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Showing 6351 - 6400How 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The Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA), passed earlier this year, repealed the fundamentally flawed Sustainable Growth Rate formula and introduced significant changes in how Medicare will pay oncologists for the care they provide in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...
Expert Point of View: Karen Ballen, MD
This is a group of patients who have not done very well over the years. The cure rate for children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is over 90%, whereas this group of patients (ie, aged 18–50) typically has a 5-year survival of 40% to 50%. Use of pediatric regimens has boosted that survival, ...
Pediatric Regimen Achieves Higher-Than-Expected Survival in Young Adults With Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia
Adolescents and younger adults with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) had superior outcomes on a “pediatric” regimen compared with adult treatment protocols. A multicenter phase II study included patients aged 18–50, extending the upper limit of “younger,” since most other trials of this approach...
Expert Point of View: Mark J. Levis, MD
Putting this trial into context, Mark J. Levis, MD, of the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins, Baltimore, said: “Six different FLT3 inhibitors have advanced into phase III trials. Midostaurin in the only one that has made it to the ‘station.’” “The fact that midostaurin is...
A Shot to End Cancer: HPV Vaccination
As health-care providers, we have an obligation and a responsibility not only to care for our patients, but also to educate them—and the general public—about their cancer risk and ways to reduce or prevent it. We are living in the golden era of cancer prevention and treatment, made possible by...
ESMO Asia 2015: Results From the KEYNOTE-010 Trial Show Pembrolizumab Benefit in Patients With NSCLC
More patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) could benefit from pembrolizumab (Keytruda), said Roy Herbst, MD, PhD, Chief of Medical Oncology at Yale Cancer Center and Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale-New Haven. Dr. Herbst presented promising results from the pivotal phase...
FDA Expands Pembrolizumab Label to Include Approval in Initial Treatment of Unresectable or Metastatic Melanoma
On December 18, 2015, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) expanded the pembrolizumab (Keytruda) label to include approval of the drug for the treatment of patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma. This expansion now includes the initial treatment of patients with unresectable or...
Repeating Abnormal PSA Tests Reduces Number of Unnecessary Biopsies
For more than 20 years, the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test has been used to help screen for prostate cancer. However, in recent years, some task forces have called for this blood test to be abandoned because it leads to many unnecessary biopsies. Now, a new study from The Ottawa Hospital and...
ASH 2015: Updated Results of Phase III Tourmaline-MM1 Study of Ixazomib in Multiple Myeloma
In a study presented by Moureau et al at the 57th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting, ixazomib (Ninlaro), a recently approved oral proteasome inhibitor, significantly extended progression-free survival for patients with relapsed and/or refractory multiple myeloma (Abstract 727)....
Study Finds Increased Risk of Breast Cancer After False-Positive Screening Mammography
Studies show that an estimated 67% of women aged 40 and older undergo screening mammography every 1 to 2 years. Over the course of 10 screening mammograms, the estimated cumulative probability of at least one false-positive result is 61% for women screened annually and 42% for women screened...
Citywide Effort Boosts New York City's Colorectal Cancer Screening Rates
A coalition formed by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) to increase colorectal cancer screening rates in New York resulted in a 40% increase in screening rates over 4 years. The program may serve as a foundation for other communities to boost cancer screening rates,...
FDA Approves Osimertinib for EGFR T790M Mutation–Positive Non–Small Cell Lung Cancer After Progression on Prior EGFR-Blocking Therapy
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval for an oral medication to treat patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Osimertinib (Tagrisso) is now approved for patients whose tumors have a specific epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation ...
Cancer Survivors Are Less Likely to Receive Callbacks From Potential Employers
Job applicants who are cancer survivors are less likely to receive callbacks from potential retail employers than those who did not disclose their health history, according to a recent study by Rice University and Pennsylvania State University researchers. Study Findings The study, published by...
