Personalized Medicine Revolution Will Require Revolutionary Changes In How We Care For Cancer Patients
I attended a meeting in Washington this past Wednesday that got me to thinking about the fact that as we revolutionize cancer research and treatment, we are also going to have to revolutionize cancer care. And that may prove to be an even more daunting task than finding new treatments for the disease itself.
The meeting was sponsored by a collaboration called "Turning The Tide Against Cancer". The organizers brought together experts from a variety of disciplines ranging from insurance companies and economists to advocacy groups and highly regarded cancer specialists to discuss policy solutions to support innovation i...
Source: Dr. Len's Cancer Blog - October 18, 2013 Category: Cancer Authors: Dr. Len Tags: Access to care Cancer Care Early detection Medications Prevention Research Screening Survivors Treatment Source Type: blogs
If PSA Tests Don't Impact Survival, Why Do Insurance Companies Do The Test Without Your Knowledge?
A discussion on Twitter caught the eyes of my colleagues yesterday, and raised a very interesting question: should insurance companies be allowed to do PSA testing to detect prostate cancer on men as a condition of getting insurance?
What started the discussion was a blog post by a well-known and respected medical blogger who goes by the name "Skeptical Scalpel." In his blog he detailed the saga of a 56 year old man who had a pre-employment physical in order to be covered by his new company's health insurance plan. He was not informed that he was going to have a PSA test. It was just done as part of the process. No informe...
Source: Dr. Len's Cancer Blog - August 21, 2013 Category: Cancer Authors: Dr. Len Tags: Cancer Care Early detection Prostate Cancer Screening Survivors Treatment Source Type: blogs
New Update On Prostate Cancer Prevention With Finasteride Creates A Dilemma For Patients
We've all heard the phrase, "When you come to a fork in the road, take it." Well, that saying may hold particular relevance while reviewing a new research report published today in the New England Journal of Medicine.
The report is an important one. It is an 18 year follow-up of a study designed to show whether the use of the drug finasteride could reduce the incidence and deaths from prostate cancer. The study was called the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial and when it was initially reported in 2003 it showed that the drug could reduce the incidence of prostate cancer by almost 25%. However, there was a...
Source: Dr. Len's Cancer Blog - August 14, 2013 Category: Cancer Authors: Dr. Len Tags: Cancer Care Early detection Medications Prevention Prostate Cancer Radiation Therapy Research Screening Treatment Source Type: blogs
Palliative Care Is About Quality Of Life Throughout The Cancer Journey
A newspaper story last week caught my eye when it headlined: "Senators Revive Push for End-of-Life-Care Planning." It reported on new legislation making the rounds in Washington to address care planning for those with advanced illnesses.
You remember "end of life care planning," don't you? It was part of the Affordable Care Act debate several years ago, and quickly became translated into "death panels" where opponents made the argument that the government wanted to help people decide not to receive needed treatment. That was a moment that will live in my memory forever, and it's not a pleasant memory.
So here we are with t...
Source: Dr. Len's Cancer Blog - August 9, 2013 Category: Cancer Authors: Dr. Len Tags: Access to care Breast Cancer Cancer Care Cervical Cancer Colon Cancer Lung Cancer Media Other cancers Prostate Cancer Rectal Cancer Research Survivors Treatment Source Type: blogs
Big Data And The Transformation Of Health Care: Promise Or Peril?
There was a memorable scene in the movie "The Graduate" from 1967. You may know it or have heard of it, when the older man turns to the college graduate and says the future is all about one word: "plastics."
Well, plastics may have been then, but this is now. And the core themes I keep hearing these days there are two central ones that our becoming our new "plastics" in medicine: genomics and big data. Words that didn't mean much to most people a year or so ago now occupy front and center discussions at every level, not to mention are the topics of a number of meetings I have attended recently.
This past week I went to one...
Source: Dr. Len's Cancer Blog - August 6, 2013 Category: Cancer Authors: Dr. Len Tags: Access to care Cancer Care Media Medicare Research Source Type: blogs
Want To Help Make This Cancer's Last Century? Then Sign Up For Cancer Prevention Study 3
How often do people say they wish they could do something to help rid the world of cancer? Fortunately, there are real ways to make an impact,, from making a contribution to an organization like the American Cancer Society, to volunteering in a local program, to engaging in a local fund raising event.
But I have another suggestion sign up for the American Cancer Society's Cancer Prevention Study-3 (CPS-3). Recruitment is currently underway in cities nationwide, and we are on the final push to enlist 300,000 people in the United States between the ages of 30 and 65 who have never had cancer to help us advance our knowledge ...
Source: Dr. Len's Cancer Blog - July 16, 2013 Category: Cancer Authors: Dr. Len Source Type: blogs
They Are YOUR Medical Records. Will The Blue Button Help You Get Them?
It is a disarmingly simple idea: create a blue button logo with a download moniker on it and let it loose so people can actually download, review, and keep their own medical records. But simple on the surface masks complexity below a revolutionary concept: that patients are not only the subject of the records, but that they own those records, and through that ownership can actually be partners in their care or even improve their own health.
That was the topic of a meeting I attended yesterday at the White House, where representatives of government, health technology vendors, consumer groups, and others interested in...
Source: Dr. Len's Cancer Blog - June 7, 2013 Category: Cancer Authors: Dr. Len Tags: Access to care Cancer Care Medicare Treatment Source Type: blogs
It's Guns vs. Butter (Again): How Do We Reconcile Expensive Cancer Treatments With The Need To Improve The Basics Of Cancer Care?
As we walk the halls and sit in the lectures at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, there's an elephant in the room. It is right there in front of us, but not many of us seem willing to talk about it. Fewer still are making any commitments to do something about it.
