Search Results
Your search for can matches 13815 pages
Showing 9051 - 9100
Areej El-Jawahri, MD, on Hematologic Malignancies: Integrating Palliative Care in Treatment
Areej El-Jawahri, MD, of Massachusetts General Hospital, discusses ways in which palliative care can reduce symptoms, improve quality of life, reduce depression and anxiety, and potentially optimize end-of-life care for patients with hematologic malignancies.
J. Nicholas Dionne-Odom, PhD, on Supporting Family Caregivers: The ENABLE Model
J. Nicholas Dionne-Odom, PhD, of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, discusses the “hidden” health-care workforce of family caregivers and what clinicians can do to help ease the burden on families.
Limited Access to Radioimmunotherapy in the Community Setting May Lead to Extinction of a Unique Lymphoma Treatment
I am writing to ask the ASCO community for help in addressing a policy decision by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) that requires oncologists to take a 700-hour course (on the full range of nuclear medicines) to give one medicine to their patients: prepackaged radioimmunotherapy. It’s...
Immunotherapy Is Not a Replacement Therapy
Some patients who ask about immunotherapy do so because they don’t want to get chemotherapy. Immunotherapy “is not a replacement yet, especially for chemotherapy, which has a track record of curing cancer,” Anas Younes, MD, medical oncologist and Chief of the Lymphoma Service at Memorial Sloan...
ASCO and AACI Collaborate on Initiative to Reduce Administrative and Regulatory Burden in Cancer Clinical Trials
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Vose et al have provided a summary of the groundwork of an initiative by ASCO and the Association of American Cancer Institutes (AACI) to identify and reduce administrative and regulatory burdens in the conduct of cancer clinical trials. The...
Media Reports of Dramatic Responses to Immunotherapy After All Else Fails May Prompt Patients to Seek It Out
Immunotherapy has received “a lot of attention, mainly because of the media coverage,” Anas Younes, MD, medical oncologist and Chief of the Lymphoma Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, said in an interview with The ASCO Post. “Many patients inquire, not about a specific...
Electronic Health Record Data May Help Identify Older Patients at Highest Risk of Early Death From Chemotherapy for Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma
Although diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is a curable disease in most patients aged 65 years or older, these patients are also at higher risk of chemotherapy-related death within the first 30 days of treatment. To quantify the risk of early fatality and identify risk factors, researchers led ...
I’ve Survived Two Cancers
In 2012, my husband, Robert, and I were looking forward to starting the next phase of our lives and were feeling excited about the future. Although only in our 50s, we had decided to retire early from our full-time careers, move to our cabin in Hayward, Wisconsin, and find less stressful part-time ...
American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network Report Shows States Are Making Progress Implementing Policies to Reduce Toll of Cancer
While a majority of states are still missing important opportunities to pass and implement legislative solutions proven to prevent and fight cancer, progress is being made to move the nation closer to ending cancer as we know it, according to a report recently released by the American Cancer...
Oncologist’s Guilt
The best part of my day is hearing that little voice yell, “It’s Momma!” as my son rushes to greet me with a hug. It is humbling, and sometimes terrifying, to realize that I brought a little person into the world who is completely dependent on my husband and me for survival. Few would argue...
The Best Oncology Lesson
I was 2 months into my first-year fellowship at Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center in Washington, DC, when I learned the best oncology lesson of my career. I owned a copy of DeVita, Hellman, and Rosenberg’s Cancer: Principles and Practice of Oncology and had read Cancer Treatment...
Nipple-Sparing Mastectomy Shown to Be Safe—and Increasingly Preferred
Prophylactic mastectomy that preserves a woman’s nipple is oncologically safe in patients with deleterious BRCA mutations, according to the largest study yet to evaluate this approach in this high-risk population. “In more than 500 risk-reducing nipple-sparing mastectomies in 348 deleterious...
Mastery Learning: A New Paradigm for Oncology Medical Education?
According to William C. McGaghie, PhD, Professor of Medical Education and Professor of Preventive Medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, the principles of today’s clinical medical education are rooted in a 19th century model that is no longer useful in a...
