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As the summer winds to a close, we gradually turn our attention to the fall and the next set of challenges that we face. Personally, I look forward to the opportunities ahead of us. Cancer treatment, driven by research, has evolved over the past decade. Patients who previously would have lost their lives to the disease are now cured. And while there is still much work to be done, the pace of progress continues to accelerate at an unprecedented rate.

What are our goals for the year(s) ahead? First, we continue to push the cancer research agenda. For many malignancies, we have remarkably effective, almost uniformly successful, treatment. But for other diseases and many patients, we need to identify new and better therapies. We, and our colleagues around the world, will not rest until we develop new and better approaches. Our commitment to basic science, translational research, clinical trials, and population-based research remains critical.

Second, while we anxiously await new and better therapies, we want to deliver the best care available in 2024. This commitment not only requires technical expertise and expert decision-making, but it also mandates smooth and rapid access to our care, and the compassion, understanding, and availability of our clinicians to the thousands of patients and their families who we see each year. I frequently hear unsolicited comments about the phenomenal care we provide, and we can always do better. As many of you have heard me say, I want every patient to feel enveloped in care from the moment they call to make a first appointment until the time when they no longer need us. Cancer can be terrifying, and our patients need to feel that we not only have their backs, but that we are ever ready to provide the support they need. In the months ahead, we will be talking further about how we can use the systems we develop to provide care that is unsurpassed in all ways.

Finally, we know that care is not distributed equitably, nor is access to research. The Yale Cancer Center and Smilow are dedicated to eradicating cancer care disparities. We are laser focused on the need to ensure that EVERYONE has access to care, and we must work to make it possible for all individuals to complete the treatment that they have started. The many divides in our society exacerbate the challenges, but we will continue to strive for cancer care that is not only outstanding but is equitable.

We have work to do, but it is work that has deep meaning and we have a team— a truly exceptional team—that can work together in our desire to eliminate suffering and loss of life from cancer. We are in this together.

Yale Shines on Broadway

The Yale School of Medicine and YaleMedicine turned heads for the first week of July thanks to a digital billboard in Times Square. The multi-story Nasdaq building on a corner of Times Square displayed a rotating electronic ad recognizing the medical school and its clinical service as “World Leaders” in research and clinical leaders in cancer, neuroscience, cardiovascular health, inflammation science, metabolic health, genetics, women’s health, orthopedics, children’s health and biomedical engineering. The 15-second message rotating through the various specialties appeared four times each hour, 20 hours per day. For More >

Yale Cancer Answers Gets a New Host Asking Questions

In the more than two years that Eric P. Winer, MD has led the Yale Cancer Center (YCC) and Smilow Cancer Hospital (SCH), he has stressed his commitment to accessibility to cancer care for all. And, in part, that explains his enthusiasm for being the new host of the popular Connecticut Public Radio show Yale Cancer Answers. “As the cancer center director, I believe that I can contribute to the public’s understanding of cancer risk factors, treatment, and the future of cancer therapy,” he said. “Yale Cancer Answers is an important part of our mission to close those gaps by providing understandable and reliable information about cancer treatment, prevention. survivorship, and much more.” For More >

US News & World Report Rankings Improve

Recently, Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale New Haven was ranked 45th in the nation in the U.S. News & World Report annual survey of “America’s Best Hospitals.” That is five places higher than its 2023 ranking. Smilow teams were “high performing” in all cancer-related procedures and conditions, including colon cancer surgery, gynecological cancer surgery, lung cancer surgery, prostate cancer surgery, and leukemia, lymphoma & myeloma care. “The improvements in our ranking reflect recent changes made across our healthcare system and the steadfast commitment and accomplishments of our clinicians, researchers, administrators, and staff," said Dr. Winer and Lori Pickens, SVP, Cancer Services & Smilow Executive Director.

Honoring Smilow Commitment and Innovative Spirit

The cancer program at Smilow Waterford earned a three-year accreditation with commendation from the Commission on Cancer (CoC), a program of the American College of Surgeons (ACoS). To earn CoC accreditation, a cancer program must meet 34 CoC quality care standards. For More >

Smilow East Celebrates a Milestone

Smilow East marks its first year of operation the East Pavilion's fourth floor in mid-August. The 13-bed unit opened in July 2023 with five beds dedicated to Sickle Cell admissions and the remainder for solid tumor patients. The aim was to unify fragmented care, improve communication, and to provide a multi-disciplinary experience for these patients. Jensa Morris, MD, director of the Smilow Hospitalist Service, reports 305 inpatient sickle cell admissions in the last year with a 6.3 average length of stay and 474 inpatient cancer admissions with an average LOS of 5.7 days.

