There is considerable scope to develop digital resources by means of which teenagers and young adults living with cancer can receive information and connect with both professionals and fellow patients. Such tools could help them gain different perspectives on treatment and survivorship, said Esha...
As reported by Hua et al in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, long-term survivors of colorectal cancer with KRAS wild-type tumors had improved survival with regular use of any nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) post diagnosis. The study involved data from 2,149 patients aged 18 to 74...
When patients with metastatic cancer used a Web-based tool to self-report symptoms proactively during treatment, they lived 5 months longer than did patients assigned to usual care. In addition, they had improved quality of life and fewer emergency room visits and hospitalizations compared with...
Cathy Eng, MD, FACP, the Sophie Caroline Steves Distinguished Professor in Cancer Research at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, said the trial demonstrates “the challenge of analyzing six individually conducted studies in a pooled analysis.” The study’s “potential...
Patients with stage III colon cancer considered at low risk for recurrence may be treated effectively—and incur less neurotoxicity—with 3 months of an oxaliplatin-based regimen as compared with the standard 6 months, according to the results of the International Duration Evaluation of Adjuvant...
“[THE STREAM, Conquer Fear, and CALM] studies focus on the psychosocial aspects of coping with cancer. One theme that binds them is that oncologists take pride in the fact that we treat people with cancer [with the emphasis on people] and care for them, their caregivers, and their support...
Fifteen years ago, my internist advised me to lose weight. But after seeing the yo-yo effects of dieting on friends and colleagues, I knew I would find the process of losing weight and gaining it back frustrating, so I ignored my physician’s advice. It wasn’t until I was diagnosed late this past...
Angela Hartley Brodie, PhD, Professor Emeritus in the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, and an internationally recognized scientist whose groundbreaking cancer research is considered among the greatest advances in treating breast cancer, passed away on...
A draft recommendation from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) advises that for men aged 55 to 69, the decision to be screened for prostate cancer should be an individual one, based on the man’s own values and priorities and discussions with a clinician about the potential benefits...
For a man aged 55 to 69 years, the decision to be screened for prostate cancer should be an individual one, based on the man’s own values and priorities and discussions with a clinician about the potential benefits and harms of screening, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) advised in ...
The emerging field of molecular pathology focuses on the study and diagnosis of disease through the examination of genes and gene activity within organs and tissues. This information has transformed our thinking about the biologic diversity of breast cancers and has enhanced our treatment...
After undergoing nearly 5 years of intensive medical training, IBM’s Watson for Oncology cognitive computing system is starting to make good on its promise to accelerate personalized care for patients with cancer. The system has been trained by oncologists at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center ...
The ASCO Post’s Integrative Oncology series is intended to facilitate the availability of evidence-based information on integrative and complementary therapies commonly used by patients with cancer. In this installment, authors Ting Bao, MD, DABMA, MS, and Jyothirmai Gubili, MS, present the case...
In both inpatient and outpatient medical settings, the physician-patient communication process can become more difficult as a disease progresses. Conflicts due to a misunderstanding of therapeutic goals and/or a patient’s values can slowly arise over time among patients, their surrogates, and...
MANY FACTORS can influence treatment decisions patients make concerning their cancer care. These include safety, efficacy, and cost, among other concerns. Recently, CancerCare, a national organization dedicated to providing assistance at no cost to anyone affected by cancer, established the...
Breast cancer surgeon Monica Morrow, MD, came from a town in the far northeast reaches of suburban Philadelphia. “I guess because there were only two girls in our family, I was the son my father never had, and he reared me that way. When we were playing catch, if I missed the ball and got hit in...
Three years ago, early results from the U.S. Intergroup C10403 trial,1 which evaluated the effectiveness of treating adolescent and young adults (AYAs) with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) using an intensive pediatric regimen, showed significant improvement in event-free and overall survival...
