Maggie L. Shaw

In the second part of a 2-part preview interview in advance of this year’s virtual 2020 Community Oncology Conference, The American Journal of Managed Care® speaks with Cheryl Larson, president and chief executive officer of the Midwest Business Group on Health, about how she is helping employer organizations navigate their pharmacy benefits managers and manage employee expectations.

In the first part of a 2-part preview interview in advance of this year’s virtual 2020 Community Oncology Conference, The American Journal of Managed Care® speaks with Cheryl Larson, president and chief executive officer of the Midwest Business Group on Health, about how she is helping employer organizations navigate their pharmacy benefits managers and manage employee expectations.

There is a greater risk of hormone receptor–positive breast cancer if a patient is obese. Researchers from the University of Louisville have discovered a possible new link between obesity and a greater risk for developing breast cancer: adipose fatty acid binding protein.

Despite positive results seen from the use of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine in some patients hospitalized with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), concern is mounting about how these drugs affect patients’ cardiovascular health, specifically the heart.

Despite being at an increased risk for HIV and hepatitis C, persons who inject drugs (PWID) are tested at dismal rates for both: just 8.6% and 7.7%, respectively, according to data from 2010 to 2017. PWID who live in rural communities are more likely to face barriers to adequate testing and care for both diseases.

Several prominent oncology organizations, including the National Comprehensive Cancer Network and the Commission on Cancer, have joined forces to issue preliminary guidelines on how to treat patients with breast cancer during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

The chemical symbol for iron is Fe, which stems from the Latin word for iron, Ferrum. Therefore, it is easy to see the connection on how ferritin is the protein responsible for iron storage and release in the body and transferrin is the protein responsible for transporting that iron.

As of 2017, 184,718 young adult women and men were living with HIV in Kenya, for an annual prevalence of 2.61% and 1.34%, respectively. Female sex workers are at higher risk of contracting HIV.

The Association of Community Cancer Centers held its 46th Annual Meeting and Cancer Center Business Summit March 4 to 6 in Washington, DC.

Meeting HHS’ minimum requirements for daily and weekly exercise reduced breast cancer recurrence and mortality among patients with high-risk breast cancer undergoing chemotherapy. This benefit was even seen in patients who had not met these requirements before their diagnosis.

Does patient representation in trials of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) correlate with epidemiologic studies of patients with the condition? According to recent results published in JAMA Cardiology, older patients, women, and black patients continue to be underrepresented in ACS trials.

Between 2012 and 2018, 93.8% of HIV-positive active military service members were on continuous antiretroviral therapy (ART). Of this group, 99.0% were virally suppressed by the end of their first year on ART.

The standard therapy for triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) remains chemotherapy, despite a dismal prognosis due to lack of estrogen and progesterone hormone receptors, as well as HER2 receptors. Targeted therapies for this difficult-to-treat, often aggressive, subtype of breast cancer remain elusive.

Almost 70% of the world’s population could be living in urban areas, being continuously exposed to air pollution, by 2050, while cases of dementia are expected to triple. Recent study results highlight the link between cardiovascular disease and dementia, as mediated by long-term exposure to air pollution.

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation of the brain has been shown to reduce the effects of treatment-resistant depression, but study results show that intermittent theta-burst stimulation may be more efficient and effective.

The FDA has announced a relaxing of its restrictions on gay men being allowed to donate blood, in light of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. Instead of 1 year, if a male has had sex with another male, he need only wait 3 months to donate blood.

What can be done to further delineate the risk factors associated with breast cancer to increase prevention efforts across the board? The key may lie in the white blood cells that circulate in the blood, particularly leukocytes and monocytes.

Mantle cell lymphoma is a type of B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma with a typically poor prognosis. Even with an allogeneic stem cell transplant, patients can become resistant to chemotherapy. Most do not survive 4 or 5 years after diagnosis, and the 10-year survival rate hovers between 5% and 10%.

The 2 main criteria that warrant genetic testing for breast cancer in women are age and having a family history of cancer. Postmenopausal women without any hereditary risk factors, however, often do not undergo genetic testing for the disease.

Evolocumab (Repatha), a human monoclonal antibody and proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 inhibitor, produced positive results in persons living with HIV in the BEIJERINCK study by reducing their levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C). These individuals have a risk of cardiovascular disease that is almost twice that of HIV-negative individuals.

Psychiatric disorders can affect both the mind and the body. Anorexia nervosa is the most deadly of this type of disorder, despite its low incidence among both young men and women.

Pregnancy complications that include preeclampsia, gestational hypertension, pre-term birth, and low birthweight serve as possible indicators for greater risk of heart failure in the long term, as indicated by change in global longitudinal strain on echocardiogram.

Ovarian cancer remains the most deadly of the gynecologic cancers. Researchers from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute may have discovered biomarkers that could predict which patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer would benefit from combination poly-ADP ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitor/immune checkpoint inhibition treatment, as well as those who should pursue a different course of therapy.

Not all women with dense breast tissue have a high risk of breast cancer, but they all have an increased risk compared with women who have average tissue density. Can this patient population benefit from screening with abbreviated breast magnetic resonance imaging (AB MRI) over digital breast tomosynthesis?

“The brunt of COVID-19 will be borne by the poor, elderly, and sick, and it is up to us to ensure they are not left behind” – Former US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy

Evidence is considered lacking on the association between mortality and patients who have both cardiac injury and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Is the rate of death higher among these patients compared with patients without cardiac disease who have COVID-19?

The environment surrounding the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic seems to change by the minute. The full extent to which HIV-positive individuals can be affected if they contract COVID-19, because they are immunocompromised, is not known. Recently, the CDC issued guidance for this patient population.

I am type O negative. There are only 7% of us in the United States. My blood is red gold, if you will. I am a universal donor, which means that my blood can go to anyone.

Are coding changes responsible for declines in the 30-day mortality rate for hospital admissions among veterans utilizing Veterans Health Administration medical centers? Which model is more accurate at predicting this measure: a claims-based model or a clinical factor–based model?

Between 2010 and 2017, there were 327,700 new HIV infections in the United States. Of these, HIV-2 infections accounted for less than 0.03% of the total. It is important to differentiate which HIV strain an individual is infected with because HIV-2 is intrinsically resistant to nonnucleoside reverse-transcriptase inhibitors, which are typically used to treat HIV-1 infections.