Mary Caffrey

Coverage from the Community Oncology Alliance Virtual Meeting, held April 23-24, 2020.

The light-hearted debate, “Primary Cardiovascular Prevention with SGLT2 Inhibitors or GLP-1 Receptor Agonists: Are We Ready for Prime Time?” took place Monday during the 80th American Diabetes Association Scientific Sessions.

A finding that ertugliflozin produced a 30% drop in heart failure hospitalization risk fell outside the study’s primary and secondary end points; here, the drug performed within range of its class, the sodium glucose co-transporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors.

Selected abstracts from the American Diabetes Association's 80th Scientific Sessions discuss when to add injectable therapy, how patients who switched to semaglutide lost more weight and gained glycemic control, and offered results from an early-phase study on a monoclonal antibody that may preserve B-cell function.

During a joint symposium on Saturday, held as part of the 80th American Diabetes Association Scientific Sessions and hosted by JDRF President and CEO Aaron Kowalski, PhD, experts debated the merits and pitfalls of how to measure glycemic control and overall health among persons with diabetes. Which is better, they asked: the traditional measure of glycated hemoglobin or the newer measure, time-in-range?

Yale's Silvio Inzucchi, MD, who has been involved in groundbreaking trials with SGLT2 inhibitors for the past decade, shared data that show patients who did not have type 2 diabetes (T2D) when they started the DAPA-HF trial were 32% less likely to develop the disease if they took dapagliflozin (Farxiga) instead of placebo.

When it comes to diabetes, lead study author Deepak L. Bhatt, MD, MPH, said clinicians and payers should weigh the considerable costs of what happens when a patient suffers a heart attack or stroke when deciding on a treatment regimen.

Researchers warned that financial incentives that focus on a percentage of pathway compliance could “paradoxically harm the quality of care."

Experiments with the protein Cx43 show that it could be a "druggable target" to prevent renal decline.

Recently, cardiorenal outcomes have gained attention, as SGLT2 inhibitors in particular have been shown to prevent renal decline and reduce the risk of patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) progressing to kidney failure

In his prior role at CareMore Health, Sachin Jain, MD, MBA, launched a Togetherness initiative to address isolation that leads to health problems among seniors.

Patients who have no history of kidney damage are ending up with acute kidney injury, which could leave them at higher risk of chronic kidney disease and dialysis.

CMS Administrator Seema Verma announced the update today in a blog post in Health Affairs.

Getting the full picture of genetic testing results requires that patients have access to genetic counselors who can evaluate individual risk.

A picture is emerging picture of what patients with cancer face under coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19): They are more likely to be older or have underlying health problems, which are known to make the virus more deadly. But the treatments that can stop cancer could also put that at risk.

Debra A. Patt, MD, MPH, MBA, a breast cancer specialist at Texas Oncology is the lead author on the study being presented at ASCO.

Catching psoriatric arthritis (PsA) early has been a challenge even when the diagnosis is aided by sonography, according to the authors.

The results have important implications for managed care. Many patients in the study who today would receive surgery and chemotherapy would see a recurrence. In addition, the ability to treat these patients more effectively at earlier stages raises new questions about the need to conduct more lung cancer screening.

The lead author said the findings were a step forward for biomarker studies and would change clinical practice.

President Trump announced the plan today at the White House, accompanied by insulin manufacturers Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk, and Sanofi, as well as AHIP and major health plans.

Findings from the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) highlight the growing financial strain at freestanding clinics, including those that say they will lose half their annual revenue.

The authors reviewed existing evidence for filtration efficiency of cloth masks vs medical masks, and they found that cloth masks fared surprisingly well. Layers matter, as does the material used.

Incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) must be updated to reflect the fact that some patients discontinue biologics and swap in other products, the authors concluded.

Under the agreement, BARDA will spend $1.2 billion on to support development and manufacturing of the vaccine, first conceived at the University of Oxford.

How will coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) affect prescription drug trends? The American Journal of Managed Care® (AJMC®) put questions to Chris Robbins, chief executive officer of Arxcel Consulting LLC, to review these subjects and more in a wrapup discussion after the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy virtual meeting.

A 2017 paper that examined the links between insurance type and delays in care brought some interesting results.

Site of care made a difference in chemotherapy costs.

Despite the immediate distraction from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), panelists at the 2020 Virtual Community Oncology Conference said community oncologists must keep pressure on pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) as the 2020 campaign heats up—lest they lose the momentum to rein PBM practices within the umbrella of drug pricing reform.

The bright spot of telemedicine's success during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic cannot overshadow the stresses on patients and practices, which will both have ongoing challenges when the pandemic ends, said panelists during a legislative update on day 2 of the 2020 Virtual Community Oncology Conference, convened by the Community Oncology Alliance.

Oncology practices could use more time to become accustomed to 2-sided risk even without a global pandemic, but the current crisis makes the need more urgent, say payment reform leaders at the Community Oncology Alliance virtual conference.