Patients with advanced kidney cancer in the UK now have access to nivolumab through an early access scheme.
Patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC)—the 8th most common cancer in the UK—will now have access to nivolumab ahead of a licensing decision in Europe. UK’s Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Products Agency announced the inclusion of nivolumab in the Early Access to Medicines Scheme, which lends patients access to drugs before they are officially approved.
Patients with RCC usually present with advanced disease when first diagnosed (27% in the UK), of which just 15% of men and 10% of women will survive for 5 years or more; this presents a huge unmet need in the population.
The international phase 3 trial of nivolumab in patients with RCC, Checkmate-025, recruited patients from across 24 countries. The trial was stopped early based on advice from an independent Data Monitoring Committee following results from the phase 3 study—a significant increase in median overall survival of 5.4 months was observed in previously-treated patients with RCC who were administered nivolumab, compared with those treated with everolimus
Nivolumab was only recently approved by the FDA for treating patients with advanced RCC who had progressed on prior therapy. When announcing the approval, Richard Pazdur, MD, director of the Office of Hematology and Oncology Products in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research said, “Opdivo’s extended indication, from melanoma and non-small cell lung cancer to renal cell cancer, demonstrates how immune therapies can benefit patients across a wide range of tumors.”
Navigating Health Literacy, Social Determinants, and Discrimination in National Health Plans
February 13th 2024On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we're talking with the authors of a study published in the February 2024 issue of The American Journal of Managed Care® about their findings on how health plans can screen for health literacy, social determinants of health, and perceived health care discrimination.
Listen
Data Back Neoadjuvant Combo vs Chemo Alone for Early-Stage NSCLC
April 24th 2024For patients with early-stage non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), combining neoadjuvant immune checkpoint inhibitors and platinum-based chemotherapy improves 2-year outcomes over chemotherapy alone, suggest findings of an extensive literature review and meta-analysis.
Read More
Drs Raymond Thertulien, Joseph Mikhael on Racial Disparities in Multiple Myeloma Care Access
December 28th 2023In the wake of the 2023 American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting and Exposition, Raymond Thertulien, MD, PhD, of Novant Health, and Joseph Mikhael, MD, MEd, FRCPC, FACP, chief medical officer of the International Myeloma Foundation, discussed health equity research highlights from the meeting and drivers of racial disparities in multiple myeloma outcomes.
Listen
Downward Morbidity, Mortality Trends Discovered Among Patients With Ovarian Cancer, Liver Metastases
April 24th 2024This study indicates a declining trend in morbidity and mortality rates among patients with ovarian cancer and liver metastases, highlighting the efficacy of surgery and chemotherapy in improving survival outcomes.
Read More
Polatuzumab Vedotin and R-CHP Appropriate for Untreated DLBCL
April 24th 2024Population pharmacokinetic and exposure-response analyses revealed a favorable benefit-risk profilane for the treatment combination of polatuzumab vedotin and rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, and prednisone (R-CHP).
Read More