The Cancer Letter

Last updated
The Cancer Letter
TypeWeekly
Formatnewsletter
Owner(s)The Cancer Letter Inc.
Founder(s)Jerry D. Boyd
Publisher Paul Goldberg
EditorPaul Goldberg
FoundedDecember 21, 1973;49 years ago (1973-12-21)
LanguageEnglish
City Washington, D.C.
CountryUnited States
ISSN 0096-3917
Website cancerletter.com

The Cancer Letter is an American weekly publication that covers cancer research, drug development, legislation and health care policy. It was founded in Reston, Virginia by Jerry D. Boyd and first published on December 21, 1973. [1] [2] Based in Washington D.C., The Cancer Letter has won awards from journalistic associations, including the National Press Club and the Society of Professional Journalists. [3] Paul Goldberg serves as Editor and Publisher since 2011. [4] The Cancer Letter has over 200 institutional subscribers in the U.S. and abroad, covering approximately 40,000 readers in oncology. [5] [6]

Contents

History

The Cancer Letter was first published as The Cancer Newsletter on December 21, 1973, by the National Information Service, Inc., Jerry D. Boyd, President, in Reston, Virginia, two years after Congress passed the National Cancer Act of 1971. [7] On January 3, 1975, the publication name was changed to The Cancer Letter, Jerry D. Boyd, Editor, published by The Cancer Letter, Inc. In 1979 The Cancer Letter, Inc. began distribution of a second publication, The Clinical Cancer Letter. Jerry Boyd's daughter, Kirsten Boyd, met Paul Goldberg in 1981 when the two of them were working at a small newspaper in Reston, Virginia. They married a few years later, and began working for The Cancer Letter. In 1989 Kirsten Boyd Goldberg became an Associate Editor of The Cancer Letter. In 1990, Kirsten Goldberg became the editor of The Cancer Letter, and Jerry Boyd assumed the position of Contributing Editor until his retirement from the publication in 1995. Paul Goldberg became Associate Editor in 1992, then Editor in 1994, alongside Kirsten Boyd Goldberg who also served as Publisher. Kirsten Boyd Goldberg passed the publication and editorial mantle to Paul Goldberg in 2011.

In 2017, The Clinical Cancer Letter was rolled into The Cancer Letter as a weekly section, increasing the publication's clinical coverage. In a letter from the Editor announcing the change, Editor Paul Goldberg wrote, "The Cancer Letter was calibrated for academics; The Clinical Cancer Letter for community physicians. It's no longer useful—or, for that matter, feasible—to delineate policy news from the clinical. Oncology has become one big story, a machine of many moving parts." [8]

The Cancer Letter's founding editor Jerry D. Boyd died September 24, 2019. [2]

Content

The Cancer Letter's coverage varies from week to week, depending on the issues of importance in the cancer field at the time, and typically include sections covering FDA News, NCI News, Cancer Centers, Cooperative Groups, Professional Societies, Medicare, Funding Opportunities, Philanthropy, Guest Editorials and "In Brief" summarizations of events and personnel appointments.

Reputation and awards

According to The New York Times of May 29, 2001, "The Cancer Letter, a weekly, gave early voice to the patient activist movement, helped force out an unpopular Clinton administration health official, exposed a society doctor whose cancer treatments may have cost lives and recently revealed — much to the embarrassment of American Cancer Society officials — that they had unwittingly hired two public relations firms with ties to the tobacco industry." [9]

Of Paul Goldberg, the current editor and publisher of The Cancer Letter, The New York Times article stated "everybody who's anybody in cancer reads his stories."

Scientific journals such as Nature and Science have reported on investigations carried out by staff of The Cancer Letter. For example, The Cancer Letter reported extensively on problems between the MD Anderson Cancer Center and the Texas state taxpayer-funded Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT), based in Austin, after MD Anderson president Ronald DePinho "launched a drug-discovery center, the Institute for Applied Cancer Science (IACS), where his wife, Lynda Chin, was appointed chief scientist" [Nature News, June 14, 2012] [10] and "[t]he renovation of an office for Lynda Chin, the wife of the president of the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Ronald DePinho, may have cost as much as $2 million, according to an analysis by a Washington, D.C., investigative newsletter." [Science News, May 24, 2013] [11] [12]

The Cancer Letter has received numerous awards for reporting on issues such as mammography screening, dietary supplements, industry conflicts of interest including the ImClone scandal, and medical device hazards. [3]

Web presence

The Cancer Letter maintains a website for distribution of its newsletters, publication of occasional special interest articles, and dissemination of a collection of documents associated with articles in the newsletter.

