In this issue of The American Journal of Hematology/Oncology® (AJHO), a peer-reviewed resource for oncology education and the official journal of Physicians’ Education Resource®, LLC, Sarmad Sadeghi, MD, PhD, and David I. Quinn, MD, PhD, highlight emerging trends and challenges in the treatment of metastatic renal cell carcinoma, including current questions about the optimal risk-stratified sequence or combination of newly available therapies.

Despite progress in the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer, there are no approved targeted treatments for most patients who have an identified mutation or translocation for genes other than EGFR and ALK. Megan Baumgart, MD, discusses current clinical trials that are focusing on therapeutic strategies targeting ROS1, KRAS, BRAF, RET and PI3K.

David M. Schuster, MD, reviews the use of the most common and available molecular-imaging technique, FDG PET, in the diagnosis, staging, and restaging of breast cancer, with the caveat that although FDG PET has proven to be a powerful imaging technique, its appropriate use is critical to optimize healthcare delivery and resource use.

In the second of two articles, this month Adam L. Liss, MD, and Daniel A. Hamstra, MD, PhD, discuss treatment options for men with high-risk prostate cancer, focusing on strategies to improve outcomes though intensification of local therapy using a combination of brachytherapy, external beam radiotherapy, and androgen deprivation therapy.

In our “New Technologies” section, Deanna J. Attai, MD, FACS, describes various forms of social media that may be of interest to physicians, and provides examples of how to use social media for patient interaction and professional development.

Finally, this month our CME article focuses on the use of PARP inhibitors for ovarian cancer, as well as the various clinical trials under way that are assessing PARP inhibition in other tumor types.

We hope you find this issue to be a rewarding educational experience. As always, we welcome your comments and suggestions, as well as article and commentary submissions.


Michael J. Hennessy
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer