Announcing a New Partnership and an Opportunity for Growth

It is my sincere honor and pleasure to initiate a partnership between Intellisphere’s Oncology Specialty Group and the John Theurer Cancer Center at Hackensack University Medical Center, and to assume the responsibility of editor-in-chief of Oncology & Biotech News.

With its full slate of magazines, journals, special projects, and Web site, the Oncology Specialty Group has made its mission clear: To provide oncology specialists, including medical and surgical oncologists, hematologists, and radiologists, with the most current information about cancer and to explain how that information can be used to improve multiple aspects of your practice.

The John Theurer Cancer Center is proud to be partnering with Intellisphere to advance this mission by overseeing editorial content development and helping to provide in-depth content, new learning opportunities, and bestpractice approaches to cancer care.

A Commitment to Research and Education

Intellisphere’s presence in the oncology market has grown steadily during the past few years. That presence is best represented by its 4 main publications: Oncology & Biotech News, Contemporary Oncology, OncLive Nursing, and OncLive (the newly rechristened Oncology Net Guide).

The research and news published in print and online help bridge the gap between innovation and application in state-of-the-art cancer care. Intellisphere’s oncology publications make it easy for busy oncologists to keep abreast of the latest developments by providing timely, concise, and practical coverage of this dynamic field.

It is for this reason—the ability to play an active role in delivering reliable information that helps improve cancer care—that we at the John Theurer Cancer Center immediately gravitated to this opportunity and were excited to form this partnership.

During the past few years, the John Theurer Cancer Center has demonstrated its commitment to education by hosting our own professional conferences featuring international experts and by establishing a presence at national conferences, such as the American Society of Hematology (ASH), where our researchers presented more than 40 abstracts in 2010.

Last fall, we hosted a conference entitled “Current and Innovative Modalities in the Management of Hematologic Malignancies” that brought some of the world’s experts to one stage. Speakers included Kenneth C. Anderson, MD, from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Frederick R. Appelbaum, MD, from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, James O. Armitage, MD, from the University of Nebraska, and many others. Highlights from the meeting were published in Oncology & Biotech News, and we look forward to expanding the coverage of these types of events and to bringing our readers innovative concepts, news stories, and research studies that explore current themes in oncology and hematology and how they relate to your practice.

Innovation and Advancement in Cancer Care

Innovative approaches to cancer care are progressing with astounding rapidity. Recent research presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and ASH constitutes an inflection point in diagnostic and therapeutic advances, and the correlation of genomics to both of these areas.

Tissue banks, personalized medicine, targeted therapies, and new devices represent just a few of the cutting-edge shifts in cancer care.

These and many more are part of the fabric of the daily approach to fulfilling our own mission at the John Theurer Cancer Center: To provide extraordinary care to every patient who comes into contact with our professionals.

Extraordinary Care

For the past 10 years, I have been the chairman of the John Theurer Cancer Center and recently became the chief innovation officer for the Hackensack University Medical Center.

I am proud of our current standing. Our team of researchers has published more than 100 peerreviewed articles within the past year. Plus, as one of the largest cancer centers in the country based on volume, we have taken a national leadership role in several key areas of cancer care.

With 14 specialized divisions, leading innovative technologies such as TrueBeam™ and the da Vinci® Surgical System, one of the largest stem-cell programs in the country, and a tumor bank that strategically positions us for the movement toward personalized medicine and targeted therapies, we are constantly striving to treat not only the most common cancers, but also the most challenging cases.

In a brand new 155,000-squarefoot cancer center specially designed to be patient-centric, we apply a multidisciplinary approach that offers some of the best nurses, allied health staff, and researchers in the nation.

Patient satisfaction and the patient experience are also of utmost importance to us. Our second annual “Celebrating Life and Liberty” event on Ellis Island brought together more than 1500 patients, caregivers, and family members last fall. We also host many other events that provide patients and their loved ones the opportunity to access a tremendous support network and to understand how to cope with their treatment in the context of their daily lives. Intellisphere’s family of oncology publications shares that commitment to patient care by providing ongoing coverage of patient stories and sharing other cancer centers’ innovative strategies that have improved the patient experience.

The Future of Cancer Care

As we look to the future and assess where approaches to cancer are moving, there is a pressing need to continue the momentum that has been established through recent innovative techniques, and to ensure that all physicians have access to credible information so that the field continues to learn and advance.

Our partnership with the Intellisphere Oncology Specialty Group is a tremendous opportunity to garner the latest advancements in cancer prevention, diagnosis, and treatment and apply them to daily practice in a way that is relevant and helpful. Moreover, as the national healthcare landscape rapidly evolves with the formation of accountable care organizations and as consumer demand for transparent, value-based healthcare increases, we will provide a running, informative commentary to keep you abreast of the changes and to help you best position your practice.

To that end, we invite the readers of these publications to participate as much as possible. We want to ensure that the material we provide brings together what is occurring at the bench, in the clinic, and in the marketplace to address the real challenges, obstacles, and opportunities that you experience in your practice.

We look forward to hearing from you. Together we hope to promote a better understanding of the wide-ranging approaches to cancer care and, just as importantly, their implications for our daily practices and our patients.