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As a young boy, Vincent DeVita dissected frogs on the front steps of his parents' house in Yonkers. In the eyes of his encouraging mother, he was already a budding physician fascinated by the internal complications of life.

In a pivotal phase III study, rituximab (Rituxan) in combination with standard chemotherapy significantly increased time to progression in patients with previously untreated chronic lymphocytic leukemia

Preliminary results suggest that immunotherapy with recombinant interleukin-2 (rIL-2) may prolong survival in younger patients with acute myeloid leukemia in first remission. However, the high rate of refusal or discontinuation of such therapy presents challenges for its acceptance

A new formulation of Emend has entered oncology's antiemetic armamentarium. Emend (fosaprepitant dimeglumine, Merck) for Injection received US Food and Drug Administration approval in late January for use in combination with other antiemetic agents for the prevention of acute and delayed nausea and vomiting associated with initial and repeated courses of moderate- or high-emetogenic chemotherapies, including high-dose cisplatin.

Modern medicine has made most infectious diseases of bacterial origin easily managed. However, research has shown that chronic infections caused by a handful of viruses, bacteria, and parasites play a significant role in the development of certain cancers.

A novel frontline regimen has shown efficacy in high-risk patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, with no significant increase in hematologic toxicity, compared with historical data on the standard regimen

A 31-year-old man presented in May 2007 with generalized painful, ulcerated, and necrotic papules and plaques worsening for the last few months. He had been diagnosed with mycosis fungoides in October 2005. Treatments included topical corticosteroids and psoralen with ultraviolet A light therapy (PUVA), with the latter being discontinued because of the development of blisters. For the last 6 months, he had been treated with oral bexarotene (Targretin), with initial improvement of his skin lesions.

Palliative care for patients and their families across the cancer disease trajectory-from diagnosis, through survivorship, to end of life-is essential for quality cancer care. In their excellent article, Ferrell and Virani emphasize the important role of oncology nurses in providing palliative care, and they present the National Consensus Project (NCP) Guidelines[1] and the National Quality Forum (NQF)[2] preferred practices as a roadmap for all oncology nurses to use in their practice.

Patients with cancer have significant needs for palliative care, including pain and symptom management and psychosocial and spiritual support. The experience of cancer has an impact on family caregivers as well, and palliative care needs exist from diagnosis through survivorship and end-of-life care. Oncology nurses have opportunities to integrate palliative care into disease-focused care.

Pain 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.

Imagine my surprise to unwrap my Sunday paper one day last month and find inside a clever advertising pamphlet and a card good for a free tin of Camel Snus (pronounced "snoose"), R.J. Reynolds' new flavored spitless chewing tobacco.

Steven Rosen, MD, Genevieve Teuton Professor of Medicine at the Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, and director of the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center, has agreed to accept the position of Editor-in-Chief for Oncology News International (ONI).

Soaring expenditures must be contained or they will end up sinking the healthcare system, Allen S. Lichter, MD, CEO of ASCO, said during a featured appearance at the Radiological Society of North America meeting (see photograph below). Among the changes that could help attack the problem is mandatory insurance coverage for all citizens, Dr. Lichter said. He also cast doubt on the ability of one currently popular approach, consumer-driven, high-deductible healthcare plans, to solve the system's problems.

The first interim results from the first study of dasatinib (Sprycel) as induction therapy of Ph+ acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) show complete and early hematologic responses with good overall compliance

A cutting-edge prognostic tool called MammaPrint, developed by Agendia, a laboratory located in The Netherlands, uses molecular technology to predict whether breast cancer will metastasize, helping clinicians make more accurate management decisions for their patients.

Use of accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI) with multicatheter brachytherapy to treat resected early-stage breast cancer is associated with good early outcomes in terms of local control, adverse effects, and cosmesis

Pharmion Corporation announced final data from a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase III trial demonstrating that the addition of thalidomide (Thalomid) to standard treatment improves survival by 17.6 months in patients over age 75 newly diagnosed with multiple myeloma compared to standard treatment, consisting of melphalan and prednisone (MP) alone.

Pain 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.

Strides made in the treatment of metastatic breast cancer (MBC) appear to prolong survival in some settings, but the cost in terms of quality of life (QOL) remains a concern. The previous four E-Updates in this series on metastatic breast cancer have focused on the various treatment options, including chemotherapy, anti-HER2 targeted therapy, antiangiogenic therapy, and hormonal therapy. In this E-Update, we turn to the role of supportive measures in the treatment of cancer, specifically as these measures relate to quality of life. These measures include the use of erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESA) and bisphosphonates, management of fatigue and pain, and psychological care.

FDA has approved a supplemental New Drug Application for Nexavar (sorafenib) tablets for the treatment of patients with unresectable heptocellular carcinoma. Nexavar (Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals and Onyx Pharmaceuticals) is the first approved systemic therapy for liver cancer and the only one shown to significantly improve overall survival.

Celgene to acquire Pharmion

Compared with older men, younger men have a similarly high rate of biochemical control of localized prostate cancer when treated with brachytherapy and should therefore be offered this treatment option

Cancer patients receiving chemotherapy have not noticed a restriction in their access to treatment following the enactment of the Medicare Prescription Drug Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003

Radioactive microsphere therapy is gaining in popularity among specialists who deal with both primary and metastatic solid tumors in the liver (see images on page 1 and "On the cover" box below). During the past 2 years, sessions dedicated to this therapeutic approach have been held in meetings of all major related specialties: interventional radiology, radiology, radiation oncology, surgical oncology, hepatobiliary surgery, nuclear medicine, and medical oncology.

A New England Journal of Medicine review article is highlighting the cancer risks of computed tomography at the same time that hundreds of scientific presentations and new product announcements at the 2007 RSNA meeting are fueling the continued growth of multislice CT.

America's clinical trial pipeline is drying up, with fewer safe and effective new cancer drugs reaching the market. Some experts contend that FDA's control of the drug approval process hinders the development of new products.

In 1998, the American Cancer Society (ACS) set a challenge goal for the United States to lower cancer incidence by 25% between 1992 and 2015. At about the midpoint (2004), overall cancer incidence rates had declined at a rate of about 0.6% per year, about half the pace needed to achieve the 25% goal by 2015