As ASCO wraps up, docs are talking about cancer research while patients are talking about HPV and throat cancer

ASCO is the American Society of Clinical Oncology. It's the biggest professional cancer conference that draws a huge international crowd in Chicago every year. The city of Chicago sees a huge surge of tourism activity around this conference every summer.

In somewhat unrelated news, CBS published a story about Michael Douglas, his throat cancer, and HPV - the virus that causes cervical cancer, penile cancer, vulvar cancer, anal cancer, and oral cancers. In his case, his cancer risk was especially high because of his history of alcohol and tobacco use combined with HPV infection.

So, while doctors are buzzing about the latest developments in cancer research, the public is researching HPV and oral and throat cancers. I suspect that we'll see a rise in doctor's visits related to oral cancer concerns. Dentists are also involved in screening for oral cancers.

HPV is a preventable sexually transmitted illness. There are vaccines that prevent HPV infection and these can be given to girls and boys (one is approved for boys). In the USA, there are 2 HPV vaccines: Cervarix (made by GlaxoSmithKline) and Gardasil (made by Merck). Take a look at the CDC fact sheet about HPV vaccines.

Preparing for the 2012 ASCO conference in Chicago

Later this week, I'll be in Chicago attending the 2012 ASCO conference. ASCO is the American Society of Clinical Oncology and it's the biggest conference in the area of oncology. I'll be in Chicago from 6/1 to 6/5 attending the ASCO conference. I hope to see you in the huge exhibit hall over the weekend:

• CME Corner (exhibit booth # 2109) - we're providing information about free CME/CE activities for the oncology community
• Mobile Health Association (exhibit booth # 4043) - I'll be speaking about the use of online mobile and social tools for oncologists

If you use Twitter, don't miss the #ASCO12 tweetup on Saturday, June 2 from 3:00pm - 4:00pm (CDT).

I hope to see you at the #ASCO12 tweetup

ASCO is the American Society of Clinical Oncology and their annual meeting is coming up June 1-5 in Chicago. I hope to see you at the #ASCO12 tweetup on Saturday, June 2 from 3:00pm - 4:00pm (CDT). This year, the tweetup will be led by:

Dr. Robert Miller @rsm2800
• Trends in Twitter Use by Physicians at the American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting, 2010 and 2011
• Practical Guidance: The Use of Social Media in Oncology Practice

Dr. Mike Thompson @mtmdphd
• The Role of Twitter and Social Media in Clinical Trials
• Decoding QR Codes for ASCO Posters

Dr. Brian McGowan @BrianSMcGowan
Joining via Skype
• The Meaningful Use of Social Media by Physicians
• Data Highlights from Physician Adoption of Social Media for Life-long Learning

Learn more about the #ASCO12 tweetup here.

ASCO launches CancerProgress.Net

Today, ASCO launched a new website, CancerProgress.Net, to highlight the significant progress against cancer in the past 40 years and the research that made it possible. The site's central feature is an oncologist-curated, interactive timeline of milestones in cancer research. The timeline was developed under the guidance of an editorial board of 17 ASCO member oncologists, who include some of the leading experts in the field. It covers advances against 14 major cancer types and in all types of care, from targeted drugs to supportive care.

Visit: CancerProgress.Net

A great article about CME, oncologists, and Twitter: "The Great ASCO Tweetup"

There's a great article written by Brian S. McGowan, PhD titled, "The Great ASCO Tweetup."  I didn't attend ASCO (American Society of Clinical Oncology) this year, but if you were there, perhaps you noticed many oncologists were busy typing away on their smartphones. Were they responding to e-mails? Checking the latest biotechnology and pharmaceutical stocks? Or, were they tweeting?

Brian describes his experience attending the 2010 American Society of Clinical Oncology Tweetup, held during the ASCO Annual Meeting in Chicago in June. Here's a snippet from his article:

Several attendees introduced themselves as being Twitter novices, others were known as leaders in integrating oncology with social media. The perspectives were broad and experiences were diverse — and this would prove invaluable to the discussions that progressed over the approximately hour-long meeting.

Although Brian works for Pfizer, he makes this clear in his article: I would like to disclose that I currently work for Pfizer, that the opinions shared here are my own and not those of my employer, and that this article was written as a volunteer effort to help medical organizations understand the value of social media technologies.

It's great to see a leading organization like ASCO embracing social media. I recently worked with a team of CME professionals to develop a social media policy and a social media strategy for a major organization. In general, physicians may be late adopters of technology like social media, but eventually they catch up with the rest of us living in modern times. Eventually, they'll end up on Facebook, sharing photos with family members and friends. Given that Twitter is still considered a "novelty" among most physicians, we probably won't see a huge movement in the Twittersphere anytime soon, but that's why we must be patient.

Twitter usage at ASCO by oncology clinicians

Here's a fascinating report titled, "JuvoLab Announces Results of Study Analyzing Entire Global Oncology Community's Twitter Usage at ASCO 2010."

