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Showing 6301 - 6350Screening for Distress and Unmet Needs in Patients with Cancer
In the past decade, “screening for distress has been positioned as the sixth vital sign in cancer care, in addition to the first five, which are measurements of pulse, respiration, blood pressure, temperature, and pain,” according to a review article in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. Although...
Studies Report Findings in Patient-centered Care
New studies highlighting findings that will lead to improvements in the patient experience and identifying potential risks for development of cancers in the future were reported at a press briefing held during the 2012 ASCO Annual Meeting in Chicago. “In this era of sophisticated research advances, ...
What You Need to Know About Glucarpidase Injection for Toxic Methotrexate Levels in Renal Impairment
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, glucarpidase injection (Voraxaze) was...
Newest Indication for Rituximab as Maintenance Treatment in Non‑Hodgkin Lymphoma
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 The CD20-directed monoclonal antibody rituximab...
ASCO Reexamines the Oncology Workforce Shortage
A study commissioned by ASCO in 2006 predicted a significant shortage of medical and gynecologic oncologists in the United States by 2020. As a result, the organization created the Workforce Implementation Group to develop recommendations to stem the projected workforce shortfall and ensure ongoing ...
Denosumab Delays Time to First Bone Metastasis in Men with Castration-resistant Prostate Cancer
Denosumab (Xgeva) significantly delayed time to first bone metastases among men with nonmetastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer enrolled in a phase III randomized, placebo-controlled trial. The time to first bone metastasis was 33.2 months among the 716 patients randomly assigned to receive ...
FDA-led Research Team Discovers Autoimmune Mechanism for Drug-induced Adverse Reactions
A team of researchers led by the FDA has discovered a new mechanism for identifying and understanding drug-related autoimmune reactions. In an article available online in the journal AIDS, the team reported that in certain at-risk patients, the anti-HIV drug abacavir (Ziagen) causes the immune...
SIDEBAR: Photodynamic Therapy for Cancer
Photodynamic therapy is a two-step treatment that includes a photosensitizing agent and a light source. In the first step, the photosensitizing agent (porfimer sodium) is injected into the bloodstream and absorbed by all cells. Over 24 to 48 hours, the drug is concentrated in cancer cells. In the...
SIDEBAR: Success of the Multiple Myeloma Research Consortium
Since its founding in 2004, the Multiple Myeloma Research Consortium (MMRC) has grown from a handful of member institutions to 16 such academic centers and has launched 38 phase I and phase II clinical trials. Six of the drugs studied in those investigations are currently in phase III trials. And...
Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation Initiatives Are Leading to More Effective Targeted Treatment
In 1996, at just 37, the last thing Kathy Giusti expected to hear was that she had the fatal blood cancer multiple myeloma. An executive at Searle Pharmaceuticals and the mother of an 18-month-old daughter, Giusti was told she probably had 3 years to live. At the time, treatments for the disease...
Markers in Cancer 2012, to be Held October 11–13, Will Seek to Move the Field of Biomarkers to the Next Phase
There are hundreds and hundreds of papers published on biomarkers in cancer each year, but very few make it over the hurdles necessary to be used in actual patient care, said James L. Abbruzzese, MD, Chair of the Department of Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology at the University of Texas MD Anderson ...
Full Membership: What It Means, What It Offers, and Why It’s Essential
As part of our series explaining the benefits of ASCO’s various membership categories, in this issue we focus on the Full Membership Category Involvement in ASCO—the largest and most inclusive professional organization in oncology—allows those involved in cancer care to chart the very course of the ...
Cancer Survivors Stand Up, Give Thanks, and Give Back
“I have me back,” is how breast cancer survivor Jeanette Daniel of Memphis described her life after being treated on a clinical trial at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville. Being conducted by the Stand Up To Cancer P13K Dream Team, whose leader discovered the PI3K pathway, the trial...
Risk Stratification and Targeted Therapy, Abetted by Collaboration, Improve Outcomes for Children with Cancer
Outcomes for children with cancer have “improved over the course of the years incrementally, mostly not from the development of new drugs, because virtually all the drugs that we use now in leukemia were available in the 1970s. It is really through better understanding of the heterogeneity of the...
Can Whole-genome Sequencing Predict Cancer Risk and Improve Public Health?
If, as expected, the cost of whole-genome sequencing continues to drop, perhaps down to the $1,000 vicinity, it may become an alluring option for consumers who want to know about their risks for cancer and other diseases. But can genome sequencing really provide practical information about...
At More than a Century Old, American Association for Cancer Research Continues to Evolve
Margaret Foti, PhD, MD (hc), has been Chief Executive Officer of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) since 1982, and has been instrumental in launching some of the most seminal efforts of the cancer research organization. Over the past 4 years, she has helped spearhead the AACR’s...
Expert Point of View: Dual BRAF and MEK Inhibition Is Active in Advanced Melanoma
Commenting on the trial of combined BRAF and MEK inhibition in advanced melanoma, Michael K.K. Wong, MD, PhD, Professor of Medicine at Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, called the findings “nothing short of extraordinary” and a potential “game changer.”...
