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Showing 6951 - 70002016 Quality Care Symposium: New Triage System Decreases Emergency Room Visits by Oncology Patients in Florida
A quality improvement initiative to reduce patients’ reliance on emergency room (ER) visits to treat cancer treatment side effects has shown to be highly effective, according to early findings from a new study. The strategy, involving a telephone triage service coupled with patient education, ...
2016 Quality Care Symposium: Online Tool Improves Access to Information on Cancer Treatment Costs
To facilitate doctor/patient conversations about costs of cancer care, researchers developed and piloted an online tool for oncologists. The innovative resource lists prices for the 50 most commonly prescribed cancer treatment regimens. A survey of the pilot users at four clinics in Washington...
2016 Head and Neck Cancer Symposium: Induction Chemotherapy Does Not Predict Survival Advantage Over Concurrent Chemoradiation
Head and neck cancer patients who receive induction chemotherapy rather than the standard treatment of concurrent chemoradiation do not benefit from increased survival rates and are less likely to receive a full course of radiation, according to research presented by Stokes et al at the 2016...
Journal of Oncology Practice Goes to Monthly Distribution With New and Enhanced Resources
ASCO announced today that the Journal of Oncology Practice (JOP) will be printed on a monthly basis and offer new resources to supply oncology professionals with cutting-edge information on cancer care delivery. Doubling its content, the expanded journal also features clinical information from a...
SIDEBAR: Expect Questions from Your Patients and Colleagues
Patients of the Women’s Cancer Center at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia often ask about ovarian cancer risk, the center’s Director, Robert A. Burger, MD, told The ASCO Post. Moreover, the recent study showing that bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy reduced that risk generated discussion among ...
FDA Issues Revised Draft Guidance on Financial Disclosure by Clinical Investigators
The FDA recently issued a draft guidance on financial disclosure by clinical investigators, intended to assist researchers, industry, and FDA staff in interpreting and complying with regulations found in the Code of Federal Regulations Title 21, Part 54. The draft is being distributed for comment...
A Conversation with Samuel Silver, MD, PhD
Over the past 2 decades, significant therapeutic advances have led to greater survival rates and quality of life for patients with cancer. During the same period there has been a transformation in the way oncology services are both perceived and delivered. In a recent conversation with The ASCO...
A Conversation with Craig B. Thompson, MD
In November 2010, Craig B. Thompson, MD, was named President and CEO of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) in New York, succeeding Harold Varmus, MD, who is now Director of the NCI. A cancer clinician and researcher, before coming to Memorial Sloan-Kettering Dr. Thompson was Director of...
MD Anderson Cancer Center’s New President Has a Bold Vision
On September 1, 2011, Ronald A. DePinho, MD, became only the fourth President in the 70-year history of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. Dr. DePinho spent the previous 14 years as head of Dana-Farber’s Belfer Institute for Applied Cancer Science. In a recent interview...
Studies Reveal that Hormonal Factors Influence Lung Cancer Risk in Women
In an effort to understand lung cancer risk factors and develop prevention strategies for the disease, Christina S. Baik, MD, MPH, thoracic oncologist and staff scientist at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, has examined epidemiologic trends in lung...
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...
ASCO Membership Categories Offer a Place for Everyone
If your work touches those who have cancer, you have a place within ASCO. That’s the message that the organization, during its 48 years, has gotten across in many ways, not the least of which is its membership categories, which have expanded right along with the field of cancer care. “ASCO is...
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...
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...
AACR Inducts Frank McCormick, PhD, FRS, DSc (hon) as President; Elects Charles L. Sawyers, MD, as President-elect, 2012-2013
Leadership of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) inducted Frank McCormick, PhD, FRS, DSc (hon), as President of the society during the AACR Annual Meeting held earlier this month Dr. McCormick is the Director of the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Helen Diller Family ...
ACCC Releases Survey on ‘Oncology Medical Home’
The Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC) released findings from a survey that explores how community-based cancer care programs view the concept of the “oncology medical home”—a patient-centered model for coordinated care, whereby payers would reimburse physicians for services that keep...
Radiation Oncologists Are Discussing Infertility Risks with Young Patients
More than 80% of radiation oncologists discuss the impact of cancer treatments on fertility with their patients of childbearing age. This can lead to improved quality of life for young patients with cancer, according to a study in Practical Radiation Oncology.1 In the past, the clinical focus for...
Before Accepting a ‘Friend’ Request on Social Media, Carefully Consider the Potential Pitfalls and Perils
To friend or not to friend? That is the question many social networkers ponder daily. Oncologists and other health professionals considering “friend” requests from patients would be wise to first consider the potential pitfalls and perils of accepting such requests, according to an article written...