Chemotherapy-Induced Hearing Loss Affects Cognition in Pediatric Brain Tumor Survivors
More children are surviving malignant brain tumors than in the past, thanks to the use of intense treatments using platinum-based chemotherapy (cisplatin and high-dose carboplatin). Unfortunately, the therapy has a known side effect of permanent hearing loss, resulting from damage to the inner ear. ...
Protein CK5 a Marker for Cisplatin-Resistant Ovarian Cancer
A University of Colorado Cancer Center study recently published by Corr et al in the International Journal of Gynecological Cancer shows that protein cytokeratin 5 (CK5), known to be a marker of poor prognosis in breast cancer, also marks ovarian cancers likely to be resistant to the common...
ABC3: Higher Insulin Is an Independent Prognostic Factor in Advanced Breast Cancer
Patients with metastatic breast cancer who have higher insulin levels than normal, but are not diabetic, have a significantly worse prognosis compared with those who have normal insulin levels, according to data being presented (Abstract BP129) at the Advanced Breast Cancer Third International...
Immunotherapy for Pancreatic Cancer Boosts Survival by More Than 75% in Preclinical Models
A new study in mice by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center has found that a specialized type of immunotherapy—even when used without chemotherapy or radiation—can boost survival from pancreatic cancer by more than 75%. The findings are promising, and human clinical...
Exercise Could Provide a Margin of Safety for Women Who Want to Delay Preventive Mastectomy
Regular physical activity could play a role in helping women at high-risk of breast cancer delay the need for drastic preventive measures such as prophylactic mastectomy, according to new research led by the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Results of the WISER Sister...
Newly Discovered Tumor-Suppressor Gene Affects Melanoma Survival
Of the hundreds of genes that can be mutated in a single case of melanoma, only a handful may be true drivers of cancer. A new study published by Arafeh et al in Nature Genetics, a Weizmann Institute of Science team has revealed one of the drivers of a particularly deadly subset of melanomas that...
ASTRO 2015: Accelerated Partial-Breast Irradiation With Brachytherapy After Breast-Conserving Surgery Is as Effective as Whole-Breast Irradiation
For some early-stage breast cancer patients, accelerated partial-breast irradiation using multicatheter brachytherapy following breast-conserving surgery may be an excellent treatment option, as it has now been proven to be as effective as the current standard treatment—whole-breast...
Researchers Link Immunosuppressive Mycophenolate Mofetil to Increased Risk of Central Nervous System Lymphoma
A study led by Johns Hopkins researchers has linked the immunosuppressive drug mycophenolate mofetil to an increased risk of central nervous system lymphoma in solid organ transplant patients. But the same study also found that another class of immunosuppressive drugs, calcineurin inhibitors, given ...
Study Examines Links Between Viral and Bacterial Microbial Signatures and Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
Cancer is the result of normal cellular functions going wildly awry on a genetic level. That fact has been known for some time, but increasing evidence is showing that the human microbiome, the diverse population of microorganisms within every person, may play a key role in either setting the stage ...
A Tolerant Immune System May Increase Cancer Risk
For a malignant tumor to form, cancer cells must evade the immune system's attack. Numerous studies have already shown that cancer spreads particularly aggressively if there is an unfavorable balance between suppressing and active immune cells in the tumor microenvironment. “But we didn't...
Many Patients Do Not Accurately Recall Important Colonoscopy Details as Time Lapses
As time lapses, many patients who have undergone a colonoscopy become less and less likely to recall when and where they last had the procedure performed, who the doctor was who performed it, whether polyps were found, and, if so, the number and size of those polyps, according to new study results...
ECC 2015: Combination of Dabrafenib and Trametinib Superior to Vemurafenib Alone in Advanced Melanoma: Results of the COMBI-v Trial
The latest results from a trial of a combination of two targeted therapies (dabrafenib [Tafinlar] and trametinib [Mekinist]) to treat advanced melanoma have shown that patients are living significantly longer on the combined therapy than patients treated with vemurafenib (Zelboraf) alone. Caroline...
