Dr. Markman on 2017 Goals for the Field of Ovarian Cancer
March 2nd 2017Maurie Markman, MD, president, Medicine and Science, Cancer Treatment Centers of America, editor-in-chief, OncologyLive, discusses what he would like to see accomplished in the field of ovarian cancer over the next year.
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Clinical Trial Reform Is Urgently Needed
February 23rd 2017The current status of clinical cancer research in the United States falls far short of what is necessary to effectively and efficiently change this amazing opportunity to improve both the quantity and quality of the lives of patients with cancer into an objective reality.
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Practicing Oncology in the Gray Zone
February 1st 2017"Uncertainty" is a routine dilemma when discussing a prognosis with a patient with cancer and his or her family. The prognosis is, at best, a statistical probability—assuming the available objective data are somewhat representative of the individual patient.
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When Values Collide: The Individual Versus the Common Good
January 9th 2017It is perhaps a little unusual that an oncol­ogy commentary would begin with a highly provocative discussion about the future of driverless cars, but there are similarities in the sharp corners of the debate over this new tech­nology and emerging trends in cancer care.
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Dr. Markman on the Search for Actionable Biomarkers in Ovarian Cancer
January 5th 2017Maurie Markman, MD, president, Medicine and Science, Cancer Treatment Centers of America, editor-in-chief, OncologyLive, discusses the search for actionable biomarkers in the treatment of patients with ovarian cancer.
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When Well-Meaning Health Policy Goes Awry
November 23rd 2016Those responsible for developing and implementing governmental health policy have an extremely difficult job. Not only do they have to attempt to satisfy often highly unrealistic expectations of legislators for overall goals and timelines, but they also are frequently asked to accomplish a task with woefully inadequate funding.
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Dr. Markman on Immune Targeting in Ovarian Cancer
November 10th 2016Maurie Markman, MD, president, Medicine and Science, Cancer Treatment Centers of America, editor-in-chief, OncologyLive, discusses the current status of immune targeting as potential treatment for patients with ovarian cancer.
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Is the "Best Therapy" Always Necessary Even If the Patient Can't Afford It?
October 29th 2016In a most provocative commentary published in a recent issue of The Lancet, two authors present a strong argument that it is sometimes ethical to provide therapy that is known to be validated but less effective than the standard of care if this therapy is also so significantly less expensive that access is substantially enhanced.
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Coffee Conundrum Shows How Trouble Is Brewing in Lifestyle Cancer Research
October 21st 2016Twenty-five years ago, WHO declared that coffee was a potential carcinogen. Now, the public health agency has reversed course, raising a host of questions about the accuracy and value not only about the original research but also about the recent report.
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Dr. Markman on Important Factors of BSO in Ovarian Cancer
October 3rd 2016Maurie Markman, MD, president, Medicine and Science, Cancer Treatment Centers of America, editor-in-chief, OncologyLive, discusses the most important factors of bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy (BSO) to convey to patients with ovarian cancer.
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Innovative Clinical Trial Designs Generate New Ethical Dilemmas
September 16th 2016Fifty years after Henry Beecher’s landmark critique finally helped begin breaking the “code-of-silence” regarding the conduct of unethical clinical research in the United States—sadly including the oncology arena—many serious concerns linger.
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Physicians Often Ignore Phase III Findings in Managing Patients
August 30th 2016Oncologists eagerly await clinical trial results that will permit them to provide additional strategies to their patients. However, the impact of such randomized trial results can be quite limited where preexisting beliefs, training, economic interests, or well-established practices conflict with what the "evidence" demonstrates.
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What Is a Patient Who Refuses Chemotherapy Really Saying?
August 15th 2016Although chemotherapy has changed dramatically since it was introduced, platinum-containing combinations remain standard in ovarian cancer. Often, the established regimen can be modified for patients who quite justifiably may fear the toxicities of platinum agents.
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Discussions with patients must carefully consider the understandable desire of patients for definitive and hopeful information while at the same time appreciating that poorly understood biology often makes definitive statements and declarations regarding prognosis problematic and not infrequently incorrect.
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Silence on Ovarian Cancer Trial Debacle Is Disheartening
July 22nd 2016A phase III trial in ovarian cancer was allowed to continue even as the patients who received the experimental study drug were experiencing strikingly inferior outcomes compared with participants on standard therapy. The lack of answers about this trial remains a glaring example of shortcomings in the research paradigm.
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We Need a New Way of Talking About "Conflicts of Interest"
June 13th 2016The debate over the confirmation of Robert M. Califf, MD, as FDA commissioner illustrates the need to change the way we talk about whether a medical professional has a "conflict of interest" rather than simply an "association of interest."
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Reason Versus Dogma: It's Time to Move Beyond the Phase III Trial Mantra
May 19th 2016Shouldn’t the goal of oncologists be to do what is best for their patients, regardless of the currently existing level of evidence and particularly when any timeline for obtaining that "gold standard" evidence will be irrelevant for the patient being cared for today?
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Germline Genetic Testing Raises Thorny Ethical Questions
May 3rd 2016If germline testing for a cancer-associated purpose reveals the risk of an unrelated illness like Alzheimer disease, should patients routinely be told—even if there’s nothing that can be done about that “incidental†finding?
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Oncologists Are Often Slow to Embrace Truly Novel Therapies
April 8th 2016The delivery of antineoplastic therapy via the intravenous route is a long-standing, critical, and well-coordinated component of oncology practice. But what happens when a novel treatment strategy is introduced into the oncology arena that challenges this traditional drug infusion paradigm?
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