Your Monthly Gift Can Have a Huge Impact
By contributing a monthly gift to the Conquer Cancer Foundation (CCF), you can make a dramatic difference as we work to build a world free from the fear of cancer. An automatic charge to your credit card each month is the easiest way to complete your monthly donation. Secure and convenient, a...
New: ASCO Answers Guide to Small Cell Lung Cancer
The new ASCO Answers Guide to Small Cell Lung Cancer can help people better understand their diagnosis and treatment options. Patients will find helpful, ASCO-approved information on treatment, follow-up care, and palliative care. The guide includes questions that patients can ask their...
New ASCO-SITC Symposium Dives Into Immuno-Oncology Research and Clinical Care
Advances in the field of immuno-oncology are revolutionizing cancer care. Ongoing progress with immune checkpoint agents, immune system boosts, cancer vaccines, and monoclonal antibodies continues to yield new and exciting results. However, with the benefits of rapid expansion comes the challenge...
New Online Tool Available to Assess the Quality of Your Research Program
Take advantage of the new online version of the ASCO Research Program Quality Assessment Tool, which was developed by the ASCO Research Community Forum to help research sites establish or enhance their internal quality assessment program. The online tool makes it easier than ever for users to gauge ...
ASCO Announces 14 Practices Participating in the 2016 Quality Training Program
On July 14, ASCO announced the 14 practices participating in the 2016 Quality Training Program. The program is designed to train oncology health-care providers to investigate and implement data-driven quality improvement and manage clinical and administrative processes and outcomes. “One of the...
Addressing the Significant Disparities and Barriers to Health Care Experienced by LGBT Cancer Survivors
In 2011, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) published its landmark report “The Health of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender People: Building a Foundation for Better Understanding,” which recognized the scarcity of research in lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals and the...
DNA Methylation Assay May Improve Diagnosis of Cancer of an Unknown Primary
As reported in The Lancet Oncology, Moran et al developed a classifier of cancer type based on microarray DNA methylation signatures (EPICUP assay), which has showed promise in diagnosing cancers of an unknown primary. Study Details The tumor type classifier was developed in a training set of...
Weight Watchers and the American Cancer Society Launch Initiative to Support Holistic Health for Breast Cancer Survivors
Weight Watchers International, Inc, has launched Project LIFT—Live Inspired, Fight Together—a new movement, in collaboration with the American Cancer Society, to inspire and guide breast cancer survivors with free resources focused on tackling the unexpected weight gain that can follow breast...
Management of Merkel Cell Carcinoma
A recent report regarding pembrolizumab (Keytruda) for advanced Merkel cell carcinoma ushered in a more optimistic era in the treatment of this rare but often lethal skin cancer.1 The ASCO Post spoke with one of the field’s leaders, Paul Nghiem, MD, PhD—the first author of the study—about the...
Use of Pembrolizumab in Recurrent/Metastatic Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma After Platinum-Containing Therapy
On August 5, 2016, pembrolizumab (Keytruda) was granted accelerated approval for treatment of patients with recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma and disease progression on or after platinum-containing chemotherapy.1,2 As a condition of the accelerated approval, Merck is...
Effect of Radiosurgery Alone vs With Whole-Brain Radiotherapy on Cognitive Function in Patients With Brain Metastases
Physicians from Carolinas HealthCare System’s Neurosciences Institute and Levine Cancer Institute are among the authors of a recent study published by Brown et al in JAMA.1 The study showed how among patients with one to three brain metastases, the use of stereotactic radiosurgery alone, compared...
Global Curriculum in Surgical Oncology Outlined by Society of Surgical Oncology and European Society of Surgical Oncology
As reported by Chandrakanth Are, MBBS, MBA, FRCS, FACS, of the University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, and colleagues at the Society of Surgical Oncology (SSO) and European Society of Surgical Oncology (ESSO), the rising global burden of cancer and inequalities in surgical oncology education ...
Hypofractionated Radiotherapy for Localized Prostate Cancer: A New Standard of Care?
