• August 22, 2018  

    ASCO and Friends Submit Recommendations to FDA Aimed at Reducing Barriers to Clinical Trial Participation Bookmark

    Emma Shtivelman, PhD

    Excerpt:

    “ASCO and Friends of Cancer Research (Friends) have submitted recommended language to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for five guidance documents on ways to broaden eligibility criteria for cancer clinical trials. The recommendations are part of an ASCO and Friends collaboration to broaden eligibility for participating in clinical trials by addressing five specific areas: minimum age requirements for trial enrollment, HIV/AIDS status, brain metastases, organ dysfunction, and prior and concurrent malignancies.”

    Go to full article published by The ASCO Post on Aug 9, 2018.

    If you’re wondering whether this story applies to your own cancer case or a loved one’s, we invite you to get support from Cancer Commons.

  • April 2, 2018  

    Why Can’t Dying Patients Get the Drugs They Want? Bookmark

    Emma Shtivelman, PhD

    Excerpt:

    “At first glance, a bill passed by the House of Representatives this week seems like the kind of thing anyone could get behind.

    “Known as the “Right to Try” legislation, it would allow terminally ill patients access to experimental drugs without the approval of the Food and Drug Administration.

    “But the bill and a similar one passed last summer by the Senate do little to address the main barrier that patients face in getting unapproved treatments: permission from the drug companies themselves.”

    Go to full article published by The New York Times on Mar 23, 2018.

    If you’re wondering whether this story applies to your own cancer case or a loved one’s, we invite you to get support from Cancer Commons.

  • February 20, 2018  

    FAQs After Diagnosis: Early Stage Hormone-Positive Breast Cancer

    Amanda Nottke, PhD

    This post is written by ASK Cancer Commons Scientist and Product Team Member Amanda Nottke, PhD. Dr. Nottke regularly provides guidance to patients through our ASK Cancer Commons service. After a diagnosis of early stage, hormone-positive breast cancer, you may find yourself facing several daunting decisions, such as choosing between the extensive surgery of mastectomy versus a more minor lumpectomy procedure paired with radiation… Read more »

  • January 4, 2018  

    Cancer Clinical Trials Exclude Many Desperate Patients. Should That Change? Bookmark

    Emma Shtivelman, PhD

    Excerpt:

    “When 29-year-old Carly Bastiansen was diagnosed in January 2016 with advanced pancreatic cancer, doctors told her a clinical trial was her best shot at slowing the notoriously quick-killing and hard-to-treat disease. She found one that appeared promising and went through the screening process. But the trial would not accept her.

    “ ‘Participating in a clinical trial is really my only chance at living longer,’ Bastiansen, a children’s librarian in Baltimore, said this fall as she was growing weaker. ‘To have had that option taken off the table was devastating.’ ”

    Go to full article published by The Washington Post on Dec 17, 2017.

    If you’re wondering whether this story applies to your own cancer case or a loved one’s, we invite you to get support from Cancer Commons.

  • December 5, 2017  

    Study Questions Exclusion of Cancer Survivors from Trials Bookmark

    Emma Shtivelman, PhD

    Excerpt:

    “A quarter of newly diagnosed cancer patients 65 or older are survivors who had a prior cancer — often preventing them from participating in clinical trials, researchers from UT Southwestern’s Simmons Cancer Center have found.

    “The UT Southwestern scientists found that 11 percent of individuals ages 20-64 had a history of a prior cancer, and 25 percent of individuals 65 or older had a history of a prior cancer.

    “As the number of cancer survivors grows, more individuals are being excluded from cancer clinical trials that could benefit them when diagnosed with a second cancer.”

    Go to full article published by ScienceDaily on Nov 22, 2017.

    If you’re wondering whether this story applies to your own cancer case or a loved one’s, we invite you to get support from Cancer Commons.

  • August 11, 2017  

    New Online Navigator Helps Patients and Doctors Access Experimental Treatments Bookmark

    Emma Shtivelman, PhD

    Excerpt:

    “When approved therapies don’t work, or stop working, for people with serious or life-threatening illnesses, it puts them in a difficult position. Some turn to clinical trials that are testing experimental treatments. But many can’t do that because they are too sick, don’t meet the requirements of the trial, or can’t afford to travel to the site of a trial. That doesn’t mean they are out of options.”

    Go to full article published by STAT on Aug 2, 2017.

    If you’re wondering whether this story applies to your own cancer case or a loved one’s, we invite you to get support from Cancer Commons.

  • May 4, 2016  

    Clinical Trial Versus Standard Protocol: Why and How to Enroll in a Trial

    Emma Shtivelman, PhD

    I spend most of my time trying to match cancer patients with clinical trials. I consider this to be the most important service I can provide. I try to find trials that are suitable geographically, have the best treatment rationale, and are likely to accept the patient I am helping based on their personal health and treatment history. In this post, I share some of my thoughts about clinical trial enrollment and why it is so important for patients to consider getting treated through a trial.

  • March 29, 2016  

    New Insights on Lung Cancer in Younger Patients

    Emma Shtivelman, PhD

    Lung cancer—in particular, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)—in young people is a topic of great interest. It has been made even more so by the recent publication of a study in The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) that analyzed over 2,000 NSCLC patients of all ages and resulted in two major conclusions: First, that younger patients (less than 40 years old) have a higher frequency of targetable mutations. Second, that they have relatively poor survival when compared to older patients, except those older than 70 years.