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Lynn M Schuchter

Publications and source records attributed to Lynn M Schuchter.

9 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Clinical cancer advances 2006: major research advances in cancer treatment, prevention, and screening--a report from the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

A MESSAGE FROM ASCO's PRESIDENT For the second consecutive year, the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) is publishing Clinical Cancer Advances: Major Research Advances in Cancer Treatment, Prevention, and Screening, an annual review of the most significant cancer research presented or published over the past year. ASCO developed this report to demonstrate the enormous progress being made on the front lines of cancer research today. The report is intended to give all those with an interest in cancer care-the general public, cancer patients and physicians, policymakers, oncologists, and other medical professionals-an accessible summary of the year's most important cancer research advances. These pages report on new targeted therapies that are improving survival and response rates in hard-to-treat cancers such as kidney cancer, HER-2-positive breast cancer, head and neck cancer, and chronic myelogenous leukemia; the FDA's approval of the world's first preventive vaccine for human papillomavirus (HPV), which has the potential to dramatically reduce the global burden of cervical cancer; and advances in the fast-growing field of personalized medicine, including a new lung cancer test that could help physicians better target treatments and predict prognosis. These advances are only part of the landscape. Survival rates are on the rise, the number of cancer deaths in the United States began declining for the first time since 1930, and new research is showing that the rates of certain common cancers, such as those of the breast and colon, have stabilized, and may have even begun to decline. However, cancer research still faces a number of major obstacles. At a time of extraordinary scientific potential, declining federal funding of cancer research threatens to stall or even reverse recent progress. Such funding cuts have already led to fewer clinical trials, fewer talented young physicians entering the field, and a growing bottleneck of basic science discoveries waiting to be "translated" into useful therapies and diagnostics. In addition to highlighting the major research advances over the past year, this report also identifies key barriers to accelerating the pace of cancer research and outlines ASCO's recommendations for overcoming them. Despite these and other challenges, there is much good news on the front lines of cancer research. This report demonstrates the essential role of clinical cancer research in finding new and better ways to treat, diagnose, and prevent a group of diseases that strike half of men and one-third of women in the United States.

Breast Neoplasms↗
PubMed2005

Clinical Cancer Advances 2005: major research advances in cancer treatment, prevention, and screening--a report from the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

This year, for the first time, the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) is publishing Clinical Cancer Advances 2005: Major Research Advances in Cancer Treatment, Prevention, and Screening, an annual review of the most significant clinical research presented or published over the past year across all cancer types. ASCO embarked on this project to provide the public, patients, policymakers, and physicians with an accessible summary of the year's most important research advances. While not intended to serve as a comprehensive review, this report provides a year-end snapshot of research that will have the greatest impact on patient care. As you will read, there is much good news from the front lines of cancer research. These pages report on new chemotherapy regimens that sharply reduce the risk of recurrence for very common cancers; the "coming of age" of targeted cancer therapies; promising studies of drugs to prevent cancer; and improvements in quality of life for people living with the disease, among many other advances. Survival rates for cancer are on the rise, increasing from 50% to 64% over the last 30 years. Cancer still exacts an enormous toll, however. Nearly 1.4 million Americans will be diagnosed this year, and some 570,000 will die of the disease. Clearly, more research is needed to find effective therapies for the most stubborn cancer types and stages. We need to know more about the long-term effects of newer, more targeted cancer therapies, some of which need to be taken over long periods of time. And we need to devote far greater attention to tracking and improving the care of the nearly 10 million cancer survivors in the United States today. Despite these and other challenges, the message of this report is one of hope. Through the dedicated, persistent pursuit of clinical research and participation in clinical trials by people with cancer, we steadily uncover new and better ways of treating, diagnosing, and preventing a disease that touches the lives of so many. I want to thank the Editorial Board members, the Specialty Editors, and the ASCO Cancer Communications Committee for their dedicated work to develop this report, and I hope you find it useful.

Breast Neoplasms↗
PubMed2004

Is 18F-FDG PET more accurate than standard diagnostic procedures in the detection of suspected recurrent melanoma?

UNLABELLED: The aim of this study was to determine the accuracy of (18)F-FDG PET in detecting recurrent melanoma. METHODS: PET findings were compared with those obtained by standard diagnostic clinical procedures (CP) to establish the role of PET in the management of patients with melanoma. From 156 patients with confirmed melanoma and recurrence suspected by clinical examination, 184 PET scans were retrospectively reviewed. Histology or clinical follow-up was used for final diagnosis. RESULTS: The sensitivity and specificity of PET for detecting lesions on an individual-patient basis were 74% and 86%, respectively, compared with respective values of 58% and 45% for CP alone. The overall accuracy for PET was 81%, compared with 52% for other methods. PET was more accurate (91% vs. 67%) than CP in detecting locoregional disease and distant metastases (85% vs. 55%), and PET results led to a change in the planned clinical management of 36% of patients included in this study. PET was more accurate than CT in detecting skin lesions, malignant lymph nodes, and metastases to the abdomen, liver, and bone. In the assessment of pulmonary disease, PET showed higher specificity (92% vs. 70%) than CT for the detection of lung parenchyma lesions; however, the sensitivity was better for CT (93%) than for PET (57%). CONCLUSION: PET is better than CP in detecting locoregional disease and distant metastases in all sites except the lung, where it appears to be a useful adjunct to CT. The use of PET as a routine clinical tool can lead to a substantial change in the clinical management of suspected recurrent melanoma.

