Most patients who choose to have breast reconstruction following mastectomy are satisfied with the decision-making process. Reasons for not choosing reconstruction vary by race and include the desire to avoid additional surgery and fear of implants. These and other conclusions of an analysis of...
In a study reported in Cancer Immunology Research, Salazar and colleagues found a remarkable response to a strategy of sequential intratumoral and intramuscular injections of the stabilized dsRNA viral mimic and pathogen-associated molecular pattern (PAMP) polyinosinic-polycytidylic...
The response among patients to news reports about mutations in a gene known as PALB2 raising the risk of breast cancer “has been predictable,” Theodora Ross, MD, PhD, wrote in The New York Times.1 As an example, Dr. Ross, Director of the Cancer Genetics Program at The University of Texas...
Music therapy, an established adjuvant to standard cancer care, is offered in a growing number of cancer centers throughout the United States and internationally. Defined by the American Music Therapy Association (AMTA) as “the evidence-based use of music interventions to accomplish individual...
The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) presented seven physicians a total of $675,000 in awards and grants to advance radiation oncology research. The awards will fund studies in radiation and cancer biology, radiation physics, translational research, outcomes/health services research, ...
Tests in development to detect circulating tumor cells that escape from solid tumors and travel through the blood, spreading cancer to new sites, may serve as an alternative to conventional tissue biopsy for early cancer diagnosis and gene-expression analysis over the next decade. According to...
In eealthy industrialized nations like the United States, escalating costs of cancer care have put the term “cost-effective care” on the forefront of health-care policy discussions. However, the cost issues we wrestle with in our $3 trillion health-care system are vague abstractions for much of the ...
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...
Using gene therapy and a combination of chemotherapy drugs, researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center have been able to enhance the tolerance and effectiveness of medications used in treating glioblastoma while also protecting healthy cells from their toxic effects. The report,...
James P. Allison, PhD, has been bucking the status quo since he was a teenager growing up in the small agricultural town of Alice, Texas, in the 1950s and 1960s. He first butted heads with authority figures when he was in high school and learned that his biology class had omitted the teaching of...
In an accompanying editorial,1 Karla Kerlikowske, MD, of the University of California, San Francisco, and colleagues point out that while the finding of Killelea et al that digital mammography screening was not associated with downstaging of disease may not be surprising, given the similar accuracy ...
In a study of the use of breast cancer screening modalities in the Medicare population reported in Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Brigid K. Killelea, MD, MPH, FACS, and colleagues at Yale University School of Medicine, Yale Cancer Center, and Yale–New Haven Hospital, New Haven,...
In a large multicenter study reported in JAMA, Sarah M. Friedewald, MD, of the Advocate Lutheran General Hospital, Center for Advanced Care, Park Ridge, Illinois, and colleagues found that use of tomosynthesis plus digital mammography reduced the recall rate and increased the cancer detection rate...
In March, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) transformed its Cooperative Group Program into the National Clinical Trials Network (NCTN). Spurred by recommendations in the Institute of Medicine (IOM) 2010 report, A National Cancer Clinical Trials System for the 21st Century: Reinvigorating the NCI...
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...
Over the past decade, ASCO has launched multiple initiatives on cancer genetics that complement the rapid progress in the field. These initiatives have resulted in educational offerings and policy recommendations that have improved both preventive and therapeutic options for patients with cancer...
As 2014 marks the 50th Anniversary of the founding of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), it seems only appropriate to highlight the founders of the Society and the vision they shared for its future. The 1960s were the early days of the use of chemotherapy for the treatment of cancer, ...
More than 4.3 million women with limited access to health care received breast and cervical cancer screening and diagnostic services in the first 20 years of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program. From 1991 to 2011, 56,662...
The recent publication by Antoniou et al on risk of breast cancer in PALB2 carriers,1 reviewed in this issue of The ASCO Post (page 47), is a contribution to the interesting history of the PALB2 gene, and an important milestone in the expansion of hereditary cancer susceptibility testing in the...
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, Virginia Kwitkowski, MS, RN, ACNP-BC, and Elektra Papadopoulos, MD, MPH, discuss FDA’s current approach to the review of study...
Researchers at the University of Michigan School of Nursing and Comprehensive Cancer Center have received a $2.3 million grant to study oncology nurses’ exposure to hazardous drugs, including identifying ways to reduce exposure. “There are significant acute and long-term side effects from hazardous ...
Postoperative radiation therapy, given after adjuvant chemotherapy, significantly increased overall survival in non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) compared to chemotherapy alone, according to a study reported at ASCO’s 2014 Annual Meeting.1 That study, an analysis of records in the National Cancer...
Cetuximab (Erbitux) added no survival benefit to chemoradiation in stage III non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to results reported in a Plenary Session of the 2013 World Conference on Lung Cancer in Sydney, Australia.1 It was the second surprise result from the Radiation Therapy...
Production of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is increased during normal ovulation, and can account for much of the reversible toxicity associated with ovarian hyperstimulation.1,2 We also have compelling data from multiple clinical trials to validate the importance of tumor-associated...
An oral tablet form of a poly-ADP ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitor, olaparib, given in combination with chemotherapy, was safe in heavily pretreated patients with ovarian cancer, and patients with BRCA mutations may have a better response compared with those without a BRCA mutation, according to...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today granted accelerated approval to the anti–PD-1 antibody pembrolizumab (Keytruda) for the treatment of patients with advanced or unresectable melanoma who are no longer responding to other drugs. Pembrolizumab is intended for use following treatment...
