ASCOconnection.org is a forum for the exchange of views on topical issues in the field of oncology. The views expressed in the blogs, comments, and forums belong to the authors. They do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. Please read the Commenting Guidelines.
Just a brief note on the FLASCO meeting this past weekend. Our Florida colleagues met at the Tampa Airport Marriott for their annual state society meeting and were kind enough to invite me, for which I am grateful. The meeting was an interesting mix of the medical (...
The TCM cable channel is having a retrospective on the career of Elizabeth Taylor, showing several of her best films from the 1950s. It had been many years since I had seen her and Paul Newman in the film version of Tennessee William’s Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. She and Newman light up the screen, with...
Many oncologists have probably been following Dr. Peter Bach’s moving and beautifully written series, recently concluded in the New York Times, about his wife Ruth's breast cancer...
What is old, is new again. Off-label use of oncology drugs is common; and has long been the focus of controversy. Payers are often confused by the broad use of a therapeutic across seemingly unrelated diagnoses. They look to the FDA label for guidance on the specific use of a drug. Yet the FDA-...
A few nights ago, I had the pleasure of attending Carnegie Hall in New York City, where I heard a concert by the Toronto Orchestra, with a guest solo by the famed violinist Itzhak Perlman. Perlman was magical, a true delight to listen to. My first thought that night was that God puts certain people...
ASCO and its members, whether we recognize it or not, are in the quality business. Our members, because society has an expectation of a high standard of care from physicians; our Society, because we are charged with helping establish the standards by which our members' claims to quality care are...
A couple of weeks ago, I was at the Society of Surgical Oncology meeting in San Antonio. This is always a busy meeting for me—between recruiting new talent, meeting with research collaborators, presenting and hearing the latest data, networking with friends and colleagues, and cheering on mentees...
Discussions of cancer care begin with science and end with economics and politics. This is true within countries, but is particularly the case when we cross borders. While there is much about cancer that is common everywhere — smoking-induced lung cancer has pretty much the same biology in Beijing...
There is an interesting article by Dr. Pauline Chen in the March 3rd New York Times on the ethics of early phase clinical trials. The article discusses in particular the issue of optimism.
I was recently caught off guard by a couple of simply warm and beautiful days here in Boston—they seemed to be some sort of promise that spring must indeed be coming! The concept of renewal has since been on my mind. No, not the usual items that the term renewal conjures up (you know, licenses,...
You could, I think, write the history of our specialty by looking at the history of our Annual Meeting. Certainly some of the great moments that I recall from past meetings—in the past decade think of imatinib for GIST tumors, adjuvant trastuzumab for breast cancer, and last year’s crizotinib trial...
Does anyone other than me find what happened on Jeopardy! this week somewhat freaky? For those of you not up with the cultural zeitgeist, an IBM computer named Watson absolutely destroyed the two best Jeopardy! contestants in a three-day contest, answering question after question correctly in an...
Finding myself with an extra day prior to the start of ASCO GU, (no offense meant to SUO and ASTRO - just what I have been calling the meeting for many years) here in sunny Florida, I have finally caught up with some of the many things left...
Names matter. Cary Grant was born Archibald Alexander Leach: not exactly a name to showcase at the cinema. Sometimes you need to change your name to focus the attention of others, so that they recognize you for what you are, or what you do. This is the case for the new iteration of The ASCO Cancer...
I just got out of yet another talk on health reform. There is no question that the current rate of health care spending is unsustainable, and something has to be done...We talk a lot about patient safety and quality, guidelines, and resource utilization, but are we just blowing smoke? If we look at...
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ASCOconnection.org is a forum for the exchange of views on topical issues in the field of oncology. The views expressed in the blogs, comments, and forums belong to the authors. They do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. Please read the Commenting Guidelines.
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