Abdominal Neoplasms↗
PubMed2003

Retransplantation of a cardiac allograft inadvertently harvested from a donor with metastatic melanoma.

Donor-derived melanoma is easily transmitted through organ transplants and is highly aggressive in transplant recipients. The best treatment-withdrawal or reduction of immunosuppression-permits tumor rejection but risks allograft rejection. In recipients of nonrenal allografts, the prognosis is particularly grim, with transmission rates and mortality approaching 100%. Retransplantation has been proposed as a possible strategy but has never been performed for a cardiac allograft. This is the first report of cardiac retransplantation and only the second case of retransplantation of any nonrenal organ. Our patient received a heart transplant from a donor found to have occult metastatic melanoma at autopsy. He underwent retransplantation 17 days later. Close clinical and radiographic follow-up reveal no evidence of melanoma 22 months after transplantation. Based on the rapid development of donor-derived melanoma in previous reports, our patient is likely to remain free of donor cancer. Retransplantation and low-dose immunosuppression may have been lifesaving.

Heart Neoplasms↗
PubMed2003

Psychosocial factors related to the correspondence of recipient and provider perceptions of social support among patients diagnosed with or at risk for malignant melanoma.

This study examined considered perceptions of social support and factors contributing to increased support among 18 patients diagnosed with or at risk for malignant melanoma and their partners. Partner support, perceived stress, emotional approach coping and partner empathy were evaluated. Results showed lack of correspondence between patient and partner reports of support. Greater correspondence between reports was associated with increased patient emotional approach coping. Partners reported increased empathy following the patients' diagnoses and more perceived stress than patients. Patients indicated greater use of emotional approach coping than their partners. Male partners reported engaging in less emotional expression than female partners. Interventions might incorporate partner participation to resolve misperceptions of support and to foster factors that promote increased support.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed2002

Multiple primary melanoma revisited.

BACKGROUND: Incidence of cutaneous melanoma continues to increase in the Caucasian population worldwide. Approximately 5% of melanoma patients develop additional primary melanoma. This rate is significantly higher than the estimated lifetime risk of an individual for developing the disease (1.4%). These features suggest that a genetic predisposition may underlie multiple primary melanomas (MPMs). Prior studies had identified CDKN2A mutations in a few MPM individuals. The objectives of this study were to determine the frequency of family history of melanoma in MPM cases, to characterize other clinical features including history of other cancer, and to determine the association with functional CDKN2A mutations. METHODS: This study used a case series design. All living patients who had been seen in the Pigmented Lesion Clinic at the University of Pennsylvania and who had more than one primary invasive malignant melanoma or an invasive primary followed by an in situ melanoma were eligible for participation. RESULTS: Individuals with MPM frequently had a family history of melanoma, dysplastic nevi (DN), and/or another cancer including basal cell carcinoma (BCC), and squamous cell carcinoma breast cancer, and a personal history of DN, and basal cell carcinoma. Germline mutations in CDKN2A gene were identified in 8 of 96 MPM cases (8.3%, 95% confidence interval, 6.7-9.9%). CONCLUSIONS: These data indicate that the presence of MPM is associated with a modest incidence of a family history of melanoma, DN, or BCC and a small association with CDKN2A mutations. Therefore, in addition to the MPM index case, other family members can benefit from screening and regular surveillance for melanoma, DN, and BCC.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2002

P gene as an inherited biomarker of human eye color.

Human pigmentation, including eye color, has been associated with skin cancer risk. The P gene is the human homologue to the mouse pink-eye dilution locus and is responsible for oculocutaneous albinism type 2 and other phenotypes that confer eye hypopigmentation. The P gene is located on chromosome 15q11.2-q12, which is also the location of a putative eye pigmentation gene (EYCL3) inferred to exist by linkage analysis. Therefore, the P gene is a strong candidate for determination of human eye color. Using a sample of 629 normally pigmented individuals, we found that individuals were less likely to have blue or gray eyes if they had P gene variants Arg305Trp (P = 0.002), Arg419Gln (P = 0.001), or the combination of both variants (P = 0.003). These results suggest that P gene, in part, determines normal phenotypic variation in human eye color and may therefore represent an inherited biomarker of cutaneous cancer risk.

Carrier Proteins↗