This issue of our member magazine, ASCO Connection, certainly captures the dichotomies in oncology today. We have the promise of high-tech treatments based on molecular pathways and personalized medicine as captured by many of the Oral Abstract Sessions to be presented at the 2013 ASCO Annual Meeting. Yet once we have the evidence-based research, we still have the challenge of translating the science into the clinic. We have the promise and possibilities of practice-changing treatments but then encounter, all too often, obstacles in both accessing and paying for drugs. We have known preventive measures, such as PAP tests for cervical cancer, and yet many of these tools remain out of reach for a significant percentage of the world’s patients with cancer.
In this regard, the theme chosen by ASCO President Dr. Sandra Swain to represent this year’s Annual Meeting—Building Bridges to Conquer Cancer—is especially apt. We are all trying to bridge science with practice, advances with patients, and practical treatments and preventive measures with those in resource-limited settings, both in developed and developing countries.
Oncology professionals also face the ongoing challenge of keeping up with an ever-expanding, ever-changing knowledge base. Director of the Medical Oncology Fellowship Program at the Helen F. Graham Cancer Center Dr. Gregory Masters, discusses the In-Training Exam for Fellows and the benefits he has received from working on the development of test materials. “Staying up to date in a broad field with frequent, often dramatic, and practice-changing research developments that occur on a regular basis has been a challenge” and “remains an ongoing imperative” for those at every stage of his or her career, not just for Fellows, he emphasizes.
As much as we would like attend every meeting and read every journal article, that remains an impossibility for most of us. To help with the time crunch, we hope that you will enjoy featured highlights from the very successful Gastrointestinal and Genitourinary Cancers Symposiums held earlier this year. Also, please read our timely article on the merits and drawbacks of tissue acquisition for personalized therapy as discussed by Dr. Lillian Siu, of Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, and Dr. Luis Diaz, of the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins.
We close the issue with a tribute to one of ASCO’s founding members and a true pioneer—Dr. Jane Cooke Wright, whose work and legacy remain an inspiration for so many.
Reprinted from the May 2013 ASCO Connection ‘From the Editor’ column.
In this regard, the theme chosen by ASCO President Dr. Sandra Swain to represent this year’s Annual Meeting—Building Bridges to Conquer Cancer—is especially apt. We are all trying to bridge science with practice, advances with patients, and practical treatments and preventive measures with those in resource-limited settings, both in developed and developing countries.
Oncology professionals also face the ongoing challenge of keeping up with an ever-expanding, ever-changing knowledge base. Director of the Medical Oncology Fellowship Program at the Helen F. Graham Cancer Center Dr. Gregory Masters, discusses the In-Training Exam for Fellows and the benefits he has received from working on the development of test materials. “Staying up to date in a broad field with frequent, often dramatic, and practice-changing research developments that occur on a regular basis has been a challenge” and “remains an ongoing imperative” for those at every stage of his or her career, not just for Fellows, he emphasizes.
As much as we would like attend every meeting and read every journal article, that remains an impossibility for most of us. To help with the time crunch, we hope that you will enjoy featured highlights from the very successful Gastrointestinal and Genitourinary Cancers Symposiums held earlier this year. Also, please read our timely article on the merits and drawbacks of tissue acquisition for personalized therapy as discussed by Dr. Lillian Siu, of Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, and Dr. Luis Diaz, of the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins.
We close the issue with a tribute to one of ASCO’s founding members and a true pioneer—Dr. Jane Cooke Wright, whose work and legacy remain an inspiration for so many.
Reprinted from the May 2013 ASCO Connection ‘From the Editor’ column.
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