Dr. Allison Applebaum

A recent Cancer Today article features the research of Dr. Allison Applebaum, an MSK psychologist whose work focuses on the needs of cancer caregivers.

In a study published in Oncology Nursing Forum earlier this year, Dr. Applebaum and her colleagues asked 17 caregivers to rate their levels of concern for 33 items relating to caregiving tasks, caregiver well-being and self-care, and patient well-being. Ten of the participating caregivers requested additional information on at least one area of concern, and five of the caregivers asked for one or more referrals. Dr. Applebaum is now working on a larger study aimed at using distress screenings to generate targeted caregiver referrals.

Patients treated for the most common type of liver cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma, may benefit from post-procedural aspirin.

Dr. F. Edward Boas. Photo by Ethan Kavet.

During transarterial embolization (TAE), physicians block blood flow to a tumor or other growth. It is often used in liver cancer patients who cannot have surgery. In a retrospective review published recently by the American Journal of Roentgenology, MSK’s Dr. F. Edward Boas and colleagues concluded that taking aspirin after TAE can lengthen life. The 42 patients included in the review who took the drug averaged 57 months of overall survival; the 262 who did not averaged 23 months.

In an article in Cure Today, Dr. Boas said he aims to follow the retrospective review with a clinical trial. He also noted that due to potential side effects of aspirin, patients need to consult with their doctors prior to taking the drug.

What happens when a visual artist goes to work at a cancer nanomedicine laboratory?

As an article in artnet News and MSK’s On Cancer blog reports, it can lead to a new medium. Working together, artist Joseph Cohen and MSK chemist Dr. Daniel Heller developed a paint containing carbon nanotubes, a material used by the lab in diagnostic tests. They are invisible to the human eye but light up when viewed with an infrared camera.

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