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Showing 6201 - 6250Shortening the Learning Curve of the U.S. Health-care System
If we are able to harness the full potential of digital technologies, computerized registries, databases, and the Web, could we solve many of the current woes of our sluggish and costly health-care system? Yes, according to Lynn Etheredge, a consultant with the Rapid Learning Project at the George...
Expert Point of View: Therapy for Hodgkin Lymphoma in the Elderly Remains Undefined
Elderly Hodgkin lymphoma, typically defined as affecting individuals ≥ 60 years of age, remains a disease for which no standard treatment recommendation exists. This population is underrepresented in clinical studies, and survival rates in older patients with Hodgkin lymphoma are significantly and ...
Advances in Gynecologic Cancer Surgery Continue to Improve Outcomes
Over the past several decades, advances in chemotherapy and surgery have begun to translate into improved survival in gynecologic malignancies. The ASCO Post recently spoke with Ginger Gardner, MD, a surgical oncologist at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, who specializes in the management...
What You Should Know about Denosumab (Prolia) for Increasing Bone Mass during Breast and Prostate Cancer Therapies
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. Indications In September 2011, the monoclonal antibody RANKL...
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...
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...
‘New Science, New Solutions’ Explored at Society for Integrative Oncology Conference
“Innovating Integrative Oncology: New Science, New Solutions” was the title of the Society for Integrative Oncology (SIO) Eighth International Conference. Topics ranged from molecular biology to mitigation of treatment toxicity to mind-body medicine. A total of 505 people attended the conference,...
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...
Bevacizumab Breast Cancer Indication Rescinded: What Are the Downstream Implications?
Leading up to FDA’s resolution to revoke the breast cancer indication for bevacizumab (Avastin), the debate over the drug’s clinical value was imbued with contentious ideologic overtones, which culminated in a 2-day public hearing that exposed deep divisions not only in the scientific community,...
Favorable Early-stage Hodgkin Lymphoma and HD.6: The Take-Home and Don’t–Take-Home Messages
The Canadian HD.6 randomized study in patients with nonbulky early-stage Hodgkin lymphoma is mostly of historic interest.1,2 It has little relevance to current treatment standards or questions, and the risk for its inappropriate interpretation is of great concern. Radical Radiation Approach Long...
Risk of Sexual and Continence Problems No Lower with Robotic than with Open Surgery
Although robotic-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy “is eclipsing open radical prostatectomy among men with clinically localized prostate cancer,” the risks of problems with sexual functioning and continence are no lower with robotic than open surgery, according to a study in the Journal...
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?...
JAK2 and MPL Mutation Screening: What Are the Indications and How to Interpret the Results
The World Health Organization system organizes myeloid malignancies into five major categories, which are subsequently further subclassified using a combination of bone marrow morphology and cytogenetic/molecular information (Table 1).1 JAK2 and MPL mutations are not disease-specific and occur...
Surgical Oncology: Advances and Challenges in Breast Cancer Surgery
Mortality rates for breast cancer have declined steadily in the United States since 1990, resulting in an improvement in survival. Multiple factors have contributed to this positive trend, one of which is the combination of earlier detection and more sophisticated surgical techniques. The ASCO Post ...
Abiraterone: New Drug in the Treatment of Metastatic Castration-resistant Prostate 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. Indication Abiraterone acetate (Zytiga) (an oral agent that...
Ablation of Small Primary Breast Tumors: The Next Step in Local Therapy?
Local treatment of breast cancer is trending toward less invasive procedures that achieve comparable outcomes to standard interventions. What will the next step along this continuum be? According to Michael S. Sabel, MD, a surgical oncologist at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer...
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...
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...
A Second Chance for Gemtuzumab in Acute Myeloid Leukemia
Gemtuzumab ozogamicin (Mylotarg) may have a second chance for regulatory acceptance, as studies presented at ASH 2011 demonstrated that gemtuzumab can be safely and effectively given by adjusting the dosing and treatment schedule. Gemtuzumab ozogamicin was approved for the treatment of acute...
Expert Point of View: Bevacizumab Progression-free Survival Benefit Upheld in AVEREL Trial
Modest benefit reported from AVEREL1 triggered comments among trialists about the future of bevacizumab (Avastin) in breast cancer. “Although there’s controversy about the recent revoking of FDA approval of bevacizumab for metastatic breast cancer, I think there is a consensus in our disappointment ...
Special Supplement: Reports from the 34th San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium and the 53rd American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting
The ASCO Post presents this special supplement with comprehensive coverage of important data from the 34th Annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium and the 53rd American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting. In addition to news about the individual abstracts, experts offer their perspectives on...
