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Palliative Care Initiated in the Emergency Department Associated With Improved Quality of Life
A palliative care consultation initiated in the emergency department for patients with advanced cancer was associated with improved quality of life and did not seem to shorten survival, according to an article published by Grudzen et al in JAMA Oncology. Visits to the emergency department are...
New Findings May Enhance PARP Inhibitor Therapy in Breast Cancer
Findings from a new study reveal that the activity of PARP inhibitors, an emerging class of drugs being studied in cancer clinical trials, may be enhanced by combining them with inhibitors targeting the oncogene c-MET, which is overexpressed in many cancers. The findings resulting from in vitro and ...
HPV Vaccine Uptake Is Highest Among Girls in High-Poverty and Majority Hispanic Communities
Adolescent girls living in high-poverty communities and majority Hispanic communities were more likely to have received at least one dose of a human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine than those living in low-poverty communities and in communities of other racial and ethnic compositions. These findings...
Increased Risk of Carcinoma of Unknown Primary and Other Cancers in Relatives of Patients With This Type of Cancer
In a study from the Utah Cancer Registry reported in JAMA Oncology, Samadder et al found an increased risk of carcinoma of unknown primary and other cancers in relatives of patients with this type of cancer. Study Details The study was a nested case-control study including 4,160 patients with a...
Blood Test That Monitors ctDNA Better Than the Standard in Tracking Metastatic Melanoma
Physicians treating patients with metastatic melanoma may soon have a superior tool in their efforts to closely track the disease. A new study shows that a blood test that monitors blood levels of DNA fragments from dead cancer cells does a better job than the current standard test at tracking the...
ASCO Calls for Improvements to Clinical Pathway Programs in Oncology
ASCO released a new policy statement with recommendations to ensure that clinical pathways in oncology promote—not hinder—the care of patients with cancer. Published by Zon et al in the Journal of Oncology Practice, the statement asserts that the way in which these treatment management...
Study Shows ACA Coverage Expansion Resulted in Increased Cervical Cancer Diagnosis at Early Stage in Young Women
In a study reported in a research letter in JAMA, Robbins et al found evidence that the Affordable Care Act Dependent Coverage Expansion (ACA-DCE) has resulted in increased diagnosis of cervical cancer at an early stage and increased use of fertility-sparing treatments in women aged 21 to 25 years. ...
Two DPYD Variants Join List of Variants Predictive of Fluoropyrimidine Toxicity
In a systematic review and meta-analysis reported in The Lancet Oncology, Meulendijks et al found that the DPYD variants c.1679T>G and c.1236G>A/HapB3 were predictive of severe fluoropyrimidine-associated toxicity, with the variant c.1601G>A not achieving a significant relationship....
Italian Study Shows Low-Dose Morphine Better Than Weak Opioids in Relieving Moderate Cancer Pain
In an Italian trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Bandieri et al found that low-dose morphine provided better and more rapid pain relief than weak opioids in patients with moderate cancer pain. Study Details In the open-label 28-day trial, 240 adults with moderate cancer pain from ...
FDA Strengthens Monitoring of Postapproval Drug Safety
A strengthened and modernized postmarket drug safety program has resulted in a substantial improvement in the FDA’s oversight of drugs once they reach the American public, according to a new report released by the agency’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER). The report, Advances in...
FDA Reminds Public about Potential for Life-threatening Harm from Accidental Exposure to Fentanyl Patches
The FDA has issued a statement reminding patients, caregivers, and health-care professionals of the importance of appropriate storage, use, application, and disposal of fentanyl transdermal systems (including Duragesic and generic products) to prevent potential life-threatening harm from accidental ...
'Matriarch of Modern Cancer Genetics,' Janet D. Rowley, MD, Helped Propel the Field of Molecular Oncology
Even as a child, Janet D. Rowley, MD, found the intellectual order and logic of science appealing. Born on April 5, 1925, in New York, Dr. Rowley’s parents, Hurford and Ethel Ballantyne Davison, moved the family to Chicago 2 years later. Both educators, the Davisons encouraged their only child in...