For at least the past quarter of a century, radiobiologists and radiation oncologists have debated the role of hypofractionation (fewer total fractions with a higher dose per fraction) for prostate cancer. The debate stems from the unique radiobiology of prostate cancer and the best means to...
Roundup of Selected Abstracts in Multiple Myeloma, Acute and Chronic Leukemia, and Advanced Lymphoma
In June 2016, the European Hematology Association Congress convened in Copenhagen, Denmark. The educational and scientific program highlighted state-of-the-art clinical practice and the latest findings in hematology research. The ASCO Post brings its readers brief summaries of some of the important ...
For High-Grade and Aggressive Non-Hodgkin Lymphomas, Treat Adults Like Children
Outcomes for adults with high-grade and aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphomas (NHLs) appear to be better when these patients are treated with pediatric-inspired protocols, according to Mitchell S. Cairo, MD, Chief of the Division of Pediatric Hematology, Oncology and Stem Cell Transplantation, Maria...
Phase III Study Launches in Patients With Small Cell Lung Cancer
On August 2, 2016, PharmaMar announced the start of a pivotal phase III ATLANTIS study evaluating the efficacy and safety of lurbinectedin (PM1183), a novel synthetic tetrahydroisoquinoline that targets active transcription. The study is evaluating lurbinectedin combined with doxorubicin vs...
Predictors of Readmission in Patients Requiring Free Tissue Reconstruction for Head and Neck Cancer
Certain factors increase the risk of unplanned readmission in the month after head and neck cancer resection requiring free tissue reconstruction, finds an analysis of data from the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) of the American College of Surgeons.1 Nearly 1 in 10 patients...
Good Showing for Trastuzumab/Docetaxel Combination Against Salivary Gland Carcinoma
The combination of trastuzumab (Herceptin) and docetaxel seems to be highly active in patients with unresectable advanced HER2-positive salivary gland carcinoma of the ductal subtype, according to interim data from an open-label, single-arm phase II trial.1 More than two-thirds of patients had a...
Nerve Stimulation During Oncologic Neck Dissection May Help to Preserve Shoulder Function
Electrical stimulation of the spinal accessory nerve during neck dissection for head and neck cancer may reduce the development of shoulder dysfunction, according to a double-blind randomized controlled trial.1 A year after surgery, patients given intraoperative electrical stimulation had...
Use of Lugol’s Iodine Stain May Reduce the Need for Repeat Resection of Oral and Oropharyngeal Cancers
By identifying residual dysplasia in the tumor bed, Lugol’s iodine staining may improve pathologic outcomes with resection of oral and oropharyngeal cancers, according to interim findings of a UK randomized controlled trial reported at the 9th International Conference on Head and Neck Cancer.1...
Palliative Care 2016: 'Mystery Shopper' Study Finds Barriers to Accessing Palliative Care Services at Major Cancer Centers
A team of researchers, using a novel approach, found that while many cancer centers offer palliative and supportive care services, patients may face challenges when trying to access them. The study showed that expanding awareness and education to patient-facing cancer center employees about such...
Palliative Care 2016: Family Caregivers for Patients With Advanced Cancer Often Experience High Levels of Anxiety, Depression
A new multistate survey showed that nearly one-quarter to one-third of family caregivers of patients with high-mortality cancers experience high levels of depression and anxiety symptoms. The study also found that family caregivers can spend over 8 hours per day providing care and that as this time ...
Palliative Care 2016: Early Palliative Care Improves Coping, Quality of Life for Patients With Incurable Cancers
A randomized clinical trial found that introducing palliative care shortly after a diagnosis of certain metastatic cancers greatly increases a patient’s coping abilities, as well as overall quality of life. Researchers also found that early integration of palliative care results in an...
Palliative Care 2016: Cancer Caregivers Experience Unique Burdens Compared With Those Caring for Patients With Other Conditions
An analysis of data from more than 1,200 caregivers in the United States finds that cancer caregivers report a higher burden and spend significantly more hours per week caregiving, as opposed to individuals who care for people with other conditions. The analysis was based on survey data from the...
