With an increased number of breast cancer survivors and patients with metastatic disease living longer, it is imperative for oncology care providers to manage issues of new and chronic upper extremity dysfunction as a result of the malignancy itself or its treatment. As one of my patients...
Question 1: What is the next best step for this patient? Correct Answer: C. Determination of amyloid subtype. Expert Perspective Amyloidosis encompasses a heterogeneous group of diseases bound by the characteristic deposition of amyloid fibrils in soft tissues and bone marrow, and it could be...
Case Study A 70-year-old man is referred to your clinic for a consultation. Recently, a diagnosis of IgG monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) was established. Medical history is significant for essential hypertension, type II diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidemia, and atrial...
The Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania, The Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center at Columbia University Medical Center, the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, and The Tisch Cancer Institute at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have...
Fentanyl (Lazanda) nasal spray, a schedule II narcotic, is now available at a 300-μg dose to treat breakthrough cancer pain, offering physicians another titration option for dosing flexibility. The new strength can help physicians more easily and accurately target the appropriate dose for...
A new study has identified a gene signature that predicts poor survival from ovarian cancer. The study also identified genes which help the cancer develop resistance to chemotherapy—offering a new route to help tackle the disease. The study, published by Kelly et al in the International...
Recent studies on a small number of patients with leukemia treated with bone marrow transplantation have suggested that the presence of the common cytomegalovirus (CMV) in patients or their donors may protect against relapse or even death after the transplant. A large international study published...
The new ASCO Answers Guide to non–small cell lung cancer replaces the previous guide to general lung cancer. It is designed just for patients newly diagnosed with non–small cell lung cancer to help them better understand the disease and their treatment options. It includes information on treatment, ...
ASCO is committed to providing all oncologists with opportunities for professional development that will maximize their career success. In response to the recognized career gender gap for women in oncology, ASCO included a number of initiatives in the 2016 Annual Meeting program. In its 2nd year,...
The Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (MMRF), a leader in precision medicine, has announced that its founder Kathy Giusti has been appointed Faculty Co-Chair of the Kraft Precision Medicine Accelerator at Harvard Business School (HBS). Ms. Giusti will lead the Harvard Business School Kraft...
Like most pediatric hematologists/oncologists, my career has been a journey, hoping to discover ways to improve the outcomes for children and adolescents with cancer. I have been blessed to work with outstanding colleagues in the United States and throughout the world. And of equal importance, I...
ASCO recently announced the appointment of James M. Ford, MD, as Editor-in-Chief of the Society’s new journal, JCO Precision Oncology. Dr. Ford will set the scope and vision for the online-only journal, which will publish scientific and educational content that provides a deeper understanding of...
The study statistics are alarming—and perplexing. According to an analysis of data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) colorectal cancer registry, colon cancer incidence among young adults aged 20 to 34 is expected to increase 90% by 2030, and the incidence of rectosigmoid...
Researchers at the 2016 Annual Meeting of the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) presented a molecular imaging methodology that allows the increase of the radiotherapy dose to the tumor while protecting vulnerable vital organs.1 The delicate balance of administering the...
“These are important data. It is safe to envision a future where atezolizumab [Tecentriq] can be used first-line. These were cisplatin-ineligible patients, and many patients fall into this category, especially the elderly. Platinum-ineligibility is a big problem due to comorbidities,” explained...
Atezolizumab (Tecentriq), an anti–programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) inhibitor, achieved durable responses as first-line treatment in cisplatin-ineligible patients with metastatic urothelial carcinoma in a primary analysis of a phase II trial. These data represent an unmet need, because...
“Adjuvant temozolomide does represent a new standard of care for 1p/19q-intact anaplastic glioma patients,” according to David Reardon, MD, Clinical Director at the Dana-Farber Center for Neuro-Oncology and the study’s formal discussant at the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting. “We see a significant...
Adjuvant temozolomide, after radiotherapy, improves overall survival in patients with grade 3 anaplastic glioma without 1p/19q codeletion, according to a phase III EORTC (European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer) study presented at the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting.1 “We were...
