Focus on Cancer

FDA medical oncologists discuss the agency’s accelerated approval of rucaparib for treatment of patients with deleterious BRCA mutation-associated advanced ovarian cancer who have been treated with two or more chemotherapies.

Released May 17, 2017

Host: Matt Birnholz, MD

Several new screening tests have been developed to help doctors find colorectal cancer early when it's most treatable and can reduce the burden of this disease and the death toll nationwide.

Host Dr. Matt Birnholz chats with Dr. John Kisiel, gastroenterologist and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, about new screening guidelines for detecting colorectal cancer.

Host: Caren Heller, MD

Guest: Francis Farraye, MD

Studies have shown that certain patients living with inflammatory bowel disease, or IBD, have a higher risk of developing colorectal cancer. In fact, IBD ranks as the third highest risk factor for the development of colorectal cancer.

Host Dr. Caren Heller, Chief Scientific Officer at the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation, sits down with Dr. Francis Farraye, gastroenterologist and Professor of Medicine and Co-Director of the Center for Digestive Disorders at Boston University School of Medicine. The two talk about making guidelines on endoscopic screening, surveillance, and detection of dysplasia more beneficial to IBD patients.

Host: Matt Birnholz, MD

Guest: Taine Pechet, MD

Dr. Taine Pechet, chief of surgery at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center and associate professor of clinical surgery at Penn Medicine joins host Dr. Matt Birnholz to discuss his thoughts on who should be regularly screen for lung cancer and the various diagnostic techniques from his perspective as a thoracic surgeon. Dr. Pechet also discusses the surgical outcomes for these patient and his thoughts on what is on the horizon for the lung cancer field.

Host: Susan J. Wysocki, WHNP, FAANP

Impact and Effectiveness of the Quadrivalent Human Papillomavirus Vaccine: A Systematic Review of 10 Years of Real-world Experience Clinical Infectious Disease 16 Aug 15;63(4):519-27. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciw354. Epub 2016 May 26. Garland SM1, Kjaer SK2, Muñoz N3, Block SL4, Brown DR5, DiNubile MJ6, Lindsay BR6, Kuter BJ6, Perez G7, Dominiak-Felden G8, Saah AJ6,Drury R8, Das R6, Velicer C6. Abstract: Prophylactic human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination programs constitute major public health initiatives worldwide. We assessed the global effect of quadrivalent HPV (4vHPV) vaccination on HPV infection and disease. PubMed and Embase were systematically searched for peer-reviewed articles from January 2007 through February 2016 to identify observational studies reporting the impact or effectiveness of 4vHPV vaccination on infection, anogenital warts, and cervical cancer or precancerous lesions. Over the last decade, the impact of HPV vaccination in real-world settings has become increasingly evident, especially among girls vaccinated before HPV exposure in countries with high vaccine uptake. Maximal reductions of approximately 90% for HPV 6/11/16/18 infection, approximately 90% for genital warts, approximately 45% for low-grade cytological cervical abnormalities, and approximately 85% for high-grade histologically proven cervical abnormalities have been reported. The full public health potential of HPV vaccination is not yet realized. HPV-related disease remains a ...

Host: Matt Birnholz, MD

Guest: John Y.K. Lee, MD

Guest: Jason G. Newman, MD, FACS

Joining Dr. Matt Birnholz to discuss innovative surgical approaches to cranial base disorders are Doctors John Y. K. Lee and Jason G. Newman. Dr. Lee is Medical Director of the Gamma Knife Center and Associate Professor of Neurosurgery and Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at the Pennsylvania Hospital. Dr. Newman is Associate Professor of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at the Center for Cranial Base Surgery at the University of Pennsylvania.

Host: Matt Birnholz, MD

Guest: Robin Zon, MD, FACP

Value-based, patient-centered care has become the destination for all branches of medicine, and is the philosophy driving modern payment reform initiatives like MACRA. But the unique care delivery needs in each specialty challenge the notion that one payment model can serve everyone. And nowhere has this become more relevant than in the field of oncology.

Dr. Matt Birnholz joins Dr. Robin Zon, practicing oncologist and vice president and senior partner at Michiana Hematology-Oncology in South Bend, Indiana. Dr. Zon serves as Chair-Elect of ASCO's Government Relations Committee was Past Chair of the Clinical Practice Committee, which alongside other stakeholders at ASCO developed a Patient-Centered Oncology Payment (PCOP) model. Recently, Dr. Zon presented this information at the recent AMA House of Delegates meeting in June. She speaks to the phases of this model, how it can function as a defined APM under MACRA, and its demonstrated positive impacts on oncology care pathways.

Host: John J. Russell, MD

Guest: Michael Randell, MD

In this special edition of Advances in Women’s Health, Dr. Michael Randell shares his insights on cervical cancer testing and whether performing two cervical cancer tests is really more expensive than one from both clinical and economic standpoints. Join host Dr. John Russell for this informative discussion. Click here to learn more about other women's health programs in this special series.

[Read the Article]

The U.S. Preventative Services Task Force has updated the recommendations regarding colorectal cancer screening. The Task Force strongly recommends screening average risk adults age 50 to 75 for colorectal cancer, and then making individual screening decisions for adults age 76 to 85, taking into account the patient's overall health and screening history.

Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States, and about one-third of adults in the United States have never been screened.

[Watch more videos of The JAMA Report]

Host: Jennifer Caudle, DO

There are many widely circulated myths regarding breast cancer, such as:

• Beliefs that this disease affects women only.
• Fears that mammograms can cause cancers to spread.
• Assumptions that most patients with breast cancer have family histories positive for this disease.

Host Jennifer Caudle talks with guest Dr. Monique Gary, a fellowship-trained breast surgical oncologist at Grand View Health in Sellersville, Pennsylvania. Together, they dispel myths about breast cancer and talk about what patients can expect during a surgical oncologist appointment.