Maybe It Really Is Different This Time For Patients With Advanced Melanoma

Every convention and large meeting has a theme, and at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Chicago the theme is "Building Bridges To Conquer Cancer." But for me, the theme as articulated in my blog the other day is "Is it really different this time?" Some agree with me and some don't, but that's OK. I am wearing a badge that says I am a "35 year member of ASCO" (I actually have been attending these meetings longer than that) so I perhaps have a bit of a different perspective than those younger than me. And there is plenty of commentary to back up my well-meaning and hopefully thought provoking conservatism. In one of the major "award" lectures yesterday, Dr. Charles Sawyers from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York pointed out the disappointment we have had with many of our newer targeted therapies that once held the promise of truly making cancer a chronic disease. They are exciting in the beginning, but for many patients the responses are not long enough. As Dr. Sawyers noted, cancer cells eventually win the battle, and become resistant to the treatmentIn this context I was having another one of those ubiquitous hallway discussions with one of my friends and former colleagues who now runs a major advocacy/research organization focused on melanoma when she touted the new research and drugs available to treat advanced melanoma. And I said the words, "Is it really different this time?" to which she responded, "Yes, it is."...
Source: Dr. Len's Cancer Blog - Category: Cancer Authors: Tags: Cancer Care Medications Other cancers Research Survivors Treatment Vaccines Source Type: blogs