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Showing 7901 - 7950Gab2 Promotes Characteristics of Epithelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition in Ovarian Cancer
Ovarian cancer is often diagnosed at a late stage, when cancer cells have already migrated and invaded other tissues and organs. Wang and colleagues from the University of Colorado Denver and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, showed that Gab2—a scaffolding adaptor protein that is...
Acai Berry
The use of dietary supplements by patients with cancer has risen significantly over the past 2 decades despite insufficient evidence of safety and effectiveness. Finding reliable sources of information about dietary supplements can be daunting. Patients typically rely on family, friends, and the...
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, ...
SIDEBAR: Expect Questions from Your Patients
“Our study provides critical interim companion data to awaited randomized trials and may help clinicians and patients quantify the risk-benefit ratio of brachytherapy compared with standard therapy,” Benjamin D. Smith, MD, said of a study comparing lumpectomy and either whole-breast irradiation or...
Will Study Showing Increased Complications Compared to Whole-breast Irradiation Put the Brakes on Brachytherapy?
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. Older women treated for invasive...
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 ...
International Photodynamic Medicine Symposium: Shedding New Light on an Old Therapy
This past May, a collaborative think tank of researchers was convened at The Ohio State University, Columbus, to share their expertise in a somewhat older treatment that is reemerging on many fronts: photodynamic therapy. Participants from the United States, Great Britain, and Japan took part in...
Egidio Del Fabbro Named Program Director of Palliative Care at Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center
Egidio Del Fabbro, MD, has been named program director of palliative care at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Massey Cancer Center, effective May 1, 2012. A nationally recognized expert in palliative care, Dr. Del Fabbro comes to VCU Massey from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer...
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...
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...
Epidemiology, Diagnosis, and Treatment of Breast Cancer Explored at the American Society of Breast Surgeons Meeting
Over 1,300 breast surgeons attended the 13th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Breast Surgeons, held May 2–6 in Phoenix. Presentations included investigations on recurrence after lumpectomy, gender differences in breast cancer, and the potential role of infrared thermography in diagnosing...
Maintenance Lenalidomide Improves Progression-free Survival and Time to Progression in Patients with Multiple Myeloma
Three phase III, double-blind, multicenter, randomized studies showed that lenalidomide (Revlimid) maintenance therapy for patients with multiple myeloma significantly improved progression-free survival or time to progression, the primary endpoints of the studies published in The New England...
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...
Better Information Needed for Primary Care Providers Who Treat Cancer Survivors
Many primary care providers are unaware of the late effects of chemotherapy, according to survey results presented at the ASCO Annual Meeting.1 For three out of four commonly used chemotherapy agents, medical oncologists performed well on the survey, but 29% to 38% of medical oncologists were...
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...
After 3 Decades at MD Anderson, Leukemia Researcher Shows No Sign of Slowing Down
Hagop M. Kantarjian, MD, Chair of the Department of Leukemia at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, was born in Lebanon. The only member of his family to have pursued a career in medicine, he received his medical degree from the American University of Beirut (AUB), which was founded...
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...
Trailblazing Neurologist Leads the Way in Advancing Treatment of Cancer Pain
Kathleen M. Foley, MD, began her life’s work in cancer pain management at a time when suffering was a universally accepted consequence of the disease. Since then, Dr. Foley’s tireless work in the clinic and public forum has advanced not only the clinical treatment of cancer pain, but also the...
Reflections on the Evolution of Clinical Cancer Research and Turning Points in a Distinguished Career
Since May 1, 2005, Karen H. Antman, MD, has served as Dean of Boston University School of Medicine and Provost of the Boston University Medical Campus, located in the historic South End of Boston. Her road to this esteemed institution was paved with prominent positions, such as former ASCO...
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...
Obese Patients at Higher Risk of Aggressive Thyroid Tumors
Obese patients present with more advanced and more aggressive forms of papillary thyroid cancer and should be screened for thyroid cancer with sonography, which is more sensitive in detecting thyroid cancer than physical examination alone, according to a study published online in the Archives of...