The study demonstrates:

    * True extent of Twitter popularity among the ASCO 2010 constituent attendees
    * Functional role, demographics, and size of following for high-volume users who generated >75% of the total #ASCO10 content
    * Origin and contextual composition of tweets as clinical news, clinical discussion, promotional tweets, or other
    * Physicians as the highest generators of clinical discussion tweets and their aggregate views on key clinical management topics
    * Nature of discussions surrounding investigational or prescription drug products -- over 150 drugs or drug-drug combinations analyzed
    * Best practices in compliant pharmaceutical/biotechnology industry promotion via Twitter
    * Best practices in compliant academic association or institutional promotion via Twitter
    * Complexities and limitations in analyzing social media outputs

You can read more here.

Investor Edge: 10 Stocks to Watch at ASCO

ASCO = American Society of Clinical Oncology.  The ASCO annual meeting is in Chicago this year and there's some very interesting oncology data that's being presented this year. If you're thinking about investing in pharmaceutical or biotechnology companies, you won't want to miss this article on PhysiciansMoneyDigest: Investor Edge: 10 Stocks to Watch at ASCO

Abstracts for ASCO 2010 are now available

Are you attending the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting next month?  June 4-8 in Chicago, IL. I was originally planning on being there, but some personal things came up so I had to cancel my trip.

The scientific abstracts that will be presented at the Annual Meeting are now publicly available. Included in this release are the abstract titles and author names for all Late-breaking (LBA), Clinical Review (CRA), and Plenary Abstracts; full-text versions of all other abstracts being presented at the Annual Meeting; and full-text versions of online-only abstracts published in conjunction with the Annual Meeting. All abstracts will be fully searchable.

Not going to ASCO this year? You can still access the abstracts here: http://abstract.asco.org/

You can also catch the "Best of ASCO" in either San Francisco or Boston (July).

The International Cancer Corps (ICC)

If you're an ASCO (American Society of Clinical Oncology) member, you may like to know that ASCO has partnered with Health Volunteers Overseas (HVO) to launch a new humanitarian program called the International Cancer Corps (ICC). There's a tremendous opportunity to help developing countries provide better cancer care.

To learn more about some of these volunteering opportunities, visit: www.asco.org/volunteer

Top 5 medical journals to generate advertising revenue in 2009

Here's the list of the top 5 medical journals that generate advertising revenue:

1. New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM)
2. Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA)
3. American Family Physician - this is the journal of AAFP
   
4. Journal of Clinical Oncology (JCO) - this is the journal of ASCO
   
5. Family Practice News

Are you surprised by the list? The world of oncology is strong with pipeline drugs, biologic agents, and profits from sales. The pharma/biotech advertising trend appears to be moving away from traditional print and more to online formats.

Do you think we'll ever see medical journals that are free of advertising? How would publishers survive?

ASCO/Children's Oncology Group (COG) Symposium in Dallas

Today, the 2009 ASCO/Children's Oncology Group (COG) Symposium is taking place in Dallas, Texas. The theme this year is titled, "21st Century Challenges to Pediatric Oncology Drug Development." Speaking of drug development, I know so many kids who are now living as cancer survivors. It's quite amazing when you think about the fact that these children would not have survived when you compare pediatric cancer treatment options from twenty or thirty years ago versus today. Thanks to modern medicine and advances in cancer research, many children live into adulthood as cancer survivors - cured from their illnesses.

It's quite exciting to see all the advances in oncology drug development. Ten or twenty years from now, we will look back and remember that we had so few options to treat cancer.

Are TV ads causing cancer patients to distrust their providers?

You've probably seen direct-to-consumer or DTC ads on TV about cancer therapies. I don't watch too much television, so I don't consider myself an expert when it comes to these types of ads.

Do these television ads hurt or help patient-provider interactions in the world of oncology? To answer this question, a group of researchers did a study and published it in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Vol 27, No 25 (September 1), 2009: pp. 4182-4187. The study was titled, "Cancer-Related Direct-to-Consumer Advertising: Awareness, Perceptions, and Reported Impact Among Patients Undergoing Active Cancer Treatment"

The authors on the paper were: Gregory A. Abel, MD, MPH, Harold J. Burstein, MD, PhD, Nathanael D. Hevelone, MPH, and Jane C. Weeks, MD. From the Center for Outcomes and Policy Research and the Division of Women's Cancers, Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.

So what did the investigators find?

• A majority of those aware reported that cancer-related direct-to-consumer advertising (CR-DTCA) made them "aware of treatments they did not know about" (62.2%), provided information in "a balanced manner" (65.2%), and helped them to have "better discussions" with their provider (56.8%).
  
• These perceptions were significantly more favorable among those who had not graduated from college (P < .05 for each).
• Overall, 11.2% reported that CR-DTCA made them "less confident" in their providers' judgment.
  
• Of those aware, 17.3% reported talking to their provider about an advertised medication, although less than one fifth of those reported receiving a prescription for the advertised medication.
• The authors conclude that CR-DTCA was found to be accessible and useful; however, it decreased some patients' confidence in their providers' judgment.
  

