#LCSM Chat Topic 7/13: Balancing Connection to Others in the Cancer Community with the Risk of Loss

Jack West, MD My father, now a retired radiologist, provided the first characterization of medical oncologists I ever heard, describing them as “the coldest people I ever met.” Thankfully, I’ve had the opportunity to work with, and I hope become, a caring and empathetic medical oncologist, but I think his perception comes from the resignation many oncologists have historically felt when so many patients die despite our best efforts. Oncologists, cancer surgeons, and other health care professionals have long struggled with the hope of developing and maintaining a relationship with their patients… Read More

#LCSM Chat Topic 6/29: When Doctors Disagree

Increasingly, the care of lung cancer patients has become a multi-doctor, multi-disciplinary job.  Gone are the days (thankfully!) when a paternalistic doctor prescribed a treatment plan that was unquestioned by the patient.  The internet and ease of travel have allowed unprecedented access to information and to physicians.  As more treatment options and strategies become available for lung cancer patients, it is inevitable that they will be faced with differing opinions from their physicians with regard to how to personalize their care.  Examples are plentiful, such as decisions between surgery or radiation therapy… Read More

#LCSM Chat Topic 6/15: Patient Reported Outcomes (PROs)—more effective than some approved cancer drugs for advanced disease

With the proliferation of smartphones and personal tracking devices (such as Fitbits), technology has the means for cancer patients to provide feedback to their healthcare providers about their symptoms and side effects of treatment.  Such feedback is called “patient reported outcomes,” or PROs.  However, PROs are difficult to measure in a consistent manner, and thus far have not been incorporated into many cancer center clinics or clinical trials. But times are changing.  One of the big news items to come out of the huge American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting… Read More