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Showing 6701 - 6750SIDEBAR: SIO’s 10th International Conference
The Society for Integrative Oncology (SIO) will be holding its 10th International Conference in Vancouver, Canada, from Sunday, October 20, 2013 to Tuesday, October 22, 2013. This year’s SIO theme: “From bedside, to bench, to best practices.” The conference will include keynote speakers, plenary...
Barrie R. Cassileth, MS, PhD, Champion of Integrative Oncology, Continues to Nurture Growth of the Field
Over the past decade, integrative oncology has gained wide acceptance as an evidenced-based way to improve the lives of patients with cancer throughout the continuum of their care. The ASCO Post recently spoke with Barrie R. Cassileth, MS, PhD, Chief of the Integrative Medicine Service and Laurance ...
Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation Introduces Centers of Excellence Program to Further Childhood Cancer Research
Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation (ALSF), a registered 501(c)(3) charity, is furthering its commitment to finding cures for all children with cancer by introducing the ALSF Centers of Excellence program. The Centers of Excellence program aims to fund the research of leading childhood cancer...
Focus on the Louisiana Oncology Society
Founded on September 1, 1992, by John M. Rainey, MD, the Louisiana Oncology Society has had numerous legislative successes (see sidebar) since that time, including leading the effort to support Louisiana’s Oral Chemotherapy Parity Law, which was passed in 2012 and is now in effect throughout the...
Ramon Parsons, MD, PhD, Named Chair of Oncological Sciences at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Renowned scientist Ramon E. Parsons, MD, PhD, has been named Chair of the Department of Oncological Sciences at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York. Dr. Parsons is a researcher in cancer genetics and will bring an interdisciplinary, holistic approach to Mount Sinai’s research...
Radiation, Still Misunderstood after All These Years
Over the past few decades, radiation therapies have rapidly advanced, due, in large part, to an increasing technologic armamentarium. Among modern science’s most impressive machines, for example, 220-ton particle accelerators can generate near-light-speed beams of protons, with sniper-like...
Effects of siRNA Combining TGF-β1 Silencing and RIG-I Activation in Pancreas Cancer
Dysregulation of TGF-β signaling promotes tumor growth, invasion, metastasis, and a potent immunosuppressive network in pancreas cancer. A strategy for disrupting the tumor-promoting pathway is the silencing of TGF-β by use of small-interfering (si) RNA. Ellermeier and colleagues found that the...
City of Hope Investigators Find Young Breast Cancer Survivors Understudied and Underserved
Researchers at City of Hope National Medical Center in Duarte, California, have been studying the effects of breast cancer on young women, particularly ethnic minorities and lower socioeconomic populations. They have found that young women are increasingly being diagnosed with breast cancer, yet...
AACR Briefs Congressional Staffers on Importance of Continued Funding for Research
As we all now know, the start of the sequestration prescribed by the Budget Control Act of 2011 was delayed until March 1, 2013, by the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012. With Congress unable to strike a deal, the mandatory reductions in Federal spending were triggered on March 1. Those...
Highlights of ACCC Annual Meeting Include Discussion of Trends Shaping the Future of Health Care
The 39th Annual National Meeting of the Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC) was held in Washington, DC, in March. With a focus on business, economics, and policy, the program included the inauguration of a new ACCC President (see page 102), a keynote speech on the future of health care,...
Implementing a National Cancer Clinical Trials System for the 21st Century
In March 2011, the National Cancer Policy Forum of the Institute of Medicine (IOM), in conjunction with ASCO, held a workshop to discuss a collaborative approach to making the National Cancer Institute (NCI)-funded clinical trials system more viable and productive. That workshop included...
The Future of Clinical Guidelines in Oncology
Clinical guidelines, like those of ASCO and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN), clearly have represented the standard of care and, to a large extent, the basis for coverage policy, especially in the area of medical oncology. However, guidelines increasingly seem to be in the shadow of ...
