Mike Hennessy

It was truly heartening to see Contemporary Radiation Oncology proudly represented by its Editor-in-Chief, Stephen E. Finkelstein, MD, at this year’s Fiesta Bowl.

Separating hype from hope has often been problematic when developments that may lead to advances in the oncology field enter the public domain. The mapping of the human genome and the ability to characterize mutations associated with cancer have spawned one of those waves of excess promises.

The development and approval of high-intensity focused ultrasound doesn’t qualify as moving at a glacial pace; if anything, it seems quite measured. In a crowded field of treatments, the technology is trying to gain a toehold.

Despite all you hear about the war between specialty pharma and the independent oncology practice, it is possible for some independents to turn their in-house pharmacy operations into growth machines.

As anticancer therapies continue to improve outcomes for patients, questions about how best to deploy these new options abound. In this issue of OncologyLive, we explore two of the pressing questions that have arisen in treating patients with hematologic malignancies.

PD-1 and PD-L1 inhibition offers the possibility for precision immuno-oncology through the application of biomarkers that predict the immune systems response. This principle has been demonstrated by two of the most recent FDA approvals for patients with lung cancer.

Disruptive technology abounds across a broad range of tumor types and clinicians throughout the spectrum of care will be learning about and adapting to new paradigms.

More models of care are beginning to show signs of recognition that palliative care has a larger role to play in the oncology setting.

We’re always talking about the rapid pace of oncology drug development in this era, but perhaps nothing illustrates that trend so clearly as the events of one 15-day period in November.

News stories coming out of the 7th European Multidisciplinary Meeting on Urological Cancers (EMUC) were focused on the emerging role of immunotherapy and radiotherapy in bladder, renal, and prostate cancer.

The search for biomarkers that can help clinicians match patients with effective therapies continues at a torrid pace in oncology. Yet in the parlance of basketball, not all biomarkers translate into slam dunks when it comes to clinical utility.

The FDA has indicated there are many problems associated with LDTs that clearly warrant a much greater level of oversight to protect the public.

Although there often is controversy over the impact of new cancer drugs on patients’ overall survival, there can be little argument over the broad improvements that have flowed from more than four decades of investment in oncology research.

Site neutrality sounds like something from the Cold War—a zone on a bridge between two ideologically different countries, for instance. In oncology, it’s something completely different.

With a series of recent approvals, the FDA bolstered oncologists’ armamentarium for treating patients with melanoma, soft tissue sarcoma, and pancreatic cancer.

OncLive Chairman, Mike Hennessy

There are many reasons, why we must now move beyond the "one drug-one test" model that has resulted in these diagnostics.

Over the last month or so, the immune checkpoint blockade revolution in oncology has officially hit a fever pitch.

The FDA closed out summer 2015 by taking action on several oncology drug applications, approving new indications and granting several priority reviews.

Although the progress made in the treatment of patients with lung cancer has by now become a familiar story, it certainly bears repeating.

The 340B drug discount program is bigger than any Jurassic Park monster that ever broke out of its cage, and arguably bigger than any California wildfire that ever burned up the Sierras.

Several studies presented at the 2015 ESMO World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer offered new promise for patients.

For oncology specialists, caring for patients with cancer has long meant analyzing the biological and clinical pieces of a puzzle unique to each individual and then figuring out the optimal management plan to meet his or her needs.

It has been our privilege to salute those who have contributed so richly to the remarkable ongoing progress in oncology.

With two drugs on the market and more agents in the pipeline, there's little doubt that immunotherapies targeting the PD-1/PD-L1 pathway will become a backbone of oncology treatment in the near future, perhaps replacing chemotherapy in some malignancies.

The rise of electronic medical reporting and value-based standards and measures for improved medical care is supported by the best of intentions, but the implication is that physicians now spend more time behind the computer terminal and less time with patients.

Physicians have shown they don't have to be quiet participants in the value argument that is raging in oncologic circles.

One of the most gratifying aspects of working in the oncology information field is the opportunity we have to interact with the scientists and clinicians who are seeking to advance the care of patients with cancer.