FDA Strengthens Monitoring of Postapproval Drug Safety
A strengthened and modernized postmarket drug safety program has resulted in a substantial improvement in the FDA’s oversight of drugs once they reach the American public, according to a new report released by the agency’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER). The report, Advances in...
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...
Despite Challenges, Initiatives Bring Gradual Improvements to Cancer Care in Lebanon
Nagi S. El Saghir, MD, FACP, Professor of Clinical Medicine and Hematology-Oncology at the American University of Beirut, is the founding President of the Lebanese Society of Medical Oncology (LSMO). Dr. El Saghir has focused much of his research on the early detection, prevention, and treatment of ...
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center Appoints José Baselga, MD, PhD, New Physician-in-Chief
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center announced that José Baselga, MD, PhD, has been named Physician-in-Chief of Memorial Hospital. Currently, Dr. Baselga is Chief of the Division of Hematology/Oncology at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Associate Director of the MGH Cancer Center....
American Psychosocial Oncology Society Provides Helpline for Counseling Services
The American Psychosocial Oncology Society (APOS) offers a toll-free national Helpline as a resource to help people with cancer and their caregivers find counseling services in their own communities. Patients with cancer, caregivers, and advocacy organizations may obtain referrals for local...
Successful Use of Cytoreduction and Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy May Hinge on Prior Experience
A review of 60 consecutive patients with peritoneal carcinomatosis who underwent cytoreductive surgery plus hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC)—sometimes called “hot chemotherapy”—found 0% mortality and 33% morbidity, with “a significant reduction of grade III/IV morbidity,...
NCCN Appoints Dr. Robert Carlson as Chief Executive Officer
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) has appointed Robert W. Carlson, MD, a leading expert in the field of breast medical oncology, as Chief Executive Officer. “Dr. Carlson is highly regarded in the oncology community, and NCCN is extremely pleased to appoint him as CEO. Over the last...
Pain Remains Prevalent among Oncology Outpatients, with Odds of Undertreatment Twice as High among Minority Patients
In 1994, a landmark study of pain among oncology outpatients prompted a host of pain management initiatives.1 More than 18 years later, a recent study among more than 2,000 cancer outpatients has found that “one-third of the patients who had pain or used analgesics received inadequate treatment for ...
The University of Tennessee Medical Center Opens New Cancer Institute
The University of Tennessee Medical Center officially opened its new Cancer Institute in Knoxville at a ceremony attended by hundreds of patients, physicians, staff, and community leaders. At 108,000 square-feet, the new building nearly triples the size of the medical center’s previous cancer care...
Richard L. Schilsky, MD, Chosen to Serve in New ASCO Leadership Position, Chief Medical Officer
Richard L. Schilsky, MD, Chief of Hematology/Oncology in the Department of Medicine and Deputy Director of the University of Chicago Comprehensive Cancer Center, has been named to the newly created position of Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of ASCO. A former ASCO President and Fellow of the American...
Peter P. Yu, MD, Elected ASCO President, 2014–2015, Others Named to ASCO Board
Peter P. Yu, MD, has been elected President of ASCO for a 1-year term beginning in June 2014. He will take office as President-Elect during the ASCO Annual Meeting in Chicago in June 2013. Additionally, three new members were elected to the ASCO Board of Directors, and three new members were...
National Comprehensive Cancer Network Appoints New CEO
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) recently appointed nationally regarded breast cancer expert Robert W. Carlson, MD, as its new CEO. Previously, Dr. Carlson was Professor of Medicine in the Division of Oncology and Medical Informatics, Stanford University Medical Center; he first...
Hematology/Oncology Team Joins NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center
The Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center (HICCC) at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center has welcomed five new clinician-scientists specializing in leukemia. These practitioners joined the HICCC faculty in early January 2013. The new staff members are Mark G....
As Computers Learn to 'Talk' to Each Other, Patient Care Will Improve
Last fall, Edward P. Ambinder, MD, Clinical Professor of Medicine, Hematology, and Medical Oncology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York, and a member of ASCO’s Health Information Technology Work Group, spoke about “The Information Age: Cyberspace and Cancer,” at the...
SIDEBAR: Ask Patients about Their Smoking Status
“Receiving a cancer diagnosis represents a ‘teachable moment’ for delivering smoking cessation and relapse prevention interventions,” concluded a study in the journal Cancer1 about smoking relapse in patients with thoracic cancer or head and neck cancer. Previous research by two of the study’s...
