A recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stated that the incidence of melanoma “doubled between 1982 and 2011, but comprehensive skin cancer prevention programs could prevent 20% of new cases between 2020 and 2030.”1,2 That report should serve to increase interest...
Amid the encouraging studies reported at the 2015 ASCO Annual Meeting about advances in the treatment of melanoma was a troubling finding about the incidence of melanoma increasing. An analysis of data from nine Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) registries found that the incidence...
Ipilimumab (Yervoy) is a fully human monoclonal antibody that blocks the negative T-cell regulator cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen 4 (CTLA-4) and has improved overall survival for patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma in two phase III studies.1,2 Based upon these results, ipilimumab was...
In the phase III European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) 18071 trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Alexander M.M. Eggermont, MD, PhD, Director General of the Gustave Roussy Cancer Center in Villejuif, France, and colleagues found that adjuvant therapy with the immune...
The use of dietary supplements by patients with cancer has increased significantly over the past 20 years 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 ...
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 supervisory toxicologist Todd Palmby, PhD, and pharmacologist Eias Zahalka, PhD, MBA, discuss the approach taken in the Office of ...
Geriatrics for the Oncologist is guest edited by Stuart Lichtman, MD, FACP, FASCO, and developed in collaboration with the International Society of Geriatric Oncology (SIOG). Visit SIOG.org for more on geriatric oncology. The elderly population in the United States is growing, and by the year...
As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Andrea Bezjak, MD, of Princess Margaret Cancer Center, Toronto, and colleagues,1 ASCO has recently endorsed the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) evidence-based guideline on external-beam radiotherapy for patients with locally...
Approximately 10% to 15% of patients with advanced non–small cell lung (NSCLC) cancer have mutations in the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) in tumor cells. Specific therapies to inhibit the activity of EGFR-mutated NSCLC have now been clearly shown to improve response rate and...
Cyrus Ghajar, PhD, a metastatic breast cancer researcher at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, has received a $4.1 million Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program (BCRP) “Era of Hope” Scholar Award. The Department of Defense’s BCRP is the second biggest funder of breast cancer...
Daniel G. Coit, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, and Chair of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Melanoma Guidelines Panel, discussed the findings reported by Lewin et al at the ASCO Annual Meeting. “This is a small retrospective study examining a prospective...
We’ve seen how dramatically patients’ lives can change when they are matched with the right treatment at the right time in their disease course. Although this is still an exception and not the rule, we believe collaborative research approaches will make this kind of precision medicine a reality for ...
In a breakthrough proposal announced on July 8, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) plans to reimburse physicians for end-of-life counseling, a move that the oncology community has long been lobbying for. Arriving just as the presidential election cycle begins to heat up, the CMS ...
Three years ago, a study of adolescents and young adults aged 16 to 28 with metastatic or recurrent cancer or HIV/AIDS compared the usefulness of two previously developed advance care planning guides—one prepared specifically for adolescents and young adults and one specifically for adults. The...
When Emil J Freireich, MD, retires from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center on September 1, he will have spent 50 years at the institution and a total of 60 years in the pursuit of curing childhood leukemia as well as other cancers and in the educational development of young...
CancerCare, a national nonprofit organization that provides free psychosocial support, education, and financial assistance to anyone affected by cancer, has announced the launch of a bold, new research initiative. Through surveys among a nationally representative sample of thousands of people with...
“Between animal and human medicine there is no dividing line—nor should there be. The object is different but the experience obtained constitutes the basis of all medicine.” — Rudolf Virchow (1821–1902) Everyone has seen photographs of people who look like their dogs: the young woman with long...
In a paper published in Annals of Internal Medicine1, the American College of Physicians (ACP) issued advice for screening average risk adults without symptoms for five common cancers: breast, colorectal, ovarian, prostate, and cervical. In a companion piece also published in Annals2, ACP outlined...
Julie M. Vose, MD, MBA, FASCO, began her term as the 2015–2016 President of ASCO at the 2015 Annual Meeting on June 1, 2015. Dr. Vose, a leading expert in the treatment of patients with lymphoma, is the current Neumann M. and Mildred E. Harris Professorial Chair and Chief of the Oncology/Hematology ...
In 1964, when the first seven physicians who founded ASCO met, I doubt they imagined what a successful Society they were forming. At that time, cancer treatments were just beginning to have some early successes with a few cytotoxic therapies, new radiation modalities, and improved surgical...
The following essay by Karen J. Krag, MD, is adapted from The Big Casino: America’s Best Cancer Doctors Share Their Most Powerful Stories, which was coedited by Stan Winokur, MD, and Vincent Coppola and published in May 2014. The book is available on Amazon.com and thebigcasino.org. It is easier ...
BOOKMARK Title: Megalies: A Memoir Author: Lodovico Balducci, MD Publisher: Resource Publications Publication date: February 28, 2014 Price: $33.00; hardcover, 304 pages Reading a good book produces various sensory responses; a skilled author exerts his or her narrative power on each page,...
Genomic applications are now an accepted part of oncologic science and practice. Differences in gene expression have been used to understand and predict tumor behaviors and response to treatment. And now it seems likely that genomics may also play a pivotal role in guiding treatment preferences by...
Investigators at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital have received grants totaling more than $12 million from the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) Pharmacogenomics Research Network (PGRN) for a new Center for Precision Medicine in Leukemia and for the Clinical Pharmacogenetics Implementation ...
