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-- PRESS BRIEFING SUNDAY, JUNE 3, 7:30 AM CDT --

-- Studies Examine New Treatments and
Access to Care for Children with Cancer;
Growing Gap Seen in Advanced Breast Cancer Survival
betweenBlack and White Women;
Prostate Cancer Patient Treatment Decisions Influenced by
Type of Specialist Consulted --

CHICAGO—Studies evaluating patterns of care for cancer patients were released today at a press briefing of the 43^rd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).

“We’ve made great progress in treating cancer—but we still have work to do to make sure that everyone benefits from those advances,” said Archie Bleyer, MD, medical advisor in the Cancer Treatment Center at St. Charles Medical Center, Bend, Ore., and moderator of the press briefing. “It is important that we maintain our focus on improving access to cancer care and ensure that all patients, regardless of age, race, ethnicity or geography receive the most appropriate treatment.”

Study findings include:

• Several studies on childhood cancer, including:
  
  
  • A long-term study of childhood cancer survivors finds that even though they are known to be at risk for long-term health problems, most do not receive specialized medical care to monitor their health over the years.
    
    
  • A study of infants and children with neuroblastoma shows that they can be treated with significantly less aggressive chemotherapy and still achieve high survival rates.
    
    
  • A report on a program to fight childhood cancer in low- and middle-income countries shows that even small monetary investments can help improve children’s treatment and build local cancer care capacity.
    
    
  • A survey of parents of children with cancer finds that those who get more detailed information about their child’s prognosis feel more hopeful, even if the prognosis is poor.
    
    
• An analysis of women with advanced breast cancer over the past two decades finds that disparities in survival between black and white patients have increased, with improvements in breast cancer-specific survival seen only among white women.
  
  
• A study finds a strong association between the type of physician that men with localized prostate cancer see and the kind of therapy they choose to receive, reinforcing the need for patients to have access to the full range of information before choosing a particular therapy.
  

For consumer-oriented information on these studies and more than 120 cancer types and cancer-related syndromes, please refer your readers to ASCO’s oncologist-vetted patient Web site, www.plwc.org.

View full press release.