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...
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 ...
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 ...
ASCO’s CancerLinQ: Building a Transformation in Cancer Care
Cancer science and information technology are advancing rapidly, but the way we care for patients today cannot fully capitalize on those advances. The proliferation of scientific results and novel treatments is a growing challenge for all oncology professionals as we enter the era of highly...
Expert Point of View: Kathy Miller, MD
“Our old friends are sometimes worth keeping, and that is certainly true for weekly paclitaxel,” said the invited discussant of CALGB 40502, Kathy Miller, MD, of Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, at the ASCO Annual Meeting. She noted that Dr. Rugo must “remain strict to the...
SIDEBAR: SWOG 9346 Conclusions Debated in Special Post-plenary Discussion
Based on the controversial nature of the SWOG 9346 findings, presented at the 2012 Annual Meeting Plenary Session, ASCO intiated a pilot program at the meeting for a “town hall” type of discussion, where attendees could voice their concerns and questions, and where presenter Maha Hussain, MD,...
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...
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 ...
Screening Should Begin Early for Survivors of Childhood Cancer
Survivors of childhood cancer, particularly those treated for childhood Hodgkin lymphoma or Wilms tumor with abdominal radiation, procarbazine (Matulane), and platinum chemotherapy, are at an increased risk of developing gastrointestinal subsequent malignant neoplasms, according to a retrospective...
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...
MEK Inhibitor Reduces Progression of BRAF-mutated Melanoma and Might also Benefit Others
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. The MEK inhibitor trametinib...
Early Access to Palliative/Supportive Care vs Usual Care Improves Pain Management
Many cancer patients remain undertreated for pain despite availability of guidelines and educational efforts to improve pain treatment. In a recent Annals of Oncology article, Bandieri and colleagues from the Italian Epidemiologia Clinico-Assistenziale del Dolore in Ospedale (ECAD-O) group report a ...
Alterations in PTEN Insufficient to Predict Sensitivity to Drugs Targeting PI3K/mTOR Pathway
PTEN acts as a tumor-suppressor gene through the action of its phosphatase protein product, which participates in regulation of the cell cycle to prevent too-rapid cell growth and division. Loss of PTEN function has been shown to increase PI3K/mTOR signaling, and preclinical data suggest that PTEN...
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...
Mitotane-containing Regimens Explored for a Rare Tumor
Response rates and progression-free survival rates were significantly better among patients with advanced adrenocortical carcinoma receiving mitotane (Lysodren) plus EDP (etoposide, doxorubicin, and cisplatin) than in patients receiving mitotane with streptozocin (Zanosar), according to results of...
Cancer Care in Rwanda: A Model of Creative Partnerships
While disparities in cancer care remain problematic in wealthy industrial nations like the United States, the challenges faced in poorer regions of the world are, by comparison, inestimable. Nationally regarded health-care expert Lawrence N. Shulman, MD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, is part of...
Sarcoma Foundation of America Teams with Conquer Cancer Foundation to Fund Potentially Life-saving Research
When Matthew Alsante signed on to serve as Executive Director of the Sarcoma Foundation of America (SFA) 6 years ago, he had a visceral understanding of the importance of the organization’s work. Mr. Alsante had lost his father to lung cancer in 1999. “Right up until the last day of his life, if...
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...
SIDEBAR: Key Findings
When asked to comment on implications of this study, lead author Frank A. Greco, MD, remarked, “The use of this gene-expression profile assay (CancerTYPE ID, bioTheranostics, Inc) on the biopsy material of patients with carcinoma of unknown primary provides a single tissue of origin diagnosis in...
After a Decade of Decline in Smoking Rates, Progress Has Stalled
Approximately 20% of all Americans smoke, and 443,000 of them will die each year as a result. Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States and the greatest behavioral determinant of morbidity and mortality (6%–10% of U.S. health-care costs). Nearly 30% of all cancer...
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. ...