Are patients too demanding? Or are they becoming more educated through these ads and are they simply trying to make informed decisions? Are these ads misleading patients? You're only going to find ads on TV from the newest drugs, so don't expect ads about old drugs, generics, etc.

The JCO abstract can be found here:
http://jco.ascopubs.org/cgi/content/abstract/27/25/4182

Speaking of Dana-Farber, I did some cancer research when I was a student at MIT. Those were the days. I used to ride my bike across the Harvard bridge or take the T to get to the hospital. I miss those Boston days. Life was so simple back then. If only I could go back in time...

2009 ASCO EHR Symposium

The 2009 ASCO (American Society of Clinical Oncology) Electronic Health Record (EHR) symposium is this October in San Francisco, CA. Because of the HITECH provisions found in the ARRA, we know that EHRs will become very prevalent across all medical specialties, including oncology.

In the field of oncology, so many medications cause significant adverse reactions. Plus, combination therapy is often used to treat cancer. EHRs can help clinicians keep track of all the treatment infusions and they may also alert providers about the possible risks associated with combining certain chemotherapy agents with targeted biologics.

Interested in knowing who will be speaking? Here are just a few examples:

• Peter Yu, M.D. - Chair ASCO EHR Workgroup, Oncologist, Palo Alto Medical Foundation (PAMF)
• Barbara McAneny, M.D. - CEO, New Mexico Oncology Hematology Consultants
• Charles McKay, M.D. - CEO, Tennessee Oncology
• John Cox, D.O., M.B.A. - Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Oncology Practice
• Robert Miller, M.D. - Oncologist, Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center
• Kenneth Buetow, Ph.D. - Director, NCI's Center for Biomedical Informatics and Information Technology (CBIIT)
• Lawrence Shulman, M.D. - Chief Medical Officer, Dana- Farber Cancer Center
• William Hersh, M.D. - Chair, Department of Medical Information and Clinical Epidemiology, Oregon Health and Sciences University

If you're an oncologist (and you're not retiring anytime soon), you won't want to miss this! To get more information about the ASCO EHR symposium, visit: http://www.asco.org/ehrsymposium

Last Day of ASCO 2009

Today is the last day of the 45th Annual American Society of Clinical Oncology® (ASCO) meeting in Florida. Some exciting clinical findings have emerged on breast cancer, prostate cancer, lung cancer, HER2+ gastric cancer (yes, this is not a typo. I mean gastric cancer and not breast cancer), and many other malignancies. It's also exciting to see advances in drug therapy, new agents, pipeline drugs, and novel deliver formulations (such as the application of nanotechnology, pegylation, etc.).

As we discover more advances in medical science and technology, I hope we find a cure for cancer someday. Perhaps when we're all old and gray, we'll tell our children and grandchildren about the "old days" of using chemotherapy and radiation therapy (of course, finding a cure for cancer may put some people out of work).

ASCO 2009

ASCO (American Society of Clinical Oncology) is having its annual meeting in Orlando, FL. May 29 - June 2. Several of my colleagues are attending this year. Are you attending? The Late Breaking Abstracts should be available tomorrow. I'm eager to see what types of research findings emerge this year. If you miss ASCO but you want to catch the "best of ASCO," you can catch these sessions in Los Angeles and Atlanta.

I wonder how many international travelers are reading this alert: Important Information About the International H1N1 Swine Flu Virus.

ASCO's social networking site for EHRs

ASCO has a ning community set up for EHRs. It's great to see ASCO geting into Web 2.0. It makes sense that those who work in the EHR space would want to get connected online and build a social network. Have you taken a look?
http://ehr.ascoexchange.org/

Currently there are over 300 members and they are discussing all sorts of issues that are pertinent to oncology, palliative care, and electronic health records (EHRs). I encourage you to take a look if you're interested in the EMR/EHR market and if you have a special interest in oncology.

ASCO is the American Society of Clinical Oncology and it's primarily for medical oncologists. You also have SNO - the society for neuro-oncologists and ASTRO - American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology. Don't forget about SGO - the Society of Gynecologic Oncologists. And of course you have SSO - the Society of Surgical Oncology. Don't forget the nurses - ONS - Oncology Nursing Society. Plus you have SUO - the Society of Urologic Oncology. Are all these acronymns starting to get confusing? Well, take a look at this list:

• European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO)
• Society of Geriatric Oncology (SIOG)
• American Psychosocial Oncology Society (APOS)
• International Psycho-Oncology Society (IPOS)
• Oncology Nursing Society Foundation (ONSF)
• Connective Tissue Oncology Society (CTOS)
• American Society of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology (ASPHO)
• American Society of Preventive Oncology (ASPO)
• American Society of Hematology (ASH)
• American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)
• American Cancer Society (ACS)
• National Cancer Institute (NCI)
• Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC)
• American Association for Cancer Education (AACE)
• CancerClimber Association (CCA)

There are so many more, but I'll run out of space soon. Can you keep up with all of these?