American Society of Clinical Oncology National Census of Oncology Practices: preliminary report.

In response to reports of increasing financial and administrative burdens on oncology practices and a lack of systematic information related to these issues, American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) leadership started an effort to collect key practice-level data from all oncology practices in the United States. The result of the effort is the ASCO National Census of Oncology Practices (Census) launched in June 2012. The initial Census work involved compiling an inventory of oncology practices from existing lists of oncology physicians in the United States. A comprehensive, online data collection instrument was developed, which covered a number of areas, including practice characteristics (staffing configuration, organizational structure, patient mix and volume, types of services offered); organizational, staffing, and service changes over the past 12 months; and an assessment of the likelihood that the practice would experience organizational, staffing, and service changes in the next 12 months. More than 600 practices participated in the Census by providing information. In this article, we present preliminary highlights from the data gathered to date. We found that practice size was related to having experienced practice mergers, hiring additional staff, and increasing staff pay in the past 12 months, that geographic location was related to having experienced hiring additional staff, and that practices in metropolitan areas were more likely to have experienced practice mergers in the past 12 months than those in nonmetropolitan areas. We also found that practice size and geographic location were related to higher likelihoods of anticipating practice mergers, sales, and purchases in the future.

Treatment of small cell lung cancer.

The incidence of small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is declining in the United States (US). SCLC is nearly universally smoking-related and is very sensitive to both chemotherapy and radiation therapy. In contrast to non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), SCLC is staged as either limited-stage disease (LD) or extensive-stage disease (ED). Chemotherapy remains the essential component for treatment of all patients with SCLC, regardless of stage or performance status. In LD, the addition of radiation therapy improves survival over chemotherapy alone. However, the dose, timing and schedule of radiation are not well defined. Prophylactic cranial irradiation (PCI) reduces brain relapse rates, and modestly improves survival in patients in a clinical remission. Many chemotherapy agents and combinations result in high response rates in ED SCLC; however, median survival time remains 8-10 months. Cisplatin (or carboplatin) and etoposide is the standard doublet used in the United States. One study has shown cisplatin plus irinotecan to have a survival benefit over cisplatin plus etoposide, but confirmatory studies are needed. Patients with ED frequently relapse, and relapsed/refractory SCLC has a poor prognosis. The challenge remains to identify novel therapies and molecular targets to improve survival in SCLC.

Thymoma and thymic carcinoma: therapeutic approaches.

Thymomas and thymic carcinomas, which are rare epithelial tumors arising from the thymus gland, are the most common tumors of the anterior mediastinum. Thymomas are generally encapsulated, slow-growing tumors that have a "bland" histologic appearance. Thymic carcinomas possess more overtly malignant histologic features than thymomas and are more likely to present as invasive or disseminated disease. Surgery is the treatment of choice for localized thymic tumors, with complete resection being the most important prognostic factor. Complete resection also improves survival in locally invasive thymic tumors. Adjuvant postoperative radiation therapy may improve the outcome in patients with invasive disease, although the data are conflicting. Multimodal regimens, including neoadjuvant combination chemotherapy, surgery, and/or postoperative radiation therapy, are recommended for patients with advanced thymomas and thymic carcinomas. Use of octreotide plus prednisone has produced responses in thymomas, but the dosing and schedule have not been clearly defined. Prospective studies have been limited, and, as such, enrollment in clinical trials is encouraged.