MSKCC in the News: September 5 – September 18

Posted on September 18, 2013 by Mark

In a recent editorial in Science Translational Medicine MSKCC’s Dr. Clifford A. Hudis discussed how the sequestration is negatively affecting the Food and Drug Administration and slowing the drug approval process.
An open-label Phase I/IIa study at MSKCC showed that d-methadone was safe and well tolerated with 75% of the patients completing the study finding d-methadone to be moderately or very effective.
The addition of surgical oncologist Sam Yoon, MD, and thoracic surgeon Robert Downey, MD, FACS at MSKCC’s outpatient treatment center in Basking Ridge now offers area residents the opportunity to make pre- and post-surgical appointments in a location closer to home.

Cancer Research News: August 28 – September 10

In late August, Health and Human Services (HHS) held a public meeting on “Protections of Human Subjects and Research Studying Standard of Care Interventions.” Various presentations have been broken out into separate videos and are now available online.
An article in a recent issue of the Arizona Republic entitled “Questions in India cancer study still lingering” discussed a controversial NCI-funded trial focused on cervical cancer screening.
A segment broadcast by the Minnesota Public Radio discussed the impact of NIH research funding cuts on the Mayo Clinic and the University of Minnesota.
Researchers in Germany have found a new noninvasive method for detecting colon cancer.

From PLoS Tech, comes a post Article Level Metrics-Learning to Walk, Run & Do Algebra, featuring links to a recent presentation by bibliometics scholars intended to “provide some guidance and best practices for researchers and research administrators on how to use – and not use – bibliometrics to assess individuals”. The post includes a helpful list of 10 Don’ts.
The decision by Blue Cross of California to not cover proton beam therapy for prostate cancer has generated some discussion about effectiveness, cost and coverage… Gary Schwitzer of Health News Review writes, Individual insurers doing what feds haven’t in refusing to pay for proton therapy?. Austin Fract has a few posts on this as well on his own blog, and one on JAMA Forum. What do you think?
Carl Zimmer has an interesting article on gene therapy on Wired.
A post on Xeconomy, Why Good Drugs Sometimes Fail: the Bexxar Story, quotes Anas Younes of MSKCC.
The NY Times reviewed George Johnson’s new book, The Cancer Cronicles: Unlocking Medicine’s Deepest Mystery.
Science magazine covered federal regulator’s efforts to deal with a rise in fecal transplants here.