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Showing 8151 - 8200Genetic Basis of High-risk Childhood Cancer Points to Possible New Drug Treatment Strategy
Research led by scientists at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee, has identified a possible lead in treatment of two childhood leukemia subtypes known for their dramatic loss of chromosomes and poor treatment outcomes. The findings also provide the first evidence of the...
David A. Karnofsky's Early Contributions to Cancer Research Helped Establish Oncology as a Medical Discipline
For nearly 30 years, from the time he was a young resident at the Collis P. Huntington Memorial Hospital for Cancer Research of Harvard University, until his death from lung cancer on August 31, 1969, David A. Karnofsky, MD, dedicated himself to the pursuit of scientific excellence and the...
Turmeric
The use of dietary supplements by cancer patients 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...
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....
Treatment of HER2-positive Disease in 2013
From the initial discovery of the HER2 family of receptors in the mid-1980s to the present, a “wealth of riches” has been uncovered in terms of agents that can target pathways relevant to this aggressive breast cancer type, notes Hope S. Rugo, MD, Director of Breast Oncology and Clinical Trials...
SIDEBAR: A History of Success
Dr. Harold P. Freeman is the descendant of a slave who bought his freedom and changed his name—hence, “Freeman.” Dr. Freeman is a great-grandnephew of Robert Freeman, the first African-American dentist, and a cousin of Robert Weaver, former Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban...
The Doctor Who Championed Patient Navigation in Harlem
After completing his residency at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Harold P. Freeman, MD, arrived at Harlem Hospital Center in 1967, where the overwhelming majority of his patients presented with late-stage disease. That early experience with underserved patients would shape his career as...
International Members Cite Networking, Enhanced Patient Care Among Benefits of ASCO Membership
Thanks to the membership category ASCO designed for physicians in developing countries, Brazilian oncologist Milena Mak, MD, can greatly enhance the care she delivers in the very busy 580-bed Instituto do Cancer do Estado de Sao Paulo. And radiation oncologist Pooja Nandwani Patel, MD, can use the...
Research Roundup from San Antonio: New Data on Triple-negative, HER2-positive, Local, and Advanced Breast Cancer
The 2012 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium featured more than 2,500 abstracts and lectures, including timely research in the field and discussions for scientists and clinicians alike. In addition to nearly two dozen in-depth reports from the meeting, The ASCO Post brings readers the following...
ASH International Clinical Collaboration Replicates High Cure Rate of APL in Developing Countries
The work of an American Society of Hematology (ASH) international clinical network collaborative focused on modernizing treatment protocols for patients in the developing world with acute promyeloctyic leukemia (APL) has drastically improved cure rates in patients in Central and South America. In...
For Lobular Carcinoma, Letrozole Works Better Than Tamoxifen
In the treatment of postmenopausal estrogen receptor–positive women with lobular carcinoma, letrozole appears to have a greater benefit than tamoxifen, according to an analysis of this subset of patients in the Breast International Group (BIG) 1-98 trial reported at the 35th Annual San Antonio...
Novel Oral Agent plus Letrozole Improves Progression-free Survival in ER-positive Advanced Breast Cancer
The combination of letrozole plus a novel oral inhibitor of cyclin-dependent kinase 4/6 called PD 0332991 achieved an unprecedented improvement in progression-free survival among women with advanced estrogen receptor–positive/HER2-negative breast cancer. Median progression-free survival was 26.1...
Expert Point of View: Sandra M. Swain, MD, FACP and Eric P. Winer, MD
Commenting on the study presented by Dr. Wolff at the 2012 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, ASCO President Sandra M. Swain, MD, FACP, Medical Director, Washington Cancer Institute, MedStar Washington Hospital Center, Washington, DC, said she found it “disturbing” that about half the population...
Chemotherapy for Breast Cancer Carries a Small, but Concerning, Risk for Leukemia
The risk for developing a secondary malignancy after chemotherapy for breast cancer is very small, but it is statistically significantly higher than for the general population, a review of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) database revealed in a study presented at the 2012 San...
Daunorubicin-free Induction Therapy for Standard-risk Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia
Omitting daunorubicin from induction therapy for children with standard-risk acute B-cell lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) does not compromise survival and at the same time reduces the risk of associated toxicities, including myelosuppression and cardiac damage, according to results of the large phase...
Chemotherapy-free Regimen Successful in Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia
For the first time, a chemotherapy-free regimen was superior to conventional cytotoxic chemotherapy for the treatment of acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL). The combination of all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) plus arsenic trioxide (Trisenox) achieved significantly superior overall survival compared...
Expert Point of View: Philip Agop Philip, MD and Alan P. Venook, MD
Philip Agop Philip, MD, Head of the Multidisciplinary Team for Gastrointestinal and Neuroendocrine Oncology and Neuroendocrine at Karmanos Cancer Institute at Wayne State University, Detroit, was the formal discussant of the paper at the Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium. He said the positive...
