Skylar Jeremias

Dawn L. Hershman, MD, an oncologist from Columbia University, shared insight into the current challenge of ensuring drug adherence within clinical trials and how this adherence can impact the quality of care for patients in real-world settings.

Irene M. Kang, MD, from City of Hope, shared some of the results from her analysis of cognitive impairment in women with breast cancer who participated in the RxPonder study, which assessed which patients would benefit most from chemotherapy.

Neil Iyengar, MD, from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, is expecting updates on therapies to fight human epidermal growth factor 2 (HER2)–positive breast cancer and novel antibody drug conjugates at the upcoming San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS).

Jana K. Dickter, MD, associate clinical professor, Division of Infectious Diseases, City of Hope, addresses what health systems need to do to improve HIV therapy accessibility and affordability.

Jana K. Dickter, MD, associate clinical professor, Division of Infectious Diseases, City of Hope, discusses a patient's experience being the oldest person to successfully undergo a stem cell transplant while living with HIV and leukemia.

The results of a study showing improved functional vision and retinal sensitivity have implications for gene therapy in ophthalmological conditions, explained Michel Michaelides, MD, FACP, a consultant ophthalmologist and a professor of ophthalmology at the University College London Institute of Ophthalmology's Genetics Department.

HIV antiretroviral therapy has changed and improved dramatically since it first became available, said Jana K. Dickter, MD, associate clinical professor, Division of Infectious Diseases, City of Hope.

Lung cancer screening rates remain low nationwide, and there is a need to better educate patients and clinicians about the importance of screening, said Ticiana Leal, MD, associate professor, director of the Thoracic Medical Oncology Program, Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Emory University School of Medicine.

At the American Academy of Ophthalmology's annual conference, Rona Z. Silkiss, MD, FACS, an oculoplastic surgeon and owner of Silkiss Eye Surgery, dived into how biologic therapies can be used to treat thyroid eye disease and what can be done to ensure patients have access to these treatments.

Michael N. Cohen, MD, a retinal surgeon at Wills Eye Hospital and Mid Atlantic Retina, describes the differences between wet and dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and how gene therapy could help treat the condition in the future.

Richard C. Allen, MD, PhD, FACS, an oculoplastic surgeon at Texas Children's Hospital and a professor at Baylor College of Medicine, spoke on how oculoplastic surgery in pediatric patients has changed at the American Academy of Ophthalmology's 2022 conference.

Advances in imaging and data science are changing the nature of retina practice, and retina specialists need to stay on top of these, said Michael F. Chiang, MD, director of the National Eye Institute (NEI), who also discussed some of the current research the agency is conducting into artificial intelligence (AI) and telemedicine.

Gene therapy can be used to treat retinitis pigmentosa, an inherited eye disease, and there is likely to be an increase in approved gene therapies for ophthalmic conditions, explained Michel Michaelides, MD, FACP, a consultant ophthalmologist and a professor of ophthalmology at the University College London Institute of Ophthalmology's Genetics Department.

Targeted therapies have improved outcomes for patients with lung cancer, but the goal needs to be tailoring the right therapy to the right patient, said Ticiana Leal, MD, associate professor, director of the Thoracic Medical Oncology Program, Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Emory University School of Medicine.

William Oh, MD, chief medical officer at Sema4 and a clinical professor of medicine at Mount Sinai, discusses Prostate Cancer Awareness Month and possible reasons for disparities in diagnoses and mortality in prostate cancer.

Being able to use minimal residual disease (MRD) negativity to make treatment decisions, such as stopping maintenance therapy, can have savings related to cost and quality of life (QOL) for patients, said Ajay Nooka, MD, MPH, FACP, associate professor, Winship Cancer Institute.

Biomarker testing should be done on all patients with an initial diagnosis of advanced nonsquamous non–small cell lung cancer, but the testing rates in the real world are lower than they should be, particularly for underserved or minority populations, said Ticiana Leal, MD, associate professor, director of the Thoracic Medical Oncology Program, Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Emory University School of Medicine.

Everyone agrees that minimal residual disease (MRD) is the best prognostic tool for multiple myeloma, but there is disagreement on how to use the MRD results, said Ajay Nooka, MD, MPH, FACP, associate professor, Winship Cancer Institute.

Minimal residual disease (MRD) testing is used to understand the depth of response, but currently the data at Emory are not used to make treatment decisions, said Ajay Nooka, MD, MPH, FACP, associate professor, Winship Cancer Institute.

On this episode of Managed Care Cast, Ryan Haumschild, PharmD, MS, MBA, from Emory Healthcare and the Winship Cancer Institute, explains the evolution of biosimilar pharmacoeconomics and the different strategies that health care institutions can implement to reap the benefits of biosimilar savings.

During its annual conference in Spain, Medicines for Europe shared recommendations for greater use of off-patent medications, such as biosimilars and generics, as a way ensure medicines remain available to patients in light of global events and supply chain issues.

A survey of patients with breast cancer and oncologists found that when switching to a trastuzumab biosimilar from the reference product (Herceptin), many patients were not given adequate information on what biosimilars are and their benefits.

This the third installment of a series of interviews on Takeda’s partnership with Xavier University of Louisiana (T-REX), Takeda's Lauren Powell, MPA, PhD, discussed the impact Louisiana's hospital system has had on her work and the need for the pharmaceutical industry to invest in more partnerships like T-REX.

In the second interview in a series, Takeda’s Lauren Powell, MPA, PhD, vice president, US Health Equity & Community Wellness, discussed how a partnership with Xavier University of Louisiana will unfold over several years.

Zahra Mahmoudjafari, PharmD, BCOP, clinical pharmacy manager at the University of Kansas Health System, explains some of the strategies that payers can use to improve cost management and increase patient access related to chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR T) therapies.

A real-world analysis found that comprehensive genomic profiling (CGP) in patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) increases their therapy options patients and CGP testing needs to be utilized more.

Zahra Mahmoudjafari, PharmD, BCOP, clinical pharmacy manager at the University of Kansas Health System, catalogues the chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR T) therapies that are coming down the pipeline.

Amy Valley, PharmD, vice president of clinical strategy and technology solutions, Cardinal Health Specialty Solutions, discusses the Decision Path, a clinical support tool designed to inform oncology providers about drug costs along with clinical information, all embedded into the electronic health record workflow.

A literature review revealed that supplementation with vitamin D could provide therapeutic benefits for patients with multiple myeloma (MM) who are undergoing chemotherapy. However, more research is needed to confirm findings.