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Showing 801 - 850Navigating Cancer in the Era of Personalized Medicine: Rev 2014 Explores Emerging Issues, Ideas for Action
Diagnosed with stage IV non–small cell lung cancer in 2011, Stephen Wright turned to patient support groups where he learned about the anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) mutation and a new drug that targeted it, crizotinib (Xalkori). He asked—then insisted—that he be tested for the mutation. He found ...
Swiss Medical Board Members Discuss Recommendation to Phase Out Mammography Screening
In a New England Journal of Medicine “Perspective” article, Nikola Biller-Andorno, MD, PhD, of the University of Zurich and Harvard Medical School, and Peter Jüni, MD, of the University of Bern, provide the rationale for a recent report by the Swiss Medical Board advocating the phasing out of...
Stakeholders Are Uniting Around Value in Cancer Care
Judging from its visibility at the 2014 ASCO Annual Meeting, the concept of “value” in cancer care has reached critical mass. “ASCO is leading this difficult discussion on value in cancer care. This had to happen,” said Clifford A. Hudis, MD, FACP, Immediate Past President of ASCO and Chief of the ...
What Do Humans and Laboratory Rats Have in Common?
The requirements for sound evidence of a drug’s therapeutic benefit have translated laboratory experience to human testing. In the laboratory, experimental animals give their lives to lethal testing of drugs and scientific analysis. LD50, the terminology denoting an anticipated 50% death rate of...
Dignity, Personhood, and the Culture of Medicine
Cancer patients need more than good health care: they need health caring, according to palliative care specialist Harvey M. Chochinov, MD, PhD, Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Manitoba and Director of the Manitoba Palliative Care Research Unit, CancerCare Manitoba. Health ...
Taking Charge of Your Care
The first sign I had that something might be wrong was an uncontrollable itch all over my body. Although I had never had anything like that before, the problem was easy to initially dismiss. I’m a respiratory therapist and visit patients in their homes daily, so I chalked up the itchiness to an...
Using Patient-Reported Outcome Measures in Palliative Care Clinical Practice
Incorporating patient-reported outcomes into the palliative care clinical setting can improve patients’ symptom management, quality of life, and overall communication with their oncologists, according to Ethan Basch, MD. Dr. Basch is Director of the Cancer Outcomes Research Program and Associate...
Facing Cancer Together
David sits at his desk, tapping angrily. He’s tired of his abusive, ignorant boss, the VP for regional sales. The man’s sales targets are absurdly high, he’s impossible to reach on the phone, his “motivational” speeches evoke the stress of Glengarry Glen Ross, and even his fake all-light-brown hair ...
Discussing Sexual Health Issues With Female Cancer Survivors
Advances in cancer treatment have led to increasing numbers of long-term survivors, bringing greater attention to the needs of this growing population. Female cancer patients often experience difficult adjustments related to sexual health and intimacy. To better understand the complexity of this...
Patience Remains a Virtue: The Ongoing Quest to Optimize Adjuvant Endocrine Therapy in Breast Cancer
The most recent ASCO Clinical Practice Guideline update—summarized in this issue of The ASCO Post—represents the latest chapter in the ongoing evolution of adjuvant endocrine therapy for hormone-sensitive breast cancer.1 Rather than including a comprehensive review of the 2010 guidelines, this...
NEPA for Chemotherapy-Induced Nausea and Vomiting: Key Endpoints and Additional Analyses Show Strong Efficacy
For the prevention of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting, NEPA, a novel combination of a neurokinin-1 (NK1) receptor antagonist and the 5-HT3 receptor antagonist palonosetron (Aloxi), has been studied in three pivotal trials that were recently published in the Annals of Oncology.1-3 Further...
Does the United States Have the Best Health-Care System in the World?
Many concerns were raised and dire speculations predicted during the further implementation of the Affordable Care Act this year. So far, the trickling news is good: An estimated total of 20 million people gained coverage under the new law as of May 1,1 about 6 million enrolled in the law’s...