Vemurafenib-resistant BRAF-mutant Melanoma
Mutational activation of BRAF is the most prevalent genetic alteration in melanoma, with ≥ 50% of tumors expressing the BRAF(V600E) oncoprotein. Vemurafenib (Zelboraf) produces tumor regression and improved survival in patients with late-stage BRAF-mutated melanoma. However, most patients relapse...
Use of Beta-blockers Associated with Improved Survival in Patients with NSCLC Receiving Definitive Radiation Therapy
As reported recently in Annals of Oncology, a retrospective study by Wang and colleagues showed that use of beta-adrenergic receptor antagonists (beta-blockers), typically used in treatment of hypertension and heart disease, was associated with significantly improved distant metastasis–free...
More Brief Reports from ASH, Including New Data in Leukemia, Lymphoma, and Myelodysplastic Syndrome
At the 54th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH), held in Atlanta, nearly 5,000 abstracts were presented in oral sessions and posters. As part of our ongoing comprehensive coverage from the meeting, here are several more studies of note. New Targets in Acute Myeloid Leukemia...
Global Women’s Cancer Summit: Collaboration Aims to Reduce Breast, Cervical Cancers
World leaders from governments, cancer organizations, and the private sector joined together recently for the first Global Women’s Cancer Summit to address the challenge of reducing the global burden of women’s cancers. The summit was hosted by Susan G. Komen for the Cure and underwritten by GE...
New ASCO Workforce Studies Release Preliminary Data on Oncology Workforce Environment
ASCO has released the preliminary findings of a far-reaching research initiative to collect and analyze oncology workforce demographic and practice data. This initiative will help guide the Society’s response to the ever-changing business and political landscape in which oncologists care for people ...
Dose-dense Chemotherapy in Breast Cancer: Epirubicin-based Regimens Studied in German and UK Trials
In the treatment of early breast cancer, dose-dense regimens (given every 2 weeks) have proven superior to conventionally dosed chemotherapy (given every 3 weeks), but data on long-term survival are lacking. Two studies presented at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium evaluated the benefit of...
Final 'Joint Analysis' Confirms Life-saving Benefit of Trastuzumab in Patients with HER2-positive Early Breast Cancer
In the final planned joint analysis of overall survival from the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP) B-31 and North Central Cancer Treatment Group (NCCTG) N9831 trials, the addition of trastuzumab (Herceptin) to paclitaxel following doxorubicin/cyclophosphamide (AC) reduced...
The Challenges and Rewards of Neuro-oncology
Despite the extremely difficult clinical challenges posed by brain tumors, mortality rates in this disease have decreased somewhat over the past several decades due, in part, to advances in surgical techniques and therapies. The ASCO Post recently discussed contemporary issues in neuro-oncology...
Expert Point of View: Axel Grothey, MD and Eric Van Cutsem, MD, PhD
Two gastrointestinal cancer experts commented on the findings in interviews with The ASCO Post. Axel Grothey, MD, Professor of Oncology at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, noted, “The PEAK and SPIRITT trial were decently designed, decently powered randomized phase II trials, and the results...
On Radiation and Cancer Risk
We owe our life to radiation. The universe was created in a thermonuclear explosion, and continued existence of life on Earth depends on plants using chlorophyll to capture light energy emitted by the sun (and exploding supernovas) and converting it into chemical energy, with the subsequent...
Study Finds Young Cancer Survivors Often Skip Checkups
Athough the majority of the more than 69,000 adolescents and young adults (AYAs) diagnosed with cancer each year will survive their disease, many of them will experience interruptions in their education and a derailment in their career tract, curtailing their lifetime earning potential and reducing ...
FOLFOXIRI Plus Bevacizumab Is Superior to FOLFIRI Plus Bevacizumab in Metastatic Colorectal Cancer
For the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer, better outcomes were achieved when bevacizumab (Avastin) was added to FOLFOXIRI (leucovorin, fluorouracil [5-FU], oxaliplatin, irinotecan), rather than FOLFIRI (leucovorin, 5-FU, irinotecan), in the phase III TRIBE trial conducted at 35 Italian...
Large Epidemiologic Studies Re-examine Hazards of Smoking
“Smokers lose at least one decade of life expectancy, as compared with those who have never smoked,” and the increased risk of death from cigarettes smoking “are now nearly identical for men and women,” according to two separate studies published online by TheNew England Journal of Medicine. One...
Short Wait for Lab Results Is Reasonable Strategy to Better Characterize AML and Design Therapy
Waiting a short period of time for laboratory results to better characterize acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and design therapeutic approaches is a reasonable strategy, researchers in Toulouse, France, found after a retrospective review of 599 newly diagnosed AML patients treated by induction...
