Gordon Klatt, MD: We Mourn The Loss Of A True American Hero
We have lost a hero. A true hero. Not one whose name would be on the tip of everyone's tongue or whose passing would be on nationwide news, but a hero nonetheless. We have lost a man who possibly had more influence on the lives of cancer patients and advances in cancer than most of us will ever realize. Gordon (Gordy) Klatt, MD died this week. A colorectal surgeon who lived in Tacoma, Washington, Dr. Klatt died from the very disease which he did so much to eradicate. And even while ill, he contributed time and effort tirelessly to the American Cancer Society and the very volunteers-like himself-who do so much to reduce the...
Source: Dr. Len's Cancer Blog - August 7, 2014 Category: Cancer Authors: Dr. Len Tags: Cancer Care Prevention Research Survivors Treatment Source Type: blogs

Ultraviolet Bad: Surgeon General Issues A Call To Action To Prevent Skin Cancer
(Note: This blog was originally published on another American Cancer Society website on July 29 because of technical problems on this site. Those have now been resolved and it is now reposted here. We appreciate your understanding.)   "Ultraviolet bad." That was the core message that came out of the introduction Tuesday morning of the Surgeon General's Call to Action to Prevent Skin Cancer at a meeting held at the National Press Club in Washington DC. There were some other messages that now raise skin cancer awareness and prevention high on the public health awareness list, such as the fact that over 5 million people ...
Source: Dr. Len's Cancer Blog - July 31, 2014 Category: Cancer Authors: Dr. Len Tags: Cancer Care Diet Early detection Environment Exercise Melanoma Prevention Research Screening Skin Cancer Survivors Vitamins Source Type: blogs

Cancer and the Latino Community: Lessons Learned
I had the privilege this week to serve as the keynote speaker for the 4th Summit sponsored by Latinas Contra Cancer-an organization founded and led by Ysabel Duron, a formidable cancer survivor and news media presence in San Francisco. Bringing together members of the Latino community, researchers, community health workers, promotores (more on that later) and advocates, the summit focused on the issues facing the Latino community in increasing awareness, access to care, improved treatment and research opportunities among other topics. But what was most impressive was the spirit, engagement and commitment that permeated the...
Source: Dr. Len's Cancer Blog - July 24, 2014 Category: Cancer Authors: Dr. Len Tags: Access to care Breast Cancer Cancer Care Cervical Cancer Colon Cancer Diet Early detection Environment Prevention Prostate Cancer Research Screening Tobacco Source Type: blogs

Social Media And Cancer Awareness: Are We Smart Enough To Take Advantage Of The Opportunity?
This past week I had the privilege of participating in a meeting hosted by the President's Cancer Panel on the role of social media in improving cancer control and treatment. The goal was to give advice to the Panel on a planned series of meetings they will be convening to discuss the topic. It was the range and quality of the discussion that day that left me thinking about the broader topic of social media and how it could help improve cancer control going forward. I do not profess to be a social media expert. I do (obviously) engage in social media in a couple of ways, primarily through my blogs and Twitter (@DrLen), bu...
Source: Dr. Len's Cancer Blog - June 17, 2014 Category: Cancer Authors: Dr. Len Tags: Access to care Breast Cancer Cancer Care Colon Cancer Diet Early detection Heatlh Information Technology Media Prevention Research Screening Survivors Tobacco Treatment Source Type: blogs

Lung-MAP--A Bold Initiative To Find New Treatments For Squamous Cell Lung Cancer--Launches Today
Today marks a major step forward in cancer clinical trials and drug development with the launch of the Lung-MAP protocol to evaluate new treatments for squamous cell lung cancer, a common cancer which has proven resistant to the standard drugs currently available. In response to this genuine unmet need, Lung-MAP has been designed to move new therapies more quickly from the laboratory to the bedside of patients afflicted with this serious disease and few options available. Many--including present company--have written about the need to improve this process. We are in a new era of cancer drug development, spearheaded by our ...
Source: Dr. Len's Cancer Blog - June 16, 2014 Category: Cancer Authors: Dr. Len Tags: Access to care Cancer Care Lung Cancer Medications Research Tobacco Treatment Source Type: blogs

