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The "Guidelines, Practice, and Advocacy Open House Featuring Digital Demos" session had two things going for it that made it an easy choice for us to attend the and cover it for MDNG readers: 1) the tagline "Technology Solutions that You Can Afford" and 2) the triple bill of David Kibbe, MD; former MDNG: Neurology Edition Physician Editor-in-Chief Daniel Hier, MD, MBA, FAAN; and current MDNG: Neurology Edition Health IT Advisory Board member and columnist Steven Zuckerman, MD. The good doctors (and their colleagues) did not disappoint.

This debate featured Don Kemper, CEO of Healthwise, and Matthew Holt, co-founder of Health 2.0, LLC, discussing information therapy and Health 2.0, and why they thought one was better than the other.

It's the patient's job to manage his or her care, while the doctor's job is to provide the necessary tools and treatment.

Alternating mammography and MRI every 6 months appears to be the best way to detect cancer in high-risk women, an M.D. Anderson study found. This strategy can identify cancers not found by mammography alone, said Huong Le-Petross, MD, assistant professor, Diagnostic Radiology, who presented a retrospective pilot study at a poster session during the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

Previous studies have shown that the Oncotype DX Recurrence Score accurately estimates the risk of breast cancer recurrence in postmenopausal women with a diagnosis of invasive node-negative early stage estrogen-receptor–positive breast cancer who have undergone treatment with tamoxifen.

One of the primary goals in oncology research is finding ways to predict each woman’s individual risk of breast cancer.

Estimating survival for patients with early breast cancer for up to 15 years is possible, report researchers from Duke.

Herceptin plus docetaxel/cyclophosphamide (HER TC) adjuvant therapy—a non-anthracycline-containing regimen—was tolerable with acceptable safety for lower risk patients with HER2-positive early breast cancer, according to a large Phase II study.

Previous research indicates that dense breast tissue is a risk factor for breast cancer development. Some studies have suggested that women who have highly dense breasts (≥60%-75% dense tissue) were as much as six times more likely to develop carcinoma of the breast than women whose breasts consisted primarily of fatty tissue.

Tamoxifen, long considered the gold standard for treating estrogen-receptor (ER) positive, early-stage breast cancer, is known to increase the risk of thrombotic events (blood clots).

Researchers have released findings from a large retrospective study showing that women treated for early stage HER2-positive breast cancer tumors ≤ 1cm have a significantly greater risk of recurrence than women whose tumors are HER2-negative.

Although hormonal therapy with aromatase inhibitors is highly effective at preventing recurrence in menopausal women with breast cancer, several studies have shown that adherence leaves something to be desired.

Although the symposium focused on neurosurgery-specific content, it is still important that all neurologists are aware of the technological advancements in imaging, electrophysiology, and brain modeling that are happening all of the time.

Saturday night Robert Fisher, MD, professor of neurology and director of the Stanford Epilepsy Center, presented the first public results of the stimulation of the anterior nucleus of the thalamus in epilepsy (SANTE).

When physicians first realize they are being sued for malpractice, they feel %u201Cshame, anger, depression, a loss of control, and a crisis of confidence."

I was struck by the deep, eye-crossing complexity of it all, and the overwhelming potential for confusion and uncertainty generated by this process.

This abstract oral session featured several researchers who reviewed (quite quickly) the results of their studies, focused on such topics as spatiotemporal behavior of high dominant frequency, isoproterenol agents, mistakes in the use of amiodarone and anticoagulation management, and 3D transesophageal ultrasound. Highlights of these studies are provided below.

A study reveals a beneficial effect of tamoxifen on breast cancer recurrences at 10 and 15 years of follow-up in women with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS).

Updates to the NCCN Prostate Cancer Guidelines were presented by James L. Mohler, MD.