Search Results for "ASCO"

A hyped news release gets revised at ASCO: Did it lead to improved coverage from journalists?
We often write about the problems arising from hyped news releases coming out of medical conferences. But I don’t think we’ve ever written about an over-the-top news release getting toned down — and re-released — with more cautious language. Kudos to the media team at the annual meeting of the American Society for Clinical Oncology […]
ASCO offers a positive spin on cancer drug survival stats while downplaying severe side effects
While researchers saw slightly slower cancer growth, patients receiving immunotherapy on average felt worse, while not living any longer.


Adding Atezolizumab Immunotherapy to Chemotherapy Slows Growth of Advanced Squamous Lung Cancer

ASCO pumps up a one-sided view of lung cancer screening: Here’s what most of the coverage missed
Among the thousands of research abstracts released to the public on Wednesday by the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), just six were selected to be highlighted in a news conference with journalists. Of those six, one was an analysis showing only about 2% of heavy smokers are screened for lung cancer despite a recommendation […]

ASCO 2018: How a major medical meeting uses embargoes to shape the news, and what the consequences may be
Later today the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) will hold a virtual “presscast” giving journalists a sneak preview into a handful of “new, high-impact studies” that will be presented at their annual meeting two weeks from now. Just six out of 2,500 abstracts were selected for the preview. “Many medical meetings do this and I’ll […]
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American Diabetes Association’s Twitter fiasco: Does it matter to patients?
The American Diabetes Association (ADA) sparked a social media uproar at its annual conference in San Diego earlier this month when it restricted participants from posting photographs of slide presentations on Twitter: The response by conference attendees — especially those quite active on social media — was brisk, passionate, and hinted at “Orwellian” censorship. Medscape, […]
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High drug costs (and stock values) take center stage at final day of ASCO
For the past few days we’ve been keeping a close eye on the news coverage coming out of the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), the world’s largest cancer research conference: Small studies get big headlines at ASCO 2017 6 things to keep in mind if you read cancer-related news in […]

Small studies get big headlines at ASCO 2017
Nearly 40,000 cancer specialists have converged in Chicago for the world’s largest cancer meeting. The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting — which began last Friday and runs through tomorrow — traditionally draws international media attention. As our deputy managing editor, Joy Victory, reported last week, it has become a perennial exercise in spotting […]
5/17/2013Here we go again: early news on early abstract release from ASCO
The following is a guest post by Harold DeMonaco, MS, one of our expert reviewers on HealthNewsReview.org, and a frequent guest blogger on this site. ———————- The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) will hold its annual meeting starting on May 31st in Chicago, Illinois. While we have consistently cautioned against over reading the abstracts […]
6/4/2012“Miracle…breakthrough…magic bullet” news flooding from ASCO meeting
This is a familiar story now being re-told. Excitement over an experimental drug is conveyed with unnecessarily sensational language that doesn’t help anyone. That’s what happened in recent days with some – not all – news about the experimental drug T-DM1 coming out of the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting in Chicago. It would […]
2 5/24/2012ASCO & the news-making sausage factory
Journalist-turned-PR man Brian Reid wrote an important guest post on the Embargo Watch blog this week. It’s about the release of information from the huge American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting – about to dominate the news cycle from June 1-5 from McCormick Place in Chicago. It provides an insider’s look at the sausage-making factory […]
6/9/2010And another Cancer Society leader criticizes ASCO news coverage
Dr. Len Lichtenfeld of the American Cancer Society joins his colleague, Dr. Otis Brawley, in writing about his concerns about news coverage of the big American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting. Lichtenfeld cites a specific example, and drills down in more detail: “Most of the media hypes the study which demonstrated improvement in treatment of […]
5/22/2009Problems with news coverage of early release of ASCO abstracts
This is a troubling trend. HealthNewsReview.org has now reviewed four stories based on abstracts for the American Society for Clinical Oncology meeting that won’t even be held until next week. Woloshin & Schwartz wrote the excellent paper pointing out the flaws of drawing conclusions from presentations at scientific meetings, but this stuff hasn’t even been […]

Tech sites hype Apple Watch for COVID-19 prediction without providing the evidence
Milwaukee oncologist Michael Thompson, MD, wrote to me yesterday morning (February 10) about an article – “New Study Suggests Apple Watch Heart Rate Sensor Can Predict COVID-19 Up to a Week Before a Swab Test” – promoted on Twitter by MacRumors.com. The story was about the so-called Warrior Watch Study at Mount Sinai Medical Center in […]

How one bit of medical jargon fuels public confusion about cancer treatments
Most new cancer treatments haven’t been proven to help patients live longer or feel better. Instead they delay the growth of tumors — which may be faster to measure but doesn’t necessarily indicate a tangible benefit for patients. But you wouldn’t grasp that sobering fact from some recent news coverage: A headline in the UK’s […]

A veteran science communicator’s guidelines for PR news releases on medical research
Earlier this week, HealthNewsReview publisher Gary Schwitzer wrote that the free news release review program he had offered was shutting down. You could almost hear the disappointment in his explanation that barely more than a half-dozen institutions took advantage of this offer in the past 20 months it was available. “What more we can […]