Formal discussant of these trials Steven M. Devine, MD, of The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, Columbus, was not able to attend the ASCO Meeting, but his slides were presented to the audience. “CAR T-cell therapy was first thought of in the 1980s, but it is only recently that we ...
Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy has been effective in adults and children with advanced acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), but along with efficacy, the treatment can stimulate cytokine-release syndrome, which can be deadly if it goes unrecognized and untreated. Adjusting the dose...
The discussant of these studies was Elizabeth Mittendorf, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Breast Surgical Oncology at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston. Dr. Mittendorf noted that approximately 3% of U.S. breast cancer patients present with de novo stage IV disease. For...
For de novo stage IV breast cancer, does resection of the primary tumor improve outcomes? Two studies presented at the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting reached different conclusions. A prospective randomized study conducted in Turkey concluded there is a survival benefit at 5 years,1 whereas a U.S....
Stephen K.L. Chia, MD, of the British Columbia Cancer Agency, Vancouver, discussed two of these neoadjuvant breast cancer studies at the ASCO Annual Meeting. In the current landscape for neoadjuvant therapy in HER2-positive disease, said Dr. Chia, the NeoSphere, TRYPHAENA, KRISTINE, and I-SPY 2...
In patients with HER2-positive early breast cancer, pathologic complete response rates after neoadjuvant therapy were higher with docetaxel plus carboplatin plus trastuzumab (Herceptin) plus pertuzumab (Perjeta), or TCH+P, than with ado-trastuzumab emtansine (Kadcyla) plus pertuzumab, or T-DM1+P,...
Daniel F. Hayes, MD, ASCO President, issued the following statement on June 29, 2016: “ASCO commends FDA Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf for his selection of Dr. Richard Pazdur to lead the agency’s new Oncology Center of Excellence. In his nearly 20 years with the FDA, Dr. Pazdur has worked...
In a study report published by Bhatt et al in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers at the University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center explained how a type of herpesvirus uses mimicry to trick the host cell to produce proteins the virus needs and...
Nancy E. Davidson, MD, the Hillman Professor of Oncology and Director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute in Philadelphia, was the Early Breast Cancer Trialists’ Collaborative Group (EBCTCG) study’s formal discussant. With this analysis, she noted, the EBCTCG has “reinforced the long...
The risk of recurrence in estrogen receptor–positive breast cancer is known to continue after 5 years, but just how much is that risk once endocrine therapy is stopped? The Early Breast Cancer Trialists’ Collaborative Group (EBCTCG) has concluded it is “appreciable,” with distant recurrences...
When a brain tumor is suspected, its presence is usually confirmed by anatomic imaging such as computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). But through imaging, not much about the tumor molecularly can be learned. Surgery and a biopsy are necessary to get a glimpse of the cancer...
Every longstanding culture has ages: The Minoans were followed by the Mycenaeans and, later, the Hellenistic peoples. And so it is with hematology/oncology. A descriptive age dominated predominately by histopathologists was followed by an age of experimentalists. Development of the atomic bombs...
Significant progress has been made in the past 2 decades in the care of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Recently, the therapeutic armamentarium has expanded for such patients with the introduction of new targeted agents. CLL is predominantly a disease of the elderly, with a...
“These are outstanding results,” commented formal discussant of this trial David R. Spigel, MD, of the Sarah Cannon Research Institute, Nashville, Tennessee. In melanoma, the combination of nivolumab (Opdivo) plus ipilimumab (Yervoy) vs nivolumab alone vs ipilimumab alone found superior...
In a study of older women with newly diagnosed stage I to III breast cancer, approximately 1 in 5 lost the ability to complete some of the basic tasks necessary for independent living within 1 year of initiating treatment. The study also found that a simple survey can help identify which women are...
In the phase III GADOLIN trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Sehn et al found that adding the anti-CD20 antibody obinutuzumab (Gazyva) to bendamustine (Bendeka, Treanda) increased progression-free survival in patients with rituximab-refractory indolent non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). Outcomes in...
