OncoLog MD Anderson's Report to Physicians, 2010-2018

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  OncoLog, Volume 58, Number 07, July 2013

  Zach Bohannan and Sunni Hosemann

  • Treating Diabetes in Cancer Patients: Type 2 diabetes is a serious health concern for any patient-but when the patient also has cancer, diabetes may interfere with potentially life-saving cancer treatment
  • INBRIEF: MET Protein May Serve as a Biomaker for a Treatment-Resistant Colorectal Cancer Subtype
  • Compass: Penile Cancer- Although curable, localized or regional squamous cell carcinoma of the penis present treatment dilemmas
  • HOUSE CALL: Stand Up for Your Health- Prolonged sitting may increase your risk for cancer and other disease

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  OncoLog, Volume 58, Number 03, March 2013

  Sarah Bronson, Zach Bohannan, and Bryan Tutt

  • Advances in Pulmonary Medicine Facilitate Cancer Diagnosis, Treatment: The lungs present unique challenges in cancer diagnosis and treatment-navigating a maze of bronchi to find and sample tissue that will lead to an accurate diagnosis of lung cancer, for example, or deciding whether to proceed with treatment for cancer in the presence of concomitant lung disease
  • New Drugs Increase Treatment Options for Patients with Imatinib-Resistant Chronic Myeloid Leukemia: In the past year, several new targeted drugs have been approved as second-line treatments for imatinib-resistant chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). These drugs include the second-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitor bosutinib and the third-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitor ponatinib, which may change the standard of care for CML
  • Program Offers Physicians Courses on Treating Cancer Patients and Survivors: A series of courses available online enables physicians at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center to share with a global medical audience lessons learned from treating a high volume of patients at a tertiary cancer center
  • HOUSE CALL: Managing the Financial Burden of Long-Term Illness-Help is available for many patients

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  OncoLog, Volume 58, Number 05, May 2013

  Jill Deisigne and Bryan Tutt

  • Robotic Surgery Makes Tissue Harvest for Breast Reconstruction Less Invasive: A new minimally invasive robotic procedure enables surgeons to harvest latissimus dorsi muscle flaps for breast reconstruction with less scarring and discomfort than traditional techniques
  • Diagnosis and Treatment of Invasive Fungal Infections in patients with Hematological Malingnancies: Invasive fungal infections are important causes of morbidity and death for patients with hematological malignancies. Although much progress has been made in the management of opportunistic fungal infections, their diagnosis and treatment remain a challenge
  • INBRIEF: Beta-Blocker Use Associated With Higher Survival Rates in Lung Cancer Patients Receiving Radiation Therapy/ Selumetinib Shows Promise for Patients With Recurrent Low-Grade Ovarian Cancer
  • HOUSE CALL: Myths and facts About Skin Cancer-What you don't know could hurt you

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  OncoLog, Volume 58, Number 09, September 2013

  Jill Deisigne and Markeda Wade

  • Advances in Neuroimaging Help Unveil the Mechanisms of Chemobrain: Chemobrain, a catchall term for the cognitive dysfunction and neurophysiological changes produced bt chemotherapy toxicity, is an important quality-of-life issue for cancer survivors
  • Opioid Rotation Can Improve Pain Control and Reduce Neurotoxicity for Cancer Patients: Opioids are a main stay in the relief of pain-especially the chronic cancer-related pain often encountered in the palliative care setting. However, extended opioid use can result in tolerance, dependence, and opioid-induced neurotoxicity
  • INBRIEF: Researchers Identity Inhibitor of Cancer-Promoting Protein SKp2/ Change in CA-125 Level Over Time Shows Promise for Ovarian cancer Screening
  • HOUSE CALL: Myths and Facts About Pain and Cancer-Patients have options for pain treatment

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  OncoLog, Volume 58, Number 04, April 2013

  Kathryn L. Hale and Sunni Hosemann

  • Preventing and Treating Graft-Versus-Host Disease After Stem Cell Transplantation: Each year, thousands of patients with hematologic malignancies undergo allogeneic (donor) stem cell transplantation (SCT), which offers a chance at cure. Graft-versus-host disease (GHVD) is a potentially deadly complication of this therapy and occurs in 25%-60% of patients. However, clinicians and researchers are continually working to reduce the rate of GVHD occurrance and improve patient outcomes
  • Compass: Breast cancer Risk Reduction: Women at increased risk have multiple options
  • HOUSE CALL: Benefits of In-Person Support Groups- Face-to-face contact helps people cope with chronic illness

