TOP - October 2013 VOL 6, NO 4

Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) is 1 of 41 National Cancer Institute–designated comprehensive cancer centers. Founded in 1884 as the New York Cancer Hospital, the hospital had its name changed in 1916 to the General Memorial Hospital for the Treatment of Cancer and Allied Diseases.

As October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, this month’s column focuses on several studies in the literature about breast cancer...

This article describes sources of workplace contamination with hazardous drugs and how healthcare workers may be exposed to hazardous drugs during the course of their duties.

Cancer anorexia-cachexia syndrome (CACS) is underrecognized and underreported in patients with advanced lung cancer receiving routine clinical care, according to a retrospective, single-institution study presented at the 2013 Annual Meeting of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer (MASCC).

An examination of the Sur-veillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER)-Medicare database from 1998 through 2008 revealed that a significant number of patients with cancer received unapproved drugs...

Throughout the year, many organizations promote breast cancer awareness. Especially during October...

In this month’s issue of The Oncology Pharmacist (TOP), we present the second in a series of articles about oncology pharmacy safety and issues related to hazardous materials in the workplace.

For the first time, a therapy for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has achieved more responses in smokers than nonsmokers. The antibody MPDL3280A also achieved good responses in the squamous and adenoma histologic types of NSCLC.

In the ongoing phase 3 PROFILE 1007 study of patients with previously treated anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)-positive non-small cell lung cancer, crizotinib improved quality of life (QOL) and key lung cancer symptoms compared with chemotherapy.

Recent surveys of oncologists and hematologists show that drug shortages persist, that practitioners are adapting in ways that often raise the cost of cancer care, and that most have no guidance to aid in decision making in the face of these shortages.