This is our second article for the new feature called TeamWork, about the partnerships — also known as dyads — that foster excellent patient care and a collegial workplace.

Smilow Cancer Hospital Care Center, Fairfield
The Team: Neal Fischbach, MD (left) and Renee A. Moye, MSN, APRN, BC, OCN (right)

When Dr. Neal Fischbach arrived in Fairfield nearly two decades ago he knew he had “a lot to learn” about being a practicing general medical oncologist. He’d relocated from San Francisco where his academic career had been focused on the basic science of blood cancer and caring for patients with hematologic malignancies.

“Renee was a seasoned RN on the oncology ward at Bridgeport Hospital. I simply tried to ‘be like Renee.’ She taught me a tremendous amount about delivering personal care and the joy of really getting involved rather than maintaining walls and barriers,” Dr. Fischbach said.

For her part, Renee had been an oncology nurse for a decade and knew how to help him learn the system. “He quickly became my student…his passion, enthusiasm, caring and how he approaches patients and staff make him very personable and approachable,” she said.

They agree that embracing the whole patient, not just their diagnosis, and their mutual respect for one another’s clinical judgment are the ingredients in the “secret sauce” that makes their collaboration successful. Even after all these years, Dr. Fischbach still marvels at the energy Renee devotes to the “extras” including helping patients get groceries, medical supplies, and holiday gifts for children.

“[Renee] taught me a tremendous amount about delivering personal care and the joy of really getting involved rather than maintaining walls and barriers,” said Dr. Fischbach, a father of six. “While oncology can be time consuming and emotionally difficult, I find that paradoxically, being more involved and connected with those we care for is energizing and rewarding.”

Renee recalls well her own breast cancer diagnosis more than 30 years ago, which played a role in her decision to further her education and become an oncology APP allowing her more autonomy and impact in patient lives. “I witness every day the strength and resilience of patients facing life-threatening illness and enduring difficult treatments,” she said. “It’s an honor to be part of their journey….[it’s] challenging but rewarding.”

Kenneth Roberts, MD, has been elected a Fellow of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (FASTRO), a prestigious award that recognizes outstanding members for their leadership role in radiation oncology and service to ASTRO. He is a Professor of Therapeutic Radiology and cares for patients with pediatric malignancies, lymphomas, leukemias, sarcomas, colo-anal cancers, and benign inflammatory conditions.

Pam Kunz, MD, has been chosen for the 2024-2025 Public Voices Fellowship at Yale. Yale Women Faculty Forum offers 20 such fellowships each academic year with the expectation that each fellow will write a minimum of two opinion (“op-ed”) pieces and identify as a Fellow of the program. Earlier this year, Dr. Kunz was named the inaugural editor-in-chief of a new open-access and interdisciplinary journal launched by the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). JCO Oncology Advances will be dedicated “to accelerating progress in the global fight against cancer by providing a platform where innovation in cancer research meets accessibility.”

Michael Cecchini, MD has been appointed Co-Director of the GI Clinical Research Team. He completed his Internal Medicine residency and Hematology/Oncology fellowship at Yale. He joined the faculty in 2018 and has quickly established himself as an expert and leader in colorectal cancer and developmental therapeutics. He also serves as the Co-Leader of the Colorectal Cancer Program within the Center for GI Cancers.

A four-member research team, including co-principal investigator Daniel Boffa, MD, FACS of Yale, recently was awarded R01 funding by the National Cancer Institute for its study, “Implementation and Effectiveness of the American College of Surgeons (ACS) Operative Standards Program.” The five-year grant is to evaluate adoption of the Commission on Cancer’s “Operative Standards for Cancer Surgery” implemented in 2020 and expected to be adhered to by 1,400 accredited facilities by the end of 2024. The standards are meant to address the differences in cancer surgery technical qualities across institutions.

