News | Conquer Cancer, the ASCO Foundation

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Conquer Cancer, the ASCO Foundation, is pleased to announce the recipients of its 2021 ASCO Annual Meeting Merit Awards. 

These distinguished awards support oncology trainees who are first authors on abstracts selected for presentation at the ASCO Annual Meeting. This year, Conquer Cancer will recognize 164 recipients with Merit Awards. These oncology professionals are recognized for their respective field and research advancements within the cancer care community.

Journalist Craig Melvin and Conquer Cancer researcher Kimmie Ng, MD, MPH, discuss the troubling increase of young-onset colorectal cancer and advocate for screening and awareness.

When the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force released its draft guidance to lower the colon cancer screening age from 50 to 45 in November 2020, Craig Melvin was on the story.

Conquer Cancer, the ASCO Foundation, is celebrating the life of Marc Citron, MD. Dr. Citron was a research pioneer and Conquer Cancer donor, who died February 25, 2020, from recurrent glioblastoma. He was 72.

Researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center published a study in Nature Medicine showing promising results for patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The study, called the NEOSTAR trial, is the first randomized Phase II clinical trial to report on single and combined neoadjuvant immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy in stage I-III NSCLC. The study’s lead author, Tina Cascone, MD, PhD., assistant professor of Thoracic/Head & Neck Medical Oncology at MD Anderson, is a three-time Conquer Cancer award recipient.