Coverage issues

ImClone

Reports on findings of the investigational monoclonal antibody Erbitux began appearing in The Cancer Letter in November 2001. Erbitux was in development as a cancer therapeutic drug by the pharmaceutical company ImClone Systems, Inc. Paul Goldberg documented the missteps in FDA filings by ImClone that led to the failure to secure proper licensing for the drug and the subsequent precipitous drop in the value of ImClone stock. ImClone shareholders then filed class action lawsuits against the company. Though not covered by The Cancer Letter, the ImClone scandal included the episode of insider stock trading that resulted in a 5-month prison term for media celebrity Martha Stewart. [13]

Duke University Genomics

Reporting by The Cancer Letter was key in bringing the spotlight to problems within a Duke University cancer research group producing problematic research results, as reported by the CBS investigative journalist show 60 Minutes on March 5, 2012: "Many trusted [Dr. Anil Potti] because Dr. Potti's work had been vindicated. But there was just one more thing - discovered, not by a scientist, but by Paul Goldberg, the editor of a small independent newsletter called 'The Cancer Letter.' Goldberg got a tip from a confidential source: check Dr. Potti's Rhodes scholarship. It was right there on his applications for federal grants. Trouble was it wasn't true." [14] The Duke research group had eleven scientific journal articles retracted, seven others corrected, and one partially retracted. [15] CBS News, 60 Minutes won a Peabody award for the reporting. [16]

Related Research Articles

ImClone Systems Incorporated was a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to developing biologic medicines in the area of oncology. It was founded in 1984 and had its corporate headquarters in Bridgewater, New Jersey, and its research headquarters in New York City. On October 6, 2008, it accepted a $6.5 billion acquisition offer from Eli Lilly and Company, and became a fully-owned subsidiary of Eli Lilly and Company on November 24, 2008. Prior to the acquisition, it was traded on the NASDAQ stock exchange under the symbol IMCL. Imclone lost its separate identity in 2014 when its former ImClone research and manufacturing sites were renamed Eli Lilly and Company.

Samuel D. Waksal is the founder and former CEO of the biopharmaceutical company ImClone Systems. He is also the founder of Kadmon Pharmaceuticals, which was financed with private capital and commenced operations in New York City in 2010. At ImClone, Waksal led the company to develop the cancer drug Erbitux (cetuximab). During the course of its review process with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Waksal became involved in an insider trading scandal revolving around improper communications with personal friends and family members. He was convicted of several securities violations, served time in federal prison, and was released.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cetuximab</span> Pharmaceutical drug

Cetuximab, sold under the brand name Erbitux, is an epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitor medication used for the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer and head and neck cancer. Cetuximab is a chimeric (mouse/human) monoclonal antibody given by intravenous infusion.

A U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and U.S. Attorney probe of trading in the shares of ImClone Systems resulted in a widely publicized criminal case, which resulted in prison terms for businesswoman and television personality Martha Stewart, ImClone CEO Samuel D. Waksal and Stewart's broker at Merrill Lynch, Peter Bacanovic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KRAS</span> Protein-coding gene in humans

KRAS is a gene that provides instructions for making a protein called K-Ras, a part of the RAS/MAPK pathway. The protein relays signals from outside the cell to the cell's nucleus. These signals instruct the cell to grow and divide (proliferate) or to mature and take on specialized functions (differentiate). It is called KRAS because it was first identified as a viral oncogene in the KirstenRAt Sarcoma virus. The oncogene identified was derived from a cellular genome, so KRAS, when found in a cellular genome, is called a proto-oncogene.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">José Baselga</span> Spanish oncologist (1959–2021)

Josep Baselga i Torres, known in Spanish as José Baselga, was a Spanish medical oncologist and researcher focused on the development of novel molecular targeted agents, with a special emphasis in breast cancer. Through his career he was associated with the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Vall d'Hebron Institute of Oncology, and the Massachusetts General Hospital in their hematology and oncology divisions. He led the development of the breast cancer treatment Herceptin, a monoclonal antibody, that targets the HER2 protein, which is impacted in aggressive breast cancers.

James Lewis Abbruzzese is the Chief of the Duke Division of Medical Oncology and Associate Director for Clinical Research for the Duke Cancer Institute. Previously, Abbruzzese was Chairman of the Department of Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center where he held the M. G. and Lillie A. Johnson Chair for Cancer Treatment and Research and the Annie Laurie Howard Research Distinguished Professorship. Abbruzzese is one of the world's leaders in the clinical study and treatment of pancreatic cancer.

The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) is a professional organization representing physicians of all oncology sub-specialties who care for people with cancer. Founded in 1964 by Fred Ansfield, Harry Bisel, Herman Freckman, Arnoldus Goudsmit, Robert Talley, William Wilson, and Jane C. Wright, it has nearly 45,000 members worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Agus</span> English scientist, American physician, Professor of Medicine and Engineering and author

David B. Agus is an American physician, cancer researcher and author who serves as a professor of medicine and engineering at the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine and Viterbi School of Engineering and the Founding Director and CEO of the Lawrence J. Ellison Institute for Transformative Medicine. He is also the cofounder of several personalized medicine companies and a contributor to CBS News on health topics. He is also the author of four books.

Spectrum Pharmaceuticals is an American biopharmaceutical company located in Boston, MA. It develops and markets drugs for treatments in hematology and oncology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Sawyers</span> American physician-scientist (born 1959)

Charles L. Sawyers is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) investigator who holds the Marie-Josée and Henry R. Kravis Chair of the Human Oncology and Pathogenesis Program (HOPP) at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK). HOPP is a program created in 2006 that comprises researchers from many disciplines to bridge clinical and laboratory discoveries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Mendelsohn (doctor)</span>

John Mendelsohn was a president of the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. He was an internationally recognized leader in cancer research.