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  OncoLog, Volume 58, Number 01, January 2013

  Joe Munch and Sunni Hosemann

  • Emerging Vaccines Take Aim at Preventing Recurrent Breast Cancer: Myriad advances have been made in the treatment of breast cancer, and cures are achieved in many patients. However, there are still patients whose cancer recurs, and most of these patients will die of their disease. This indicates a need for other therapies that can be used to prevent recurrent disease. One potential option is breast cancer vaccines.
  • Compass: Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Concomitant liver disease affects treatment options
  • HOUSE CALL: Music Therapy-Music therapists help cancer patients manage stress and side effects

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  OncoLog, Volume 58, Number 06, June 2013

  Joe Munch, Amelia Scholtz, and Luanne Jorewicz

  • Addressing Emerging Survivorship Issues in Glioblastoma Patients: An increasing number of glioblastoma patients are becoming '' long-term'' survivors-living 3 or more years after diagnosis
  • Prediction Tool Helps Determine Whether Older Breast Cancer Patients will benefit from Radiation: A statistical tool is now available to predict the likely individual benefit of radiation therapy for older women who have undergone breast-conserving surgery for breast cancer
  • Sequential Multidrug Regiman May Offer an Alternative to Standard Cisplatin-Based Therapy for Urothelial Cancer: Cisplatin-based chemotherapy is the standard neoadjuvant treatment for high-risk, surgically resectable, invasive urothelial cancer. But some patients are not good candidates for this chemotherapy owing to certain disease characteristics or comorbidities
  • HOUSE CALL: Cancer Blogs Provide Insight from Patients-Bloggers offer information and inspiration to others affected by cancer

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  OncoLog, Volume 58, Number 11-12, November - December 2013

  Amelia Scholtz, Bryan Tutt, Luanne Jorewicz, and K Stuyck

  • Paget Disease of the Breast: A Rare, Often Misdiagnosed Malignancy: A small, scaling rash around the nipple may not be just another case of eczema or dermatitis. Paget disease of the breast, a rare malignancy, is often mistaken for a benign dermatological condition. But Paget disease typically indicates underlying ductal carcinoma in situ or invasive breast cancer
  • New Partial-Breast Radiation Therapy Regimen Uses Protons: Whole-or partial-breast radiation therapy can reduce a patient's chance of brest cancer recurrence after lumpectomy, but this benefit must be weighed against the risk of damage to healthy tissue
  • Managing Dental Complications in Patients with Head and Neck Cancer: Dental complications in patients with head and neck cancer can be serious or even life-threatening if not managed effectively
  • INBRIEF: NF-kB May Be Linked to Glioblastoma Treatment Resistance
  • HOUSE CALL: Health Benefits of Quitting Smoking-It's never too late to quit, but sooner is better

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  OncoLog, Volume 58, Number 08, August 2013

  Bryan Tutt and Sarah Bronson

  • Specialized Care Improves Lives of patients With Head and Neck Lymphedema: A unique program is producing dramatic results for patients with head and neck lymphedema, a side effect of cancer treatment that can interfere with patient's ability to speak, swallow, or breath
  • Targeted Cancer Therapies May Help Overcome Resistance to Radiation Therapy: Some cancer cells are resilient enough to withstand and recover from the damage to their DNA caused by radiation therapy. But recent studies have shown that adding molecularly targeted agents to radiation therapy can prevent the repair of this radiation-induced damage and therapy improve the treatment response of patients with certain cancers
  • INBRIEF: New Test Helps Identify Glioblatoma Patients Who Could Benefit from Bevacizumab
  • HOUSE CALL: Depression in Cancer Patients: Managing depression improves quality of life and possibly cancer treatment outcomes

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  OncoLog, Volume 58, Number 02, February 2013

