Natalie Moryl, MD, on Managing Pain in Patients With Cancer
NCCN 2023 Annual Conference
Natalie Moryl, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses severe cancer pain, a medical emergency that should be addressed with immediate intervention. The treatment plan, Dr. Moryl says, should include making a pain diagnosis; addressing reversible causes of pain such as spinal cord compression, fracture, or obstruction; selecting, titrating, and rotating opioids and co-analgesics; and routine screening for risks of opioid use disorder and mental health comorbidities.
The ASCO Post Staff
Elena Ratner, MD, MBA, of Yale Cancer Center/Smilow Cancer Hospital, discusses sexuality, intimacy, fertility, and menopause as important aspects of women’s cancer survivorship and the many effects of treatment on these issues. They often go unacknowledged in the medical community, Dr. Ratner says, because of a lack of knowledge and resources. She describes interventions, including holistic, hormonal, behavioral, psychological, and interdisciplinary approaches.
The ASCO Post Staff
Deborah M. Stephens, DO, of the Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah, discusses NCCN’s updates to treatment recommendations for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma. Dr. Stephens details the key factors in selecting front-line and subsequent therapies, including IGHV status, del(17p)/TP53 mutation status, age, comorbidities, and resistance mutations.
The ASCO Post Staff
Midhun Malla, MD, of the West Virginia University Cancer Institute, discusses the molecular landscape of metastatic colorectal cancer and the development and approvals of targeted treatments. Dr. Malla also details the range of HER2-targeted therapeutic options and the approval of trastuzumab and tucatinib for HER2-amplified disease in the second-line setting or after. In addition, he discusses emerging therapies in refractory metastatic colorectal cancers followed by circulating tumor DNA–guided management of oligometastatic colorectal cancers using immune checkpoint inhibitors.
The ASCO Post Staff
Jordan McPherson, PharmD, MS, BCOP, of the Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah, summarizes a case-based panel discussion on best practices in caring for patients with immune-related adverse events. He focuses on pneumonitis, which can occur with immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy, detailing factors such as comorbidities, infectious etiology, and disease progression; the need to consider myositis and myasthenia gravis in patients who develop immune-related myocarditis; and oral toxicities including mucositis and sicca syndrome.
The ASCO Post Staff
Louis B. Nabors, MD, of the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center at UAB, discusses the three subtypes of adult gliomas classified by the World Health Organization, treatments influenced by IDH mutation status, the roles of radiotherapy and chemotherapy, molecular testing, and pseudoprogression and RANO (response assessment in neuro-oncology) criteria.