IN AN EFFORT to find new strategies to personalize treatment for pediatric patients, Seattle Children’s Hospital has opened the first clinical trial applying next-generation T-cell receptor (TCR) sequencing and single-cell gene expression analysis to better understand how the immune system drives...
Three separate brief psychological interventions aimed at helping cancer patients cope with distress have shown improvements in quality of life and well-being across the continuum of cancer care. The interventions were studied—respectively—in newly diagnosed cancer patients, survivors after cancer...
Data from the TRANSCEND trial of JCAR017 in relapsed and refractory aggressive B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) was presented at the 2017 International Conference on Malignant Lymphoma (ICML) in Lugano, Switzerland. JCAR017 is Juno Therapeutics’ investigative chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) ...
An updated interim analysis from an ongoing phase I/II clinical trial evaluating brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris) and nivolumab (Opdivo) in relapsed or refractory classical Hodgkin lymphoma was presented at the International Conference on Malignant Lymphoma (ICML) in Lugano, Switzerland (Abstract...
Data was recently presented from the phase III GENUINE trial of ublituximab, a novel glycoengineered anti–CD20 monoclonal antibody, in combination with ibrutinib (Imbruvica), a Bruton tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor, for the treatment of high-risk chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), at the...
Researchers presented a preclinical study at the 2017 Annual Meeting of the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) that demonstrated the efficacy and optimal dose for targeted photodynamic therapy (PDT) to treat prostate cancer before and during surgery (Abstract 7). Targeted...
Patients with neuroendocrine tumors may experience fewer symptoms and survive longer by undergoing peptide-receptor radionuclide therapy (PRRT) combined with a drug that makes tumor cells more sensitive to radiation therapy, said researchers at the 2017 Annual Meeting of the Society of Nuclear...
A first-in-human study presented at the 2017 Annual Meeting of the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) (Abstract 385) demonstrated the feasibility and safety of imaging with the novel human monoclonal antibody HuMab-5B1, to enable highly specific targeting for the cancer...
CancerCare has announced the establishment of the CancerCare Patient Values Initiative, a multipronged effort with an aim to reframe the national health-care policy dialogue so that it includes what is important to patients and their families. As the first step of this important project,...
The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) has issued a new clinical guideline for the use of stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) in early-stage lung cancer. While SBRT is the current standard of care for peripherally located tumors in patients who cannot undergo surgery, the new...
A study assessing the prevalence and distribution of programmed cell death ligand 2 (PD-L2) in human tumor samples across seven cancer indications, including renal cell carcinoma, bladder, melanoma, non–small cell lung cancer, triple-negative breast cancer, gastric carcinoma, and head and...
Physicians gathered at the Annual Meeting of the American Medical Association (AMA) elected Barbara McAneny, MD, FASCO, MACP, an oncologist from Albuquerque, New Mexico, as the new President-Elect of the physicians' organization. Following a year-long term as President-Elect, Dr. McAneny will...
For an investment of $125 for each year of life gained since the 1950s, the National Cancer Institute (NCI)-funded SWOG clinical trials program has added 3.34 million years of life for patients with cancer in the United States because of successful therapies that were proved through its trials....
On April 3, 2017, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) in New York celebrated its ninth year of live performances of the cancer experience written by survivors participating in the center’s Visible Ink writing program. The evening’s performances were the culmination of months-long...
Eight years ago, I was on top of the world. I had moved to Los Angeles, California, in 2007, from my home in Poços de Caldas, Brazil, to pursue my dream of launching a singing career in the United States, and was finally making progress. I had just completed composing songs for my debut album and...
BOOKMARK Title: What Patients Say, What Doctors HearAuthor: Danielle Ofri, MDPublisher: Beacon PressPublication date: February 2017Price: $24.95, hardcover, 288 pages Despite our scientific and medical advances, the single most important diagnostic tool is the doctor-patient conversation, which is ...