Dual Awards Pay Tribute to Gender Equity Trailblazers
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston recently recognized two leading advocates for women in medicine and research. Karen Antman, MD, Provost of the Boston University Medical Campus and Dean of its School of Medicine since 2005, was the recipient of the 2013 Margaret L....
Indiana University Researchers Earn $3.2 Million Grant to Develop, Improve Therapies for Pancreatic Cancer
Two Indiana University researchers have been awarded a multiyear, $3.2 million grant to develop and improve therapies for pancreatic cancer, the fourth leading cause of cancer death in the United States. Mark R. Kelley, PhD, Betty and Earl Herr Professor of Pediatric Oncology Research, and Melissa...
ASCO Develops New Physician Payment Reform Webpage and Four-part Educational Series
To help keep its members and the cancer community apprised and educated on the issue of payment reform, ASCO has developed a payment reform webpage and issued an ASCO in Action educational series. This four-part series is designed to help ASCO members better understand the complex issue of...
ASCO Leadership Development Program Participants 'Give Back' by Supporting the Conquer Cancer Foundation
In the fast-paced world of oncology, where the science of patient care is constantly evolving, it is critical for practitioners—and, by extension, their Society—to consistently be one step ahead. For ASCO and the Conquer Cancer Foundation, that means maintaining a strong focus not only on the...
Gene Transfer Therapy Is Producing Prolonged Remissions in Patients with Advanced Leukemia
In August 2011, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania published their breakthrough findings of a pilot study showing sustained remissions of up to 1 year in a small number of patients with advanced chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) who had been treated with genetically engineered...
Similar Outcomes for 18 vs 36 Months of Androgen Blockade in High-risk Prostate Cancer Treated with Radiation
Eighteen months of hormone therapy appears to be as safe and effective as 36 months when combined with radiation for patients with high-risk prostate cancer.1 Patients who received the shorter course of hormone therapy plus radiation had survival rates similar to those who received 36 months of...
CT Colonography Reconsidered
The parallel SIGGAR trials recently published in Lancet add to the growing body of literature regarding the utility of computed tomographic (CT) colonography in the detection of colorectal polyps and cancers. These papers reinforce the results seen in other large multicenter trials1-3 and echo the...
SIGGAR Trials Compare CT Colonography vs Barium Enema and Colonoscopy in Evaluation for Colon Cancer
The companion UK Special Interest Group in Gastrointestinal and Abdominal Radiology (SIGGAR) trials compared computed tomographic (CT) colonography with barium enema and colonoscopy in patients with symptoms suggestive of colon cancer. As recently reported by the SIGGAR investigators in The...
Genomic Analysis of Squamous Cell Lung Cancer Tumors May Lead to More Targeted Therapies
Last fall, a consortium of more than 300 researchers from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) Research Network published the results of their large-scale genetic analysis of squamous cell lung cancer in the journal Nature.1 The study, the first of its kind, compared the tumor cells from 178 untreated...
Philips Receives FDA 510(k) Clearance for MicroDose SI Mammography System
Royal Philips Electronics recently announced that it has received 510(k) clearance from the FDA for its MicroDose SI system, a full-field digital mammography system that has the capability to enable future single-shot spectral imaging applications. High Breast Density High breast density is a known ...
BRAF Mutations in Colorectal Cancer: The Next Frontier
Some 5% to 10% of patients with colorectal cancer harbor the BRAF mutation, placing them at risk for poor treatment response and worse outcomes. The ASCO Post interviewed S. Gail Eckhardt, MD, an expert in this area who is Professor and Head of the Division of Medical Oncology at the University of...
Clinical-Pathologic Stage Discrepancy High in Patients with Bladder Cancer Undergoing Surgery
About 48% of all patients with bladder cancer undergoing radical cystectomy have a discrepancy between their clinical stage and pathologic stage, according to the largest study to date to examine this issue. Upstaging after surgery is associated with reduced survival, while downstaging after...
