Science

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ASCO Connection • 8th January 2025

Rare Neuroendocrine Tumors: Solutions for Navigating Treatment Resistance

Studying rare neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) wasn’t the plan that Nitya Raj, MD, had for her career. But then, while caring for patients with NETs during her oncology fellowship, she noticed a significant gap between the rising incidence and the limited research available for these uncommon diseases.

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ASCO Connection • 12th November 2024

Investing in Earlier Detection for U.S. Veterans: Lung Cancer Screening

Jennifer Lewis, MD, MS, MPH, began her internal medicine residency at a notable time in the field of lung cancer care. It was 2011, and the results of the National Lung Screening Trial (NLST) had just been published. As a randomized controlled trial screening for lung cancer in older adults with extensive smoking histories, the NLST provided compelling evidence that screening with low-dose computed tomography can detect lung cancer earlier and extend patients’ lives.

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ASCO Connection • 4th September 2024

Improving Capacity for Pediatric Radiotherapy: Training Oncologists in Mexico

Finding that sweet spot between successfully targeting lymphoma and ensuring that patients and survivors can enjoy their lives is what Dr. Raymond Mailhot hopes to achieve through global oncology research.

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Conquer Cancer • 20th August 2024

Three Months at a Time: Your Stories Podcast

For Dr. Justin Grunewald, advocating for better rare cancer treatments is profoundly personal. In 2019, his wife—Gabe Grunewald, a professional distance runner—passed away after a decade of enduring multiple cancers, including adenoid cystic carcinoma, a rare form of the disease.

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ASCO Connection • 25th July 2024

Evaluating the Efficacy of Supportive Care Tools for Patients With Multiple Myeloma

Compared to patients with other types of cancers, those with multiple myeloma face a drastically lowered quality of life—a reality made harder by the feelings of hopelessness and despair that can accompany an incurable diagnosis.

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Conquer Cancer • 16th July 2024

Skin Cancer 101: Spotting the Ugly Duckling: Your Stories Podcast

One day, you’re looking in the mirror when suddenly you notice it: a strange-looking mole. Naturally, you start to wonder: Could it be cancer? How can I tell? What do I do if it is? Thankfully, after decades of advancements in skin cancer research and care, these kinds of questions have answers. And yet, despite these milestones, there are many research breakthroughs that have yet to be made when it comes to skin cancer treatment.

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ASCO Connection • 5th June 2024

Diversifying Data and Addressing Disparities for Older Hispanic and Latino Patients

From language barriers to a lack of insurance, limited health care access, and financial hardships, older Hispanic and Latino patients face an onslaught of obstacles when it comes to navigating cancer care. Without diverse, insightful, nuanced health care data about Hispanic and Latino patients, particularly in older adults, providing better resources and improved outcomes becomes even more difficult. This is exactly the problem that Fernando Diaz, MD, hopes to address.

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ASCO Daily News • 8th May 2024

First-Time Research Funding for a Rare Type of Kidney Cancer Opens the Door to New Trials

Patients with rare and aggressive kidney cancers—like renal medullary carcinoma (RMC)—have long faced limited treatment options and poor survival rates. Pavlos Msaouel, MD, PhD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, has long aimed to resolve this problem through clinical and translational research.

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ASCO Connection • 12th March 2024

Dr. Kamal Menghrajani on Advancing Leukemia Research and Participating in the Biden Cancer Moonshot

An endowed grant from Conquer Cancer provided Dr. Menghrajani with protected research time in the lab. It also inspired her to pursue leadership and public service opportunities in cancer care.

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ASCO Connection • 12th March 2024

Conquer Cancer, the ASCO Foundation, Provides an Endowed Future for Oncology Research and Cancer Care

By providing a ceaseless stream of funding, endowed grants ensure that oncology research and programs don’t fall victim to economic pressures and funding limitations. Here, a group of Conquer Cancer donors reflect on what drove them to endow a Young Investigator Award.

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ASCO Connection • 12th March 2024

Impact Stories: Empowering Innovation and Delivering Meaningful Results in Cancer Care

To accelerate scientific breakthroughs, enhance health equity, and improve patient outcomes for all, Conquer Cancer supports some of the most promising oncology research and programs around the world. This includes supporting efforts that advance not only research, but also continuing education for oncology providers and promotion of the highest-quality, equitable patient care.

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ASCO Connection • 20th December 2023

Addressing Cancer Disparities for Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander Patients Through Machine Learning

Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander (NHPI) communities have some of the lowest rates of inclusion in clinical trials and cancer research. The resulting lack of NHPI cancer data leads to poorer health outcomes and fewer supportive resources for patients from these populations.

