RECENTLY, THE American Society of Hematology (ASH) submitted feedback on draft recommendations for reforming Maintenance of Certification (MOC) to a commission appointed by the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) and other entities. The “Vision Commission” released a report of its draft...
The findings of the National Lung Screening Trial (NLST), reported in 2011, revealed that participants who received low-dose helical computed tomography (CT) scans had a 20% lower risk of dying of lung cancer than participants who received standard chest x-rays. Despite these results,...
MICHIANA HEMATOLOGY Oncology has announced that Robin Zon, MD, FACP, FASCO, has been elected President by its shareholders. In her new role as President, Dr. Zon will oversee and maintain leadership of the practice. Dr. Zon is a member of ASCO and was awarded Fellow status; with ASCO, she served...
THE U.S. PREVENTIVE Services Task Force (Task Force) announced the addition of two new members: Michael Cabana, MD, MA, MPH, and Lori Pbert, PhD. Both were appointed to serve 4-year terms, which began in January 2019. Dr. Cabana is Professor of Pediatrics, Epidemiology, and Biostatistics and a...
Shortages of essential chemotherapy drugs for children undergoing cancer treatment have been an increasingly frequent obstacle for patients and hospitals in the United States. These shortages can result in increased medication errors, delayed administration of life-saving therapy, inferior...
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN) has published a new book of patient information that explains prevention, diagnosis, and treatment for squamous cell skin cancer. Squamous cell and basal cell skin cancers are responsible for about 5 million annual incidents of nonmelanoma...
A qualitative study yielded nine patient-driven recommendations across circumstances that include changes to insurance, supportive services, and financial assistance to reduce long-term, breast cancer–related economic burden. The study was published by Dean et al in Cancer. Unique...
The presence of nevi is an established risk factor for melanoma. In light of this, researchers examined the association between the presence of nevi on extremities and the risk of melanoma and nonmelanoma skin cancers. Their findings were published by Wei et al in the Journal of the American...
A single dose of a programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) inhibitor before resection for melanoma may predict clinical outcomes for patients. Researchers from the Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania—who documented this finding in the largest cohort of patients to be...
Men with early-stage testicular cancer can safely receive one course of adjuvant chemotherapy or radiotherapy without it having a long-term effect on their reproductive potential, according to a study published by Weibring et al in Annals of Oncology. Although it is known already that several...
On March 5, 2019, Scott Gottlieb, MD, announced his resignation as Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), a post he began in 2017. Dr. Gottlieb’s resignation will be effective next month. In a resignation letter to Alex M. Azar II, Secretary of Health and Human Services ...
The FDA recently issued announcements on a Fast Track designation, a Priority Review, two supplemental new drug applications, an investigational new drug application, and a marketing clearance. The agency also released a safety communication on cancer-related surgery. Fast Track Designation for...
Kentucky has been one of the most successful states in reducing its uninsured rate, which happened in part through the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion that took effect on January 1, 2014. In the past, Kentucky has reported low rates of colorectal cancer screening, and has ranked ...
While artificial intelligence (AI) systems for skin cancer detection have shown promise in research settings, there is still a lot of work to be done before the technology is appropriate for real-world use. This was the topic of a scientific session at the 2019 American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) ...
In “A Lifesaving Intuition”, this month’s featured Your Stories podcast, a two-time cancer survivor shares lessons with her daughter about beating the odds, trusting science, and trusting your gut. Developed by ASCO’s Conquer Cancer Foundation, the Your Stories podcast series shares unscripted...
All homes and all families have or have had their own cancer experiences. Speaking about it dissolves the taboo and allows for earlier diagnosis, less discrimination, increased awareness, and higher commitment by authorities. It also helps those struggling with the disease feel like part of a...
Patients and caregivers are always looking for trusted online information on topics related to cancer. Display these free referral cards in your practice to encourage your patients to visit ASCO’s patient information website, Cancer.Net. There, patients may find authoritative, oncologist-approved...
Cancer can affect fertility in both men and women from adolescence through adulthood. Fertility preservation is often not addressed early enough during cancer treatment, but it should be a standard component of comprehensive care for prepubertal and reproductive-age patients. ASCO University offers ...
As of January 9, ASCO’s Quality Oncology Practice Initiative (QOPI®) Round 1 of reporting is open for data abstraction. Round 1 will close on June 3, and final reports will be available approximately 2 weeks after the round closes. To get started, go to the registration portal and log in. A...
I am a radiation oncologist from Zambia, where we only have one cancer center offering radiotherapy—and I will beat cancer. This bold statement often evokes a look of surprise. However, if the conversation is allowed to go on, I’ll say cancer is beatable even where resources are thin. I am...
ASCO, along with over 50 other organizations, signed a letter from the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) urging the agency to reject proposed changes to Medicare Part D that could harm patient access to essential therapies, including...
The work of nine researchers who have previously received funding from Conquer Cancer is featured in ASCO’s Clinical Cancer Advances 2019. Visit CONQUER.ORG/CCA for more details. Immunotherapy At New York University Perlmutter Cancer Center in New York City, Leena Gandhi, MD, PhD, led a large...
The Pancreatic Cancer Collective—the strategic partner of the Lustgarten Foundation and Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C)—has awarded a total of $7 million in first-round New Therapies Challenge grants to 7 teams of top cancer researchers to explore new pancreatic cancer treatments. Each team will receive...
The Targeted Anticancer Therapies (TAT) 2019 Honorary Award for cancer drug development has been given to Geoffrey Shapiro, PhD, MD, Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and institute physician at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI), for his leadership in developmental therapeutics. ...
With advances in the field, the number of haploidentical stem cell transplants being performed (ie, using human leukocyte antigen [HLA] half-matched donor stem cells) has been increasing. In recognition of evolving strategies to improve outcomes, a group of transplant physicians started the...