ASCO 2014 Is A Wrap: If Immunotherapy Is The Queen Of The Ball, Then Panomics Holds The Keys To The Kingdom
As in years past, the trip home from the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Chicago gives me a moment to reflect on what I have heard and hopefully learned over the past five days. This meeting is a whirlwind of activity and information, far too much for any one person to absorb and process. You can be focused on one topic, you can be general, and you can hear new cutting edge research or be educated on topics of general interest in cancer. You can go to the exhibit hall and be overwhelmed by the booths and displays (I tend not to go there, but obviously many others do). I suspect you get the id...
Source: Dr. Len's Cancer Blog - June 4, 2014 Category: Cancer Authors: Dr. Len Tags: Access to care Breast Cancer Cancer Care Cervical Cancer Heatlh Information Technology Lung Cancer Media Medications Melanoma Other cancers Research Skin Cancer Treatment Source Type: blogs

The Picture With The Smile That Says So Much About Advances In Cancer Care
It was the picture (see below) that, to me, said it all: a 96 year old woman -- one of the first patients in the world to receive a brand new cancer drug--, and a large tumor on her neck had melted completely away. But it was the smile on her lips that you couldn't avoid noticing. Let's set the stage: You have spent the last 5 days in a large convention center at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Chicago running from presentation to presentation and meeting to meeting. You have heard more information presented in more rapid fire sequence than any human being can possibly absorb. You h...
Source: Dr. Len's Cancer Blog - June 4, 2014 Category: Cancer Authors: Dr. Len Tags: Access to care Cancer Care Media Medicare Medications Melanoma Other cancers Research Survivors Treatment Source Type: blogs

Big Steps Forward In Melanoma Treatment But Tread Carefully
In this study, which is billed as the largest phase I (initial) drug trial ever done, 411 patients received the drug. 34% of the patients-including patients who had received prior immune treatment using a different approach-responded. In those patients who responded, 88% continued to show evidence of benefit at the time the study was analyzed. The researchers estimated that 74% of the patients who had not received prior treatment with ipilimumab would be alive at one year, while the one year survival for those who had received prior ipilimumab was 65%. In another report, researchers described a study which included a small...
Source: Dr. Len's Cancer Blog - June 2, 2014 Category: Cancer Authors: Dr. Len Tags: Access to care Cancer Care Medications Research Skin Cancer Treatment Source Type: blogs

In An Era Of Bold New Cancer Treatments An Older Drug Shows Real Promise For Advanced Prostate Cancer
The annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology here in Chicago is a place where many commercial interests jostle for attention to make their latest promising therapy the star of the show. But this weekend, a standard widely available generic drug stole the show by producing incredible results in improving survival for men with advanced prostate cancer. And that has some of us asking, "Why did it take so long to find out? The drug is docetaxel, which for decades has been used to treat a number of cancers, including prostate cancers. We have known for some time that it is helpful in the treatment of men who...
Source: Dr. Len's Cancer Blog - June 2, 2014 Category: Cancer Authors: Dr. Len Tags: Cancer Care Medications Prostate Cancer Treatment Source Type: blogs

From The ASCO Meeting In Chicago: A Focus On Cost, Value, And Financial Toxicity Of Cancer Care
At the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) here in Chicago, something vitally important is happening: there is an increasing recognition of something no one really wanted to talk about in polite company until now. It is the fact that the costs of many of the new treatments being developed are extraordinary. The headlines about cost and value of cancer care greeted me when I walked into the McCormick Center in Chicago for the opening sessions of the meeting. This is the leading cancer meeting in the world, and what happens here makes news worldwide, significantly impacting the lives of patient...
Source: Dr. Len's Cancer Blog - May 31, 2014 Category: Cancer Authors: Dr. Len Tags: Access to care Cancer Care Early detection Heatlh Information Technology Media Medications Research Screening Survivors Treatment Source Type: blogs