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ASCO Connection • 3rd November 2023

Targeting Tumor-Protective Proteins to Improve Immunotherapy for Pancreatic Cancer

It’s infamous as a “silent disease,” with symptoms that rarely make themselves known until too late. But one Conquer Cancer-funded researcher may have found a way to improve the odds, even for patients with advanced-stage pancreatic cancer.

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ASCO Daily News • 11th October 2023

Trial Data Sharing Promotes Research Transparency and Fulfills a Promise to Patients

Patient participation in clinical trials is vital to advancing cancer research, yet few adult patients enroll in these studies. Those who do enroll give substantial time to clinical trials and take experimental drugs that may come with serious side effects, knowing their research involvement could help improve care for future patients.

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ASCO Daily News • 6th September 2023

Accelerating Local Solutions for Patients With HIV and Breast Cancer

In Tanzania, where HIV infection and breast cancer are major concerns, it’s becoming increasingly critical to research the intersection of these two diseases. This is precisely the research focus of Sarah Nyagabona, MD, MMed. She works to better understand how HIV infection affects the health-seeking behaviors of patients with breast cancer.

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ASCO Connection • 29th August 2023

From the U.S. to Brazil: Enhancing Immunotherapy for Advanced Prostate Cancers

Prostate cancer is the fourth most diagnosed cancer worldwide. While the standard treatment—androgen deprivation therapy (ADT)—targets prostate cancer even in its advanced stages, most patients rapidly develop resistance to ADT and often experience side effects like fatigue, anemia, bone loss, and erectile dysfunction.

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ASCO Daily News • 24th August 2023

Leveraging Surgery to Mitigate Lymphedema and Improve Pain Management for Patients

For patients with breast cancer, the effects of lymphedema can have a profound impact on quality of life. While sufficient research exists on the localized inflammation caused by lymphedema, few studies have explored how this condition affects the body as a whole. Even fewer—if any—have looked at how lymphedema-correcting surgeries could help. It’s a problem that Dionisia Quiroga, DO, PhD, hopes to solve.

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ASCO Connection • 20th July 2023

Personalizing Treatments for Patients With Metastatic Uterine Leiomyosarcoma

Accounting for less than 1% of cancer diagnoses each year and between 10% to 20% of sarcomas overall, leiomyosarcomas are both aggressive and highly recurrent—with patients facing a 50% rate of recurrence and, for metastatic disease, an average survival of just 12 to 18 months. While this aggressive tumor can occur in anyone, it’s most likely to affect the uterus, making it most common among women and people with female reproductive organs.

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Conquer Cancer • 21st June 2023

Improving Radiation Treatment and Sexual Health Outcomes in Gender-Diverse Patients

Of the many challenges attached to pelvic cancer, sexual health outcomes often prove especially difficult following radiation treatment. While numerous studies explain the impacts of post-radiation on male sexual function, similar research is scarce for female and gender-diverse patients. It’s a gap that Dr. Marshall hopes to bridge.

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ASCO Connection • 18th May 2023

Dr. Chrisann Kyi Pursues Early-Phase Development of Targeted Immunotherapies for Patients With Gynecologic Cancers

A mother with cervical cancer has tried every standard treatment available to her, but her cancer continues to recur. She wants to live long enough to see her daughter graduate from high school. Despite having an immune system exhausted from standard chemotherapy, she takes a leap of faith...

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ASCO Daily News • 10th May 2023

Dr. Matthew Painschab Works to Mitigate Treatment-Related Infections for Patients in Malawi

For patients undergoing chemotherapy for blood cancers, the risk of developing fever and infections is not only heightened but even more lethal. In places like Malawi, where many people live more than four hours from the nearest oncology clinic, that risk can be particularly virulent.

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Conquer Cancer • 18th April 2023

Rare Blood Cancers: Advancing Treatment Approaches for Patients

One of the most challenging parts of Dr. Jithma Abeykoon's job is the moment when he realizes that, despite all his best efforts, he's run out of treatment options for his patients. He thought he'd reached such a point when treating Anya Magnuson, a young woman and aspiring photographer diagnosed with a rare blood cancer called Erdheim-Chester disease.

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ASCO Connection • 9th March 2023

Mapping the Global Reach of Donor-Funded Research

Since 1984, ASCO and Conquer Cancer have provided more than 2,600 grants and awards to researchers domestically and internationally, with 80 countries represented by recipients. Meet a few of many investigators around the globe whose vital work is accelerating research for patients with cancer.

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ASCO Connection • 9th March 2023

Colombian Researcher Leverages Immunity to Help Treat Patients With HPV and Lung Cancer

In Colombia, lung cancer is among the most frequent types of cancer and is the second leading cause of cancer-related death in patients with male sex characteristics. Here, patients often present with additional diseases that are linked to lung cancer diagnoses, including human papillomavirus (HPV). Despite the harmful effects and negative reputation of HPV, the infection could help doctors more effectively guide the course of care for patients with certain types of lung cancers.