Focus on the Society of Rhode Island Clinical Oncologists
Founded in 1994, just 1 year after ASCO launched the State/Regional Affiliate Program, the Society of Rhode Island Clinical Oncologists is one of ASCO’s oldest state affiliates. Like many other ASCO affiliates, the Providence-based group is facing a myriad of challenges, including ensuring...
Big Ten Universities Join Together in Cancer Research Consortium
Leaders from cancer centers affiliated with the “Big Ten” universities joined together in launching the Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium on June 1 in Chicago. The group is uniting to transform cancer research through collaborative oncology trials that leverage the scientific and clinical...
Newly Approved Drugs and Indications
FDA has approved the following new drugs and/or indications in 2013: Denosumab (Xgeva subcutaneous injection) for giant cell tumor of bone. Lenalidomide (Revlimid capsules) for relapsed/refractory mantle cell lymphoma FDA approved. Trametinib (Mekinist tablets) for unresectable or metastatic...
Institute Initiatives Help Oncologists Integrate Evidence-based Guidelines in Practice
Building on ASCO’s longstanding commitment to drive quality, value, and accountability in cancer care, the Institute for Quality’s initiatives provide oncologists with resources to ensure that every patient receives the highest level of cancer care. Established in 2011, the Institute for Quality...
Business Summit Fosters Innovative Solutions to Oncology Market Challenges
To provide a forum for key cancer stakeholders to join with business, finance, and legal thought leaders to explore the future course for oncology, ASCO is co-hosting the seventh annual Cancer Center Business Summit on October 24 and 25 in Chicago, Illinois. Designed as a resource for the business...
Pancreatic Cancer Action Network Names 7-Year Survivor Chair of National Board of Directors
The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network recently announced the appointment of Laurie MacCaskill to Chair of the National Board of Directors of the organization, effective July 1, 2013. Ms. MacCaskill is the first pancreatic cancer patient to hold this position. Since her diagnosis in 2006, Ms....
Rocky Mountain Cancer Centers and St. Anthony Hospital Complete Affiliation for a Comprehensive Oncology Center
Colorado’s Rocky Mountain Cancer Centers, with 20 centers throughout the state, and St. Anthony Hospital have completed an agreement to provide comprehensive inpatient and outpatient cancer services to patients on the St. Anthony Hospital campus in Lakewood, Colorado. Expanded radiation therapy...
ASCO Targets Health Disparities, Need for Research in Achieving Health Equity
The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), the Association of Black Cardiologists (ABC), and the Heart Failure Society of America (HSFA) recently held a Capitol Hill Briefing to draw attention to health disparities among minority and underserved patients and opportunities to achieve health...
Cancer.Net Mobile App: Now in Spanish
Cancer.Net’s award-winning app for patients is now available in Spanish. If your patients are using a Spanish-language enabled iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad, they can use the app to access Cancer.Net’s Spanish content, as well as use interactive tools in Spanish to help track side effects and manage...
ASCO Completes Electronic Data Sharing Standard for Breast Cancer Treatment
ASCO has completed the first phase in developing several sets of interoperability standards for cancer care data and overcoming the widespread inconsistencies that currently limit secure sharing of information between providers, patients, and researchers. The first standard, the Breast Cancer...
Policy Update Aims to Advance Tobacco Cessation and Control Worldwide
In response to scientific advances and the evolving regulatory and policy environment, ASCO recently released an update to its 2003 policy statement on tobacco cessation and control. The statement reviews advancements that have been made since 2003 and outlines a refined set of recommendations...
Legislative Endorsement Update From ASCO
ASCO recently announced its endorsement of the Tobacco Tax Equity Act of 2014 (S. 194), which would close tax loopholes that allow tobacco companies to avoid the federal cigarette tax by making taxes on pipe tobacco equivalent to cigarette tobacco. “Raising tobacco taxes is one of the most...