Older Patients Do Better with Hematopoietic Transplants from Siblings of Similar Age than from Younger but Unrelated Donors
Patients ≥ 50 years old with leukemia/lymphoma are increasingly undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplants, raising questions about whether they might have better outcomes with transplants from younger allele-level 8/8 human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-matched unrelated donors than from...
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...
Patients with Cancer Need to Know That It Is Never Too Late to Quit Smoking
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. Patients with head and neck or lung...
Fitness: Can Exercise Lengthen Survival in Patients with Cancer?
Regular physical activity has long been associated with decreased risk of disease, including many types of cancer. Such benefits may translate into increased life expectancy of up to 4.5 years, with even the lowest levels of activity providing some survival advantage.1 Most strikingly, however,...
My Life Will Never Be Normal
After being diagnosed with stage II invasive ductal carcinoma in my right breast in 2004, I did an Internet search to learn more about my treatment options so I could be prepared when I met with my oncologist to discuss my treatment plan. I was especially interested in therapies that would be...
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...
Jane Cooke Wright, MD, ASCO Cofounder, Dies at 93
The practice of oncology advances incrementally; each step forward, no matter how painfully small at times, leads to the next. The oncology community readily offers tribute to predecessors in the field who took those first steps into the uncharted regions of cancer care, without which today’s...
Analysis Shows No 10-year Survival Advantage in Patients with Ovarian Cancer and BRCA1 or BRCA2 Mutations
Several studies have suggested that short-term overall survival for women with ovarian cancer and BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations is better than that in patients without such mutations. Indeed, a recent report by Kelly L. Bolton, PhD, and colleagues indicated that 5-year overall survival was 36% for...
Expert Point of View: Laura J. van ’t Veer, PhD and Andrew Seidman, MD
Laura J. van ’t Veer, PhD, Leader of the Breast Oncology Program at the University of California, San Francisco, Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, commented on the findings. “These investigators confirm in a robust meta-analysis that neoadjuvant chemotherapy response is different...
Finding New Strategies to More Effectively Treat Pancreatic Cancer
While some progress has been made in understanding the molecular pathogenesis, genetic risk factors, and genomics of pancreatic adenocarcinoma, the disease remains one of the most challenging malignancies. According to Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) figures, 44,000 people were...
ASCO International Expands to Improve Cancer Care Worldwide
As a global community of cancer care providers in more than 100 countries around the world, ASCO is uniquely positioned to improve cancer patient outcomes worldwide—an opportunity that it has seized since the organization’s inception through numerous innovative programs. Building upon this...
Patients Receiving Palliative Radiation Therapy for Metastatic Non–Small Cell Lung Cancer May Be Overtreated
Many patients receiving palliative radiation therapy to the bone or chest for metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) may be receiving a greater number of treatments and higher doses than are supported by current evidence, according to a Cancer Care and Outcomes Research and Surveillance...
Obesity, Physical Inactivity Linked with Risk for Subtype of Colorectal Cancer
An increasing body mass index (BMI) was associated with a higher risk for colorectal cancer with a specific molecular characteristic, and inversely, physical activity was linked to a decreased risk for that same cancer, according to data published in Cancer Research,1 a journal of the American...
Ibrutinib Receives Two Oncology Breakthrough Therapy Designations from FDA
Janssen Research & Development, LLC, and Pharmacyclics, LLC, announced that the FDA has granted Breakthrough Therapy Designations for the investigational oral agent ibrutinib as a monotherapy for two B-cell malignancies: in patients with relapsed or refractory mantle cell lymphoma who have...
Colorectal Cancer: A Decade of Progress
The 2013 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium marked the 10th anniversary of the meeting. Richard M. Goldberg, MD, the Klotz Family Chair in Cancer Research, Professor of Medicine, and James Cancer Hospital Physician-in-Chief at The Ohio State University, looked back over the decade to highlight the...
Expert Point of View: William Oh, MD
“The durability of PSA response is encouraging [with ARN-509], as is the toxicity data, but these are relatively asymptomatic patients,” said formal discussant William Oh, MD, Chief of the Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Professor of Medicine and Urology, and the Ezra M. Greenspan, MD, ...
Expert Point of View: Anthony D’Amico, MD
Now there are mature data from three trials comparing adjuvant radiotherapy vs a wait-and see approach in men following radical prostatectomy, said formal discussant Anthony D’Amico, MD, Dana-Farber Cancer Center and Harvard Medical School, Boston, at the Genitourinary Cancers Symposium. Despite...
Building CancerLinQ: The Road to Faster, More Efficient Treatment Delivery
In June, Clifford A. Hudis, MD, Chief of the Breast Cancer Medicine Service and Attending Physician at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, and Professor in the Department of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College, will begin his term as President of ASCO. Among Dr. Hudis’ priorities will be...
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 ...
