April 23rd 2021
The CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted to uphold the original language of the emergency use authorization for Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccination, and is possible the 1-dose vaccine could resume Saturday.
New Drug Approvals in Leukemia and Lymphoma Presented at ASH 2017
December 19th 2017The FDA was busy in 2017, with a number of notable approvals, including the first chimeric antigen receptor T-cell treatment. In a session at the 59th American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting and Exposition in Atlanta, Georgia, employees from the FDA presented data on 5 new drug approvals in leukemia and lymphoma in 2017.
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Diagnosing Non-Chemotherapy Drug-Induced Neutropenia
December 16th 2017In a session at the 59th American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting and Exposition in Atlanta, Georgia, Brian Curtis, PhD, of the BloodCenter of Wisconsin Blood Research Institute, highlighted drugs other than chemotherapy that may cause neutropenia in patients.
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Discussions at the 59th Annual Meeting and Exposition of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) included progress reports on genetically modified immunotherapy treatments, a new treatment paradigm for advanced Hodgkin lymphoma, possibility of treatment-free remission in chronic myelogenous leukemia, and challenges with hospice utilization for patients with leukemia.
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This Week in Managed Care: December 15, 2017
December 15th 2017This week, the top managed care news included coverage from the 59th American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting and Exposition; recommendations on the use of diabetes drugs with cardiovascular indications; and a new study found that despite changes in insurance plans to give consumers more clout, unnecessary medical spending remains a problem.
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Dr Julie Wolfson Highlights Different Outcomes in AYAs With ALL Compared With Children
December 12th 2017Adolescents and young adults with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) tend to have worse outcomes than children with ALL, and new research published at the 59th American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting delved into the reasons why, explained Julie A. Wolfson, MD, of the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine.
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Dr Thomas LeBlanc: Patients With Blood Cancers Less Likely to Use Hospice Care
December 11th 2017Patients with blood cancers tend to use hospice care services less frequently overall than patients with solid tumors. While there has been an increase in hospice care use in patients with blood cancers, there has been a failure to increase hospice use meaningfully, according to Thomas LeBlanc, MD, of the Duke Cancer Institute.
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Dr Nina Shah on the Benefits of Outpatient HSCT When Possible
December 11th 2017Providing outpatient hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) when patients are eligible is a good way to reduce costs, without impacting outcomes, explained Nina Shah, MD, associate professor, University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine.
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CTL019 More Cost Effective in Pediatric Patients With Acute Lymphoblastic Lymphoma
December 11th 2017Two abstracts at the 59th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology in Atlanta, Georgia found that CTL019 shows promising potential in providing significant benefit and cost effectiveness for pediatric and young adult patients with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia in both the United States and the United Kingdom.
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Dr Derek Raghavan Outlines Challenges to Implementing Evidence-Based Guidelines
December 10th 2017Physician belief in the art of medicine is running up against the challenge of costs being shifted to patients and health systems and the desire of payers to have less variation in care, said Derek Raghavan, MD, PhD, FACP, FRACP, president, Carolinas HealthCare System's Levine Cancer Institute.
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Dr Kerry Rogers: Ibrutinib's Impact on Vaccine Response
December 10th 2017Ibrutinib has the potential to improve vaccine response for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, and an ongoing trial will help provide a better understanding, explained Kerry Rogers, MD, assistant professor, internal medicine, Division of Hematology, The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center.
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Treatment-Free Remission and Preventing Cardiotoxicity: The Future of CML Care
December 10th 2017During a session on the first day of the 59th Annual Meeting and Exposition of the American Society of Hematology in Atlanta, Georgia, physicians shared current knowledge on cardiovascular toxicities of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) as well as the potential for treatment-free remission with these agents.
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Using Time Spent at Home to Measure End-of-Life Care Quality
December 9th 2017In a large population of patients who died from hematologic malignancies, the majority spent over 120 days at home in the last 6 months of life. Certain demographic features, such as age and gender, indicate which patients are more likely to die at home and suggest an important role for access to caregiver support, according to an abstract presented at the 59th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology in Atlanta, Georgia.
