A Comedian Tells the Story of His Child’s Cancer

Yesterday a video came my way on Facebook. It’s a stand-up piece by Anthony Griffith, who tells what it was like working as a comedian when his 2-year old daughter had recurrent cancer and died….This 9 minute clip packs sadness and pain:

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How Much Do You Want Your Doctors To Say About Risks of Treatment?

This kind of paternalism, when a doctor assesses the risks and benefits, and spares the patient’s “knowing” seems anachronistic. But it may, still, be what many people are looking for when and if they get a serious illness. Not everyone wants a “tell me everything” kind of physician.

Posted in Breast Cancer, cancer treatment, Empowered Patient, Informed Consent, Life as a Patient, Oncology (cancer), Patient Autonomy, Patient-Doctor RelationshipTagged , , , , , , , , , 19 Comments on How Much Do You Want Your Doctors To Say About Risks of Treatment?

New Studies on Colon Cancer Screening by Colonoscopy and Fecal Blood Testing

My take is that periodic colonoscopy has the potential to halve the number of deaths from colon cancer in the general population…As to how colonoscopy relates to fecal blood testing as a screening method at the population level, and the optimal start and frequency of either test, those remain uncertain.

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50-50, A Serious Film About a Young Man With a Rare Cancer

The movie, based in part on the true story of scriptwriter Will Reiser, surprised me by its candor. Actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt smoothly portrays Adam Lerner, who soon finds out he has cancer. The opening scene

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Oh, No Methotrexate!

Methotrexate has been used in cancer wards for over 50 years. And like other beyond-patent meds, it’s become less profitable to manufacture MTX compared to much costlier new agents.

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What is the Disease Control Rate in Oncology?

Last week I came upon a new term in the cancer literature: the Disease Control Rate. The DCR refers to the total proportion of patients who demonstrate a response to treatment. In oncology terms: The DCR is the sum of complete responses (CR) + partial responses (PR) + stable disease (SD). Another way of explaining […]

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The Emperor of All Maladies: A Narrative of Cancer History and Ideas

This week I finished reading the Emperor of All Maladies, the 2010 “biography” of cancer by Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee. The author, a medical oncologist and researcher now at Columbia University, provides a detailed account of malignancies – and how physicians and scientists have understood and approached a myriad of tumors – through history. The encyclopedic, […]

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ACS Issues Annual Report on Cancer Stats: Some Key Findings, and Notes on Survivorship

This week the ACS released its annual report on Cancer Facts and Figures in the U.S. The journal Cancer analyzes and considers the data in a helpful article. Some of the key and mainly positive findings have been covered elsewhere: Between 1990 and 2008, death rates from cancer in the U.S. declined rather steadily, overall, by […]

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What Is a Cancer Metastasis?

A metastasis refers to a lump of cancer cells that’s physically separated from the original tumor. A metastasis can be local, like when colon cancer spreads to a nearby lymph node in the gut, or distant, as when lung cancer cells generate tumors in the adrenal gland, liver, bone or brain. Sometimes metastases cause serious […]

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Reducing Cancer Care Costs by Comparative and Cost-Effectiveness Research (CER)

Well, it’s the day after Labor Day, time to resume our discussion of Bending the Cost Curve in Cancer Care. We’ve reached the end of the list, on ideas to reduce oncology costs put forth by Drs. Smith and Hillner in the May 25 issue of the NEJM. Really this 10th and final point intended for […]

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Reducing Costs by Better Integration of Palliative Care in Cancer Treatment

We’re up to point 9 on the list – and nearing the end – on Bending the Cost Curve in Cancer Care from the May 26 NEJM. The suggestion from Drs. Smith and Hillner is that doctors better integrate palliative care into usual oncology care. The authors start this important section well: We can reduce […]

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Implications of the Oncology Drug Shortage

Today’s New York Times features an op-ed by Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, on the oncology drug shortage. It’s a serious problem that’s had too-little attention in the press: Of the 34 generic cancer drugs on the market, as of this month, 14 were in short supply. They include drugs that are the mainstay of treatment regimens […]

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On Reducing Cancer Care Costs by Resetting Expectations, and Hope

Today we should move forward on the list published in the NEJM on Bending the Cost Curve in Cancer Care. We’re up to point 7 in our discussion, what’s 2nd in the authors’ proposed changes in attitudes and practice: “Both doctors and patients need to have more realistic expectations.” This point follows closely from the […]

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Reducing Cancer Care Costs: Oncologists Need to Get a Grip on Reality, and Talk about Dying

We’ve reached the second half of our discussion on Bending the Cost Curve in Cancer Care. The authors of the NEJM paper, Drs. T. Smith and B. Hillner, go on to consider how doctors’ behavior influences costs in Changing Attitudes and Practice. Today’s point on the list: “Oncologists need to recognize that the costs of care are […]

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Lowering Cancer Care Costs by Limiting Chemotherapy in Patients Who Aren’t Responding

This is the sixth post on Bending the Cost Curve in Cancer Care, based on the 10 suggestions put forth by Drs. Smith and Hillner in the May 26 NEJM.  We’re up to number 5 on the list for changing oncologists’ behavior: by limiting further chemotherapy to clinical trial drugs in patients who are not […]

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Reducing Costs by Holding Back on Chemotherapy for Cancer Patients Who are Frail

This is the fourth in a series of posts on Bending the Cost Curve in Cancer Care, by Drs. Thomas J. Smith and Bruce E. Hillner, in a recent NEJM health policy piece. The authors’ third suggestion: to limit chemotherapy to patients with good performance status, with an exception for highly responsive disease, is surely one of the most […]

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Lowering Cancer Care Costs by Reducing Tests After Treatment

This is the second in a series of posts on Bending the Cost Curve in Cancer Care. We should consider the proposal, published in the NEJM, gradually over the course of this summer, starting with “suggested changes in oncologists’ behavior,” #1: 1. Target surveillance testing or imaging to situations in which a benefit has been […]

Posted in cancer survival, Empowered Patient, health care costs, Informed Consent, Oncology (cancer), Patient AutonomyTagged , , , , , , , 2 Comments on Lowering Cancer Care Costs by Reducing Tests After Treatment

FDA Approves New Assay for Her2 in Breast Cancer

This week the FDA approved a new assay for Her2 expression in breast cancer biopsies. The technology, Inform Dual ISH, is manufactured by Ventana Medical Systems, a Roche subsidiary. Inform Dual ISH works like this: technicians, typically working under the supervision of a pathologist, expose a tiny bit of a breast biopsy specimen, fixed on […]

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Running 2 Lists That Might Lessen the Costs of Oncology Care

Recently the NEJM ran a Sounding Board piece on Bending the Cost Curve in Cancer Care. The authors take on this problem: Annual direct costs for cancer care are projected to rise — from $104 billion in 20061 to over $173 billion in 2020 and beyond.2…Medical oncologists directly or indirectly control or influence the majority […]

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Quotes on Oncology, Via Forbes, and a Spiraling Helix

Forbes kept a close eye on the annual ASCO meeting in Chicago. On THE MEDICINE SHOW, Forbes’ Matthew Herper provides a précis of a speech by outgoing ASCO President Dr. George Sledge. Here are my two favorite parts: “So what happens when, a few years from now, a patient walks into a doctor’s office and […]

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