2D barcodes in new ASCO Post connect readers to more resource

A new print and online publication has been launched by the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).

The print edition is a “newspaper-style” publication that covers oncology meetings around the world, offers summaries of clinical literature from other general and specialty journals, provides cancer-related political commentary, and details specific oncology cases. Columns from editor-in-chief James Armitage, a former ASCO president, will be featured in the title, along with columns from ASCO affiliates Richard Boxer, Nora Janjan, Allen Lichter, John Marshall and George Sledge.

For 2010, ASCO Post will be published monthly, then will increase its publishing cycle to 18 issues per year in 2011. Advertising in the form of banners will appear on the website, and traditional advertising will be present in the print issue.

Articles on the ASCO Post homepage includes updated ASCO guidelines on aromatase inhibitors usage in postmenopausal women with breast cancer, new clinical results showing denosumab's superiority to zoledronic acic in delaying some skeletal events, and an article titled “Now is the time to fix the Medicare physician payment problem,” penned by columnist and ASCO CEO Allen Lichter.

There are also 2D barcodes used in The ASCO Post to connect readers to further information about the articles they are reading. For instance, a report from the ASCO Annual Meeting may include a barcode that will connect readers online to the original abstract of the study discussed. In this way, the editors of The ASCO Post hope to provide readers with further resources and validated information about the news in these pages.

ASCO Post is distributed free to ASCO members in the US, and can be read online free at ASCOPost.com.