A New Book Explores an Old Subject: Aging
Title: Lighter as We Go: Virtues, Character Strengths, and AgingAuthors: Mindy Greenstein, PhD, and Jimmie Holland, MDPublisher: Oxford University Press Publication date: September 2014Price: $27.95; Hardcover, 320 pages Death is the universal experience shared by Earth’s 7 billion or so...
#WeConquerCancer: Creative Fundraisers From Committed Conquerors
Conquer Cancer Foundation donors are a consistently creative bunch when it comes to encouraging others to help conquer cancer: Tyler invited his friends and family to a charity spin class; elementary school students in Malibu, California, sold bracelets in honor of their principal; Steve competed...
How Evolutionary Game Theory Is Offering Clues to Disrupt Cancer Cell Metabolism
Kenneth J. Pienta, MD, and his colleagues at Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore are using the principles of evolutionary game theory to learn how cancer cells cooperate within a tumor to gather energy and metastasize. Game theory, the mathematic study of strategic decision-making that is commonly...
Using Electronic Health Records to Improve Communication With Patients
Clinicians may argue that electronic health records (EHRs) interfere with the patient-physician relationship, and patients may complain about “distracted doctors,” too busy with computer screens to make eye contact, but according to Thomas W. LeBlanc, MD, MA, of Duke University School of Medicine...
Timing and Meaning of Do-Not-Resuscitate Orders in the Palliative Care Setting
Although a do-not-resuscitate (DNR) order does not mean “do not treat,” that is how it is often interpreted, according to a study examining the level of care oncology inpatients at a tertiary care hospital received.1 The study found that the interpretation of DNR orders among oncology nurses and...
New Cancer.Net Fact Sheets Now Available for Your Practice
Be sure to check out Cancer.Net’s latest ASCO Answers fact sheet titles on hereditary breast and ovarian cancer and metastatic breast cancer. These one-page (front and back) introductions to a variety of topics include an overview, illustrations, terms to know, and questions to ask the doctor. Find ...
Disparities Persist in Early-Stage Breast Cancer Treatment, MD Anderson Study Finds
Despite its acceptance as standard of care for early-stage breast cancer almost 25 years ago, barriers still exist that preclude patients from receiving breast-conserving therapy, with some patients still opting for a mastectomy, according to research from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer ...
Helping Patients Talk to Their Children About Cancer
Although the focus of an oncologist’s attention is understandably attuned to the needs of the patient, when a patient is a parent, quality oncology care should also include attention to the patient’s role as a parent and to the needs of the patient’s children, according to Paula K. Rauch, MD,...
Exceptional Responders to Cancer Therapy Study Begins
The National Cancer Institute (NCI) recently launched “The Exceptional Responders Initiative,” a study to investigate the molecular factors of tumors associated with exceptional treatment responses of patients with cancer to drug therapies. Scientists will attempt to identify the molecular features ...
Lessons From Cancer
For a year before I was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in December 2011, I had what I thought were the lingering remnants of a bad case of bronchitis. My breathing was labored, I had a chronic cough, and occasionally my voice would give out. Every time I saw my pulmonologist, I would...
Experts Debate the Need for Upfront vs Late Stem Cell Transplant in Multiple Myeloma
With powerful new drugs capable of achieving sustained and deep remissions in multiple myeloma, the role of upfront stem cell transplantation is being questioned by experts, who debated the pros and cons at the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) 9th Annual Congress on Hematologic...
Latest Patient Booklet From ASCO and Cancer.Net: Palliative Care
ASCO Answer’s new Palliative Care booklet teaches patients and their families about this specialized area of medicine, explaining the difference between palliative care and hospice care and how palliative care is more than receiving a drug to ease physical symptoms. The booklet also includes...
The Power of Laughter
The following essay by Julie Vose, MD, MBA, FASCO, is adapted from The Big Casino: America’s Best Cancer Doctors Share Their Most Powerful Stories (May 2014), coedited by Stan Winokur, MD, and Vincent Coppola. The book is available on Amazon.com and thebigcasino.org. When I met Cindy, she was...
