Creation of Big Data repositories is now emphasized at virtually all research institutions and the NIH, but the number of publications describing patient outcomes from these sources appears modest.1 Why is this so; what factors limit what should be a hugely productive resource, and how can we improve the impact of this use of Big Data? Why does this issue require greater physician engagement and understanding to solve? The integration of clinical, laboratory, and financial data is required to describe disease and treatment outcomes as well as treatment value.
Advances in the field of tumor immunotherapy have given great hope for those treating cancer. We are in an era of unprecedented achievements, as evidenced by impressive clinical responses in patients treated with adoptive cell therapy and immune checkpoint inhibitors.
Cancer is a relentless disease that impacts millions of Americans.
The ever-rising cost of oncology drugs is doing damage to cancer care on many levels.
It was a thrilling moment for me when, sitting on my living room couch, listening to the State of the Union address, I heard the president say:
The decision to double the budget of the National Institutes of Health should be easy, because it will save lives and save our economy simultaneously. The case for NIH is overwhelming, and there is broad bipartisan congressional support. So why is it so challenging?
Waun Ki Hong and John Mendelsohn were singular forces who combined to change the world of oncology and, in the process, the lives of countless trainees, faculty, patients, and families.
The publication by Ian M. Thompson and colleagues in last week's New England Journal of Medicine regarding long term follow-up of patients in the NCI-sponsored Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial (PCPT) marks a good opportunity to review and reflect on the history of the trial and the past 30 years of prostate cancer medicine.
Prostate cancer is the most common solid tumor in men. It has been estimated that 60-75 percent of men will have histologic evidence of prostate cancer during their lifetime and that 2-4 percent of men will die of the disease. African American men are at a greater risk of diagnosis and death.
On Jan. 2, my friend and long-time mentor Waun Ki Hong passed away. In thinking about what Ki did for me personally and the impact he had on the lives and professional careers of so many people, I pulled out a speech I gave at his retirement celebration at MD Anderson on Aug. 15, 2014. I was struck that even in his passing so many of my thoughts ring true today. Perhaps this will give readers of The Cancer Letter a sense of the man.
