Author: Editor

Saketh Guntupalli, MD of University of Colorado School of Medicine gives his take on how women can deal with their intimate relationships after a cancer diagnosis. He states that this is an area of less interest in cancer survivorship, thus women and clinicians should openly communicate about these kinds of issues. This was recorded at the 2017 Society of Gynecologic Oncology (SGO)s Annual Meeting on Womens Cancer® in National Harbor, MD.

Read More

Saketh Guntupalli, MD of University of Colorado School of Medicine discusses interesting topics that were discussed at the 2017 Society of Gynecologic Oncology (SGO)s Annual Meeting on Womens Cancer® in National Harbor, MD. He states that there is a new focus on molecular therapeutics in women with cancer, which acts more specifically and effectively in patients.

Read More

Saketh Guntupalli, MD of University of Colorado School of Medicine discusses the data of his presentation, which was a randomized trial of oral apixaban and subcutaneous enoxaparin for prevention of blood clots and VTEs in patients with gynecologic malignancies. Data concluded with more risk of bleeding in patients who took a pill than in patients who had blood thinning injections. This was recorded at the Society of Gynecologic Oncology (SGO)s Annual Meeting on Womens Cancer® in National Harbor, MD.

Read More

Thomas Powles, MBBS, MRCP, MD, from the Barts Cancer Institute, London, UK, gives an overview of the KEYNOTE-052 (NCT02335424) trial of pembrolizumab in urothelial bladder cancer at the European Association of Urology (EAU) conference 2017 in London, UK. This Phase II trial is investigating pembrolizumab treatment in urothelial bladder cancer patients ineligible for cisplatin-based chemotherapy. Prof. Powles explains that historically, the majority of patients in this setting have been treated with chemotherapy, and cisplatin is the standard approach in this case, however a substantial proportion of patients are not fit enough or have insufficient renal function for this treatment. Pembrolizumab…

Read More

Peter Albers, MD, from the Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf, Germany, discusses the concept of a semi-live surgical masterclass at the European Association of Urology (EAU) conference 2017 in London, UK. He says that this new format has been introduced in surgical education across disciplines over the past few years. Prof. Albers explains that the for a semi-live masterclass, a live surgical procedure is videotaped, and this video is brought to the presentation, and discussed with other presenters, typically comparing different techniques for carrying out a specific procedure, such as anastomosis. An advantage of the semi-live approach is that techniques can be demonstrated…

Read More

Maurizio Brausi, MD, from the AUSL Modena, B. Ramazzini Hospital, Modena, Italy, discusses the use of robotic surgery for urological cancers at the European Association of Urology (EAU) conference 2017 in London, UK. He describes the joint session with ERUS, the EAU Robotics section, where kidney, bladder and prostate cancer surgery were debated, comparing open surgery with robotic surgery. Prof. Brausi explains that results are good, both with open and robotic surgery. Taking prostate cancer as an example, oncological results do not differ significantly between the different surgical approaches, however robotics is superior when assessing quality of life, erectile dysfunction…

Read More

Jochen Walz, MD, from the Paoli-Calmettes Institute, Marseille, France, discusses the use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in targeting prostate cancer biopsy at the European Association of Urology (EAU) conference 2017 in London, UK. He explains that magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is currently the most well evaluated tool for prostate cancer diagnosis, and many studies are evaluating this imaging approach. Current recommendations are that an MRI should be carried out before a repeat biopsy, if a suspicion of prostate cancer persists after a negative randomized biopsy. Repeat biopsies identify cancer in 20 25% of cases. By using imaging as additional…

Read More

Joaquim Bellmunt, MD, PhD, from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, discusses recent advances in treating genitourinary malignancies at the European Association of Urology conference 2017 in London, UK. Focusing on immune-oncological agents in bladder cancer, the first-line treatment in patients with metastatic disease is platinum-based chemotherapy, with second-line therapy until recently also being chemotherapy-based, with only vinflunine approved in Europe. In the US, additional second-line agents were used, such as paclitaxel and docetaxel, however limited benefit was seen for patients with these. Recent advances in immune-oncological agents mean that this is now an option for bladder cancer treatment, with…

Read More

From our MPN Ask the Expert series, Patient Power viewer, Barb, asks a question about peripheral neuropathy as a side effect of treatment for essential thrombocythemia (ET). Dr. Prithviraj Bose from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center responds by suggesting treatments that do not cause neuropathy and options for reducing the effects of neuropathy. Get email alerts | http://www.patientpower.info/alerts Subscribe on YouTube | http://www.youtube.com/patientpower Like on Facebook | http://www.fb.com/patientpower.info Follow on Twitter | http://www.twitter.com/patientpower Follow on Google+ | http://www.google.com/+patientpowerinfo

Read More

Alexander B. Olawaiye, MD of Magee-Womens Hospital of UPMC explains why the use of molecular analysis to determine therapy choice is more of a hope to society. He argues that it is not ready for clinical use and discusses the current NCI-MATCH trial. This was recorded at the 2017 Society of Gynecologic Oncology (SGO)s Annual Meeting on Womens Cancer® in National Harbor, MD.