A Father and Son’s Journey Through Medicine
BOOKMARK Title: The Good Doctor: A Father, a Son, and the Evolution of Medical EthicsAuthor: Barron H. Lerner, MDPublisher: Beacon PressPublication date: May 13, 2014Price: $25.95; hardcover, 240 pages One morning in 1996, an infectious disease specialist was making rounds when he and his team...
Addressing Patients’ Sexual Dysfunction Throughout Survivorship
Studies show that all cancers and related treatments have the potential to affect sexuality and sexual function. Surgery, chemotherapy, hormonal therapy, bone marrow transplantation, and radiation therapy can physically impact sexual health in myriad ways, including vaginal dryness, dyspareunia,...
Top 10 Myths About FDA’s Office of Hematology and Oncology Products
INSIDE THE BLACK BOX is an occasional column providing insight into the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and its policies and procedures. In this installment, FDA oncologists Gideon Blumenthal, MD, and Tatiana Prowell, MD, discuss 10 common myths about FDA’s Office of Hematology and Oncology ...
The Ohio State and Moffitt Collaborate on ORIEN: Using Big Data to Accelerate Trials With a Cancer Research ‘Expressway’
The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center and Moffitt Cancer Center have joined forces to create the Oncology Research Information Exchange Network (ORIEN), the largest collaboration of its kind designed to accelerate discoveries in cancer research. Members of this alliance of cancer...
Financial Toxicity Potentially Harmful Treatment‑Related Effect
It turns out that in addition to treatment-related toxicity, cancer patients commonly experience “financial toxicity,” a phrase that is increasingly coming into parlance in the cancer community. Patients should be assessed for financial toxicity as early as possible following diagnosis so that they ...
Memorial Sloan Kettering Team Discovery Advances Understanding of Immunotherapy’s Successes—and Its Failures
A collaborative team of leaders in the field of cancer immunology from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center has made a key discovery that advances the understanding of why some patients respond to the CTLA-4 blocking antibody ipilimumab (Yervoy), an immunotherapy drug, while others do not. A...
Discussing Cessation of Medications Near the End of Life
Discussions with patients and families about stopping non–cancer-related medications near the end of life are thorny but necessary, according to Arif H. Kamal, MD, of Duke Cancer Institute, at the Best of ASCO meeting in Seattle. “What’s happening now is that a lot of hospices are having a...
Helping Adolescents and Young Adults Cope With Cancer
Each year, about 70,000 adolescents and young adults (AYAs) are diagnosed with cancer in the United States, almost six times the number of cases diagnosed in children up to 14 years of age. While overall cancer survival rates continue to rise—according to the American Cancer Society, there are...
New ASCO Survivorship Care Plan Template Is Simpler, Faster for Health-Care Providers
ASCO has issued a new template for health-care professionals to use when providing a survivorship care plan to patients who have completed curative cancer therapy. The survivorship care plan contains important information about treatment the patient received, the patient’s need for future checkups...
From ‘Clinical Judgment’ to Evidence-Based Medicine: Thoughts on the ASCO/CCO Guideline in Metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer
We are witnessing unprecedented progress in the development of therapy for patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued 13 approvals since 1996 for agents that have demonstrated an impact on overall survival, pain, or...
Tumor Board Participation Associated With Improved Survival in Stage IV Lung and Colorectal Cancers
A large, population-based, observational study suggests that participation in weekly tumor boards can improve outcomes in oncologic care. Specifically, oncologist participation in weekly tumor board meetings was associated with improved survival in patients with stage IV small cell lung cancer and...
Having Dependent Children Motivates Parents With Advanced Cancer to Pursue More Aggressive, Life-Extending Treatments
Findings from a pilot study of 42 parents with advanced cancer indicate that parental status is an important factor in treatment decision-making. When asked how having children influences their treatment decisions, the majority of parents (64%) responded that being a parent motivates them to pursue ...
