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Showing 6251 - 6300Study Lowers the Age Bar for Radiation in Children With Ependymoma
The good news is that children as young as 1 year old with the aggressive brain tumor ependymoma can be treated safely and effectively with immediate postoperative radiation therapy, according to the results of a trial presented at the 2015 ASTRO Annual Meeting.1 “Ependymoma is the third most...
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...
Does Low-Dose Radiation Cause Leukemia?
Data from A-bomb survivors, persons with ankylosing spondylitis and neoplasms treated with radiation therapy, and many other sources show a strong association between exposure to ionizing radiation (particles or electromagnetic waves with sufficient energy to cause an ionization such as photons and ...
Starting Over
My diagnosis of pleural mesothelioma early in 2015 couldn’t have been more surprising. In one day, I went from being a healthy, vibrant woman with a busy career and the excitement of launching a promising new business venture to a woman facing the greatest challenge of her life. The fact that my...
The Sixth Edition of the Essential Breast Cancer Book
Bookmark Title: Dr. Susan Love’s Breast Book Author: Susan M. Love, MD Publisher: Da Capo Lifelong Books Publication date: September 8, 2015 Price: $24.00; paperback, 704 pages For more than 25 years, Dr. Susan Love’s Breast Book has been the best source of information for women with breast...
Integrating Spirituality Into Palliative Care Services
Over the past couple of decades, the oncology community has made great strides in mediating the psychosocial needs of our patients. However, a patient’s spirituality is a subjective and uncomfortable issue for many oncologists, which leaves a gap in the continuum of care. To reach a better...
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 ...
You’ve Lived A Good Life
The ASCO Post is pleased to reproduce installments of the “Art of Oncology” as published previously in the Journal of Clinical Oncology (JCO). These articles focus on the experience of suffering from cancer or of caring for people diagnosed with cancer, and they include narratives, topical essays,...
Yet Another Reason Why Dogs Are Our Best Friends
BookmarkTitle: Heal: The Vital Role of Dogs in the Search for Cancer CuresAuthor: Arlene WeintraubPublisher: ECW PressPublication date: October 13, 2015Price: $16.95; paperback, 240 pages Comparative oncology, a fairly recent addition to the ever-evolving world of cancer research, studies the...
Lung Cancer: Hope From Science
The following essay by Paul A. Bunn, Jr, 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. I grew up...
A Swiss Psychotherapist Gives Her Perspective on Optimal Palliative Care
Over the past few decades, the oncology community has incorporated new evidence-based therapies to address the psychosocial needs of patients with cancer, especially those with advanced disease. To bring a global perspective to this evolving discipline, The ASCO Post recently spoke with Monika...
A Blueprint for Drug/Diagnostic Development: Expansion and Use of Curated Genetic Databases
In a continuation of a 2014 conference that explored regulatory considerations and strategies for next-generation sequencing, the Friends of Cancer Research, with support from Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc, Pasadena, California, met to discuss the issues and problems of coordinating drug and ...
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...
Practicing the Humanistic and Holistic Approach to End-of-Life Care
In 1990, when Bruce (B.J.) Miller, MD, was an undergraduate at Princeton University, the practice of medicine was far from his mind. Then a student in Chinese and Asian studies and later an art history major, Dr. Miller would come to pursue a career specializing in palliative medicine after an...
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...
Now Available: Holiday Cards From the Conquer Cancer Foundation
The holiday season has officially begun, but there is still plenty of time to share in the spirit of giving on behalf of someone special. When you donate to the Conquer Cancer Foundation through cards.conquercancerfoundation.org, the Foundation will mail greeting cards or email eCertificates in...
Closing the Racial Survival Disparity Gap in Breast Cancer: Models for Change From Chicago, New York, and Beyond
It has long been said that white women of European ancestry are more likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer, but African American women are more likely to die of it. This statement has introduced multiple articles on the topic of the racial survival disparity in breast cancer, including our own...
Reducing Racial Disparities in Breast Cancer Incidence and Mortality Trends to Improve Outcomes
A recent report by DeSantis and colleagues from the American Cancer Society, summarized in this issue of The ASCO Post, presented breast cancer incidence and mortality data from an extensive analysis of the U.S. system of state-based tumor registries.1 The data showed that the incidence of breast...
Trabectedin in Liposarcoma/Leiomyosarcoma: The Drug Is Approved, Now the Real Drug Development Begins!
Led by George Demetri, MD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, expert medical oncology investigators from leading academic sarcoma centers and Janssen Pharmaceuticals employees performed a phase III trial in order to provide evidence for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of...
