Surfing the web retrieved these selected informational items:

• A series of comments regarding an essay entitled “The Breast Cancer Gene and Me” (NY Times Sunday Review, Sep 27) included one by Dr. Kenneth Offit, Chief, Clinical Genetics Service from MSK.

• Five Major Breast Cancer Advancements You Need To Know About.  Dr. Cliff Hudis, Vice President for Government Relations and Chief Advocacy Officer and Chief, Breast Medicine Service is quoted.

• October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month – Learn more by visiting MSK Breast Cancer Experts.

• Cancer drugs like Opdivo are being called game changes by scientists thanks to their ability to leverage the immune system to control tumors but the drug doesn’t work for everyone. Scientists at MSK are exploring why.

• A recent study published in JAMA Oncology (Oct 8) by Peter B. Bach, MD, MAPP, et al, from MSK finds that risk-adjusted Medicare claims data — without information about the cancer stage of individual patients — may be sufficient to calculate the long-term survival rates at hospitals providing cancer care in the United States.  A summary can be found at ScienceDaily.