From the Editor: A Word of Welcome

Andre Goy, MD, MS

It is my sincere pleasure to be joining Contemporary Oncology as the Editor-in-Chief. In this role, I hope to help the journal achieve its mission in bringing readers high-quality, peer-reviewed research, provocative commentaries, and personal patient stories.

As the Chairman and Chief of the Lymphoma Division of the John Theurer Cancer Center at Hackensack University Medical Center and an avid oncology educator and researcher for more than 25 years, I am keenly aware of the importance of obtaining relevant and current clinical cancer information. The partnership between John Theurer Cancer Center and Intellisphere’s Oncology Specialty Group will help ensure that we are delivering timely information that you can apply in your practice.

The breadth and depth of new technology, targeted therapies, and new diagnostics heralds a truly exciting age for our specialty. Understanding the latest research— from novel therapies to translational and personalized medicine—allows us to deliver the best cancer care to our patients. Contemporary Oncology will provide reviews of standards of care in oncology that focus on the practical application of these emerging new treatment modalities.

The John Theurer Cancer Center has been fortunate to have played a critical role in some of the recent progress in cancer care. Our Blood and Marrow Stem Cell Transplantation team performed more than 350 transplants last year—half of which were allogenic. We initially were the lead enroller in the pivotal trial of trastuzumab (Herceptin) in breast cancer. Since then we have continued to be among the premier centers for the development of several new compounds from tyrosine kinase inhibitors and proteasome inhibitors to immunomodulatory derivatives of thalidomide, as well as new monoclonal antibodies. My own research focuses on developing both novel targeted therapies and biomarkers for lymphoma. I reported first the activity of bortezomib in mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) and became the co-principal investigator on the PINNACLE trial—the largest study to date for patients with MCL— which led to the FDA’s approval of Velcade (bortezomib) for patients with relapsed/refractory MCL.

We recently opened a brand-new $130 million outpatient facility that will foster multidisciplinary care across our 14 specialized divisions with a full research platform onsite, including a clinical research team, a phase I unit, and state-of-the-art tumor banking capability. With more than 120 clinical trials currently open for enrollment, we are doing our best to help expand the scientific knowledge of the cancer field.

In addition, we are collaborating with a number of other institutions such as the MD Anderson Cancer Center, Dana- Farber Cancer Institute, Mayo Clinic, and the National Cancer Institute to further our research. We hope to share our collective experience and perspectives with our readers as part of this partnership and help you continue to improve the outcomes for your patients.

I look forward to working with the community of Contemporary Oncology readers and welcome your feedback to help make this publication more relevant and useful to you in your daily practice. We also invite readers to submit research, as this is a tremendous way to highlight achievements and to disseminate knowledge.

The promise of improved cancer care is what drives us all and access to quality information is paramount to ensuring that this progress continues. I am excited about this opportunity and I offer a warm welcome to all of you as we work together to translate innovations in oncology to the community setting.