The three leukemia/lymphoma studies selected from the many 2014 ASCO Annual Meeting abstracts for presentation at the recent Best of ASCO meeting in Chicago “are really paradigm-shifting,” noted Lucy A. Godley, MD, PhD, of the University of Chicago. These studies, she said, “give great promise for...
Several studies reported at this year’s ASCO Annual Meeting address gray areas in the management of prostate cancer, according to Evan Y. Yu, MD, Associate Professor at the University of Washington and the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance. “In prostate cancer, probably the most excitement has happened...
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 ...
Oncologists love jargon—a language peculiar to a particular trade, profession, or group that facilitates communication among members. Our day-to-day communications, medical notes, and journal reports are filled with this type of jargon. Other definitions of jargon are less flattering, including...
Although positron-emission tomography (PET) combined with 18F–fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) is recommended for the noninvasive diagnosis of pulmonary nodules suspicious for lung cancer, in populations with endemic infectious lung disease, FDG-PET may not accurately identify malignant lesions. An...
The survival benefit demonstrated in the VELOUR study for FOLFIRI (irinotecan, fluorouracil [5-FU], leucovorin) plus ziv-aflibercept (Zaltrap) vs FOLFIRI plus placebo in metastatic colorectal cancer patients who progressed on oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy persisted beyond median survival times for ...
Analyses of data from 27,404 people aged 65 and older participating in the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) from 2000 through 2010 suggest that overscreening for prostate, breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer screening “is common in both men and women, which not only increases health care ...
We have toolsWe have ghoulsBut nowhere are there more foolsThan in the rulesfrom those who govern the tools! In the bias That climbs on the shoulders To bring plausibility Through implied causality,Where is ignorance?Where is reality?Where are all the tools of Reason? ...
Bookmark Title: Integrative Oncology (Second Edition)Editors: Donald I. Abrams, MD, and Andrew T. Weil, MDPublisher: Oxford University PressPublication date: September 3, 2014Price: $65.00; Paperback, 848 pages In 1990, David Eisenberg, MD, from the Harvard School of Public Health, conducted a...
The use of dietary supplements by patients with cancer has increased 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 information contained in this Clinical Trials Resource Guide includes actively recruiting clinical studies for people with breast cancer. The studies include phase I and II, interventional, and observational trials evaluating new therapies; diagnostic tools; genetic counseling; the association ...
Primary androgen-deprivation therapy has been widely used in localized prostate cancer, despite the absence of definitive evidence of benefit in early-stage disease. In a large population-based cohort study reported in JAMA Internal Medicine, Grace L. Lu-Yao, MPH, PhD, of Rutgers Cancer Institute...
One of the miracles produced by the x-ray was the relatively easy treatment of inoperable or disfiguring tumors. If not a cure, the results frequently gave the patients at least some time to look and feel normal. The young patient shown in these photographs had a remarkable response. Images such as ...
Antiseptic principles delivered the promise of safe surgery, while asepsis allowed safe major dissections and invasion of body cavities. The physicians who were using these techniques recognized the amazing difference in their surgical results and corresponding mortality rates and proselytized to...
In his powerful 2010 best-seller, The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer (Scribner), Siddhartha Mukherjee, MD, chronicles the evolution of cancer from the oldest known description of the disease written on a papyrus from about 1600 BC to the present day’s understanding of the biology of ...
The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) reported a second list of five radiation oncology treatments that should not be used routinely in clinical practice on day 1 of the Society’s 56th Annual Meeting.1 These five treatments should be discussed in depth with patients prior to being...
In 2014, about 15,000 people in the United States will be diagnosed with some form of sarcoma, and of those, approximately 5,000 adults and children are expected to die of the disease. Sarcomas are a heterogeneous group of mesenchymal malignancies that have historically been difficult to diagnose...
In the Clinic provides overviews of novel oncology agents, addressing indications, mechanisms, administration recommendations, safety profiles, and other essential information needed for the appropriate clinical use of these drugs. On September 10, 2014, the androgen receptor inhibitor...
Clinical depression is highly prevalent, associated with significant morbidity, often underrecognized, and inadequately treated in cancer patients. Professor Michael Sharpe and Jane Walker, PhD, and their colleagues’ seminal work on enhancing treatment of depression in cancer patients using a...
In the Scottish SMaRT Oncology-2 study reported in The Lancet, Michael Sharpe, MD, and Jane Walker, PhD, of University of Oxford, United Kingdom, and colleagues found that an integrated collaborative treatment program for depression (“depression care for people with cancer”) was associated with...
In the phase III CENTRIC/European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) 26071-22072 trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Roger Stupp, MD, of University Hospital Zurich, and colleagues found that adding the selective αvβ3 and αvβ5 integrin inhibitor cilengitide to standard...
ASCO and the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) sent a joint letter to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) urging the agency to regulate electronic cigarettes, cigars, and all other tobacco products and to strengthen the proposed regulations for newly deemed products. The...
Journal of Clinical Oncology (JCO) and Journal of Oncology Practice (JOP) “Exclusive Coverage” summaries, available on ASCO.org and ASCO Connection, are designed to provide quick insight and additional author perspectives on select recently published studies. Based on interviews conducted with the...
Oncology fellows just years away from entering the profession full time may have unrealistic expectations of their future career, according to data published recently in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. The study by Tait D. Shanafelt, MD, of the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, and colleagues...