Dear Colleague,
With every issue, all of us on the editorial staff of Personalized Medicine in Oncology (PMO) strive to provide members of multidisciplinary oncology teams practical information about research advances and improvements within the personalized medicine spectrum that allow for more targeted and effective treatments.
We are pleased to offer a continuing education opportunity entitled “Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors: New Insights and Current Place in Cancer Therapy.” This activity explores the role of immune checkpoint inhibitors in the treatment of an increasing range of solid tumors and hematologic malignancies as well as the use of predictive molecular biomarkers. In addition, it examines the value proposition associated with the use of immune checkpoint inhibitors in terms of costs and management of adverse events.
We offer insights from Steven Sandler, MD, on the 2016 revisions to the World Health Organization’s classification of myeloid neoplasms and acute leukemia in his article entitled “Understanding the Current Classification Criterion and Prognosis Models for the Myelodysplastic Syndromes and Dysplastic Cytopenias of Undetermined Significance as a Paradigm for Personalized Medicine.”
To enhance reader learning, we present a case study from Dr Steven Sorscher and colleagues entitled “A One Pathway ‘Two-Different Hit’ Hypothesis: Symbiosis in Transformation.” The authors discuss a patient with pancreatic cancer and PALB2 and BRCA2 alterations.
Coverage of important topics from the European Society for Medical Oncology is included in this issue, as well as an article from the Palliative Care in Oncology Symposium on managing immune-related toxicities.
Thank you for your readership. On behalf of the Editorial Board, it is our pleasure to serve you well in our quest to implement the new processes of personalized medicine.
Sincerely,
Al B. Benson III, MD, FACP, FASCO
Coeditor in Chief
Personalized Medicine in Oncology