Study Shows New Approach Connecting Smokers to Quit Lines Increases Smoking Cessation Treatment Enrollment
Self-identified smokers directly connected to a tobacco cessation quit line are 13 times more likely to enroll in a treatment program as compared to smokers who are handed a quit line referral card and encouraged to call on their own, according to a new study published online in JAMA Internal...
City of Hope Names Robert Stone, JD, as New Chief Executive Officer
After 10 years at City of Hope, in Duarte, California, former FDA acting Commissioner Michael A. Friedman, MD, has decided to retire from his position as Chief Executive Officer, and the Board of Directors has selected current President Robert Stone, JD, to assume the dual role of President and...
Preparing for the Next Superstorm: Protecting Patients during Natural Disasters
When Hurricane Sandy slammed into the East Coast last October, the magnitude of devastation it left in its wake exceeded even the most dire predictions. Eighty mile per hour winds and record storm surges destroyed antiquated electrical grids and flooded subway stations, leaving much of New York...
NCI Guide Helps Providers Get Adolescent and Young Adult Patients Involved in End-of-life Care
Enabling adolescent and young adult (AYA) patients to become involved in advance care planning can help parents and health-care agents make informed decisions, alleviate distress, and possibly improve the patients’ quality of life, according to researchers at the National Cancer Institute’s...
SIDEBAR: Samuel M. Silver, MD, PhD, Elected Chairman of NCCN Board of Directors
Samuel M. Silver, MD, PhD, of the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, has been elected Chairman of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Board of Directors. Dr. Silver was previously Vice Chairman of the Board and succeeds Thomas A. D’Amico, MD, of the Duke Cancer...
Sexual Health after Cancer: Communicating with Your Patients
Studies show virtually all cancer survivors will experience some form of sexual dysfunction following a cancer diagnosis and treatment. Yet few cancer survivors seek help for physical problems they may be experiencing, such as vaginal dryness, dyspareunia, chemically induced menopause, reduced...
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...
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...
Breakthroughs in Targeted Therapies for Breast Cancer Are Improving Patient Survival Rates
For more than 20 years, José Baselga, MD, PhD, has devoted his medical and scientific career to caring for breast cancer patients and the development of novel molecular targeted agents to treat the disease. From 1996 to 2010, he was Head of the Oncology Department of Vall d’Hebron University...
Sequestration's Impact on Cancer Care
On March 1, the deficit-budget mechanism known as sequestration took effect, triggering $85 billion in across-the-board cuts to most federal agencies over the remaining 7 months in fiscal year 2013. The total federal deficit reduction budget under the Budget Control Act of 2011 calls for $1.2...
Utilizing the Power of Rapid Learning Health-care Systems to Improve Patient Care
Lynn Etheredge’s career in shaping national health-care and social policy spans more than 4 decades and four Presidential administrations. He was the lead analyst in the development of health insurance proposals for Medicare and Medicaid while working in the White House Office of Management and...
Expert Point of View: Giulia Veronesi, MD
The study discussant, Giulia Veronesi, MD, of the Division of Thoracic Surgery, European Institute of Oncology, Milan, Italy, said that diagnostic algorithms aim to strike a balance between a too-invasive workup that exposes screened persons to useless invasive procedures and overtreatment, and...
One Cancer Center's Approach to Death with Dignity
In November 2008, the Washington State legislature passed the Washington Death with Dignity Act allowing patients with a terminal diagnosis and less than 6 months to live to request and self-administer lethal medication. After considerable internal debate, our cancer center elected to develop a...
ASCO Urges Administration to Provide Clear Affordable Care Act Guidance on Protecting Patient Access to Clinical Trials
ASCO has joined more than 50 other organizations in urging the Administration to issue regulations or guidance before January 2014 to ensure health plans implement an important provision of the Affordable Care Act that would remove a critical obstacle to patients interested in participating in...
Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Appoints New Administrative Officer
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society recently announced the appointment of Rosemarie Loffredo as its new Chief Administrative Officer and Chief Financial Officer. In this newly created role, Ms. Loffredo will help ensure the Society achieves the goals of its long-range strategic plan. She will lead ...
SIDEBAR: Key Issues in Joint Commission Statement by American Psychosocial Oncology Society, Association of Oncology Social Work, and Oncology Nursing Society
It is imperative that [Commission on Cancer]-accredited programs adopt a universal definition of distress. We concur with the National Comprehensive Cancer Network definition of distress as an “unpleasant emotional experience of a psychological (cognitive, behavioral, emotional), social, and/or...
A Look Ahead: The Next Decade in Pediatric Oncology
The past 10 years have seen dramatic advances in cancer care, especially in better screening methods and earlier detection, genomic sequencing, and more effective therapies, which have led to increased survival rates in both childhood and adult cancers. According to the National Cancer Institute...