The provision of palliative care (primary or specialty) is paramount to providing excellent quality care to all patients with cancer. Palliative care is associated with improving the quality of life, mood, and survival in patients with cancer. In fact, ASCO guidelines recommend that patients with...
The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation named nine scientists with novel approaches to fighting cancer the 2019 recipients of the Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovation Award. Five early career scientists will receive initial grants of $400,000 over 2 years. Another 4 awardees who demonstrated...
Stefan O. Ciurea, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses the enhanced antitumor effect and lower viral reactivation that result from high doses of natural killer cells infused after haploidentical transplantation, with no excess graft-vs-host disease, a low relapse rate ...
Edward B. Garon, MD, of the Olive View–UCLA Medical Center, discusses phase IIIb/IV study findings on reducing the frequency of nivolumab dosing, from 480 mg every 4 weeks to 240 mg every 2 weeks, in patients with previously treated advanced non–small cell lung cancer (Abstract 100).
G. Travis Clifton, MD, of Brooke Army Medical Center, discusses phase IIb trial findings on nelipepimut-S plus GM-CSF with trastuzumab vs trastuzumab alone to prevent recurrences of high-risk, HER2 low-expressing breast cancer (Abstract 1).
Nicholas Vogelzang, MD, of the Comprehensive Cancer Centers of Nevada, discusses phase Ib/II findings on pembrolizumab and lenvatinib given to 20 patients with metastatic transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder who had received no prior checkpoint inhibitor therapy (Abstract 11).
Kim A. Margolin, MD, of City of Hope, summarizes a session she co-chaired on combination immunotherapies, locoregional therapies, systemic therapies, and enhancing natural killer cells.
Madhav V. Dhodapkar, MBBS, of Emory University, summarizes a session he co-chaired on emerging approaches for vaccines, personalized/neoantigen vaccines, and mutation-targeted immunotherapy for diffuse midline gliomas.
Nicolas Guibert, MD, PhD, of Toulouse University Hospital, discusses a simple algorithm built to predict durable outcomes of patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer that has been treated with immunotherapy. He notes that early changes in circulating tumor DNA burden may also predict...
Elizabeth A. Mittendorf, MD, PhD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses the encouraging data on atezolizumab plus nab-paclitaxel in the first-line setting for metastatic triple-negative breast cancer, and the potential benefits of combining immune checkpoint inhibitors with targeted treatment...
Toni K. Choueiri, MD, and Ziad Bakouny, MD, both of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, talk about novel cytokines, checkpoint inhibitors, and vaccines in the treatment pipeline for renal cell carcinoma.
Jedd D. Wolchok, MD, PhD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses the data to date on checkpoint blockades and the rationale for combination therapies and novel agents.
First launched in 2014, the Palliative Care in Oncology Symposium introduced a nascent interdisciplinary approach to the treatment of both the physical and psychological symptoms of cancer to improve disease outcome and quality of life for patients. Today, it has evolved into a leading forum for...
Otis W. Brawley, MD, an authority on cancer screening and prevention who served as Chief Medical and Scientific Officer for the American Cancer Society and Director of the Georgia Cancer Center at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, has been named a Bloomberg Distinguished Professor at Johns...
Aditya Bardia, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Director of Precision Medicine at the Center for Breast Cancer, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, found the PALLET study noteworthy in light of heightened interest in cyclin-dependent kinase 4/6 (CDK4/6)...
Researchers hypothesized that targeting some genetic alterations in plasma cell–free DNA—along with early monitoring—could be an effective, noninvasive method for predicting response to immune checkpoint inhibitors in advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Findings...
Researchers reported similar efficacy and safety with an every-4-week regimen of nivolumab in the second-line setting compared to an every-2-week schedule in patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Edward B. Garon, MD, and colleagues presented the results of an interim analysis of...
NYU Langone Health’s Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Cancer Center recently announced a philanthropic gift to establish a Center for Blood Cancers. The center will house a new program for multiple myeloma care and research, along with NYU Langone Health’s other blood cancer programs. It will also...
Biologic age—a DNA-based estimate of a person’s age—may be associated with development of breast cancer, according a report published by Kresovich et al in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Study Methods Scientists from the National Institute of Environmental Health...
As reported by Gnant et al in The Lancet Oncology, disease-free survival (DFS) was improved with adjuvant denosumab vs placebo in postmenopausal women with hormone receptor–positive, early-stage breast cancer receiving aromatase inhibitor treatment. A primary analysis of the phase III...
“This is an intriguing agent,” said ASCO expert Robert Dreicer, MD, MS, MACP, FASCO, of the University of Virginia Cancer Center and moderator of a press briefing where these data were discussed. “Survival rates are low for patients with metastatic castration--resistant prostate cancer, and the...
Although diagnostic errors date back to antiquity, in recent years, they have begun to receive attention as an important patient safety issue. This culminated in the National Academy of Medicine’s 2015 landmark report, which concluded that most people in the United States would experience at...
The checkpoint inhibitor pembrolizumab plus the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) tyrosine kinase inhibitor axitinib significantly improved overall survival, progression-free survival, and objective response rates vs sunitinib as first-line therapy for clear cell metastatic renal cell...
A phase Ia/Ib trial was launched in order to evaluate the safety of LY3321367, an anti–T-cell immunoglobulin domain and mucin domain–containing molecule-3 (TIM-3) antibody, administered alone or in combination with LY3300054, an anti-programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) antibody, in...
An aging population, a growing number of cancer survivors, and a projected shortage of cancer care providers will lead to challenges in delivering care for cancer survivors in the United States if systemic changes are not made, according to a commentary in the Journal of the National Cancer...