Recent News in Cancer Research

Some of the stories that caught my attention:

  • A recent study suggests a link between fatalistic beliefs and completion of HPV vaccine series among Appalachian women. The research was conducted at the University of Kentucky and published in the Journal of Rural Health.
  • A recent article in the New York Times sheds light on protecting your skin from the sun and from cancer. The article summarizes recent studies on commercially used sunscreens, knowledge, and attitudes amongst consumers.
  • ASCO released a conceptual framework to measure the value of cancer treatment options based on the costs, effectiveness, and side effects. The framework was published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
  • Using pet dogs to drive drug development in cancer treatment, researchers presented their findings in a meeting sponsored by the National Cancer Policy Forum. Read more about their research in ScienceDaily.
  • Despite guideline recommendations to limit medical tests before low-risk surgeries, a new study found that many with early breast cancer are still undergoing too many imaging tests which may prove more harmful than beneficial. The findings were reported in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

By the Abstracts – MSK Authors at the 2015 ASCO Meeting

The American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting this year had close to 6,000 abstracts submitted for review, with 4,882 abstracts published in conjunction with this conference. Of these abstracts 2,392 were presented onsite during the poster discussion, oral abstract, and poster sessions. Details can be found on the ASCO website.

Memorial Sloan Kettering contributed 296 abstracts which represents an increase of approximately 15% from last year’s total abstract count. Also last year, there were 7 MSK authors that published 10 or more abstracts. This year there were 12 MSK authors that published 10 or more abstracts: C.A. Hudis (18), M.F. Berger (15), D.M. Hyman (15), M.G. Kris (15), R.J. Motzer (13), M.E. Arcila (12), L.B. Saltz (11), M. Ladanyi (10), H.I. Scher (10), D.B. Solit (10), M.H. Voss (10), and J.D. Wolchok (10). The top three categories (as determined by ASCO) were Genitourinary (Nonprostate) Cancer (26), Gastrointestinal (Noncolorectal) Cancer (21), and Lung Cancer-Non-Small Cell Metastatic (21). The abstracts include three on the historic IBM Watson Oncology application being implemented at MSK.

Please click to download the list of MSK abstracts as a PDF File or an EndNote Library. The PDF File contains the citation and URL for each abstract. Contact us if you have any questions or need support with the EndNote Library.

3D Printing Innovations for Animals

The things people are doing with 3D printing – from robotic prosthesis to cookie cutters shaped like Yoda – never cease to amaze me.  We’ve mentioned some of the medical applications to the 3D printing in previous blog posts, but those have been in relation to human patients.  I thought I would look in the cuter side of the internet to see how 3D printing has been helping our fuzzier friends.

The plastic used in many 3D printers is ideal for creating beaks for birds who have birth defects or injuries.  Grecia the toucan (warning: graphic image), is due to receive a prosthetic beak after losing a large portion of his to human cruelty.  Another bird, a bald eagle named Beauty, received a custom-made, 3D printed beak to replace her broken one. Continue reading