Mary Caffrey is the Executive Editor for The American Journal of Managed Care® (AJMC®). She joined AJMC® in 2013 and is the primary staff editor for Evidence-Based Oncology, the multistakeholder publication that reaches 22,000+ oncology providers, policy makers and formulary decision makers. She is also part of the team that oversees speaker recruitment and panel preparations for AJMC®'s premier annual oncology meeting, Patient-Centered Oncology Care®. For more than a decade, Mary has covered ASCO, ASH, ACC and other leading scientific meetings for AJMC readers.
Mary has a BA in communications and philosophy from Loyola University New Orleans. You can connect with Mary on LinkedIn.
Could CAR-NK Cells Using Cord Blood Offer a Treatment for Multiple Myeloma?
September 9th 2022For several years, investigators have examined the potential for allogenic natural killer (NK) cells as an alternative for “off-the-shelf” chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) treatments. New study results presented at the International Myeloma Society (IMS) meeting showed CD38 CAR-NK cells significantly reduced the tumor burden—and improved survival
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Durvalumab With Chemo Wins FDA Approval in Treatment of Biliary Tract Cancers
September 6th 2022An estimated 1 in 4 patients treated with durvalumab and chemotherapy (gemcitabine plus cisplatin) was alive at 2 years compared with 1 in 10 treated with chemotherapy alone, with these results contributing to the FDA's approval of the first immunotherapy to treat these cancers.
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SGLT2 Inhibitors, Combination Therapy Needed to Stem the Tide of CKD in Diabetes
August 20th 2022Katherine R. Tuttle, MD, FASN, FACP, FNKF, a nephrologist from the University of Washington and Providence Health Care, discussed new consensus guidelines that call for the early use of sodium glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors, GLP-1 receptor agonists, and finerenone in the care of patients with both chronic kidney disease (CKD) and diabetes.
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Topline KarMMa-3 Results for Ide-Cel in Multiple Myleoma Show “Significant Improvement” in PFS
August 10th 2022Ide-cel is a B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA)-directed CAR T-cell therapy, which uses the process of genetically modifying a patient’s T cells and infusing them back into the patient to attack the cancer.
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As Health Disparities “Weave Their Way Through Hypertension,” New Agents Are on the Way
August 8th 2022Coverage from the 2022 Congress of the American Society for Preventive Cardiology (ASPC) in Louisville, Kentucky, featuring 3 experts on aspects of hypertension treatment: Keith C. Ferdinand, MD, of Tulane University School of Medicine; Kim Allan Williams, MD, of the University of Louisville; and George C. Bakris, MD, of the University of Chicago Medicine.
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Trastuzumab Deruxtecan Wins Rapid Approval for HER2-Low Breast Cancer
August 6th 2022The approval came exactly 2 months after results from the landmark DESTINY-Breast04 trial showed that the antibody drug conjugate reduced the risk of disease progression or death by 50% compared with chemotherapy for HER2-low patients with both hormone receptor (HR)–positive and HR-negative disease.
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Cardiologists Must “Get Into the Game” With Novel Agents in Patients With Diabetes
August 3rd 2022During the 2022 Congress of the American Society for Preventive Cardiology (ASPC), held in Louisville, Kentucky, Erin D. Michos, MD, MHS, of Johns Hopkins, and Pam R. Taub, MD, of UC San Diego Health, discussed how treatment of diabetes requires going beyond glucose-lowering therapies and including newer medications that offer cardiovascular benefits.
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Gulati on Unequal CV Treatment for Women: “There Is a Bias in Our Care”
August 1st 2022Martha Gulati, MD, MS, kicked off the symposium “Saving the Hearts of Women Through Prevention” ahead of the 2022 Congress of the American Society for Preventive Cardiology, which took place Friday through Sunday in Louisville, Kentucky.
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Social Determinants, Including Racism, Are Major Drivers of Health Inequity, Watson Says
July 31st 2022Social determinants of health are major drivers of the inequities seen in health outcomes, and racism is clearly a social determinant tied to life expectancy, said Karol Watson, MD, PhD, in talk Sunday at the 2022 Congress of the American Society for Preventive Cardiology, held in Louisville, Kentucky.
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Gluckman Calls for Better Data, Payer Policies to Drive Value-Based CV Care
July 30th 2022Ty J. Gluckman, MD, FACC, FAHA, who is medical director of the Center for Cardiovascular Analytics, Research, and Data Science at Providence St. Joseph Health in Portland, Oregon, addressed the 2022 Congress of the American Society for Preventive Cardiology meeting in Louisville, Kentucky.
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Duke’s Douglas Highlights Need for Respect in Promoting Diversity, Health Equity
July 30th 2022Duke University’s Pamela S. Douglas, MD, spoke to cardiology professionals who gathered for the start of the 2022 Congress of the American Society for Preventive Cardiology (ASPC), in Louisville, Kentucky.
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Early Use of Novel Therapies in Multiple Myeloma Could Target Bone Marrow Microenvironment
July 28th 2022Authors explained how multiple myeloma emerges from earlier clinical phases and the tumor’s microenvironment in the early course of the disease plays a critical role in the survival of myeloma cells.
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After Transplant, City of Hope Patient in Long-term Remission From HIV and Leukemia
July 27th 2022City of Hope has announced that a patient living with HIV, who received a stem cell transplant from an unrelated donor to treat acute myelogenous leukemia, has been in remission from both diseases since 2019.
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Ravi B. Parikh, MD, MPP, assistant professor, Department of Medical Ethics and Health Policy and Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, presented long-term results from an experiment with an algorithm designed to prompt oncologists to have serious illness conversations.
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Dr Anne McCall Discusses How Louisiana’s History Will Shape Xavier/Takeda Partnership
July 21st 2022In part 2 of our interview with Anne McCall, PhD, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at Xavier University of Louisiana, she discusses in greater detail the university’s 3-year partnership with Takeda, in particular how the directions it goes in will be influenced by the history of unequal health care delivery in the state.
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ASCO Spotlight With Randall A. Oyer, MD: Clinical Trials Must Be Accessible to Everyone
July 21st 2022Randall A. Oyer, MD, medical director of the Ann B. Barshinger Cancer Institute, medical director of oncology, and medical director of the Cancer Risk Evaluation Program, Lancaster General Health, discusses recommendations to improve diversity in clinical trials.
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Survey Finds Shift in Clinician Views of MRD Status in Treatment Decisions for Multiple Myeloma
July 16th 2022Results looking at acceptance of minimal residual disease (MRD) status found that 60% of participants “would change at least one decision based on an MRD result,” and 54% would use both MRD status and disease risk to make decisions.
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