Read More

Alexander B. Olawaiye, MD of Magee-Womens Hospital of UPMC discusses novel agents, Olaparib and Rucaparib, that target BRCA mutations in Ovarian Cancer. He also states that even in patients who did not have any mutation still showed great therapeutic responses from the agents. This was recorded at the 2017 Society of Gynecologic Oncology (SGO)s Annual Meeting on Womens Cancer® in National Harbor, MD.

Read More

Don Dizon, MD of Massachusetts General Hospital discusses the use of novel agents in ovarian cancer. He states that Olaparib and Rucaparib are not FDA approved for clinical trials but are approved for use as a line of treatment for patients who succeeded with chemotherapy but relapsed. This was recorded at the 2017 Society of Gynecologic Oncology (SGO)s Annual Meeting on Womens Cancer® in National Harbor, MD.

Read More

Don Dizon, MD of Massachusetts General Hospital discusses the use of immunotherapy in cervical cancer treatment. He explains a clinical trial where an HPV protein was used for treatment and although there was a low response rate, there was overall improvement of over 50%. This was recorded at the 2017 Society of Gynecologic Oncology (SGO)s Annual Meeting on Womens Cancer® in National Harbor, MD.

Read More

Learn more about personalized medicine, also known as precision medicine, in this web interview with Patient Power Host Andrew Schorr and Dr. Razelle Kurzrock, Director of the Center for Personalized Cancer Therapy at UC San Diego. Dr. Kurzrock explains what needs improvement in cancer therapies, next-generation sequencing, combination therapies, and what patients can do to understand the complex data. Dr. Kurzrock is a pioneer of personalized medicine, and in this replay she goes into detail on how doctors are using advanced technology to look at the combinations of available treatment to see what applies to an individual. Get email alerts…

Read More

Christina Annunziata, MD, PhD of National Institutes of Health discusses how future research will be affected by clinical trials. She argues the results of clinical trials will guide future therapy for patients. This was recorded at the 2017 Society of Gynecologic Oncology (SGO)s Annual Meeting on Womens Cancer® in National Harbor, MD.

Read More

MPN experts, Dr. Michael Grunwald from Carolinas HealthCare System’s Levine Cancer Institute and Dr. Srdan Verstovsek from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, share insights on the purpose of the bone marrow biopsy and how the test affects overall care and treatment decisions. Each expert weighs in on how they monitor patients in their own practice, including why and how frequently their patients are tested. Get email alerts | http://www.patientpower.info/alerts Subscribe on YouTube | http://www.youtube.com/patientpower Like on Facebook | http://www.fb.com/patientpower.info Follow on Twitter | http://www.twitter.com/patientpower Follow on Google+ | http://www.google.com/+patientpowerinfo

Read More

Przemyslaw Twardowski, M.D., Clinical Professor of Medical Oncology, Director, Genitourinary Oncology, City of Hope Cancer Center and David Quinn, MBBS., Ph.D., Section Head, Genitourinary Oncology, Medical Director, USC Norris Cancer Hospital, University of Southern California have a discussion on prostate cancer management at the MOASC Oncology Summit.

Read More

At a recent MPN town meeting, Dr. Jigar Trivedi, Clinical Pharmacist Coordinator, Department of Pharmacy at Carolinas HealthCare System’s Levine Cancer Institute, shared insight for patients. Dr. Trivedi discusses dosing and how medications are processed in the body, affecting each person differently. He also explains drug interactions and nurse, Erin Blackwell, stresses the importance of communication with your healthcare team about what youre taking. Watch now to find out how a conversation with a pharmacist can benefit your care. Get email alerts | http://www.patientpower.info/alerts Subscribe on YouTube | http://www.youtube.com/patientpower Like on Facebook | http://www.fb.com/patientpower.info Follow on Twitter | http://www.twitter.com/patientpower Follow…

Read More