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The Effects of Myeloproliferative Neoplasm Symptoms on Quality of Life
December 9th 2017A secondary analysis presented at the 59th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology found that all individual symptoms of myeloproliferative neoplasms correlate with quality of life (QoL), and having either 1 severe symptom or having multiple symptoms of moderate intensity was meaningfully correlated with QoL reduction.
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Significant Economic Burden Associated With Various AML Treatment Episodes
December 8th 2017Acute myeloid leukemia treatment episodes such as high-intensity chemotherapy, low-intensity chemotherapy, hematopoietic stem cell transplant, and relapsed-refractory patient episodes pose a significant substantial burden, according to an analysis presented at the 59th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology in Atlanta, Georgia.
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Patients With AL Amyloidosis From Lower Socioeconomic Status Report Lower Quality of Life
December 8th 2017Patients with AL amyloidosis from lower socioeconomic status groups, defined in terms of education or employment, conveyed lower health-related quality of life compared to patients with more years of education and/or professional/managerial positions, according to an abstract presented at the 59th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology.
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Ibrutinib More Effective Than Stem-Cell Transplant in Patients With Form of Chronic Leukemia
December 7th 2017An analysis presented at the 59th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology showed that against a 3-year horizon, ibrutinib succeeds in overall survival (OS) and progression free suvrvival (PFS) over hematopoetic stem-cell transplantation (HSCT) in the treatment of patients with relapsed/refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia with 17p deletion. Against a lifetime horizon, ibrutinib still proved to be superior in OS and PFS over HSCT, but is no longer cost saving as treatment costs continue.
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Systematic Review Finds Elevated Reporting for Thromboembolic Events With JAK Inhibitors
December 5th 2017A systematic review of the FDA’s Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) found elevated reporting for both tofacitinib (Xeljanz) and ruxolitinib (Jakafi) for thromboembolic adverse events (AEs), suggesting the possibility of a class-wide issue with Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors.
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The Importance of Teamwork in Oncology Care Transitions
December 1st 2017A panel on the importance of clinical and non-clinical stakeholders in a patient’s care trajectory brought together a diverse group of stakeholders at The American Journal of Managed Care®’s Patient-Centered Oncology Care® meeting.
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African Americans Are More Likely to Have MM, but Are Underrepresented in Research
November 30th 2017While African Americans are 3 times more likely than Caucasians to be diagnosed with multiple myeloma (MM)—and twice as likely to die of the disease—they are underrepresented in MM disease research.
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Substantial Proportion of Patients Diagnosed With Incident Cancer Have Survived a Prior Cancer
November 28th 2017A study published in JAMA Oncology found that a significant number of patients newly diagnosed with cancer have had a prior cancer. The prevalence differed among age group and incident cancer type.
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Chemotherapy, Radiation Therapy Recommended First for Certain Prostate Cancers, Lymphomas
November 22nd 2017Chemotherapy and radiation therapy should be the first line of treatment for certain prostate cancers and lymphomas with a major genetic weakness, according to researchers at the University of Virginia School of Medicine.
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A New Target for CAR T Cells Achieves Remission in Resistant Pediatric B-ALL
November 22nd 2017An early-stage trial in pediatric and young adult patients with relapsed/refractory B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) has found that modifying the chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells to target the CD22 receptor achieved remission.
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Maximal Tolerated Dose of Hydroxyurea Supported in Children With Sickle Cell Anemia
November 14th 2017Recently reported results from Hydroxyurea Study of Long-Term Effects (HUSTLE) support the use of hydroxyurea in children, and indicate that a preferred dosing strategy should target an HbF endpoint of greater than 20%.
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Roche Gets Drug Approvals for First Treatment for a Rare Blood Disorder and NSCLC
November 8th 2017Roche had 2 drugs approved by the FDA—one that is the first approved treatment for a rare blood disease and the other is approved as a first-line treatment for anaplastic lymphoma kinase-positive metastatic non–small cell lung cancer.
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