Decoding the Genetic Blueprint of Cancer Cells: Findings in Multiple Myeloma and Breast Cancer
Advances in next-generation DNA sequencing technologies are allowing scientists to decipher the whole genome or whole exome (ie, the coding region of the genome) of cancer specimens more quickly and inexpensively than ever before. And the results are revealing genes that had not previously been...
New ASCO President Reflects on Value of Mentorship and Addressing Health-care Disparities
Sandra M. Swain, MD, Medical Director of the Washington Cancer Institute at the MedStar Washington Hospital Center in Washington, DC, and ASCO President for the 2012 to 2013 term, is a leading authority on breast cancer treatment with a global reputation in cutting-edge clinical research. The...
Dana-Farber Researcher’s Work with Partners in Health Brings Quality Cancer Care to Rwanda
Lawrence N. Shulman, MD, Chief Medical Officer at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, grew up in New York City. A product of the public school system, Dr. Shulman entered Syracuse University as a history major, only to realize that studying the past, although important, wasn’t for him. “I wanted a field...
Trailblazing Oncologist Had Instrumental Role in France’s War on Cancer
David Khayat, MD, PhD, Chair of the Department of Medical Oncology at the Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital in Paris, was inspired to become an oncologist by an episode that could have been ripped from the pages of one of his best-selling novels. At the age of 18, Dr. Khayat was the witness at his best...
On the Early Days of Breast-conserving Therapy and the Unique Relationship between Oncologists and Their Patients
Jay R. Harris, MD, Chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, helped pioneer the use of breast-conserving therapy in women with early-stage breast cancer. When asked why he chose to pursue a career in radiation...
From Small-town House Calls to Bone Marrow Transplants, Nobel Laureate Continues Father’s Legacy
“I echo the sentiments of many previous Nobel laureates when I say that the success we celebrate today was made possible by the work of many others in this and in related fields.” So ended the Nobel Lecture by E. Donnall Thomas, MD, the famed investigator and 1990 Nobel Laureate in Physiology or...
After Complete Response to Chemotherapy, IFRT Improves Event-free Survival in Hodgkin Lymphoma
Final data from the Children’s Cancer Group (CCG) trial evaluating low-dose involved-field radiation therapy (IFRT) for patients with Hodgkin lymphoma achieving a complete response after chemotherapy show that at a median follow-up of 7.7 years, IFRT produced a statistically significant improvement ...
To Scan or Not to Scan for Colon Cancer Recurrence?
Over the past 2 decades, we have seen a substantial increase in the 5-year survival of patients with stage II and III colon cancer, marking an evolving oncologic success story. However, in the postoperative setting, the value of regular CT screening to monitor for recurrence has been greeted with...
Everolimus: New Indication in Renal Angiomyolipoma Associated with Tuberous Sclerosis Complex
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 April 2012, the kinase inhibitor everolimus...
SIDEBAR: Expect Questions from Your Patients
“We have already received several calls and requests from patients who desire to participate in our research or get the test done,” Anthony Lucci, MD, said about the response to a study published in The Lancet Oncology and media coverage of the findings. Dr. Lucci is lead author of the study, which ...
Too Soon to Know How Circulating Tumor Cells Might Be Used to Guide Treatment of Breast Cancer
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. “A simple blood test.” These were...
Medical Ethicists Reflect on Their Personal Cancer Experiences
The recently published book, Malignant: Medical Ethicists Confront Cancer, takes a personal look at the cancer experience from the perspective of seven medical ethicists who were also patients with cancer or cared for spouses with cancer.1 The book’s editor, Rebecca Dresser, JD, MS, who teaches law ...
Help Your Patients Understand the Latest Research
Direct your patients to www.cancer.net/podcasts to hear ASCO experts discuss the research that was presented at 2012 ASCO Annual Meeting. This series of “Research Round-up” podcasts provides the latest information on treatment and care for people with cancer and will help your patients understand...
Expert Point of View: Richard I. Fisher, MD
Richard I. Fisher, MD, the Samuel E. Durand Professor of Medicine at the University of Rochester Medical Center in Rochester, New York, cautioned that it is too early to embrace the bendamustine/rituximab regimen. Caution Advised “Bendamustine is a very active agent with moderate toxicity that...
Prostate Cancer Management: A Day Late and A Dollar Short?
In the May 15 issue, The ASCO Post reported on the relative cost-effectiveness of approaches to treating localized prostate cancer (“Advances in Prostate Cancer Accompanied by Ongoing Debates,” page 1). The article analyzed an important scientific paper presented at both urology and radiation...
Breast Cancer and Noncommunicable Diseases: Where in the World Do We Start?
As the world’s most common cancer among women, and the most likely reason around the globe that a woman will die of cancer, breast cancer affects countries at all economic levels. Despite the common misconception that breast cancer is primarily a problem of high-income countries, the majority of...