Jacquelyne Gaddy, MD, MSc, MSCR received the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Medical Association (NMA) provide travel awards to participate in the NIH/NMA Academic Career Development Workshop. Recipients of the NIH/NMA Travel Award are senior residents, fellows, and junior faculty who are interested in pursuing careers in biomedical research and/or academic medicine. Participants are encouraged to attend the NMA’s Annual Convention and Scientific Assembly

Barbara Burtness, MD, chief Translational Research Officer at YCC and chief of Head and Neck Cancers/Sarcoma, and Maryam Lustberg, MD, MPH, chief of Breast Medical Oncology, have been named Fellows of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (FASCO). The FASCO distinction honors ASCO members for their volunteer service and dedication to the organization and for their contributions to the oncology community in transforming cancer care.

There's about a month to go before the 14th annual Closer to Free fundraiser—this year on Sept. 7—and there's still time to register as an adult rider, youth/student rider, volunteer or even as a remote rider. You can also help as a volunteer or by donating.

The ride fuels research and care at Smilow Cancer Hospital and Yale Cancer Center while offering riders five professionally designed and fully supported routes ranging from 10 to 100 miles. The support of many sponsors means that 100% of the approximately $30 million raised in the last 13 years has directly supported research and patient care.

Among the initiatives funded by the ride are innovations in cancer care including artificial intelligence (AI), telehealth, diagnostic tools, robotics, and digital pathology; bringing equity to cancer care, in part, through the Center for Community Engagement and Health Equity; clinical trials that assess new treatments or medical interventions; research into obesity, which is linked to a higher risk of being diagnosed with 13 types of cancer; programming for the growing population of people diagnosed with cancer early in their life, specifically under the age of 49; and the first survivorship clinic in Connecticut, dedicated to multidisciplinary resources for cancer survivors.

The ride began in 2011 with 434 participants, who raised $443,251 for research and care. It's grown since then and last year, 2,485 participants raised $3.3 million. For more >

A Medscape forum featured breakthroughs from the recent June meeting of the American Society for Clinical Oncologists including a talk by Dr. Michael Cecchini. He also spoke to HealthDay on how timing chemotherapy could improve pancreatic cancer outcomes.

Preventative cancer screenings are important to overall health, although they might make some people uncomfortable, Dr. Daniel Petrylak told NBC Connecticut TV.

Dr. Amer Zeidan updated TargetedOnc on the success of a clinical trial addressing Myelodysplastic syndromes, or disorders caused by blood cells that either do not form or work well.

Small cell lung cancer has not seen many breakthroughs in the last few decades, at least until recently with the availability of the treatment Imdelltra, Dr. Roy Herbst told Cure recently: “We're seeing patients with responses [to] this drug. Serious shrinking of their tumors is a huge benefit. This accelerated approval of [Imdelltra] really is something that is great for patients....”

You don’t have to reinvent the wheel, or your diet, to eat for cancer prevention, Dr. Andrea Silber, associate community engagement and health equity director for clinical research at YCC, told Yahoo Life.

For a Healthline report on how some screenings can miss cancers in Black women, Elena Ratner, MD, MBA, a gynecologic oncologist at YCC/Smilow, said: “Since we know that ultrasound assessment is not always accurate in Black women, other screening modalities are essential for early cancer detection....”

Dr. Mario Strazzabosco, YSM Professor of Medicine and Director and Clinical Program Leader of the Smilow Liver Cancer Program, was recently interviewed in the European Medical Journal.

In addition to their other benefits, weight loss drugs also result in lower cancer rates in those who take them. That's what VeryWellHealth reported on a new study last month that compared cancer rates in 1.6 million patients with type 2 diabetes who had been treated with a GLP-1 drug (such as Ozempic and Mounjaro), insulin, or metformin. It found that those patients who took GLP-1 drugs had a lower risk of developing 10 out of 13 cancers associated with obesity. The article included comments from Bubu Banini, MD, PhD, a YSM assistant professor of medicine specializing in digestive diseases. Dr. Maryam Lustberg, Director of the Breast Center at YCC/Smilow, commented on the study for the Melissa in the Morning show on WICC600 radio.

YCC Internal Pilot Grants program is accepting applications from YCC members, or those who have applied for membership. It is open to anyone, except YCC program leaders, in any area of innovative cancer research including basic, translational, clinical, computational, population and epidemiology, prevention/control, and implementation science. Of interest are proposals about YCC priorities in the cross-cutting themes of obesity and metabolism, tobacco use/carcinogenesis, brain metastases, drug resistance, and early onset cancers, as well as disease-based research in breast, lung, liver, and prostate cancer. Center for Community Engagement and Health Equity’s deputy director Jessica Lewis, PhD, LMFT iwill consult on incorporating catchment area equity priorities and/or community engaged approaches to the application. YCC associate director for Cancer Equity, Tracy Battaglia, MD, MPH is available to support the design of action-oriented and pragmatic trials that promote equal access to cancer care. For applications & guidelines visit InfoReady. Deadline: 11:59 PM Sept. 12.