Molecularly Targeted Therapy Brings New Hope to Patients With Relapsed/Refractory Hairy Cell Leukemia
The treatment of hairy cell leukemia is one of the great success stories in hematologic malignancies, with patients now having a survival that is only slightly inferior to an age-matched normal population. Purine analogs, such as cladribine, are the mainstay of first-line therapy, with...
Mind-Body Therapies Were the Focus at the 12th International Conference of the Society for Integrative Oncology
Among the highlights at the 12th International Conference of the Society for Integrative Oncology (SIO) was a 1-day joint meeting on acupuncture, oncology, and fascia cosponsored by SIO, the Society for Acupuncture Research, the Fascia Research Society, and the Osher Center for Integrative...
2015 Review of Newly Approved Oncologic Therapies
Over the past year or so, a host of new agents were approved for the treatment of patients with various types of cancer (see related article on page 1). Patrick Medina, PharmD, of the University of Oklahoma College of Pharmacy, Oklahoma City, and Monique Giordana, PharmD, BCOP, of Regions...
Ovarian Cancer: Current Treatment and Patient Management
Tough initial treatment decisions have “long-lasting ramifications and affect the entire treatment paradigm” for women with ovarian cancer, according to Bradley J. Monk, MD, FACS, FACOG, of the University of Arizona Cancer Center, Phoenix. In a true collaborative presentation at the Annual JADPRO...
U-M Cancer Center Names Bhramar Mukherjee, PhD, Associate Director for Population Science Research
The University of Michigan (U-M) Comprehensive Cancer Center has appointed Bhramar Mukherjee, PhD, as Associate Director for Population Science Research. Dr. Mukherjee is John D. Kalbfleisch Collegiate Professor of Biostatistics and Professor of Epidemiology at the U-M School of Public Health. She...
Combining Molecular-Driven Approach and Immunotherapy to Improve Treatment for Patients With Inflammatory Breast Cancer
We have a responsibility to develop better treatment for inflammatory breast cancer,” Massimo Cristofanilli, MD, FACP, told participants at the 17th Annual Lynn Sage Breast Cancer Symposium in Chicago. As recently appointed Associate Director of Translational Research and Precision Medicine at the ...
Filial Gaze at Our Noble Profession
As we stood outside patient X’s room going over the vitals, from a distance, I saw the father of the patient by the side of her bed. I saw him standing there and looking down at his child conveying what I guess were words of reassurance and reinforcing the pillars of strength needed for her...
November Yields Record Number of FDA Approvals for New Oncology Drugs and Drug Indications
In 2014, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved 9 new drugs and biologics in the treatment of cancer and added 10 notable new indications or formulations to existing drug labels, marking a year of significant progress in improving the quality of cancer care in the United States. So...
Mixing Metaphors to Change the Language of Cancer
BookmarkTitle: Malignant Metaphor: Confronting Cancer MythsAuthor: Alanna MitchellPublisher: ECW PressPublication date: September 15, 2015Price: $24.95; hardcover, 184 pages Illness is the night-side of life, a more onerous citizenship. Everyone who is born holds dual citizenship, in the kingdom...
Women Coinfected With Human Papillomavirus Had Reduced Risk for Invasive Cervical Cancer
Women co-infected with low-risk and high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) had a reduced risk for invasive squamous cervical carcinoma and a longer time to progression than did women infected with high-risk human papillomavirus alone, according to a Swedish study published in the Journal of the...
Expect Questions About Prostate Cancer Screening and Active Surveillance
A study finding that the incidence of prostate cancer has declined in recent years may at first seem like good news to physicians and patients, but, as widely reported by the media, the decline is not seen as an indication that prostate cancer has become less prevalent, but that screening for it...
Closure
The following essay by Kenneth R. Adler, MD, FACP, 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....
Beautiful Imperfections
The ASCO Post is pleased to reproduce installments of the “Art of Oncology” as published previously in the Journal of Clinical Oncology (JCO). These articles focus on the experience of suffering from cancer or of caring for people diagnosed with cancer, and they include narratives, topical essays,...
ASH Announces 2016 Scholar Award Recipients
The American Society of Hematology (ASH) has announced the recipients of its 2016 Scholar Awards. One of ASH’s most prestigious award programs, the ASH Scholar Award program financially supports fellows and junior faculty dedicated to careers in hematology research as they transition from training...