FDA Issues Draft Guidance on Biosimilar Product Development
The FDA recently issued three draft guidance documents on biosimilar product development to assist industry in developing such products in the United States. “When it comes to getting new biosimilar products on the market, FDA has taken an innovative approach to supporting their development at...
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...
SIDEBAR: Expect Questions from Your Patients
The possibility of reexcision after breast-conservation surgery should be discussed with patients before the initial surgery, advised Laurence E. McCahill, MD, lead investigator of the JAMA study on reexcision following breast-conservation surgery, which showed wide variability in reexcision...
Reexcision Rates Following Breast-conservation Surgery Vary Widely
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. Reexcision rates for women with...
What You Should Know about Peginterferon Alfa-2b for Adjuvant Treatment of Melanoma
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. Indication Peginterferon alfa-2b (PegIntron, Sylatron) was recently ...
Challenges, Progress, and Future Directions in Head and Neck Cancer
Although head and neck cancer remains a major therapeutic challenge, significant advances have been made over the past few decades. The ASCO Post recently spoke with Marshall R. Posner, MD, Medical Director of the Head and Neck Oncology Program, Mount Sinai Medical Center, New York, about the...
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/...
SIDEBAR: Leadership to Legacy
Through the Conquer Cancer Foundation Leadership to Legacy campaign, ASCO members and other field leaders have the opportunity to personally invest in the future of oncology by supporting the work of its most talented young researchers. Contributions to the Leadership to Legacy campaign not only...
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...
Expert Point of View: Genomics Projects Plumb Breast Cancer’s Inner Workings
Charles M. Perou, PhD, the May Goldman Shaw Distinguished Professor of Molecular Oncology at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, commented on the research being conducted by The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC). “The TCGA and ICGC efforts...
Atypical Breast Lesions: How High Is the Cancer Risk?
Women with atypical breast lesions have approximately a 5% to 11% risk of developing breast cancer within 5 years, depending on histology, and this risk can be reduced with chemoprevention, according to a presentation at the 2011 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.1 Investigators tracked the...
What Were the Take-home Messages from the 2012 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium?
Richard M. Goldberg, MD, of The Ohio State University Medical Center, chaired the steering committee of the 2012 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium in San Francisco, which attracted approximately 4,000 registrants who viewed data from some 700 scientific abstracts. The ASCO Post asked Dr. Goldberg...
A Visionary Call for the ‘Creative Destruction’ of Medicine
According to nationally regarded cardiologist and geneticist Eric Topol, MD, Chief Academic Officer of Scripps Health, the next frontier of the digital revolution can create exponentially better health care. Dr. Topol, who is also Director of the Scripps Translational Science Institute and...
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...
Risk Stratification of BRCA Mutation Carriers May Help Guide Follow-up
Patient and tumor characteristics can stratify women with breast cancer and a BRCA mutation into groups having different risks of contralateral disease, which may help tailor follow-up, suggests a study of more than 5,000 women in the Netherlands. Confirming findings of other studies, the study...
How I Work up the Patient with Thrombocytosis
Thrombocytosis is defined as a platelet count greater than 400 × 109/L. In routine clinical practice, thrombocytosis is much more likely to be reactive (> 80% of cases) than primary. Reactive thrombocytosis is usually associated with infections, inflammation, trauma, hemolysis, metastatic...
ASCO Submits Testimony for Congressional Hearing Examining Quality Programs that Reward High-quality Care
The House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee recently held a hearing on programs and initiatives that reward physicians who deliver high-quality, efficient care. ASCO submitted written testimony from CEO Allen S. Lichter, MD, on many aspects of quality care, including how the Quality Oncology...
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...
What You Need to Know About Axitinib, New Agent for Treating Advanced Renal Cell Carcinoma
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. Indication In January 2012, the second-generation vascular...
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...
SIDEBAR: Genotype and Treatment Outcomes
At the 2011 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, Joyce O’Shaughnessy, MD, described how the genetic profiles of 12 patients with metastatic triple-negative breast were used to guide treatment for metastatic disease Patient #10 was a 59-year-old African-American woman with primary...
Next-generation Sequencing in Metastatic Triple-negative Breast Cancer Yields Rewards
The startling molecular heterogeneity of metastatic triple-negative breast cancer is now obvious and helps to explain the poor outcomes observed in this patient subset. Comprehensive genomic and transcriptomic interrogation of metastatic triple-negative breast cancer is elucidating the molecular...
