To provide the information your oncologist is not telling you or doesn't have the time to!
Recently, I encountered a patient who was also being co-managed by another oncologist at a major hospital institution in the state. The patient had Stage IV Merkel Cell Carcinoma, which is a particularly aggressive form of skin cancer. Prior treatment with a single agent drug called pembro had failed the patient with rapid progressive disease …
How do we know if treatment is working in patients dealing with solid tumors? Clinically, we like to see symptom improvement over time. If there is a tumor causing pain, swelling, obstruction, then over time we like to see improvement of these symptoms while on treatment. We like to see patients come off their nausea …
A lot of this was summarized well by David Minster in JCO published way back in 2013 and a decade later, I still refer to this same article to this day! This article is 3rd in a series of blog articles on this topic. Treating geriatric patients is often a difficult task. There are so many factors …
Recently, I saw a patient with metastatic melanoma who is now more than five years out in complete remission. Her scans were clean, and she has been doing well off all therapy for several years. Now, I see her every six months and she is now coming off protocol for a treatment she did on …
I have sponsor, regulatory and IRB permissions/approval to post this blog publicly on social media. I am very excited about this protocol using TILs for breast cancer, colorectal, uveal melanomas, and now also inclusive of cutaneous melanoma, nsclc, head/neck carcinoma. Further details can be found here at the sponsor site and at clinical trials.gov. Adoptive …
Oncologists face many ethical challenges in their practice, including balancing honesty and optimism, aggressive and careful treatment, appropriate treatment for the elderly, and when to refer patients to hospice. Telling patients the truth about their diagnosis and more importantly the prognosis while also providing hope can be difficult, as can balancing the intensity of treatment …
Oncologists face many ethical challenges in their practice, including balancing honesty and optimism, aggressive and careful treatment, appropriate treatment for the elderly, and when to refer patients to hospice. Telling patients the truth about their diagnosis and more importantly the prognosis while also providing hope can be difficult, as can balancing the intensity of treatment …
A tumor board is a meeting where a team of healthcare professionals and ancillary providers, including medical, radiation oncologists, radiologists, surgeons, interventionalist, and pathologists, come together to discuss the treatment plan for a patient with cancer. Nurses, extenders, navigators, pharmacists, palliative care, research, hospitalist, students, residents, fellows, nutritionists, and many other folks can participate depending …
Previously I discussed the advantages of participating in a clinical trial however it is also important to educate the public on all aspects of clinical trials, including both the potential drawbacks. Here are seven key bullet points on the disadvantages of participating in a clinical trial: Time commitment Clinical trials often require a significant amount of time …
As an oncologist, I have seen the importance of using circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) analysis in cancer diagnosis and treatment. ctDNA is a simple blood test that can provide valuable information about a patient’s cancer, making it a valuable tool in the fight against this disease. Signatera is a technology developed by Natera that uses tumor-informed …