So what is this ubiquitous juxtaposition that is right in front of us but we can't seem to see?
It is the contrast between incredibly sophisticated science and computer data that will help us understand cancer and its treatment vs. the reality that we can't have medical records that really work. It is the fact that we have million do...
Source: Dr. Len's Cancer Blog - June 3, 2013 Category: Cancer Authors: Dr. Len Tags: Access to care Breast Cancer Cancer Care Cervical Cancer Colon Cancer Early detection Prevention Prostate Cancer Radiation Therapy Rectal Cancer Research Screening Tobacco Treatment Source Type: blogs
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 provokin...
Source: Dr. Len's Cancer Blog - June 3, 2013 Category: Cancer Authors: Dr. Len Tags: Cancer Care Medications Other cancers Research Survivors Treatment Vaccines Source Type: blogs
Genomics And Personalized Medicine: Is It Really Different This Time?
Another year and another annual meeting for the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Chicago. This is a meeting that regularly attracts many thousands of doctors, researchers, pharmaceutical folks and others interested in the science and business of cancer from around the globe to learn, to discuss, to persuade, to educate on the progress being made in clinical cancer research and treatment.
And like every year, there are themes that emerge, that tend to dominate the discussions. And there are other themes that aren't so visible, that don't get as much attention yet in my mind are equally important as they reflect not ...
Source: Dr. Len's Cancer Blog - June 1, 2013 Category: Cancer Authors: Dr. Len Tags: Breast Cancer Cancer Care Colon Cancer Lung Cancer Medications Research Treatment Vaccines Source Type: blogs
On "Don't Fry Day" Remember To Be Safe In The Sun: You Can Fry Your Chicken But Don't Fry Yourself
Today is the beginning of Memorial Day weekend and the summer holiday season. It's a day to remember to enjoy your fried chicken, while not frying your skin. (OK, fried chicken isn't exactly healthy for you, but it is fun once in a while. Frying your skin is never healthy nor fun).
It is also Don't Fry Day, an annual reminder of the need to be sun safe while we enjoy the outdoors during the summer months.
Don't Fry Day is a concept led by the National Council on Skin Cancer Prevention and its many collaborating organizations including the American Cancer Society. The messages from the Council are simple and straightforwar...
Source: Dr. Len's Cancer Blog - May 24, 2013 Category: Cancer Authors: Dr. Len Tags: Other cancers Prevention Vitamins Source Type: blogs
American Cancer Society Celebrates Its 100 Year Anniversary Today With A Vision Of Making This Century Cancer's Last
One hundred years.
That is a long time. And although thriving, remaining relevant and engaged for 100 years is a remarkable accomplishment for any organization, the American Cancer Society today takes pride not only in reflecting on the accomplishments of the last 100 years but also in our commitment to continue the fight, and make this century cancer's last.
A lot will be written about the remarkable accomplishments of the Society over the past century. The American Cancer Society takes pride in the fact that it has been able to serve millions of people during that time. It has put its mark on numerous improvements in the...
Source: Dr. Len's Cancer Blog - May 22, 2013 Category: Cancer Authors: Dr. Len Tags: Access to care Breast Cancer Cancer Care Cervical Cancer Colon Cancer Diet Early detection Lung Cancer Media Prevention Prostate Cancer Research Screening Survivors Tobacco Treatment Source Type: blogs
Dr. Len Says: When It Comes To Skin Cancer, Do As I Say, Not As I Do
So May is skin cancer awareness month. No time like the present to come out with the news: I have been diagnosed with skin cancer.
There really isn't much special about that, since it is a distinction I share with over 2 million Americans who have a skin cancer removed every year. Fortunately, for most, it is a cancer that is not of particular concern since most can be removed. But even those "simple" surgeries--as I have learned from my own experience--can be a bit problematic.
Occasionally it helps to find some humor in difficult situations, and this is one of those times. And since I am generally pretty open about what ...
Source: Dr. Len's Cancer Blog - May 14, 2013 Category: Cancer Authors: Dr. Len Tags: Cancer Care Early detection Environment Other cancers Prevention Screening Treatment Source Type: blogs
A New Genomic Test To Guide Prostate Cancer Treatment: What We Know And What We Don't
Coming to an office near you: a new test that can "confidently" predict whether or not you need to have aggressive therapy for your newly diagnosed prostate cancer.
Really?
That's what the press reports would lead you to believe. And it's really going to catch your attention if you're one of the tens of thousands of men who will have to decide what to do if you are diagnosed with prostate cancer that has what we call "favorable characteristics." And with the test coming to market, you would assume that your doctor would have a good understanding of whether or not it works based on the available studies and information...
Source: Dr. Len's Cancer Blog - May 9, 2013 Category: Cancer Authors: Dr. Len Tags: Cancer Care Early detection Media Prostate Cancer Radiation Therapy Research Screening Treatment Source Type: blogs
National Minority Health Month Is A Call To Action
April is National Minority Health Month.
That's the "dry" statement. The impact statement is that-unfortunately-for many in this country, this is more than a phrase. It's a reality that their health and their health care are in crisis. And the sooner more of us understand this, the sooner we can make a genuine effort to implement effective strategies that will address the sad state of affairs many people find themselves in when it comes to their health, and preventing and appropriately treating their diseases.
This is about more than high blood pressure and diabetes. It's about heart disease and stroke and cancer and the l...
Source: Dr. Len's Cancer Blog - April 18, 2013 Category: Cancer Authors: Dr. Len Tags: Access to care Breast Cancer Cancer Care Cervical Cancer Colon Cancer Early detection Environment Prevention Screening Survivors Treatment Source Type: blogs
