May 19, 2016
December 2016, Vol. 5, No. 10
Reflections on Personalizing Oncology Care in 2016
Dear Colleague, As the close of 2016 approaches and we look forward to the year ahead, I would like to thank you, our Personalized Medicine in Oncology (PMO) reading community, for your support, contributions, and loyal readership. In our pages and on our website, we have offered the best in [ Read More ]
Smart Patients: The Power of Sharing Personal Health Experiences An Interview with Roni Zeiger, MD, of Smart Patients
Smart Patients cofounder Roni Zeiger, MD, believes the next tipping point in medicine includes tapping into the knowledge created by networks of engaged patients. To this end, Dr Zeiger partnered with Gilles Frydman, a pioneer of online health communities and founder of the Association of Cancer Online Resources, to create [ Read More ]
Treatment Strategies for BRAF Wild-Type Metastatic Melanoma
An estimated 76,380 new cases of melanoma will be diagnosed in 2016, with an estimated 10,130 dying of this disease. Incidence rates for melanoma have increased steadily over the past several decades. In fact, in the United States, melanoma now has the 5th and 7th highest incidence for all cancers [ Read More ]
MelanomaExpanding Roles for Pathologists as Members of the Multidisciplinary Cancer Care Team
Pathologists have traditionally been most visible to the other members of the cancer care team in their roles in cancer diagnosis, pathologic staging, and as an integral member of the multidisciplinary tumor board. However, in the era of personalized medicine, the responsibility of the pathologist is expanding to include preclinical [ Read More ]
PathologyAVBCC Sixth Annual Conference: The Evolution of Value-Based Cancer Care
With tremendous changes occurring in healthcare, and particularly in oncology, discussions about the current trends and demands facing stakeholders in optimizing value in cancer care dominated the Sixth Annual Conference of the Association for Value-Based Cancer Care (AVBCC), held September 27-29, 2016. The conference was cochaired by Michael Kolodziej, MD, [ Read More ]
Maximizing the Potential of Immunotherapy Is the Focus of Cancer Moonshot 2020
The Cancer Moonshot 2020 Program is exploring a new paradigm in cancer care by bringing clinical trials focused on immunotherapy to community and academic practices. This privately funded initiative seeks to conduct phase 2 clinical trials within the next 36 months in 20,000 patients with >20 tumor types at all [ Read More ]
Genomic Assays Expediting Adoption of Personalized Cancer Therapy in Clinical Practice
Cancer is now recognized as a disease of the genome. The use of genomic assays and measurement of protein expression are permitting the use of personalized cancer therapy in the clinical setting on a scale not seen previously. In many cases, the use of these assays will also enhance the [ Read More ]
Precision Medicine Is the Future of Cancer Care, but Cost Remains a Major Barrier
Precision medicine is the optimal approach to the future of cancer care, but unless a new pricing model for innovative treatments is implemented, the cost of care will be the greatest barrier to effective treatment, said Maurie Markman, MD, President, Cancer Treatment Centers of America, and Clinical Professor of Medicine, [ Read More ]
Is It Time to Reconsider Testing Adolescents for Familial BRCA Mutations?
Parents with inherited cancer mutations often wonder when to disclose results to their children and what affect it will have on them. A recent study examined the impact of a family history of breast cancer or a familial BRCA1/2 mutation on girls aged 11 to 19 years.1 The study included [ Read More ]
Genetic Counseling