Homoharringtonine/Omacetaxine: The Little Drug that Could
First, a clarification: Homoharringtonine is a natural plant alkaloid derived from Cephalotaxus fortunei; from the 1970s until the present, it was the subject of intensive research efforts by Chinese investigators to clarify its role as an antileukemic agent.1-3 Omacetaxine mepesuccinate (Synribo)...
Is Aspirin Protective against Colorectal Cancer?
A growing body of evidence provides biologic and clinical evidence that nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agents are protective against colorectal cancer. “It is fascinating for me as a medical oncologist and epidemiologist to see how the worlds of colorectal cancer treatment and epidemiology are...
Progression-free Survival in HER2-positive Metastatic Breast Cancer Improved with T-DM1
First-line treatment with ado-trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1) “provided a significant improvement” in progression-free survival when compared to trastuzumab (Herceptin) plus docetaxel in a randomized phase II study among patients with HER2-positive metastatic or recurrent locally advanced breast...
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center Survivorship Program to Lead New Study on Cancer In Young Adults
The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center Survivorship Program and its Directors, K. Scott Baker, MD, and Karen Syrjala, PhD, have been selected to lead a nationwide study that aims to improve long-term health outcomes for cancer survivors between the ages of 18 and 39 years. Underway this spring, ...
American Association for Cancer Research Honors Award Recipients at Annual Meeting
The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) named the following as recipients of awards at the recent Annual Meeting. Joseph H. Burchenal Memorial Award for Outstanding Achievement in Clinical Cancer Research Hagop Kantarjian, MD, Chair and Professor in The University of Texas MD Anderson...
Alopecia a Common but Underreported Side Effect of Endocrine Agents
At the recent American Academy of Dermatology Annual Meeting in Miami, researchers presented interesting findings regarding melanoma and other skin cancers, as well as dermatologic effects of cancer agents. The following is a summary of one such study. While alopecia is a common side effect of many ...
From One to Many, Here and Around the World
The Conquer Cancer Foundation Grants and Awards Program has grown tremendously in 30 years, from supporting just one researcher in the United States to thousands working around the world. These investigators are performing breakthrough research in all aspects of cancer and making discoveries that...
AACR Elects Carlos L. Arteaga, MD, as President-elect 2013-2014
The members of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) have elected Carlos L. Arteaga, MD, as their President-elect for 2013-2014. Dr. Arteaga is Professor of Medicine and Cancer Biology at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine where he holds the Donna S. Hall Chair in Breast Cancer...
Does Every Melanoma Patient with a Positive Sentinel Node Need More Lymph Nodes Removed?
When sentinel node biopsy was shown to predict whether early melanoma had spread to regional lymph nodes, it revolutionized care. Before that, dissection of all regional lymph nodes was the norm for most patients. After that, the standard of care became a sentinel node biopsy and then—only if the...
Higher HER2 Expression Linked to Best Results with T-DM1 in Patients with HER2-positive Metastatic Breast Cancer
A biomarker analysis of the pivotal EMILIA trial suggests that women with metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer with tumors that have high expression of HER2 derive the most robust benefit from treatment with the antibody-drug conjugate T-DM1 (also now known as ado-trastuzumab emtansine...
Saul N. Weingart, MD, PhD, Named New Chief Medical Officer of Tufts Medical Center
Tufts Medical Center has appointed Saul N. Weingart, MD, PhD, of Newton, Massachusetts as its next Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Weingart is currently serving as Vice President for Quality Improvement and Patient Safety at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. He is a nationally renowned leader in...
Symptom Management with Complementary Therapies for Patients Receiving Radiation Therapy
The supportive care of patients with cancer receiving radiotherapy is an important responsibility for the radiation oncologist, and complementary therapies are an integral component of many patients’ treatment strategy.A recent prospective study suggests that 54% of patients with breast cancer...
Epithelial-to-mesenchymal Transition and Autophagy Induction in Breast Carcinoma Promote Escape from T-cell–mediated Lysis
Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition is known to mediate cancer cell invasion, metastasis, and drug resistance, but its impact on cancer immune surveillance is less well defined. In a study reported in Cancer Research, Akalay and colleagues found that epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition and...