  Bryan Tutt and Jill Delsigne

  • Chronic Viral Hepatitis in Cancer Patients Requires Personalized Management: Chronic viral hepatitis is life-threatening for many patients but curable or manageable for others. But in patients who have both viral hepatitis and cancer, cancer treatment may exacerbate the viral infection and lead to other complications, such as liver failure or even death
  • Managing Sleep Disorders in Cancer Patients: Quality sleep is essential to healing, to proper immune function, and even to mental health. Conversely, lack of sleep has been associated with depression, anxiety, and decreased cognitive function. In cancer patients, poor sleep reduces quality of life; nevertheless, most cancer patients do not mention sleep problems unless explicitly asked.
  • INBRIEF: Ex Vivo Umbilical Cord Blood Expansion Hastens Stem cell Engraftment in Transplant Recipients/Ibrutinib Shows Promise for Mantle Cell Lymphoma Treatment
  • HOUSE CALL: Finding Information About Alternative Medicine: How to choose credible sources and avoid pitfalls

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  OncoLog, Volume 58, Number 10, October 2013

  Bryan Tutt, Sunni Hosemann, and C. Wilcox

  • Sentinel Lymph Node Dissection After Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy for Node-Positive Breast Cancer May replace Axillary Dissection for Some Patients: Sentinel lymph node dissection has become a standard staging tool for breast cancer patients with no clinical eveidence of disease in the lymph nodes
  • INBRIEF: miR-200 MicroRNAs Slow Tumor Growth
  • Compass: Resectable or Borderline Resectable Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma: Initial Treatment Options-Neoadjuvent chemoradiation may benefit patients with resectable disease
  • HOUSE CALL: Hereditary Cancers: Genetic screening can give valuable information

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  OncoLog, Volume 57, Number 03, March 2012

  Zach Bohannan, Sarah Bronson, and Bryan Tutt

  • Precision Robotic Tools Facilitate Minimally Invasive Prostectomy: Surgeons face a treacherous landscape when they perform a proctectomy
  • Fluorescence Cystoscopy Detects Hard-to-Find Bladder Tumors: Fluorescence cystoscopy, although not yet widely used in United States, has been shown to be effective for detecting tumors in the bladder that might not be visible with standard cystoscopy
  • New HPV Vaccine Recommendations Could Have Multiple Benefits: New recommendations for vaccination against human papillomavirus (HPV) are intended to prevent cervical cancer but may also decrease the incidence rates of other cancers
  • HOUSE CALL: Tanning Beds Pose Health Risks: Dangers of tanning range from wrinkled skin to cancer
  • INBRIEF: T Cell Therapy Prolongs Survival in Dogs With Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma

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  OncoLog, Volume 57, Number 09, September 2012

  Zach Bohannan and Sunita Patterson

  • Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy Achieves High Control Rates in Lung Cancer: Stereotactic body radiation (SBRT), a relatively new treatment modality, has recently become a very successful treatment-and may even exceeded the effectiveness of surgery-for early-stage lung cancer
  • Inflammatory Breast Cancer: Clinical Challenge, Research Enigma- Inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) stands apart from other cancers of the breast in its unusual clinical presentation, its aggressiveness, and its poor prognosis. Researchers and clinicians are working to clarify what distinguishes IBC from other breast cancers and to discover treatments that improve patient outcomes
  • HOUSE CALL: Reducing Cancer-Causing Chemicals in Outdoor Cooking: Tips for healthy grilling

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  OncoLog, Volume 57, Number 06, June 2012

  Sarah Bronson and Stephanie Deming

  • Minimally Invasive Component Separation Reduces Wound-Healing Complications from Abdominal Surgery: Component separation, a major advance in abdominal wall reconstruction, can prevent hernia recurrence in many patients
  • Bevacizumab for Glioblastoma: Symptom Relief Proven, Overall Survival Benefit Being Studied-The antiangiogenic agent bevacizumab has been shown to prolong progression-free survival and ameliorate symptoms in patients with recurrent glioblastoma. However, it remains unknown whether bevacizumab should be used to treat newly diagnosed glioblastoma and whether bevacizumab prolongs the overall survival of patients with glioblastoma
  • HOUSE CALL: Hospice Care- Patients and families have choices for care and comfort
  • INBRIEF: Panobinostat Elicits Durable Response in Hodgkin Lymphoma

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  OncoLog, Volume 57, Number 10, October 2012

