Maurie Markman, MD

If there was any remaining question regarding the revolutionary impact of the Internet on communication between physicians and patients, a recent report provides a most provocative answer. In a survey conducted by Manhattan Research, "Physicians in 2012: The Outlook on Health Information Technology", it was noted that 39% of physicians use some form of electronic media such as e-mail, instant messaging, and secure messaging to communicate with their patients.

Electronic communication technologies have radically changed our world, transforming almost every aspect of our daily lives. Most of the tasks we need to perform can be handled electronically, from paying bills and shopping to communicating with friends and family.

More than 75% of the healthcare providers surveyed agreed that patients with cancer benefit from participating in a clinical trial.

PREVIOUS STUDIES HAVE shown that stress often accompanies a diagnosis of cancer, and patients who report high levels of stress often have worse outcomes.

Two seemingly unrelated news items that recently appeared in the lay press and that discussed important public health policy issues prompted the writing of this editor's page.

It is well-recognized that medicine is becoming far more complex with each passing year, especially cancer medicine. It was not that many years ago when an oncologist caring for a patient with advanced lung cancer would only need to know if the malignancy was small cell versus any other histology (squamous, adenocarcinoma, large cell, bronchoalveolar) to develop a rational management plan.

The increasingly important role of the Internet in disseminating health-related information to patients and the general public has been described in several publications and is the topic of this month's cover story.

The Internet has revolutionized how information is disseminated and goods are transferred, which has had a profound effect on the medical world.

The explosion of data available though analyses of genetic information on malignant cell lines, human cancer specimens, and �normal tissue� has revolutionized scientific exploration into the causes of cancer, and has helped us understand tumor aggressiveness and why certain cancers are resistant to treatment while others are sensitive to a wide spectrum of anti-neoplastic drug regimens.

The increasing popularity of social networking Websites is one of the more interesting aspects of the rapidly evolving information technology sector, as it allows families, friends, business associates, or simply people with similar interests to easily communicate with each other, either privately or in a public forum.

Two recent provocative newspaper articles and an editorial that appeared in a major medical journal serve as an excellent introduction to this brief commentary on the currently underappreciated and potentially serious implications for the medical community regarding the rapidly expanding arena of Internet-based social networking.

The quest for a useful, robust, and universally available electronic health record (EHR) has generated considerable momentum over the past several years.

Electronic communication technologies have radically changed our world, transforming almost every aspect of our daily lives. Most of the tasks we need to perform can be handled electronically, from paying bills and shopping to communicating with friends and family.

We are all now quite familiar with a number of commercial organizations that claim to provide objective and meaningful evaluations of a variety of common societal activities.

It never ceases to amaze me how quickly and efficiently purveyors of unregulated nonscientific and potentially dangerous "alternative medical" products can mobilize their Web-based marketing strategies after a serious new public health concern becomes well-publicized.

Three studies examine a treatment, a diagnostic, and the risk of thromboembolism after pelvic surgery, respectively.

Moroney and colleagues discussed the preliminary results of a novel phase I combination of liposomal doxorubicin, bevacizumab, and temsirolimus.

Ware and associates described a multi-institutional experience that examined the American Society of Obstetricians referral guidelines for a pelvic mass.

Three highly provocative papers from the Gynecologic Oncology Group were presented during the initial plenary session of SGO.

On the Internet, e-cigarettes have been marketed as a method for smoking cessation, and an online survey revealed that users thought they were a healthy alternative to smoking traditional cigarettes; however, the FDA has not approved these devices for this purpose.

New options for communication and data storage continue to be developed and are quickly changing how business is conducted; however, there are several areas relevant to health and education that have not moved as rapidly along the evolutionary track from paper to electronic, one of which is medical and textbook publishing.

The websites and other resources your patients find on the Internet may downplay or ignore clinical evidence that herbal supplements may promote tumor growth or impair the effectiveness of established cancer treatments.