Cytoreductive Surgery Plus HIPEC for Metastatic Colon Cancer
October 3rd 2011David Ryan, MD, discusses his debate with Paul H. Sugarbaker, MD, from the ASCO session “Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy and Cytoreductive Surgery in Colon Cancer” and how in his view this type of treatment, as presented to the patient, creates a certain dynamic between the surgeon and medical oncologist, one of hope vs reality.
A Paradigm Shift in the Treatment of Endometrial Cancer
September 24th 2011Don Dizon, MD, Brown University, discusses the paradigm shift in the treatment of endometrial cancer with the use of medical therapy, including chemotherapy with biologics, mTOR inhibitors combined with chemotherapy, and targeted therapies.
ASCO: Impact of 2 New Drugs for the Treatment of Metastatic Melanoma
August 19th 2011Dr. Antoni Ribas, UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center and a presenter at this year’s annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, discusses the impact of 2 new drugs- ipilimumab (Yervoy) and vemurafenib (Zelboraf)-for the treatment of metastatic melanoma.
Using PSA Doubling Time to Predict Metastatic Prostate Cancer
August 5th 2011Nancy Dawson, MD, discusses PSA dynamics: the significance of PSA levels and PSA doubling time-the marker which currently provides the most information-and their usefulness in predicting metastatic disease and in counseling patients on their prognosis.
ASCO: Time Management for the Busy Oncologist
July 7th 2011Tim Moynihan of the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota discusses topics from the session he chaired at ASCO, "Effective Time Management for the Busy Oncologist," including why EHRs may not actually save physicians time; how to manage your email load; and tips for avoiding burnout, which he cites as a danger in such a physically and emotionally taxing profession.
New Research on HER2-Positive Breast Cancer
June 14th 2011Dr. Gianni has been involved with new drug therapies in medical oncology for some time, and in this interview he discusses the changing use of breast cancer treatments, neoadjuvant regimens, and research and developments on HER2-positive breast cancer.
ASCO President George Sledge Discusses the Challenge and Promise of the Genomic Era
June 13th 2011In his plenary address as outgoing president of ASCO, Dr. George Sledge proposed that we are on the brink of a new era in cancer therapy – an era of genome-based treatment. He stressed that this new “genomic era” holds great promise for patients, citing as evidence a recent paper in JAMA that described a case in which the results of deep sequencing of a patient’s leukemic cells led to successful individualized therapy.
Novel Treatments and New Research in Hodgkin Lymphoma
June 9th 2011In this video interview, Joseph Connors gives an overview of the results presented here at ASCO of the phase II trial of brentuximab vedotin in patients with relapsed or refractory Hodgkin lymphoma, and discusses the most intriguing work currently being done with novel agents used to treat relapsed or refractory Hodgkin lymphoma.
ASCO 2011: Diabetes, Diabetes Drugs, and Cancer Risk: the Potentials for Prevention
June 8th 2011As early as 1932, physicians noticed an apparent association between type 2 diabetes and increased cancer risk. In recent years, the epidemiological evidence of such an association has mounted steadily-especially with the emergence of large databases, which have allowed us to document the link.
ASCO 2011: The Challenges of Running an Oncology Practice in 2011
June 6th 2011The picture in 2011 for the community oncologist is dire. Over the past several years many community practices have been acquired by hospitals out of duress. Drug delivery has started to change as treatments are evolving, moving away from the high-margin infusion business.
ASCO 2011: Moving the Bar in Clinical Trials in Upper GI Malignancies
June 6th 2011Clearly, the realities of current health care economics are bringing to the fore important questions in clinical trial design. Not only does the United States spend far more on health care than other developed countries, with significantly worse outcomes, but the costs of cancer care account for a large and steadily increasing chunk of that spending. One way in which this trend can be curbed-and the money spent on cancer be made to produce more “bang for the buck”-is through changes to our drug development processes.
ASCO 2011: New Hope for Metastatic Melanoma
June 6th 2011Metastatic melanoma maintains a growing presence around the world, and a steady disregard for treatment efforts. But two novel drugs presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting in Chicago, on Sunday, suggest that medicine might finally be ready to fight back against the deadliest form of skin cancer.
ASCO 2011: Prostate Cancer in Older Adults: To Treat or Not to Treat?
June 5th 2011At the session on Management of Prostate Cancer in Older Adults: To Treat or not to Treat, Anthony D’Amico, William Dale, and Shabbir Alibhai all lent their clinical expertise in treating prostate cancer to outline the latest recommendations for screening and treating men for prostate cancer.
ASCO 2011: Large-Scale Study Shows Effectiveness of HPV Testing
May 25th 2011One of the highlights of the released abstracts is “Cervical cancer risk for 330,000 women undergoing concurrent HPV testing and cervical cytology in routine clinical practice” (J Clin Oncol 29: 2011 (suppl; abstr 1508). The large-scale study showed the effectiveness of human papillomavirus (HPV) testing alone or in combination with cytology testing for identifying women at high-risk for cervical cancer development.
ASCO 2011: Phase II Cabozantinib Trial in Patients with Advanced Solid Tumors and Bone Metastases
May 24th 2011Data from a phase II study of cabozantinib (XL184) in patients with advanced solid tumors show that the drug has activity in both bone and soft tissue. The study evaluated the efficacy and safety of cabozantinib compared to placebo in 9 different solid tumor types including breast, lung, ovarian, and prostate.
ASCO 2011: Olaparib in Patients with Platinum-Sensitive Relapsed Serous Ovarian Cancer
May 24th 2011A recent study demonstrated that the novel oral Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitor, olaparib, provided a significant improvement in progression-free survival for women with serous ovarian cancer when used as a maintenance therapy.