Control of Autophagic Cell Death by Caspase-10 in Multiple Myeloma
Multiple myeloma subtypes are driven by a variety of genetic abnormalities. Given the genetic diversity of the disease, identification of oncogenic mechanisms common to all subtypes is highly desirable. In a study reported in Cancer Cell, Lamy and colleagues found that that all multiple myeloma...
FDA Warns about Potential Medication Errors
The FDA recently alerted health-care professionals that the use of the incorrect nonproprietary name for the breast cancer drug Kadcyla (ado-trastuzumab emtansine, also known as T-DM1 during preapproval clinical trials) in some medication-related electronic systems poses a risk of mix-up with...
The ASCO Post Up Close: Our Reporters and Contributors
About the Writers Charlotte Bath has been writing about cancer and related fields of medicine since serving as Public Information Director of the American Cancer Society, Long Island Division, from 1975 to 1979. She subsequently worked as a writer for Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and...
Drug Approvals in Acute Myeloid Leukemia: Can We Do Better?
Forty years ago, President Richard Nixon announced a “war on cancer.” Some of that war’s first battles were won in the field of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with two agents, cytarabine and daunorubicin, receiving U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval based on their ability to produce...
Focus on Alaska's Denali Oncology Group
Located in Anchorage, Alaska, the Denali Oncology Group faces the dual challenge of serving a diverse and large population of more than 731,000 spread across a vast state of 586,000 square miles, with just 20 medical oncologists and 5 radiation oncologists located mainly in Alaska’s two biggest...
Lynch Syndrome: A Multitude of Predispositions
The current uncertainty regarding the relative frequencies of cancers of various anatomic sites in Lynch syndrome poses a difficulty in commenting on the syndrome’s overall cancer spectrum. It is even more vexing to address the order in which these cancers are prone to occur. What we do know is...
Emerging Prognostic Markers in Colon Cancer
Patients with stage II colon cancer generally have a favorable prognosis, with about 80% of patients surviving 5 years after surgery and the majority of these long-term survivors presumed to be cured. Clearly though, some patients are destined to recur after surgery, and there is an urgent need to...
12-Gene Recurrence Score Predicts Recurrence in Stage II Colon Cancer in CALGB 9851 Population
As reported by Alan P. Venook, MD, Professor of Medicine (Hematology/Oncology) at the University of California, San Francisco, and colleagues in Journal of Clinical Oncology, a 12-gene recurrence score (Oncotype DX Colon Cancer Assay) was shown to predict recurrence in stage II colon cancer in a...
NCCN Patient Guidelines for Adolescents and Young Adults
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) has issued new NCCN Guidelines for Patients, titled “Caring for Adolescents and Young Adults [AYA].” These guidelines fill an unmet need in oncology, as Peter F. Coccia, MD, Chair of the NCCN Guidelines Panel for Young Adult Oncology and a member of...
Debt and the Oncology Fellow
Despite today’s challenging economy, health care is one field that offers vast career opportunities. Oncology, with the impending workforce shortage, is especially eager for bright young doctors to join its ranks. But the rising costs of medical school can be a deterrent, leading the best and...
Cancer Treatment Pioneers to Share Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research
Peter C. Nowell, MD, Janet D. Rowley, MD, and Brian J. Druker, MD, have been named as the recipients of the 2013 Albany Medical Center Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research, to be officially awarded May 17. The $500,000 award, given to those who have altered the course of medical research, is...
New Labeling for Reformulated OxyContin to Curb Abuse
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved updated labeling for the reformulated painkiller OxyContin (controlled-release oxycodone hydrochloride). The new labeling will indicate that the drug has physical and chemical properties that make injection or snorting challenging. This new measure ...
Leading Investigators Honored for Outstanding Contributions to the Field of Oncology
Each year through its Special Awards Program, ASCO recognizes researchers, patient advocates, and leaders of the global oncology community who, through their work, have made significant contributions to enhancing cancer care. These recipients of ASCO’s highest, most prestigious awards collectively...