Biomarker miR-506 Helps Predict Survival Time in Gastric Cancer Patients
Gastric cancer is typically associated with late-stage diagnosis, as well as high mortality. A study by Li et al in The American Journal of Pathology points to a pivotal role played by the biomarker microRNA (miR)-506 in gastric cancer. Patients whose primary gastric cancer lesions express high...
ECC 2015: Advanced Gastrointestinal Neuroendocrine Tumors and Results From the NETTER-1 Trial
Results from a multicenter randomized international trial of an innovative treatment show a marked improvement in the length of time patients with midgut neuroendocrine tumors experience progression-free survival, researchers reported at the 2015 European Cancer Congressin Vienna, Austria, on...
ECC 2015: Tackling the Global Shortfall in Radiotherapy
Millions of people are unable to receive necessary treatment worldwide because of a chronic underinvestment in radiotherapy resources, according to a major new Commission on access to radiotherapy, published in by Atun et al in The Lancet Oncology, and presented at the 2015 European Cancer Congress ...
ECC 2015: Children Exposed to Prenatal Cancer Treatment Show Normal Mental Processes and Heart Function
In a special session on cancer in pregnancy at the 2015 European Cancer Congress (Abstract 3205), Frédéric Amant, MD, PhD, said that new results from a study of 129 children, aged 1–3, born after prenatal exposure to cancer treatment, showed normal development of their...
ECC 2015: Living Conditions and Gender Appear to Affect Incidence of Hodgkin Lymphoma
Living in overcrowded conditions appears to protect children and young adults against developing a particular type of Hodgkin lymphoma. This protective effect seems to suggest that infections earlier in life may stimulate the immune system to deal with future infections and cancerous cells more...
ECC 2015: Discovery of Differences Between Tumors of Younger and Older Patients With Colorectal Cancer May Lead to Better Treatments
Colorectal cancer is on the rise among younger patients. Although some of the younger-onset cases can be explained by hereditary factors, the majority arise spontaneously. Researchers have now found that tumors in younger patients with colorectal cancer may be molecularly distinct from those of...
ECC 2015: Hormone Therapy May Prevent Ovarian Failure and Preserve Fertility in Women With Breast Cancer
Young women undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer may be more likely to remain fertile if they also receive hormonal treatment, according to new research (Abstract 1957) presented at the 2015 European Cancer Congress in Vienna, Austria, and published simultaneously by Lambertini et al in Annals ...
ECC 2015: Over Three-Quarters of People With Cancer Worldwide Have No Access to Safe Surgery
Over 80% of the 15 million people diagnosed with cancer worldwide in 2015 will need surgery, but less than one-quarter of them will have access to proper, safe, affordable surgical care when they need it, according to a major new Commission examining the state of global cancer surgery. The...
ECC 2015: Use of Aspirin Linked to Improved Survival in Gastrointestinal Cancers
Aspirin improved survival in patients with tumors situated throughout the gastrointestinal tract, results from a large study in the Netherlands showed. This is the first time that survival data from patients with tumors in different gastrointestinal locations have been analyzed at the same time;...
ECC 2015: Childhood Cancers in Europe: Progress Has Been Made, but Much Still to Do
Each year in Europe, 6,000 young people die from cancer, and two-thirds of those who survive suffer from treatment-related side effects. Although there has been considerable progress in the treatment of childhood cancers over the past few decades, and cancer in childhood is rare, these are major...
ECC 2015: Association Between Primary Surgery and Survival Benefit in Patients With Advanced Throat Cancers
Patients with cancers of the mid and lower throat may have higher survival rates if their initial treatment includes surgery, according to new research (Abstract 2804) presented at the 2015 European Cancer Congress in Vienna, Austria. Researchers explained that a nationwide study in Taiwan found...
ECC 2015: Study Finds Significant Genetic Differences Between Breast Cancers That Relapse and Those That Do Not
Although most patients with breast cancer are cured after treatment, in about one in five patients, the cancer will recur, returning either to the same place as the original tumor or metastasizing to other parts of the body. Now, researchers have taken an important step toward understanding why...
