Mike Hennessy, Sr.

I was confident that this [conference] would accelerate our mission of advancing cancer care across the globe. What I didn’t expect was to gain a personal understanding of just how much those developments can mean to people affected by cancer.

Immunotherapy revolutionized the way we treat cancer. And now, researchers are using drugs to help jumpstart the immune system alongside chemotherapy to keep treatment moving forward.

The transition into survivorship is no easy feat. Emotions are mixed, long-term and late side effects may kick in and follow-up care appointments start. But are survivors getting the best possible care after cancer treatment? That’s still up for debate.

It's amazing what a new year can bring.

It can be difficult to fathom a cancer diagnosis, let alone even begin to think about the aftermath of the associated treatment. For many women, ending treatment is met with bone density issues, such as osteopenia and osteoporosis.

FOR THE FIRST TIME in more than 40 years, patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) have reason to hope. After years of little to no improvement, four new agents were approved in the same year bringing huge advancements to the field.

SIDE EFFECTS, INCLUDING FINANCIAL toxicities, are an unpleasant fact of life for most people undergoing treatment for cancer, but that should not be the case. That’s why strategies for working through them lie at the heart of this issue of CURE.

In a special issue of CURE® magazine, we focus on financial issues related to cancer care.

Genetic mutations help fuel the growth of cancer tumors in patients. And, in recent years, experts in the medical field have begun to better understand how targeting those mutations can knock out the spread of the disease.

IN THIS ISSUE OF CURE® magazine, we celebrate a first. In March, the immunotherapy Bavencio (avelumab) became the first treatment approved by the FDA specifically to treat the rare skin disease Merkel cell carcinoma, a neuroendocrine cancer of the skin.

UNTIL ONCOLOGISTS ARE ABLE to cure every case of bladder cancer, treatment won’t rise to the level we envision. But the development of therapies for people with the disease is moving in the right direction — and remarkably swiftly.

WHAT IS A RARE CANCER? The American Cancer Society (ACS) defines it as fewer than six cases per 100,000 people each year. And, according to the ACS, that means this year there will be an estimated 208,000 new cases of rare cancers in the United States.

Oncologists and their patients don’t always get as much time to meet as they would like. Schedules are tight, appointments can be brief, and issues relevant to treatment and healing may be overlooked.

OPIOIDS CAN BE HELPFUL DURING AND AFTER CANCER TREATMENT — WHEN THEY ARE USED APPROPRIATELY.

Surgery without ostomy, and the use of survivorship plans, can protect quality of life.

A CANCER DIAGNOSIS COMES in all shapes and sizes, and so do the patients it affects. In fact, we know that certain cancer types affect a specific race or gender more greatly. Yet, as a whole, there is still a lack of diversity in clinical trials.

Less invasive testing for colorectal cancers may lead to more people getting screened.

IT CAN BE HARD SOMETIMES to fathom that individuals forced to confront the many stresses that accompany a cancer diagnosis also have to worry about their finances and keeping their jobs.

IT’S NOT OFTEN that we hear the terms “good news” and“cancer” in the same sentence. But this special issue of CURE® does bring good news — reports of a series of exciting breakthroughs in the blood cancer arena that are significantly improving treatment options for patients.

In discussions of cancer these days, there may be no word mentioned more often than “immunotherapy,” and bladder cancer provides us with an excellent example of why this strategy is so important, writes our chairman and CEO, Mike Hennessy, Sr.

When it comes to cancer treatment, why do some patients respond better than others? That’s a question researchers are working tirelessly to answer.

Inspired by Those in its Pages, CURE Hosts Events That Highlight, Bolster the Work of Patient Advocates

So many of the cancers we write about in these pages stand as fierce opponents against both patients and the scientific community, and glioblastoma certainly fits into that category.

When it comes to gastrointestinal (GI) cancers, there’s quite a disparity in the gains that research is bringing us.

I CONTINUE TO BE IMPRESSED and heartened by the grace and resilience of individuals who have survived cancer, and perhaps no one exemplifies this better than Wendy Harpham, the subject of our Heal cover profile this month.