Clinical Cancer Advances 2010: Annual Report on Progress Against Cancer From the American Society of Clinical Oncology

Abstract

A MESSAGE FROM ASCO'S PRESIDENT Like many health professionals who care for people with cancer, I entered the field because of specific patients who touched my heart. They still do. In an effort to weave together my personal view of what the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) stands for and the purpose the organization serves, my presidential theme this year is “Patients. Pathways. Progress.” Patients come first. Caring for patients is the most important, rewarding aspect of being an oncology professional. At its best, the relationship between doctor and patient is compassionate and honest—and a relationship of mutual respect. Many professional organizations have an interest in cancer, but no other society is so focused on the entire spectrum of cancer care, education, and research. Nor is any other society as particularly interested in bringing new treatments to our patients through clinical trials as ASCO is. Clinical trials are the crux for improving treatments for people with cancer and are critical for continued progress against the disease. “Pathways” has several meanings. Some pathways are molecular—like the cancer cell's machinery of destruction, which we have only begun to understand in recent years. But there are other equally important pathways, including the pathways new therapies follow as they move from bench to bedside and the pathways patients follow during the course of their diseases. Improved understanding of these pathways will lead to new approaches in cancer care, allowing doctors to provide targeted therapies that deliver improved, personalized treatment. The best pathway for patients to gain access to new therapies is through clinical trials. Trials conducted by the National Cancer Institute's Cooperative Group Program, a nationwide network of cancer centers and physicians, represent the United States' most important pathway for accelerating progress against cancer. This year, the Institute of Medicine released a report on major challenges facing the Cooperative Group Program. Chief among them is the fact that funding for the program has been nearly flat since 2002. ASCO has called for a doubling of funding for cooperative group research within five years and supports the full implementation of the Institute of Medicine recommendations to revitalize the program. ASCO harnesses the expertise and resources of its 28,000 members to bring all of these pathways together for the greater good of patients. Progress against cancer is being made every day—measurable both in our improved understanding of the disease and in our ability to treat it. A report issued in December 2009 by the National Cancer Institute, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Cancer Society, and the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries found that rates of new diagnoses and rates of death resulting from all cancers combined have declined significantly in recent years for men and women overall and for most racial and ethnic populations in the United States. The pace of progress can be and needs to be hastened. Much remains to be done. Sustained national investment in cancer research is needed to bring better, more effective, less toxic treatments to people living with cancer. Pathways to progress continue in the clinic as doctors strive to find the right treatments for the right patients, to understand what represents the right treatments, and to partner with patients and caregivers for access to those treatments. This report demonstrates that significant progress is being made on the front lines of clinical cancer research. But although our nation's investment in this research is paying off, we must never forget the magnitude of what lies ahead. Cancer remains the number two killer of Americans. Future progress depends on continued commitment, from both ASCO and the larger medical community. George W. Sledge Jr, MD President American Society of Clinical Oncology

An Official American Thoracic Society/European Respiratory Society Statement: The Role of the Pulmonologist in the Diagnosis and Management of Lung Cancer

“…Studies of lung cancer screening, staging, drug development, and molecular diagnostics have demonstrated important advances that promise to decrease death rates over time (1,7,8). For example, in the National Lung Screening Trial (NLST), which included more than 50,000 patients at high risk of lung cancer, a relative reduction of 20% in lung cancer mortality was observed with low-dose computed tomography (CT) screening, and the rate of death from any cause was also reduced in the low-dose CT group by 6.7% (1).…”

RON(MST1R)is a novel prognostic marker and therapeutic target for gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma

“…Catenacci, 1 Gustavo Cervantes, 1 Soheil yala, 1 Erik a. nelson, 2 Essam El-Hashani, 1 Rajani Kanteti, 1 Mohamed El dinali, 1 Rifat Hasina, 1 Johannes Brägelmann, 1 Tanguy Seiwert, 1 Michele Sanicola, 3 Les Henderson, cooperative signaling may result in more aggressive phenotypes, (iii) and/or RON signaling may render resistance to MET inhibition (and vice versa). Here we show that RON is indeed highly expressed, and that MSP, RON, HGF and MET co-expression and co-activation is frequent and prognostic of survival in our GEC patient cohort.…”

“…GEC is a lethal malignancy with poor clinical outcomes due to early metastasis and high recurrence rates after curative intent surgery-even in early stage disease. 1,6 MET, HER2 and EGFR inhibition is currently being evaluated in early phase clinical trials with modest benefit. 5,77 The data presented here reveal that RON is an independently important prognostic marker and therapeutic target in GEC given its strong expression, high GCN and activating JM mutation.…”

“…In 2010, there were 21,000 new cases of GC and 10,570 deaths in the US. 1 The incidence of proximal GC and gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinomas (GEJ) is rising in the USA, while the endemic form, associated with H. pylori infection in the distal stomach is declining. 2 Esophageal cancer, of which distal/GEJ accounts for around 60%, is also a lethal malignancy, with 16,640 cases diagnosed and 14,500 deaths in 2010; there is an estimated 350% increase in the US in the last three decades for unclear reasons.…”

Cancer survival in Qidong between 1972 and 2011: A population-based analysis

“…Relatively higher survival rates were observed in younger patients (15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30)(31)(32)(33)(34)(35)(36)(37)(38)(39)(40)(41)(42)(43)(44) compared with older patients (65-74, 75+), particularly for sites including the stomach, lung, pancreas, B and CNS, blood (NHL) and cervix. Cancer of the oesophagus, female breast and bladder had higher survival in middle-aged groups (45)(46)(47)(48)(49)(50)(51)(52)(53)(54)(55)(56)(57)(58)(59)(60)(61)(62)(63)…”