Today, the Cancer Moonshot hosted a summit at Howard University, in Washington, DC, as part of a national day of action that also included more than 270 events in communities across the United States. Vice President Joe Biden joined over 350 researchers, oncologists, care providers, data and...
Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are the result of genetic alterations that cause blood stem cells to become abnormal, rendering bone marrow unable to create new, mature blood cells for release into the body. It is estimated that up to 15,000 new cases of MDS are diagnosed in the United States each...
U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Robert Califf, MD, issued the following statement today regarding the appointment of the Acting Director of the FDA Oncology Center of Excellence. “The FDA is honored to be an integral part of the Vice President’s National Cancer...
Bacteria that have the potential to abet breast cancer are present in the breasts of cancer patients, while beneficial bacteria are more abundant in healthy breasts, where they may actually be protecting women from cancer, according to Gregor Reid, PhD, of the Lawson Health Research Institute, and...
President Barack Obama has tapped Lawrence O. Gostin, JD, LLD, Georgetown University Professor and Faculty Director of the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown Law, to serve as a member of the National Cancer Advisory Board (NCAB). He will serve a 6-year term. The 18 ...
At my last screening mammogram in 2015, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The technician took the usual four x-rays of my breasts, and I was told I could leave. So it was especially shocking to get a phone call from the radiologist a week later telling me that I had to come back for an additional ...
The first clinical trial to compare standard-of-care chemotherapy with molecularly tailored therapy (also known as precision medicine) for metastatic pancreatic cancer is now enrolling patients at multiple sites around the country. Patients who have been treated with one round of chemotherapy for...
A review of more than 50 studies (many randomized controlled trials) concluded that surgery and radiation therapy “remain standard-of-care treatment options” in the management of ductal carcinoma in situ.1 The review continues the widely reported discussion on managing ductal carcinoma in situ,...
Two clinician-scientists whose groundbreaking work has shown how the human body’s own immune system can fend off cancer will share the 2016 $100,000 Taubman Prize for Excellence in Translational Medical Science, the University of Michigan’s A. Alfred Taubman Medical Research Institute announced....
Over the years, my patients have been my most important teachers. I’ve learned so much from them about human nature and the resilience of the human spirit. When my time came to pass through the fire and confront the same challenges they and their families face so bravely and with such compassion, ...
Scientific Name: Cimicifuga racemosa Common Names: Black snakeroot, rattlesnake root, squawroot, bugbane, bugwort Brand Names: Remifemin, Menofem, Klimadynon Overview A perennial plant native to the eastern United States and Canada, black cohosh root was used by Native Americans to treat colds,...
Curtis Pesmen is a well-regarded writer who has authored six books of nonfiction as well as numerous articles for publications such as Esquire and The New York Times. He also has served as founding editor of LIVESTRONG Quarterly and often speaks and writes on patient advocacy. Shortly after...
Readers of the recently published memoir A Series of Catastrophes & Miracles: A True Story of Love, Science, and Cancer find out that the book has a happy ending on the cover page of chapter 1. Spoiler: I lived, writes the author, Mary Elizabeth Williams, an acclaimed journalist with a list...
In his new book, Sharks Get Cancer, Mole Rats Don’t: How Animals Could Hold the Key to Unlocking Cancer Immunity in Humans, James S. Welsh, MD, examines a wide array of animal and human biologic phenomena, searching for clues that might help us unlock the full power of the human immune system....
The St. Jude Department of Pathology has received accreditation to the ISO15189 standard under the College of American Pathologists (CAP) 15189SM Accreditation Program. St. Jude is the first children’s hospital in the nation to be accredited under this program. The accreditation is based on the...
Peter S. Conti, MD, PhD, Professor of Radiology, Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Biomedical Engineering, and Director of the Molecular Imaging Center at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California, has been named the 2016 recipient of the prestigious Paul C. Aebersold Award....