The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Fellowship Award is accepting applications for cancer research. The foundation views cancer research very broadly, including the full spectrum of basic questions important to normal human biology and carcinogenesis, as well as development of new platforms and technologies. Visit www.damonrunyon.org for a description of award programs. For more view a virtual Fellowship Informational Session here. Deadline: Aug. 15.

Antineoplastic Therapy Administration Safety Standards for Adult and Pediatric Oncology: ASCO-ONS Standards. Siegel RD, LeFebvre KB, Temin S, Evers A, Barbarotta L, Bowman RM, Chan A, Dougherty DW, Ganio M, Hunter B, Klein M, Miller TP, Mulvey TM, Ouzts A, Polovich M, Salazar-Abshire M, Stenstrup EZ, Sydenstricker CM, Tsai S, Oslen MM. JCO Oncol Pract. 2024 May 22:OP2400216.

Cathepsin B Nuclear Flux in a DNA-Guided “Antinuclear Missile” Cancer Therapy Fei Cao, Caroline Tang, Xiaoyong Chen, Zewei Tu, Ying Jin, Olivia M. Turk, Robert N. Nishimura, Allen Ebens, Valentina Dubljevic, James A. Campbell, Jiangbing Zhou and James E. Hansen ACS Central Science

Phase 2 Trial of the Farnesyltransferase Inhibitor Tipifarnib for Relapsed/Refractory Peripheral T Cell Lymphoma. Witzig TE, Sokol L, Kim WS, de la Cruz F, Martin Garcia-Sancho AM, Advani RH, Roncero Vidal JM, De Oña R, Marin-Niebla A, Izquierdo AR, Terol MJ MD, Domingo-Domenech E, Saunders A, Bendris N, Mackey J, Leoni M, Foss FM. Blood Adv. 2024 Jul 11

A single arm phase 2 clinical trial of YIV-906 with neoadjuvant concurrent chemo-radiation therapy in patients with locally advanced rectal cancer. Verma N, Johung KL, Kortmansky J, Zaheer W, Lacy J, Cecchini M, Stein S, Cheng YC, Lam W, Liu SH, Reddy V, Hochster H, Higgins SA. J Gastrointest Oncol. 2024 Jun 30

Providing 0.1 Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) Support to Fellowship Core Faculty Improves Faculty Involvement in Fellowship Education and Recruitment. Butt A, Christian J, Kress A, Lu BY, Hurwitz ME, Goldberg SB, Podoltsev NA, Gilkes L, Lee AI. J Cancer Educ. 2024 Jun

Surgical Outcomes and Utilization of Laparoscopic Versus Robotic Techniques for Elective Colectomy in Asian American and Native Hawaiian-Pacific Islanders (AAPI) Diagnosed With Colon Cancer. Ahuja V, Murthy SS, Leeds IL, Paredes LG, Su DG, Tsutsumi A, Perkal MF, King JT Jr. J Surg Res. 2024 Jul 30;302:40-46.

Efficacy and Safety of Sacituzumab Govitecan in Patients With Advanced Solid Tumors (TROPiCS-03): Analysis in Patients With Advanced Endometrial Cancer. Santin AD, Corr BR, Spira A, Willmott L, Butrynski J, Tse KY, Patel J, Mekan S, Wu T, Lin KW, Kuo P, Dumbrava EE. J Clin Oncol. 2024 Jul 31:JCO2302767.

Modern Management of Gastric Neuroendocrine Neoplasms. Kunstman JW, Nagar A, Gibson J, Kunz PL. Curr Treat Options Oncol. 2024 Jul 31.

Causes of death and patterns of metastatic disease at the end of life for patients with advanced melanoma in the immunotherapy era. Lee DY, McNamara M, Yang A, Yaskolko M, Kluger H, Tran T, Olino K, Clune J, Sznol M, Ishizuka JJ. Pigment Cell Melanoma Res. 2024 Jul 28. FOR MORE>