The FDA Lays Down The Law About The Dangers Of Indoor Tanning
In what has to be considered a major victory for those concerned about the proliferating use and risks of tanning beds, the Food and Drug Administration this week issued a final rule requiring devices used for indoor tanning to meet very specific requirements before they can be marketed to the public. And in what is probably an even more important part of the rule, they now instruct those who market tanning devices to consumers to warn them clearly about the very real and serious risks of indoor tanning. What this means in plain terms is that if you use a tanning bed you will have to see a clearly defined boxed warning be...
Source: Dr. Len's Cancer Blog - May 29, 2014 Category: Cancer Authors: Dr. Len Tags: Early detection Environment Prevention Survivors Treatment Source Type: blogs

Progress In Colorectal Cancer Not Shared By Everyone
An article published this week in the American Cancer Society journal CA: A Journal for Clinicians received a lot of media attention. The report showed dramatic declines in the rate of people being diagnosed with colorectal cancer, as well as decreases in the rates of colorectal cancer deaths over the past number of years. But the press didn't say much about the fact that not everyone has benefitted from the progress we have made in the prevention, early detection, and improved treatment for colorectal cancer. It is a sad but very real commentary on how we approach health care in this country that African Americans have no...
Source: Dr. Len's Cancer Blog - March 19, 2014 Category: Cancer Authors: Dr. Len Tags: Access to care Colon Cancer Diet Early detection Environment Media Medicare Medications Prevention Rectal Cancer Research Screening Treatment Source Type: blogs

It Helps To Know What Watchful Waiting Really Means In Prostate Cancer Treatment
News reports covering a prostate cancer study this week in the New England Journal of Medicine have all pretty much come out with the same message: men diagnosed with prostate cancer who had radical surgery did much better than men who were assigned to "watchful waiting" after they were diagnosed. But guess what? There's a critical fact that seemed to be missing in much of the coverage I saw. And that fact is this: the men who were given the "watchful waiting" as described in the study never received any curative treatment. Let me repeat: No curative treatment. That is a much different approach to watchful waiting than we ...
Source: Dr. Len's Cancer Blog - March 6, 2014 Category: Cancer Authors: Dr. Len Tags: Cancer Care Early detection Medications Prostate Cancer Radiation Therapy Research Screening Survivors Treatment Source Type: blogs

One Doctor's Confession: Basal And Squamous Cell Skin Cancers Are NOT Benign
I have made a resolution for 2014: I will never, never, never again call basal and squamous skin cancers "benign" cancers. Why would I make such a strange commitment? The explanation is simple:  I spent 4 hours on New Year's Eve sitting in the surgeon's chair getting a skin cancer taken off my nose. Nothing about the experience fits the "benign" label so many professionals, including yours truly, have used:  routine; easy to treat; nothing to worry about.  Friends, after this experience, which left me looking like a tall, white-haired Rudolph the Reindeer, I am here to tell you these cancers are not to be tr...
Source: Dr. Len's Cancer Blog - January 7, 2014 Category: Cancer Authors: Dr. Len Tags: Cancer Care Early detection Environment Exercise Other cancers Prevention Screening Treatment Source Type: blogs

The Flu Is One Gift That We Don't Have To Keep On Giving For People With Cancer
  It's the holiday season, a time of reflection, celebration and for many, giving gifts. But there is at least one gift that no one wants to get, and certainly no one wants to give: the flu. And for people with cancer, and those they come in contact with, the flu can be a very serious event. For that reason and many more, people more than 6 months old-and especially those in contact with people who have serious illnesses like cancer-should get vaccinated against the flu. Too many of us think the flu is a minor inconvenience. But that is almost certainly because we confuse the typical cold or upper respiratory infectio...
Source: Dr. Len's Cancer Blog - December 17, 2013 Category: Cancer Authors: Dr. Len Tags: Cancer Care Environment Medications Prevention Survivors Treatment Vaccines Source Type: blogs