  Jill Delsigne and Sunni Hosemann

  • Treatments May Alleviate and Reverse Central Nervous System Radiation Necrosis: Although radiation therapy is effective against many tumors of the brain and spine, it also damages normal tissue
  • INBRIEF: Bevacizumab With High-Dose Chemotherapy Shows Promise for Cisplatin-Refractory Germ Cell Tumors
  • Compass: Early-Stage Testicular Cancer-Postsurgical treatment varies according to tumor stage and histology
  • HOUSE CALL: Online Cancer Support Networks-Patients and caregivers find support online

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  OncoLog, Volume 57, Number 07, July 2012

  Kathryn L. Hale and Sunni Hosemann

  • Geriatricians Play an Increasingly Important Role in Cancer care: In the past, many elderly patients did not survive long after a cancer diagnosis. Even older patients who were healthy enough to undergo the standard treatment for their cancer often had a shorter life expectancy than younger people with the same cancer
  • Compass: Early -Stage Cervical Cancer: Treatment choices vary according to disease stage and patient-specific factors
  • HOUSE CALL: Exercise and Cancer Prevention: Benefits of exercise apply to a variety of cancers

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  OncoLog, Volume 57, Number 11-12, November - December 2012

  Kathryn L. Hale, Amelia Scholtz, and Luanne Jorewicz

  • Research Explores Link Between Thrombocytosis and Cancer: High platelet counts can be an early indicator of cancer, In fact, about one-third of women with ovarian cancer have an abnormally high platelet count at the time of diagnosis. This paraneoplastic thrombocytosis is also seen in patients with cancers of the gastrointestinal tract, lung or breast
  • Wide Range of Cancer Treatments May Produce Ocular Complications: Although most ocular side effects of cancer treatment may be transient and reversible, regular ophthalmic examinations and effective doctor-patient communication can help cancer patients avoid permanent damage
  • New Software May Provide a Standardized Reporting System for Diagnostic Radiologists: Radiologists today still report the results of patient imaging examinations in a manner similar to that which has been used for more than 100 years-by providing narrative descriptions that vary in content and clarity
  • HOUSE CALL: Smoking-Related Cancers-Cancer risks from tobacco are not limited to the lungs-Most people are aware that smoking is the most common cause of lung cancer, but fewer may know that smoking causes many other types of cancer as well
  • INBRIEF: Biological Therapies for Rheumatoid Arthritis Not Associated With Increased Cancer Risk

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  OncoLog, Volume 57, Number 01, January 2012

  Joe Munch and Sunni Hosemann

  • Meeting Needs of Cancer Survivors: Thanks to new treatments and early detection, many types of cancer can be cured or managed, and more cancer patients are surviving than in the past. These long-term survivors have unique health care needs that are just beginning to be understood.
  • Compass: Locally Advanced Squamous Cell carcinoma of the Tonsil- Advances in surgical techniques may broaden treatment options for some patients.
  • HOUSE CALL: Sex after Cancer Treatment- Many cancer-related sexual problems can be solved

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  OncoLog, Volume 57, Number 04, April 2012

  Joe Munch and Bryan Tutt

  • Biology, More Than Chemotherapy Timing, Drives Locoregional Recurrence in Patients Who Undergo Breast-Conserving Therapy: The management of breast cancer, like that of many cancers, often requires a little bit of everything: surgery, radiation therapy, and systemic therapy with chemotherapeutic drugs or other agents
  • New Treatments for Acute Myelogenous Leukemia May Improve Patient Outcomes: Acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) is an aggressive and deadly malignancy, nut new treatments are being developed that may prolong remissions
  • HOUSE CALL: Controlling Nausea and Vomiting from Chemotherapy: Several techniques can be used to prevent or reduce this side effect

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  OncoLog, Volume 57, Number 02, February 2012

  Don Norwood and Bryan Tutt

  • Pediatric and Adult Cancer Patients Face Different Issues in Care, Survivorship: The challenges faced by children and adults with cancer can differ markedly, even when they have the same type of cancer
  • Palliative Care May Offer Survival Benefits: Recent studies indicate that palliative care, which has been shown to improve quality of life in patients with advanced cancer, may also help patients live longer
  • INBRIEF: Targeted Therapy Causes Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Remission/Study Finds Acupuncture Can Prevent Radiation-Induced Chronic Dry Mouth
  • HOUSE CALL: Understanding the risks, benefits, and purpose of a trial can help cancer patients decide whether to participate

