Authors
Latest:
Don't Undercode: Bill Level Five for Payment of Cognitive ServicesA large part of delivering high-value cancer care is devoted to cognitive services, which are very difficult to quantify within the current coding system. Achieving appropriate payment for cognitive services delivered is an ongoing dilemma within the oncology community.
Latest:
Colorectal Cancer Patients With Oligometastatic Liver Disease: What Is the Optimal Approach?In a good percentage of patients who have oligometastatic disease confined to a single organ-usually the liver-complete metastasectomy can result in cure. However, once the decision to pursue surgery is made, there remain a number of issues that must be addressed in order to ensure the best possible outcome.
Latest:
Cancer, Unproven Therapies, and MagicCommonly used by cancer patients, unproven therapies are treatments that the practitioner claims can alter the disease process although there is no proof to support the claim. The reasons for the popularity of uproven
Latest:
Provocative Pearls in Diagnosing and Treating Acute Promyelocytic LeukemiaThe treatment of APL in the modern era is a success of modern hematology. In this review we have attempted to plant the seeds of understanding regarding how diagnosis and treatment of APL will be pursued over the next decade.
Latest:
Modulation of Dose Intensity in Aerodigestive Tract Cancers: Strategies to Reduce ToxicityAdvances in diagnostic and therapeutic radiology and a better understanding of cell biology are being applied in practical ways to modulate treatment morbidity. Conformal radiotherapy targets the cancer precisely and can be combined with new systemically administered radiosensitizers.
Latest:
Patterns of Chemotherapy Administration in Patients With Intermediate-Grade Non-Hodgkin’s LymphomaRecords from 653 patients treated between 1991 and 1998 in the Oncology Practice Patterns Study (OPPS) were analyzed to determine contemporary chemotherapy delivery patterns in patients with intermediate-grade non-
Latest:
Paclitaxel in the Treatment of Small-Cell Lung CancerNew treatment strategies for small-cell lung cancer patients are required, as there have been few developments in the past 20 years. Paclitaxel (Taxol) has been shown to be effective in non–small-cell lung cancer when given in
Latest:
UFT Plus Calcium Folinate Plus Radiotherapy for Recurrent Rectal CancerUracil and tegafur (in a molar ratio of 4:1 [UFT]) plus calcium folinate comprise the components of the oral agent, Orzel, which appears to have activity comparable to intravenously administered 5-fluorouracil. This article
Latest:
A Large Cystic Pancreatic Mass in a 45-Year-Old FemaleThe patient is an otherwise healthy 45-year-old female who presented to her primary care physician with 6 weeks of increasing left upper quadrant abdominal pain with radiation to the back. She underwent an abdominal ultrasound, which revealed a large cystic abdominal mass.
Latest:
Larger Questions About Chemotherapy in Older PatientsDrs. Gillison and Chatta present an up-to-date review of the systemic treatments available to elderly patients with the most common types of cancer. The only point I might add in the context of their review is about recently reported, promising data on targeted therapies in acute leukemia patients. A large proportion of older patients have acute lymphocytic leukemia positive for a t(9;22) translocation (Philadelphia chromosome–positive ALL).
Latest:
Trastuzumab Resistance: Bringing Tailored Therapy to the ClinicAs Calabrich and colleagues illustrate in their comprehensive review in this issue of ONCOLOGY, there is a seemingly endless array of mechanisms by which the HER2-positive breast cancer cell can escape the control of trastuzumab (Herceptin).
Latest:
Flaws in Medicare coding interpretationsWe work with medical oncologists/hematologists across the country in both the private practice and hospital settings. Based on our experience, I'd like to point out a couple of key flaws in the current Medicare code interpretations.
Latest:
Persistence of Lymphedema Reduction After Noninvasive Complex Lymphedema TherapyWe treated 119 consecutive patients with lymphedema with complex lymphedema therapy (CLT). Lymphedema reductions after CLT averaged 62.6% in the 56 patients with one affected arm and 68.6% in the 38 patients with
Latest:
Management of Pain in the Older Person With Cancer Part 2: Treatment OptionsPain in older cancer patients is a common event, and many times it is undertreated. Barriers to cancer pain management in the elderly include concerns about the use of medications, the atypical manifestations of pain in the elderly, and side effects related to opioid and other analgesic drugs. The care of older cancer patients experiencing pain involves a comprehensive assessment, which includes evaluation for conditions that may exacerbate or be exacerbated by pain, affecting its expression, such as emotional and spiritual distress, disability, and comorbid conditions. It is important to use appropriate tools to evaluate pain and other symptoms that can be related to it. Pain in older cancer patients should be managed in an interdisciplinary environment using pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic interventions whose main goals are decreasing suffering and improving quality of life. In this two-part article, the authors present a review of the management of pain in older cancer patients, emphasizing the roles of adequate assessment and a multidisciplinary team approach.