ASCO Survey: Drug Shortages Still a Problem Despite Slight Improvement
As part of its continued effort to monitor and assess the impact of oncology drug shortages, ASCO will be conducting the third round of its biannual survey of members. The results of the first two surveys indicated that serious problems persist in the accessibility of life-extending oncology drugs, ...
ASCO Submits Comments on Numerous Federal Initiatives
ASCO helps shape the regulatory framework in which oncologists practice by reviewing and commenting on a wide range of rules, guidelines, and system changes issued by federal agencies, including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), and...
Highlights on Quality Cancer Care for Patients
In advance of the 2013 Quality Care Symposium, ASCO released a second Top Five List in Oncology, as part of the ongoing Choosing Wisely® campaign that brings together the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) Foundation, ASCO, and other medical specialty organizations. Cancer.Net provides...
Amy P. Abernethy, MD, PhD, to Chair CancerLinQ™ Advisory Committee
ASCO has announced that Amy P. Abernethy, MD, PhD, FACP, has agreed to chair a new CancerLinQ™ Advisory Committee within the Institute for Quality, an ASCO affiliate dedicated to innovative quality improvement programs, that will guide this multiphase effort. The advisory committee consists of...
More Than 200 Practices Now QOPI® Certified for Delivering High-Quality Cancer Care
ASCO and its affiliate, the Quality Oncology Practice Initiative (QOPI®) Certification Program (QCP™), have announced that more than 200 practices have received certification. Since its start in 2010, the QOPI Certification Program has evaluated individual outpatient oncology practice performance...
Sunshine Act Reporting: ASCO Encourages Members to Get Prepared, Stay Educated
On August 1 of this year, requirements of the Physician Payments Sunshine Act, or Open Payments, went into effect. The legislation, passed as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, was designed to create greater transparency around financial relationships between physicians,...
ASCO’s Innovative Quality Improvement Programs Highlighted at Symposium
Several presentations at the 2013 Quality Care Symposium demonstrated the current and potential impact of ASCO’s initiatives to achieve higher-quality cancer care with better outcomes for patients. Key presentations at the conference centered on the development of ASCO’s ground-breaking “big data”...
Conquer Cancer Foundation–Funded Research Identified Among Top Cancer Advances of 2013
The recently released Clinical Cancer Advances 2013: ASCO’s Annual Report on Progress Against Cancer, highlights the most impactful advances in clinical cancer research of the year, and this year’s report identifies two studies that were funded by the Conquer Cancer Foundation. Advances in Targeted ...
Clinical Cancer Advances 2013: ASCO's Annual Report on Progress Against Cancer
The Society has recently published Clinical Cancer Advances 2013: ASCO’s Annual Report on Progress Against Cancer, a comprehensive review of progress in clinical cancer research that has come to fruition in 2013. The report highlights advances across the entire continuum of cancer care, from...
Centers in Massachusetts Collaborate in Joint Center for Cancer Precision Medicine
The Joint Center for Cancer Precision Medicine, a collaborative initiative among Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston Children’s Hospital, and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, has been established to create “precision medicine treatment pathways” for patients...
Now Available: Communicating with Cancer Patients
The European Society of Medical oncology has endorsed the newly released book, Communicating with Cancer Patients, written by Professor John F. Smyth, MD, of the University of Edinburgh, and designed for trainee oncologists, oncology nurses, and other health-care professionals involved in...
ASCO, AACR, and Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids Urge FDA Prohibition of Menthol Cigarettes
ASCO has sent joint letters with both the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) and the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids (CTFK) to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) urging that the agency establish regulations to eliminate menthol in cigarettes. The agency is currently considering...
Charting the Successes: CancerProgress.Net Chronicles More Than 50 Years of ASCO and Progress Against Cancer
On this historic year, as ASCO proudly commemorates its 50th anniversary and decades of evolutionary change and growth, it also celebrates the significant progress that has been made against cancer throughout history. ASCO’s anniversary website, CancerProgress.Net, chronicles these achievements and ...