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  OncoLog, Volume 57, Number 08, August 2012

  Amelia Scholtz and Dawn Chalaire

  • Preoperative Chemotherapy Offers Best Outcomes for Patients with Rare Bladder Cancer: A combination of neoadjuvant chemotherapy and surgery provides patients who have small-cell urothelial cancer (SCUC) with much longer survival times than does initial surgery, the previous standard treatment
  • Addressing Psychological Concerns for Cancer Patients: Despite advances in cancer treatment over the past several years, for many people, a diagnosis of cancer can still feel like a death sentence. The added stress leads to psychological problems for many patterns
  • INBRIEF: New Antibody Treatment Produces Responses in Patient with Advanced Cancer/Accelerated Partial-Breast Brachytherapy Associated with Decreased Long-Term Breast Preservation and Increased Complications Compared with Whole-Breast Irradiation/ Circulating Tumor Cells Have Predictive Value in Early-Stage Breast Cancer
  • HOUSE CALL: Cancer Treatment Myths: Misconceptions can be dangerous

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  OncoLog, Volume 57, Number 05, May 2012

  Bryan Tutt and Sunni Hosemann

  • Advances in Gene Mapping Technology May Accelerate Cancer Drug Development: As new technology makes DNA sequencing faster and less expensive, researchers aim to exploit these abilities to develop novel targeted cancer therapies
  • Compass: Advanced Renal Cell Carcinoma: Surgery and/or systemic therapy can help manage disease
  • HOUSE CALL: Do Nutritional Supplements Help Prevent Cancer ?: For many people, the risks may outweigh the benefits
  • INBRIEF: Drug Provides Symptom Reduction and Survival Advantages for Myelofibrosis Patients

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  OncoLog, Volume 56, Number 04-05, April-May 2011

  Zach Bohannan and Bryan Tutt

  • Understanding and Managing Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia Syndromes: Endocrine tumors caused by multiple endocrine neoplasia syndromes (MEN) pose a dual threat-both from the tumors' potential for growth or metastasis and from their hormonal secretions
  • Two-Stage Resection and Improved Chemotherapy Regimens Lengthen Survival for Patients with Lever Metastasis from Colorectal Cancer
  • HOUSE CALL: Saving a Life by Donating Stem Cells: Fact about stem cell transplants
  • IN BRIEF: Study Reveals How EZH2 Protein Promotes Breast Tumor-Initiating Cell Growth

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  Oncology, Volume 56, Number 11-12, November - December 2011

  Sarah Bronson and Zach-Bryan Bogannan-Tutt

  • Transoral Laser Microsurgery for Laryngeal and Oropharyngeal Tumors: A minimally invasive surgery for treating cancers of the larynx and oropharynx has cute rates similar to those of open surgery and radiation therapy in selected patients.
  • Exploring Causes of and Treatments for Neuropathy in Cancer Patients: Among the most troubling side effects of cancer treatment in some patient is chronic chemotherapy neuropathy syndrome, in which tingling, numbness, and pain in the hands and feet persist long after the completion of treatment
  • Prostate Cancer Screening: Patient should understand the purpose and limitations of the prostate-specific antigen test
  • HOUSE CALL: Smoking Cessation: Medications Help smokers quit
  • IN BRIEF: BRCA2 Mutations in Ovarian Cancers Indicate High Rates of Survival and Treatment Response for Patients

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  Oncology, Volume 56, Number 08, August 2011

  Stephanie Deming and Sunni Hosemann

  • Addressing the Cardiac Complications of Cancer Treatment: Patients with cancer surviving longer than ever after treatment, and new targeted therapy agents are being introduced into the clinic with increasing frequency. These advances are cause for optimism, but they have also led to an increased incidence of cardiac complications of cancer therapy
  • Compass: Early- and Intermediate-Stage Gastric Cancer: Neoadjuvant of adjuvant treatments offer higher cure rates than surgery alone
  • HOUSE CALL: Managing Disease-Related Fatigue- Patients and doctors offer can make fatigue less severe