Oncology

Drug prices have developed into the fastest growing segment of healthcare costs and are a significant burden on the patient's wallet, in addition to the cost of healthcare services. An Education Session at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology discussed potential solutions to ease this problem.

A poster presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology evaluated the cost per median month of survival for daratumumab and other novel treatments for multiple myeloma.

The top stories in managed care this week included coverage of JAMA’s special issue on healthcare transformation under the ACA, changes in the proposed 2017 Physician Fee Schedule promoting value-based care, and more.

Despite their known risk, only half the women over 85 years of age in a cohort being evaluated had their baseline bone density tested prior to initiating treatment.

Many patients, 65 years or younger, are still receiving aggressive cancer treatment in their final months of life despite Choosing Wisely recommendations encouraging symptom-directed palliative care.

On the first day of the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, healthcare experts from the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, compared and contrasted the care models that are widely adopted in each nation.

Although cancer care costs are rising, it is proportional to the total utilization of healthcare resources and spending growth is happening more in areas that have seen innovation, explained Debra Patt, MD, MPH, MBA, director of public policy at Texas Oncology.

Loss-of-function mutations in Janus kinase 1 (JAK1) or Janus kinase 2 (JAK2), deletion of the wild-type allele of JAK1 or JAK2, and truncation in the antigen-presenting protein beta-2-microglobulin gene were found responsible for lack of response to interferon gamma.

During a clinical session at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, researchers were tasked with sharing their data on any breakthroughs or leads with biomarkers for the new immunotherapies.

At the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, results were presented from a phase 1/2 trial in which patients with relapsed or refractory CD19+ B-cell malignancies were treated with CD19 CAR-T cells.

A study has found that an 8-gene signature score, combined with nodal status and tumor size, obtained from the EndoPredict breast cancer test might be more accurate at predicting the recurrence of breast cancer, compared with the recurrence score of Oncotype DX.

The ROCKET trial was halted last week following news of 3 patient deaths due to cerebral edema.

As immunotherapy-particularly the checkpoint inhibitors-continues to show promise in solid as well as liquid tumors, clinicians have been evaluating these agents in combination to improve efficacy and outcomes.

At the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, held June 3-7, 2016, phase 1 data from the CheckMate 143 trial was presented during a poster session.

Researchers assessed balugrastim’s efficacy, safety, and tolerability in 4 different clinical trials and found it to be a suitable alternative to pegfilgrastim in regard to reducing the mean duration of severe neutropenia.

Promotional advertising by cancer centers has seen a dramatic spike in recent years, with 890 cancer centers spending $173 million for advertising in 2014.

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) estimates that the aging US population will contribute to a substantial increase in the number of older cancer survivors over the next 25 years.

According to a study conducted in the United Kingdom, statins can reduce the risk of dying from breast, prostate, lung, and bowel cancer.

This week in managed care, the top stories included a report on how much Americans spend on complementary health approaches, more trouble with the Affordable Care Act's risk adjustment program, and researchers linked the BRCA1 gene to deadly uterine cancer.

A nomogram could help to predict patients at risk of Grade 4 neutropenia during treatment, according to a study published in Clinical Genitourinary Cancer.

Experts at a summit convened by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) agreed that progress in health information technology can help break the walls between compartmentalized data that lives within distinct data systems, to improve patient outcomes.

The rising prevalence of urologic cancers, along with the increased use of hormone therapies and the approval of novel biologics, is driving strong growth in the urologic cancer market globally through 2022.

The FDA has asked Juno Therapeutics to halt the phase 2 clinical trial of JCAR015 in adult patients with relapsed or refractory B cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, the ROCKET trial.

Panelists at the policy summit hosted by National Comprehensive Cancer Network agreed that sharing information can help create a learning system that can improve patient outcomes.

Michael Kolodziej, MD, national medical director for oncology strategy at Aetna, said that the evaluation of academic medical centers has allowed the company to examine what lies at the heart of creating optimal patient outcomes and experiences.