cancer, you become a cancer survivor, and that status doesn’t change. I’ve known many...
Bombarded With Changes in Health Care and Beyond, Gynecologic Oncologists Prepare for the Challenges Ahead
Physicians are being “bombarded” with changes in health care and beyond, Richard R. Barakat, MD, FACS, noted in his Presidential Address at the Society of Gynecologic Oncology (SGO) Annual Meeting on Women’s Cancer. These changes are being precipitated by steeply rising health-care costs amid...
Researchers Discuss Pilot Study on Hallucinogenic Therapies for Cancer Anxiety
Although varying levels of existential distress are near-ubiquitous among patients with cancer, evidence-based interventions in this clinical area remain somewhat elusive. Seeking to explore novel approaches in the palliative care environment, New York University (NYU) School of Medicine principal...
Childhood Cancers: Significant Medical Success but Many Psychosocial Needs Still Unmet
Treatment of childhood cancer is remarkably successful, but still, 2,000 children die of it each year, and for some forms of the disease, no progress has been made at all, said Otis Brawley, MD, Chief Medical Officer, American Cancer Society (ACS). “At least half of all pediatric cancer survivors...
Maryland Oncologists Faced With Navigating the Maze of Chemotherapy Safety Regulations
In March 2013, 60 Minutes aired a devastating piece about a Massachusetts compounding center that shipped an injectable steroid contaminated with fungus. One of the many ripple effects from this story of horrendous patient suffering was felt in Maryland, where it sparked legislative action in the...
Brentuximab Vedotin After Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation in High-Risk Hodgkin Lymphoma: Implications of the AETHERA Trial
Hodgkin lymphoma is generally thought to be a malignancy with a favorable prognosis. Overall, approximately 80% of patients will have durable, long-term remissions with initial chemotherapy. Some patients, however, demonstrate evidence of disease progression, and these patients usually receive...
Expert Point of View: Louis Weiner, MD
In the past 10 years, we have begun to unlock the keys to the puzzle of the body’s immune system. The study presented here drives home the important point that we can elicit immune responses with unusual durability,” said Louis Weiner, MD, Director of the Georgetown Lombardi Cancer Center in...
José Baselga, MD, PhD, Inaugurated as AACR President
The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) inaugurated José Baselga, MD, PhD, as President for 2015–2016 at the AACR Annual Meeting 2015. Dr. Baselga, an internationally recognized physician-scientist whose research focuses on the clinical development of novel molecularly targeted agents...
After Decades of Uncertainty, the Sustainable Growth Rate Formula Is Repealed by Congress
The U.S. Congress recently did something remarkable: both parties reached across the aisle and overwhelmingly passed H.R. 2, a bill that will permanently repeal the sustainable growth rate (SGR), the problematic formula for Medicare reimbursement. It just needed the President’s signature, which it...
Experts Debate: Can We Cure Metastatic Breast Cancer?
Can metastatic breast cancer ever be cured? This issue was debated at the 32nd Annual Miami Breast Cancer Conference by two experts in the field: George W. Sledge, Jr, MD, Professor of Medicine at Stanford University Medical Center, Palo Alto, California, and Clifford A. Hudis, MD, Chief of the...
ASCO Releases 2015 Report on The State of Cancer Care in America
In March, ASCO published its second annual report, The State of Cancer Care in America: 2015.1 Its findings show a mixed landscape, on the one hand, spotlighting advances in therapy and improving survival rates, but on the other, describing a cancer care system under stress from increasing demand...