The Lawless and Uncertain World of Medicine
Bookmark Title: The Laws of Medicine: Field Notes From an Uncertain Science Author: Siddhartha Mukherjee Publisher: TED Books/Simon & Schuster Publication date: October 13, 2015 Price: $16.99; hardcover, 96 pages The Emperor of All Maladies, written by the Indian-born American oncologist...
How to Help Mentees Succeed
Although formal mentoring programs in medical education were not launched in the United States until the late 1990s,1 today they are regarded as playing an essential role in the career development of medical trainees and have been associated with improvements in research, teaching, and patient...
SIOG Annual Conference Explores Global Perspectives on Geriatric Oncology and Supportive Care
The 15th Annual Conference of the International Society of Geriatric Oncology (SIOG) took place in Prague, Czech Republic, over 3 days (November 12–14, 2015). At the heart of the meeting were presentations on supportive care, comprehensive geriatric assessment and treatment—so that we fully...
Acute Myeloid Leukemia in the Elderly: Trial Data Stir Hope for the Transplant Option
Older patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) have high relapse rates after induction chemotherapy, low survival rates, and fewer treatment options compared with younger patients. One of the options for both younger and older patients is hematopoietic cell transplantation, but relatively few...
ASCO Guides Members Through MACRA Implementation With a Robust Set of New Resources
The Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA), passed earlier this year, repealed the fundamentally flawed Sustainable Growth Rate formula and introduced significant changes in how Medicare will pay oncologists for the care they provide in the coming years. The new law will be...
Researcher Spotlight: Conquering Cancer With Dr. Heske
Sometimes, cancer treatments that initially appear promising begin to lose their effectiveness. This is due to the ability diseases like cancer have to develop resistance to treatments over time and, essentially, outsmart them. But what if there were ways to ensure this didn’t happen? What if...
The Promise of Immune Checkpoint Blockade in Cancer Therapy
The concept of using activation of the innate immune system and an inflammatory response against a bacterial component to instigate an antitumor response was studied in the 1960s, which led to the development of intravesical bacillus Calmette-Guérin, now used in the treatment of superficial bladder ...
St. Jude Opens First Proton Therapy Center for Children
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital has opened the St. Jude Red Frog Events Proton Therapy Center, the first proton therapy center in the world dedicated solely to children with cancer. Patients are now being treated at the center using precisely delivered, high-energy protons to kill or shrink...
Ductal Carcinoma in Situ and Relevant Endpoints for Omission of Standard Treatments: Are We There Yet?
The optimal management strategy for ductal carcinoma in situ has become increasingly controversial with respect to potential overdiagnosis and overtreatment. Much of the controversy for ductal carcinoma in situ stems from its exceptional breast cancer–specific survival, which approaches close to...
Clinical Trial System Badly in Need of Overhaul, Say Panelists at Friends-Brookings Conference
Cancer clinical trials in three distinct phases, as they have been conducted for decades, are probably no longer the best way to bring a drug or biologic agent to market. This was the consensus of three panels at the 8th Annual Conference on Clinical Cancer Research convened by Friends of Cancer...
Breast Cancer Survivors May Expect More Extensive or Frequent Follow-up Testing Than Recommended
Patients who have been treated for breast cancer may overestimate the value of follow-up testing and may expect—or even ask for—more testing than recommended, Harold J. Burstein, MD, PhD, of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, Boston, told participants at the Lynn Sage...
Partnering Therapies for Estrogen Receptor–Positive Breast Cancer Requires Close Monitoring and Patient Communication
Partnering endocrine therapy with new targeted agents for women with estrogen receptor–positive breast cancer “changes the nature of endocrine therapy from something easily tolerated, with not a lot that you have to do as physicians to monitor it,” William J. Gradishar, MD, of the Robert H. Lurie...
St. Jude Names Carlos Rodriguez-Galindo, MD, Director of International Outreach Program
Carlos Rodriguez-Galindo, MD, an international leader in pediatric solid tumor research, is joining St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital to head the International Outreach Program. Dr. Rodriguez-Galindo will serve as International Outreach Program Director and an executive vice president. He will...
Optimizing the Treatment of HIV-Associated Lymphoma
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) associated with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection generally can be treated the same as lymphoma in non–HIV-infected patients, with a few caveats, according to Lawrence D. Kaplan, MD, of the Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center of the University of...
ASCO and AAHPM Define Primary Palliative Care in Oncology
A new guidance statement from ASCO and the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (AAHPM) could potentially lead to more standardized primary palliative care delivery across oncology settings, according to Kathleen E. Bickel, MD, MPhil, who presented the study findings at the 2015...
