CancerScribe Oncology Communications

03/24/2015

Ken Burns' 6 hour documentary based on Siddhartha Mukherjee's outstanding book airs on PBS next week (3/30, 4/1, 4/2). You can view the trailer via this link. Don't miss it!

02/06/2015

Is it DCIS or is it IDLE? Wonderful discussion about changing what we do and do not call "cancer."

Physicians need to help change the way the medical community and general public think about cancer, Laura Esserman argues.

12/18/2014

Words matter.

War metaphors can lead to feelings of guilt and failure

09/19/2014

The list includes chemotherapy cures for advanced Hodgkin lymphoma and testicular cancer; the HPV vaccine for the prevention of cervical cancer; targeted therapies for CML; and effective drugs to combat nausea and vomiting. We will keep making progress as long as the nation supports cancer research. Will we step up to maintain or even increase funding to meet researchers' needs?

Results Released Ahead of the “Rally for Medical Research” on Capitol Hill, September 18th – New Cancer Research Funding Urgently Needed FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:September 17, 2014Contact: Kirsten Goldberg571-483-1548Kirsten.Goldberg@asco.org The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) today anno…

03/14/2014

An idea that is overdue:

The Meta-Research Innovation Centre at Stanford (METRICS), run by John Ioannidis and Steve Goodman. Their mission? “Identifying and minimising persistent threats to medical-research quality."

Looking forward to following their work

“WHY most published research findings are false” is not, as the title of an academic paper, likely to win friends in the ivory tower. But it has certainly...

12/10/2013

There's a lot of overlap between science writing and medical writing, and, yes, "it’s our job to point out the fallibility of science as well as its fascinations." A fun read!

I blame a rattlesnake for my career.

12/09/2013

A provocative title, but it gets attention and asks an important question: Where are the advocates for a disease that kills more Americans each year than breast, prostate, and colon cancer combined?

While women fighting breast cancer have the powerful pink ribbon on their side and men promote prostate health with fashionable facial hair, not all cancers garner the same level of public interest. Despite the horrific effects of some cancer types, few stand up to advocate for these diseases and li...

10/30/2013

Do words matter? Interesting discussion of changing the word "inappropriate" to "rarely appropriate" and "uncertain" to "may be appropriate" in recent clinical practice guidelines.

The American College of Cardiology is changing its guidelines for when implanting coronary stents is appropriate -- by banishing the term “inappropriate.”

10/28/2013

Are "credibility-straining press releases" more common today or just easier to circulate?

The Washington Post, Christian Science Monitor and Time were among the respected media outlets that recently covered the sensational alleged scientific finding that Oreos are as addictive as co***ne. Some journalists contacted me for my reaction, and I said I would get back to them after I read the ...

10/23/2013

Oncologists are now talking about the "financial toxicities" associated with newer cancer drugs. Great interviews and insights.

New drugs could extend cancer patients’ lives—by days. At a cost of thousands and thousands of dollars. Prompting some doctors to refuse to use them.

10/07/2013

A frightening look at the world of open-access journals. A sting operation found that many are skipping scientific peer review and will publish anything for money. Now more than ever, readers need to have sharp literature evaluation skills.

On 4 July, good news arrived in the inbox of Ocorrafoo Cobange, a biologist at the Wassee Institute of Medicine in Asmara. It was the official letter of acceptance for a paper he had submitted 2 months earlier to the Journal of Natural Pharmaceuticals, describing the anticancer properties of a chemi...