Autologous Stem Cell Transplant May Age Immune Cells as Much as 30 Years
University of North Carolina (UNC) Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers, by tracking p16INK4a, a molecular marker that has been shown to increase in white blood cells as people age, have uncovered clues suggesting that stem cell transplant is linked to a marked increase in the...
Is Human Life Worth No More Than a Text Message?
The words “cost control,” “value-based health care,” and similar iterations are floating around freely these days to make us aware of the unsustainable upward trajectory of health-care costs. We are reminded constantly about how health care in America currently costs more than $3.4 trillion...
Early Relapse in Follicular Lymphoma: Clinical Trial Data May Guide Management Decisions
Approximately 20% of patients with follicular lymphoma will relapse within 2 years of diagnosis. Although the optimal management of these patients has not been established, clinicians may be guided by data from recent clinical trials, according to Nathan H. Fowler, MD, Associate Professor and...
Gene Overexpression Scoring System May Accurately Predict Patient Response to Cancer Treatments
Researchers at the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) identified 14 genes regulating genome integrity that were consistently overexpressed in a wide variety of cancers. They then created a scoring system based upon the degree of gene overexpression. For...
Accumulation of Metabolite Fumarate May Be Linked to Hereditary Leiomyomatosis and Renal Cell Cancer
Researchers funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC) have shown that when the metabolite fumarate accumulates in a hereditary form of renal cancer, it leads to an epigenetic reprogramming that drives cancer, according to a study published by Sciacovelli et al in Nature. The tumor growth...
PSA-Based Computational Model Predicts Time to Relapse After Prostate Cancer Surgery
Approximately one in four patients who undergo radical prostatectomy experience a cancer recurrence. Now a study by Stura et al investigating a prostate-specific antigen (PSA)-based computational model that uses four consecutive postsurgical PSA values has found the mathematical model to be highly...
Retinoic Acid May Suppress Colorectal Cancer Development
Retinoic acid may play a critical role in suppressing colorectal cancer in mice and humans, according to researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine. Mice with the cancer have lower-than-normal levels of the metabolite in their gut, the researchers found. Furthermore, colorectal...
Outpatient Bloodstream Infections Costly for Pediatric Stem Cell Transplant and Cancer Patients
Pediatric stem cell transplant and cancer patients often are discharged from the hospital with an external central venous line for medications that parents or other caregivers must clean and flush daily to avoid potentially life-threatening infections. If an outpatient develops a bloodstream...
Researchers Question Process for Reviewing Coverage of 'Off-Label' Cancer Drug Use
A group of University of North Carolina (UNC) Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers is calling for an overhaul of the process that determines which cancer drugs used off-label—or beyond their approved use—are reimbursed by federally funded health insurance in the United...
Novel MRI Technique Distinguishes Healthy Prostate Tissue From Cancer Using Zinc
A novel magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) method that detects low levels of zinc ion can help distinguish healthy prostate tissue from cancer, The University of Texas (UT) Southwestern Medical Center radiologists have determined. The findings were published by Clavijo Jordan et al in the Proceedings ...
Extended Active Surveillance Prior to Systemic Therapy May Be Safe in Some Patients With Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma
In a phase II trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Rini et al found that some patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma can safely undergo active surveillance for an extended duration prior to initiation of systemic therapy. Indolent growth of metastases is known to occur in some patients...
Cancer Research Institute to Honor Three Scientists for Outstanding Contributions to Cancer Immunotherapy Research
The Cancer Research Institute (CRI), a nonprofit organization established in 1953 to advance biomedical research with the goal of developing lifesaving immunotherapies for all forms of cancer, will bestow its highest honors on three scientists who have made fundamental contributions to the fields...
Hypofractionated Radiotherapy: Balancing Benefits vs Risks in Men With Localized Prostate Cancer
Radiation for prostate cancer typically requires 40 to 45 daily treatments, given over 8 to 9 weeks. Long fractionation schemes are chosen for most cancers, because they allow for tumor killing while reducing the potential for injury to normal tissue. However, the radiobiology of prostate cancer...