ASCO Turns Attention to Community Researchers With Community Research Forum
The implementation of clinical trials and quality research programs by community-based investigators and research staff is one of the most effective weapons available in the fight against cancer. The ASCO Community Research Forum was designed in support of this mission and to aid these...
New Society Launched for Advanced Practitioners in Hematology and Oncology
The Advanced Practitioner Society for Hematology and Oncology (APSHO) announced its launch as a new organization focused on meeting the unique educational and professional needs of the advanced practitioner in hematology and oncology. The formation of the Society was made public on January 26,...
The Author Replies
I read with interest the note from Jeff Boyd, PhD, Senior Vice-President for Molecular Medicine at Fox Chase Cancer Center, calling into question my recent commentary about the high costs of partly validated testing in the domain of molecular medicine. One of the oldest tricks in the book is to...
National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month
March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is committed to boosting public awareness about the importance of screening and treatment for colorectal cancer. Colorectal cancer poses the greatest risk to adults over age 50, and the U.S. Preventive...
Stay Up-to-Date on New Patient Materials From Cancer.Net
Encourage your patients to use social media to stay-up-to-date with the new resources available on Cancer.Net. It is easier than ever for patients to get the latest cancer information on their computer or mobile device by subscribing to the Cancer.Net Blog at www.cancer.net/blog, or on...
ASCO’s Membership Grows to Nearly 35,000
ASCO has much to celebrate this year—namely, the Society’s 50th Anniversary. This occasion brings with it many other notable milestones. 2014 is a prime time to reflect on the remarkable growth of ASCO, from seven founders and 51 physicians at its first Annual Meeting to nearly 35,000 members...
Charting the Successes: CancerProgress.Net Chronicles More Than 50 Years of ASCO and Progress Against Cancer
On this historic year, as ASCO proudly commemorates its 50th anniversary and decades of evolutionary change and growth, it also celebrates the significant progress that has been made against cancer throughout history. ASCO’s anniversary website, CancerProgress.Net, chronicles these achievements and ...
Utah Center for Genetic Discovery to Integrate Genome Data Into Patient Care
The USTAR Center for Genetic Discovery is partnering with California-based Omicia, Inc, to make analyzing a patient’s genome as routine as performing a blood test. The center, codirected by Mark Yandell, PhD, and Gabor Marth, DSc, was launched this month with $6 million from the University of Utah...
ASCO Signs Joint Open Letter to End Tobacco Sales
ASCO has joined 26 of the nation’s leading public health and medical organizations in signing a joint letter calling on drug stores and other retailers to end the sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products. The open letter came just weeks after CVS Caremark announced it would stop selling...
Amended 2013 Conflicts of Interest Policy Expands Requirements for Financial Disclosures
The Society’s 2013 Policy for Relationships with Companies is scheduled to go into effect on April 22, with one large change to its original requirements. The policy will still require the full disclosure of all financial relationships by all authors; however, since announcing the new policy in...
ASCO’s Patient Information Website, Cancer.Net, Undergoes Redesign
ASCO is committed to providing people with cancer and their caregivers with top quality educational information and resources to help them manage their cancer care, treatment, and survivorship. This ongoing commitment is best reflected in its patient-facing educational website, Cancer.Net...
ASCO’s 50th Anniversary: Past Presidents Recall Top Issues During Their Terms
In a series of articles on the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s CancerProgress.Net website, past ASCO presidents are sharing their recollections of the major issues during their terms. Emil J Freireich, MD, FASCO, (1980–1981), remembered that during his presidency, ASCO began the process of...
Illumination to Innovation: Transforming Data Into Learning
“Illumination” is a provocative word, evoking as it does the banishment of the darkness of ignorance by the light of new knowledge. Today, we are benefiting from a steady stream of new knowledge about the molecular basis of cancer and the interaction between host and tumor immunology. The concept...