BOOKMARK Title: The Drug Hunters: The Improbable Quest to Discover New MedicinesAuthors: Donald R. Kirsch, PhD, and Ogi Ogas, PhDPublisher: Arcade PublishingPublication date: January 2017Price: $24.99, hardcover, 328 pages Only about 1 in 100 drug discovery projects initiated by the pharmaceutical ...
The recent report of results of RTOG 9601 by Shipley et al in The New England Journal of Medicine1—reviewed in this issue of The ASCO Post—strongly supports the variably used practice of adding “androgen blockade” to salvage radiation therapy in men with a rising prostate-specific antigen (PSA)...
The OAK study—recently reported by Rittmeyer and colleagues and reviewed in this issue of The ASCO Post—is the first study to show patients with previously treated non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated with a humanized antibody (atezolizumab, Tecentriq) directed against the programmed cell...
Over the past 20 years, the Intergroupe Francophone du Myelome (IFM) and Dr. Michel Attal have pioneered the use of autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation (AHCT) for multiple myeloma in a series of randomized studies. Notable studies include comparisons of planned upfront AHCT vs...
Geriatrics for the Oncologist is guest edited by Stuart M. Lichtman, MD, FACP, FASCO, and developed in collaboration with the International Society of Geriatric Oncology (SIOG). Dr. Lichtman is an Attending Physician at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Commack, New York, and Professor of...
ASCO is very fortunate to have an active member base eager to volunteer, share expertise, and give back to the oncology community. Currently, more than 2,000 volunteers are engaged on ASCO committees, subcommittees, working groups, panels, task forces, editorial boards, and in various training...
ASCO is making it easier for practices to understand and prepare for the transition to the Quality Payment Program (QPP) in the years ahead with its ASCO COME HOME initiative. ASCO COME HOME provides readiness assessment tools to help practices evaluate whether or not they are ready to transition...
Care for people who have survived or are living with cancer should acknowledge the heterogeneity of their needs and experiences and should reflect the same level of personalization that is now guiding active cancer therapy. At a time when more people are surviving cancer than ever before, new...
On the Cancer.Net blog (www.cancer.net/blog), your patients can learn about the research highlighted at the 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting, including what it means for their care and treatment. They can also follow the blog for additional updates from the Meeting, including podcasts with ASCO experts...
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 May 10, 2017, pembrolizumab (Keytruda) was granted accelerated...
Here are several abstracts selected from the proceedings of the 2016 America Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition, highlighting newer therapeutics for the development for patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma. For full details of these study abstracts, visit...
Michael Berry, MD, a breast surgeon who is Director of the Margaret West Comprehensive Breast Center at The West Cancer Center, Memphis, told the The ASCO Post that these findings “echo what surgeons already know,” which is that lymphedema is a result of multiple insults to the axilla. But one...
In a study from the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, the risk of lymphedema in a population-based breast cancer cohort was related to multimodality therapy and not axillary surgery alone, investigators reported at the American Society of Breast Surgeons (ASBrS) Annual Meeting.1 “Most patients...
Head and neck cancer can take away a patient’s “right to feel human,” and its impact on physical appearance, physical functioning, and general quality of life can be devastating, according to Merry Sebelik, MD, Associate Professor of Head and Neck Surgery at Emory University in Atlanta. At a...
Radiation oncology is vital to the management of patients with cancer of the head and neck, and for certain patients, proton therapy may offer significant benefit over intensity-modulated radiation therapy, according to Walter J. Curran, MD, Executive Director of the Winship Cancer Institute of...
The impact of targeted therapies in head and neck cancer has been limited, but we can strategize to integrate the development of targeted and immunotherapeutic agents, according to Christine H. Chung, MD, Senior Member and Chair in the Department of Head and Neck-Endocrine Oncology at Moffitt...
Immunotherapy is a new treatment paradigm in recurrent metastatic head and neck cancer, according to Nabil F. Saba, MD. At a symposium hosted by the Winship Cancer Institute and Emory University—Updates in the Management of Head and Neck Cancer—Dr. Saba discussed current research and new...