When Should We Stop Prescribing?
This year’s European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) meeting held in Madrid was attended by 19,000 delegates, and it was encouraging to see among that number so many young oncologists being given time off for education and discussion. There has never before been a time when so much new...
Appetite-Enhancing Agent Helps Patients Treated for NSCLC Gain Weight and Lean Body Mass and Feel Better
People have an image of stage III or IV lung cancer patients getting chemotherapy or chemoradiation, and they look terrible; they are losing weight. The fact is, when they respond, they can gain weight,” according to Philip Bonomi, MD, MS. He is the lead author of a phase III study showing that the ...
Debate Over Legalizing Physician-Assisted Death for the Terminally Ill
On November 1, 2014, 29-year-old Brittany Maynard ended her life through physician-assisted death, reigniting the controversy surrounding Death With Dignity laws, which allow physicians to prescribe life-ending drugs to terminally ill patients. Diagnosed with glioblastoma multiforme in January, Ms. ...
Policy Issues in Molecularly Targeted Therapy: The Science, the Money, the Applications
In the past decade, much new knowledge about the molecular underpinnings of cancer has accumulated, and the array of molecular aberrations in each individual tumor can be assessed through genomic sequencing and other tests. The rationale for and feasibility of developing molecularly targeted...
What It Means to Be Mortal
“I learned a lot of things in medical school, but mortality wasn’t one of them,” writes Atul Gawande, MD, MPH, in his new book on the medicalization of aging and dying, Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End (Metropolitan Books, 2014). In the book, Dr. Gawande critiques the American...
Smarter Trial Design Saves Money and Produces Better Drugs
The process of identifying a promising molecule and moving it from the laboratory through the highly complex series of clinical trials necessary to garner U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval is a costly scientific gauntlet during which many new agents fail. New trial design,...
Expert Point of View: Amy H. Comander, MD
Amy H. Comander, MD, a medical oncologist at the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center and Instructor in Medicine at Harvard Medical School, Boston, told The ASCO Post that the findings will clearly help her in counseling patients. “I am excited to be able to discuss the study with my...
Palliative Care in the Middle East
While some seek peace in the Middle East through political means, others are looking to help patients with cancer find peace through palliative care. This endeavor is bringing oncology professionals together across the region’s national borders and cultural boundaries to implement solutions and...
Cancer.Net Launches PRE-ACT Patient Clinical Trial Education Program
Clinical trials are the key to driving advances in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer, yet, it is estimated that only about 5% of patients with cancer participate in clinical trials. That is why Cancer.Net, ASCO’s patient-facing educational website, has teamed up with Neal Meropol,...
Top 10 Myths About FDA’s Office of Hematology and Oncology Products
INSIDE THE BLACK BOX is an occasional column providing insight into the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and its policies and procedures. In this installment, FDA oncologists Gideon Blumenthal, MD, and Tatiana Prowell, MD, discuss 10 common myths about FDA’s Office of Hematology and Oncology ...
Colorectal Cancer 2015
Despite advances in detection and treatment, colorectal cancer remains the third deadliest cancer among men and women in the United States. To get a better understanding of the current state of this disease and what lies ahead, The ASCO Post recently spoke with colorectal cancer expert John L....
Molecular Pathologists vs the FDA: Proposed Regulation of Laboratory-Developed Tests Sparks Debate
The packed ballroom looked like a plenary session at any big medical research meeting. But on the dais were representatives of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the subject was the Agency’s proposed regulation of laboratory-developed tests, and the attendees who lined up to ask questions for...
Top 10 Lessons Learned So Far About Treating Lung Cancer With Immunotherapy
Immunotherapy agents “really work” in treating lung cancer, but they have unique toxicities, are challenging to combine with other therapies, and questions remain about dose and duration, Roy S. Herbst, MD, PhD, stated at the 2014 Chicago Multidisciplinary Symposium in Thoracic Oncology. “There are ...