Earlier this spring, the T.J. Martell Foundation, which supports research in leukemia, other cancers, and AIDS, announced the honorees of its 2015 Women of Influence Awards, which celebrate the achievements of outstanding women in a variety of fields. Among this year’s seven recipients was Jimmie...
Kaufman and colleagues recently reported findings of a phase III trial comparing eribulin (Halaven) vs capecitabine in patients with advanced breast cancer who had previously received anthracycline and taxane therapy,1 and a review of their study appears in this issue of The ASCO Post. Although...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC) favored the approval of necitumumab in combination with gemcitabine and cisplatin for use in first-line treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic squamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). In...
An elegant study by Siddiqui et al1—reviewed in this issue of The ASCO Post—offers compelling evidence for the diagnostic utility of “targeted” prostate biopsy using multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data fused with ultrasound images. The technique involves first performing a...
In a study reported in JAMA, M. Minhaj Siddiqui, MD, currently of the University of Maryland School of Medicine, and colleagues found that targeted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)/ultrasound fusion–guided prostate biopsy increased diagnosis of high-risk prostate cancer and reduced detection of...
Checkpoint inhibitors were major attention grabbers at the 2015 ASCO Annual Meeting, but studies suggested there are other encouraging means of harnessing the immune system in the treatment of glioblastoma. EGFRvIII-Targeted Vaccine David A. Reardon, MD, Clinical Director of the Center for...
Health-care experts are questioning whether proton-beam therapy is on the verge of an economic bubble—ie, a rapid surge in growth for the industry beyond its intrinsic value, inevitably leading to a drastic drop in earnings for proton centers when the “bubble bursts.” A proton-beam facility can...
Oscar Wilde famously defined a cynic as “a man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.” I do not think that oncologists need to be as cynical as this, but it was very appropriate that a major theme of this year’s ASCO Annual Meeting was the concept of “value.” It is clear that...
Statin use was not associated with reduced mortality among patients diagnosed with primary colorectal cancer between 2003 and 2009 and followed for a median of 3.4 years in the Darmkrebs: Chancen der Verhütung durch Screening (DACHS) study, an ongoing population-based study of colorectal cancer in...
Could too much citrus cause skin cancer?” was the lead-in of an NBC News item about a study linking consumption of grapefruits and oranges to an increased risk of melanoma.1 “Citrus consumption and skin cancer: How real is the link?” was the question posed by a headline in The Washington Post.2...
A study finding a link between citrus consumption and increased risk of melanoma1 may provide food for thought about the findings and implications as well as whet the appetite for more evidence, but according to several experts commenting on the study, it does not mean you should stop eating citrus ...
James Metz, MD, has been named the Chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. The Morton M. Kligerman Professor of Radiation Oncology, Dr. Metz has been serving as Interim Chair since November 2014, and held a series of...
Question 1: What is the best first step in management of this patient? Correct Answer: C. Start plasma exchange. Expert Perspective Although distinguishing among thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura, typical hemolytic uremic syndrome, and atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome (see Table 1 in the...
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 July 24, 2015, sonidegib (Odomzo) was approved for treatment...
In May 2015, Johnson & Johnson announced its partnership with New York University (NYU) School of Medicine in New York to create a first-of-its kind independent bioethics panel to review requests made to the company for compassionate use of an investigational drug and determine how the company...
“The management of older individuals, including older cancer patients, involves a wisdom developed over a lifetime, thanks to time-consuming listening and painstaking collection and interpretation of clinical details.” —Lodovico Balducci, MD It is not simple to be a geriatrician in a world of...
The American Psychosocial Oncology Society (APOS) honored five award winners at the 2015 World Congress of Psycho-Oncology, held from July 28–August 1 in Washington, DC. Holland Distinguished Leadership Award: Matthew J. Loscalzo, LCSW Professor Loscalzo is the Liliane Elkins Professor in...
BOLERO-1—reviewed in this issue of The ASCO Post—is the next installment in a series of randomized trials evaluating the addition of everolimus (Afinitor) to standard therapy in metastatic breast cancer.1 The initial evaluation of everolimus in the HER2-positive metastatic setting looked extremely...
For nearly a decade, Peter B. Bach, MD, MAPP, Director of the Center for Health Policy and Outcomes at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, has been a leading voice in sounding the alarm over the escalating cost of cancer drugs and in seeking a solution to the problem. In 2012, Dr....
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 July 24, 2015, carfilzomib (Kyprolis) was approved for use in...
In patients with advanced colorectal cancer who have been heavily treated with a sequence of chemotherapy regimens and/or targeted therapies, the goals of treatment on or off a clinical trial are readily definable. These patients and their managing teams are striving to extend the length of lives,...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved sonidegib (Odomzo) for the treatment of patients with locally advanced basal cell carcinoma that has recurred following surgery or radiation therapy or those who are not candidates for surgery or radiation therapy. The approval was based on...
Cancer-related pain does not exist in a vacuum. To effectively treat it, clinicians should understand the contributing factors. Proper assessment and management of cancer pain at the end of life can significantly alleviate patient suffering, according to Eduardo Bruera, MD, FAAHPM, Department Chair ...
Osteonecrosis of the jaw associated with cancer treatment is frequently misunderstood, according to Cesar Augusto Migliorati, DDS, MS, PhD, who delivered an update on its proper recognition and management at the 2015 Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer/International Society of...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted lenvatinib (Lenvima) Breakthrough Therapy designation for investigational use in patients with advanced or metastatic renal cell carcinoma who were previously treated with a vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-targeted therapy. Lenvatinib...
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 July 13, 2015, gefitinib (Iressa) was approved for first-line ...