New PSA Recommendations: The Debate over Prostate Cancer Screening Continues
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recently issued a recommendation statement advising against the use of prostate-specific antigen (PSA)-based testing for prostate cancer,1 leaving many in the oncology community concerned that decades of clinical progress will be stalled, and setting ...
Adjuvant Chemotherapy May Confer Survival Benefit in Patients Older than 75 with Stage III Disease
Because few people over 75 participate in clinical trials, it is unknown whether adjuvant chemotherapy could benefit this population. Faced with this gap in clinical trial evidence, researchers reviewed data from 5,489 patients ≥ 75 years with stage III colon cancer. The review suggests that...
SIDEBAR: Expect Questions from Your Patients
Promising results announced at the recent ASCO Annual Meeting from studies with BRAF and MEK inhibitors have made headlines, but only one of these agents—the BRAF inhibitor vemurafenib (Zelboraf)—has been approved by the FDA. The others are still investigational. Patients interested in gaining...
Pazopanib: New Drug for Advanced Soft-tissue Sarcoma
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 April 2012, pazopanib (Votrient) was approved for the ...
Expert Point of View: Samuel A. Wells, MD
This study follows earlier phase I and II trials showing remarkable responses in patients with advanced medullary thyroid carcinoma, some of whom had progressed on prior tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy, explained formal discussant of this trial, Samuel A. Wells, MD, of the Center for Cancer...
Cabozantinib Prolongs Progression-free Survival in Advanced Medullary Thyroid Cancer
Cabozantinib prolonged progression-free survival in patients with unresectable, locally advanced, or metastatic medullary thyroid cancer with documented disease progression in the phase III EXAM trial. Based on these results, Exelixis submitted a New Drug Application to the FDA in May 2012. The...
New Study Examines Racial Disparities in Breast Cancer Mortality
According to the first national study looking at racial disparity in breast cancer mortality rates at the city level in the United States, societal factors—especially poverty and residential segregation—are resulting in the unnecessary deaths of five black women every day—more than 1,700 deaths a...
ASCO Bookstore Revamped
ASCO has redesigned its online bookstore. Now visitors can enjoy a streamlined environment powered by Amazon, allowing them to search in just about any way they want to: newest to oldest, most popular, by disease type, by professional interest, and the list goes on. The new bookstore platform,...
ASCO Launches Oncology Practice Census
How many oncologists are in private practice and how many are employed by hospitals and academic medical centers in the United States? No one knows the answer for sure, but ASCO is undertaking an ambitious national effort to determine where oncologists are practicing these days. Online Survey...
Prognostic Value of Integrated Cytogenetic and Mutational Risk Classification in Acute Myeloid Leukemia
Jay P. Patel, BS, and colleagues from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York recently performed mutational analysis of 18 genes in a subgroup of newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients who had been randomized to receive cytarabine plus high-dose or standard-dose...
PACE Trial Update: Ponatinib Produces High Response Rates in CML
The third-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitor ponatinib showed robust efficacy in the 10-month follow-up of the phase II PACE trial (Ponatinib Ph+ALL and CML Evaluation), which is evaluating ponatinib in treatment-refractory chronic myeloid leukemia (CML)1 At the 2012 ASCO Annual Meeting, Jorge E. ...
Richard Goldberg, MD, Gives First Moertel Lecture
Richard Goldberg, MD, Physician-in-Chief of The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute, presented the first Charles G. Moertel Lecture of the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology during the plenary session of the group’s recent...
New Study on Communicating Bad News, from the Patient’s Perspective
There is limited evidence in the literature about how oncologists should discuss bad or serious news with their patients. A recent study sought to understand what patients with cancer value when their doctors communicate news of recurrence.1 The ASCO Post spoke with the study’s lead author, Anthony ...
Landscape for Treatment of Metastatic Melanoma Is Expanding
Metastatic melanoma was long considered untreatable and incurable. The FDA approval of ipilimumab (Yervoy) and vemurafenib (Zelboraf) ushered in a new era for this disease, and now additional treatment options are in late stages of clinical development. Dabrafenib, a novel oral BRAF inhibitor, and...
Reflections from the Old World
A few years ago, I was a key witness for a patent dispute at a trial in Delaware. Acting for the complainant, I was briefed that the opening gambit of the opposition lawyer would be to discredit my CV and, therefore, the value of my testimony. “So you are a full Professor at the University of...
Three Experts Weigh In on the Health-care Reform Legislation
In light of the Supreme Court ruling, The ASCO Post asked three nationally regarded experts about how the Affordable Care Act will affect the practice of oncology. Ezekiel J. Emanuel, MD, PhD, Professor and Vice Provost for Global Initiatives, University of Pennsylvania: This is an overwhelmingly...
The Affordable Care Act Stands: Now What?
On March 23, 2010, President Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act into law—a hotly contested bill that enacted sweeping changes to the U.S. health-care system. The debate over the Affordable Care Act continued all the way to the Supreme Court, spearheaded by the case Florida...
