Andrew D. Smith

Articles

Big Hopes for Big Data: Digital Information Focus Underpins Cancer Moonshot Goals

January 13th 2017

The ambitious goals of the Cancer Moonshot initiative, now incorporated into the recently enacted 21st Century Cures Act, are generating excitement among oncology leaders.

Wearable Therapy Making Inroads in Oncology

September 30th 2016

Two headgear items, a system of applying electromagnetic currents to patients with glioblastoma and a cooling cap for individuals undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer, are early entries in the field.

A Tough State Makes a Tender Practice

August 7th 2016

New Mexico Cancer Center has a proud record of innovation—its managing partner helped create the Community Oncology Medical Home model in 2012—but the Albuquerque-based practice has still spent much of the past five years fighting to maintain its independence.

Testing the Immune Memory: How Much Anti-PD-1/PD-L1 Therapy Is Enough?

August 2nd 2016

There is some evidence that relatively short treatment courses might also be appropriate for other checkpoint inhibitors approved for treating some cancers, but the data are fairly sparse.

Proton Beam Centers Multiply Despite Economic Risks

February 26th 2016

Randomized trials comparing proton beams with standard radiation for the treatment of prostate cancer and other common tumor types are years from completion, but healthcare providers around the nation are betting billions of dollars that the greater accuracy of proton beam therapy will justify the greater costs.

Cautious Evolution Underway in DTC Genetic Testing

February 12th 2016

Changes are brewing again in the direct-to-consumer genetic testing industry including developments with the potential to affect the public in the oncology field.

Novel Therapies Likely to Change Role of Stem Cell Transplants in Blood Cancers

January 15th 2016

Mortality and morbidity both appear to be declining with the emergence of better antibiotics and growth factors, so hematologists are beginning to consider transplants for patients who were once considered too old or too sickly to endure anything as harsh as a stem cell transplant.

2015 NCCN Guideline Updates: New Recommendations for Clinical Practice

July 12th 2015

Expert panel members highlight the latest NCCN guideline recommendations.

Hope Rises for Immunotherapy in Breast Cancer

March 25th 2015

Elizabeth A. Mittendorf, MD, PhD, differentiates the main types of immunotherapy, highlights some of the most interesting results in breast cancer trials, and discusses why different types of immunotherapy might be appropriate for different types of breast tumors at various stages of development.

Balancing Act: Calculating Adjuvant Treatment Risks in Older Women With Breast Cancer

March 6th 2015

Hyman B. Muss, MD, provides expert insight on adjuvant treatment for older patients with breast cancer.

Cancer Vaccine Field Remains Lively Despite Setbacks: 10+ Agents in Advanced Testing

February 10th 2015

The only therapeutic cancer vaccine ever to win approval from the FDA has repeatedly missed sales projections, plunging the company that developed it into bankruptcy proceedings.

Immunotherapies Continue to Impress in NSCLC Trials With Several Forecast for Approval

November 10th 2014

Roy S. Herbst, MD, PhD, led some of the first trials of gefitinib, the EGFR inhibitor that helped introduce targeted therapies of this important mutation into the treatment landscape of nonâ€“small cell lung cancer.

With Limited Progression, Maintaining TKI Regimen Often Optimal Approach in Lung Cancer

November 10th 2014

How should oncologists respond when initial treatment of EGFR-mutant or ALK-positive lung cancer with a tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) no longer prevents all disease progression?

Lung Cancer Treatment on Brink of New Molecular Era

November 10th 2014

Although testing for EGFR mutations and ALK rearrangements in patients with NSCLC has become widespread, the time has come to translate into clinical practice next-generation sequencing assays that provide exponentially more information about tumor biology.

Free Testosterone May Dictate Necessary Treatment in Prostate Cancer

August 8th 2014

Research from Chile suggests that low levels of free testosterone indicate that an apparently low-risk case of prostate cancer will require treatment.

Early Results Suggest Tomosynthesis Marks Major Advance in Breast Imaging

June 16th 2014

The first time Christina T. Giuliano, MD, saw a digital mammogram, she knew the extra clarity and detail would profoundly improve the diagnostic process.

2014 NCCN Guideline Updates: Experts Highlight New Recommendations for Clinical Practice

June 6th 2014

At the recent National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) 19th Annual Conference, experts discussed this year's updates to the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology. The meeting also included reviews of NCCN Task Force reports on issues in supportive care. We asked eleven NCCN panel members to select the most significant updates and insights presented at the conference.

Folkman's Legacy of Bold and Creative Thinking Endures

March 19th 2014

During the course of a 74-year life cut short by his sudden death in 2008, Folkman changed the world repeatedly with bold ideas that ranged from implantable pacemakers and subcutaneous birth control to an entirely new field of medical study: how diseases like cancer recruit blood vessels from the body via angiogenesis.

Emerging DCIS Strategies Look Beyond Surgery

March 8th 2014

Success rates for lumpectomies or mastectomies are high with respect to survival, with up to 98% long-term survival rates for surgery and/or radiotherapy, but what if similar results could be achieved by substituting targeted medications for therapy?

Stemline Therapeutics Targets Capacity of Tumors to Adapt and Proliferate

December 17th 2013

The investigational cancer medications being developed by Stemline Therapeutics attack only a tiny percentage of all tumor cells. But those few cells-the stem cells that resist most treatment and drive tumor growth-may just be the most important ones.