- The American Association of Cancer Research (AACR) has elected MSK’s Dr. Jose Baselga as President-elect for 2014-2015. The Association has recognized Dr. Baselga with this honor for his achievements in developing innovative molecularly targeted agents for cancer treatment, especially for breast cancer. Dr. Baselga will become president in April, 2015.
- Musician Taylor Swift recently visited children at MSK. Although her plans were to stay only one hour, she extended the visit to more than four and a half hours and thrilled the patients who met her. The video shows how comfortable Taylor was interacting with one of the children, Shelby Huff.
- Recent studies revealed that if patient navigators are available to assist patients through the colonoscopy process, greater numbers of them are willing to be screened. The navigators help patients overcome barriers to colonoscopy, talk with them about bowel preparation, escort patients to their appointments, and provide emotional support. An MSK study authored by Dr. Delia Calo, an MSK fellow, reported that a large number of patients complied with having a colonoscopy screening.
- Women who hope to reduce the risk of ovarian cancer by having their ovaries surgically removed by a procedure known as salpingo-oophorectomy, but not having a hysterectomy, may still be at risk for rare types of uterine cancer if they have tested positive for BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations. The study was conducted at MSK, but the results need to be confirmed and are considered preliminary. Dr. Catherine Shu, chief medical fellow in medical oncology, reported the results at the annual meeting of the Society of Gynecologic Oncology. It is too soon to recommend hysterectomy at the time of salpingo-oophorectomy due to risk factors, according to MSK researcher, Dr. Noah D. Kauff, senior author of the study.