Anil Potti is a physician and former Duke University associate professor and cancer researcher, focusing on oncogenomics. He, along with Joseph Nevins, are at the center of a research fabrication scandal at Duke University. On 9 November 2015, the Office of Research Integrity (ORI) found that Potti had engaged in research misconduct. According to Potti's voluntary settlement agreement with ORI, Potti can continue to perform research with the requirement of supervision until year 2020, while he "neither admits nor denies ORI's findings of research misconduct." As of 2020 Potti, who is employed at the Cancer Center of North Dakota, has had 11 of his research publications retracted, one publication has received an expression of concern, and two others have been corrected.

The Collaborative Ependymoma Research Network (CERN) Foundation is a nonprofit organization composed of scientists and adult and pediatric cancer researchers who work together to develop new treatments for Ependymoma, a type of primary brain or spinal cord tumor that occurs in both children and adults, and improve the outcomes and care of patients. The organization is headquartered in Dayton, Ohio, USA.

Daniel Albo is an American surgeon, medical researcher, and pioneer in minimally invasive gastrointestinal surgical oncology. He has published in areas including laparoscopic colorectal surgery and surgical oncology. He is the director of surgical oncology services and the director of health services research at the Georgia Regents University Cancer Center.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julie Ann Sosa</span> American surgeon

Julie Ann Sosa, MD, MA, FACS, is professor and chair of the Department of Surgery at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and holds the Leon Goldman, MD, Distinguished Professorship in Surgery. She currently serves as the Treasurer of the American Thyroid Association and Editor-in-Chief of the World Journal of Surgery.

Philip Greenberg is a Professor of Medicine, Oncology and Immunology at the University of Washington and Head of Program in Immunology at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. His research is centered around T cell biology and therapeutic cell therapies. He is a co-founder of Juno Therapeutics and Affini-T.

Richard B. Gaynor is an American physician specializing in hematology-oncology, educator, drug developer, and business executive. He served as an Associate Professor of Medicine at UCLA School of Medicine for nearly a decade, and subsequently as an endowed Professor of Medicine and Microbiology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School prior to joining the pharmaceutical industry in 2002. His research on NF-κB, IκB kinase, and other mechanisms regulating viral and cellular gene expression has been covered in leading subject reviews. He has been a top executive at several pharmaceutical companies, with respect to the development and clinical testing of novel anticancer drugs and cell therapies. For over a decade and a half, he worked at Eli Lilly and Company, where he became the Senior Vice President of Oncology Clinical Development and Medical Affairs in 2013. Gaynor was President of R&D at Neon Therapeutics from 2016 to 2020, when he became the President of BioNTech US, both pharmaceutical companies headquartered in Cambridge, MA. His honors include being elected a member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation, and the Association of American Physicians.

Paul Goldberg (1959-present) is a Russian-American writer and the long-time editor and publisher of The Cancer Letter. His debut novel was The Yid (2016).

References

  1. ↑ "The Cancer Letter".
  2. 1 2 "Jerry D. Boyd, founding editor of The Cancer Letter, pioneer of cancer journalism, dies at 91 – The Cancer Letter". cancerletter.com. 27 September 2019. Retrieved 2019-11-18.
  3. 1 2 "Journalism Awards – the Cancer Letter".
  4. ↑ "About TCL – The Cancer Letter". cancerletter.com. Retrieved 2019-11-18.
  5. ↑ "Institutional Subscriptions – The Cancer Letter". cancerletter.com. Retrieved 2019-11-18.
  6. ↑ "Advertise – The Cancer Letter". cancerletter.com. Retrieved 2019-11-18.
  7. ↑ "The Cancer Letter, Vol. 1 No. 1". The Cancer Letter. December 21, 1973. Retrieved November 18, 2019.
  8. ↑ "Anticipating fundamental change in oncology – The Cancer Letter". cancerletter.com. 15 December 2017. Retrieved 2019-11-18.
  9. ↑ Jetter, Alexis (2001-05-29). "Newsletter Trains Muckraking Eye on Cancer World". The New York Times.
  10. ↑ Wadman, Meredith (2012). "Grant review opens up Texas-sized rift". Nature. 486 (7402): 169–171. Bibcode:2012Natur.486..169W. doi: 10.1038/486169a . PMID   22699589.
  11. ↑ "Lavish Furnishings at MD Anderson Cancer Center Questioned". 2013-05-24.
  12. ↑ "The Cancer Letter – May 24, 2013 – the Cancer Letter Publications".
  13. ↑ Michael Barbaro (2002-08-05). "A Medical Muckraker". The Washington Post . Washington, D.C. ISSN   0190-8286. OCLC   1330888409.
  14. ↑ "Deception at Duke: Fraud in cancer care?". CBS News . 5 March 2012.
  15. ↑ "The Anil Potti retraction record so far". 14 February 2012.
  16. ↑ "Deception at Duke".
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.