Latest:
Molecular Testing to Optimize and Personalize Decision Making in the Management of Colorectal CancerRecent improvements in our understanding of the biology of colorectal cancer have led to the identification of several important prognostic and predictive markers of disease-associated risk and treatment response for the individual patient.
Latest:
Oncologists Reflect on Pandemic's Lasting Impact on Cancer CareHear from leading cancer experts about the lasting impact the COVID-19 pandemic has left on clinical practice.
Latest:
Management of Breakthrough Pain Due to CancerBreakthrough pain is defined as the transient exacerbation of pain occurring in a patient with otherwise stable, persistent pain. Breakthrough pain is relatively common among cancer patients, particularly those with moderate
Latest:
Biologic Basis for Radiation OncologyImproved understanding of the underlying biologic mechanisms that pertain to radiation oncology is providing an explanation for the cellular and tissue responses to ionizing radiation and is leading to the potential for novel
Latest:
Catalog of Human Cancer Genes: McKusick’s Mendelian Inheritance in Man for Clinical and Research Oncologists (Onco-MIM)The author of this reference, Dr. John J. Mulvihill, has a long-standing reputation for studying the complexities of human genetic disorders. His experiences, many publications, and collaborations have focused on various topics, including definition of the
Latest:
What Underlies PARP Inhibitor Resistance in Ovarian Cancer?New research examines the mechanisms underlying why most patients with high-grade serous ovarian cancer develop resistance to PARP inhibitors.
Latest:
Adapting to the Brave New World of Lung Cancer TreatmentIf we are to provide new options for the large numbers of NSCLC patients with no actionable mutation, we must focus on identifying new mutations through tissue acquisition. In the meantime, these patients are ideal candidates for the large number of available immunotherapy trials.
Latest:
Challenges of Rural Cancer Care in the United StatesRural cancer patients often face substantial barriers to receiving optimal treatment, including availability of cancer care providers, distance to services, lack of public transportation, financial barriers, and limited access to clinical trials. However, a number of promising approaches may address some of these challenges.
Latest:
Optimizing Endocrine Therapy for Premenopausal and Postmenopausal Women With Breast CancerThe majority of invasive breast cancer patients present with hormone receptor-positive disease, and modulation of estrogen receptor (ER) activation is an essential component of systemic adjuvant therapy for these women. While tamoxifen has traditionally been the primary adjuvant endocrine therapy for all ER-positive women, recent trials evaluating the use of aromatase inhibitors (AIs) have challenged this standard in postmenopausal women, and ongoing trials are examining the optimal use of endocrine therapy in younger women. Issues regarding the optimal approach to endocrine therapy in both pre- and postmenopausal women are examined in this review.
Latest:
HER2-Positive Breast Cancer: The Story Goes OnIt will be critically important to await the longer-term DFS and OS results from the neoadjuvant studies, as well as the adjuvant studies evaluating dual HER2 blockade, prior to these approaches truly becoming the standard of care.
Latest:
Prostate Cancer Risk Assessment ProgramProstate cancer is the most common form of cancer (except skin cancer) in men. Several factors have been associated with an increased risk for prostate cancer, including age, ethnicity, family history, lifestyle, and
Latest:
Fall Risk Assessment and PreventionPatient falls are a common cause of morbidity and are the leading cause of injury deaths in adults age 65 years and older. Injuries sustained as result of falls in a cancer hospital are often severe, regardless of patient age, due to the nature of the underlying cancer.
Latest:
Challenges on the Road to Treatment Advances for Pancreatic CancerLocalized pancreatic cancer, whether resectable or unresectable, is a separate entity from metastatic pancreatic cancer. Multiple studies have demonstrated that even in the setting of unresectable disease, the progression-free and overall survival of patients with localized pancreatic cancer exceeds that associated with metastatic pancreatic cancer.
Latest:
Controversies in the Management of Stage I SeminomaCurrent controversies in the treatment of stage I seminoma center on the relative roles of surveillance, adjuvant radiotherapy (RT), and adjuvant single-agent chemotherapy. Surveillance has been studied in over 800 patients,
Latest:
It’s Time for Clinicians to Reconsider Their Proscription Against the Use of Soyfoods by Breast Cancer PatientsRecently published research questions the need for the advised restriction against the use of soyfoods by women with a history of breast cancer.
Latest:
Treating Depression in Cancer PatientsAccording to three associated and recently published large randomized studies, while about 75% of cancer patients with major depression do not receive any treatment for their depression, a new system of integrating depression treatment into cancer patient care can transform patient outcomes.
