Uncategorized

By Kelly Irwin, MD MPH* Assessment of emotional well-being is an essential component of quality cancer care now mandated by the American College of Surgeons; yet oncologists receive limited guidance on when and how to screen and what to do next. Recognizing the elevated suicide risk among patients with cancer is a critical reminder for…

Based on global ALEX, has crizotinib been relegated to the therapeutic scrapheap when it comes to patients with ALK rearrangements? Or does it retain some role? The global ALEX study, presented at ASCO 2017 and published simultaneously in the NEJM, compared alectinib head-to-head with crizotinib in previously untreated, advanced ALK-positive NSCLC. The study met its…

Please give us a global perspective on the results of global ALEX. Will alectinib definitively displace crizotinib or ceritinib as the first-line treatment for ALK-rearranged non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)? The rapid pace of development of ALKtargeted therapies in NSCLC in the last decade has transformed outcomes for patients with ALK-rearranged NSCLC. Crizotinib, the first…

Posted: June 2017 By Keightley Amen, BA, ELS In 2015, the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) and the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) established an annual award to recognize Heine H. Hansen’s lifetime of international contributions to lung cancer research and education. This year, the HHH Award was bestowed upon…

Posted: June 2017 Long-term IASLC member Bruce E. Johnson, MD, will serve as the 2017– 2018 President of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) upon the conclusion of the 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting. Dr. Johnson describes his experience, vision, and goals for the field of thoracic oncology and oncology in general for IASLC Lung…

Posted: February 2017 By Lori Alexander, MTPW, ELS, MWC The closing plenary session at IASLC WCLC 2016 featured several highly regarded oncologists who have devoted the greater part of their careers to thoracic oncology. These “giants” reflected on their work and the changes they have seen in the key areas of chemotherapy, thoracic surgery, radiation…

Posted: February 2017 From the Editor / Corey J. Langer, MD, FACP A new year has dawned, and with it both excitement and uncertainty in the field of thoracic oncology. In the past half-decade, we have witnessed a “tsunami” of progress in the management of advanced disease, especially non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The burgeoning…

By Edgardo S. Santos Castillero, MD, and Roberto I. Lopez, MD In August 2016, the 7th Latin America Conference on Lung Cancer (LALCA) was held in Panama City, Republic of Panama. More than 500 healthcare professionals gathered to discuss the latest advances in prevention, detection, diagnosis, and treatment for lung cancer. This congress, which was…

On September 14, Eli Lilly and Company announced the retirement effective January 1, 2017, of Richard B. Gaynor, MD, senior vice president, Global Development & Medical Affairs for Lilly’s Oncology business. Before joining Lilly, Dr. Gaynor served as a faculty member at the University of California, Los Angeles, School of Medicine and the University of…

The Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre, which opened this summer, is a new purpose-built facility for cancer research, treatment, care, and education in Melbourne’s Parkville biomedical precinct. In addition to the new facilities, ten world-leading cancer organizations have come together to form the VCCC Alliance to share knowledge and resources and to drive the next generation…