Oncology

On the first day of The Community Oncology Conference: Innovation in Cancer Care, held in Orlando, Florida, April 13-15, 2016, oncologists discussed how their practices are coping with the transition toward quality- and value-based reimbursement.

Many value assessment frameworks are still in their infancy and while the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO)'s framework is still getting input and being adjusted, it has started an important conversation, Stephen Grubbs, MD, vice president for clinical affairs at ASCO, said at the Community Oncology Alliance's 2016 Community Oncology Conference.

The committee voted 12-1 in favor of delaying approval of the drug and waiting on results from the phase 3 study.

A new study published in The Journal of Urology has found that active surveillance in prostate cancer patients who might have a low-grade disease has the possibility of disease progression in only a small number of patients.

An updated recommendation by the US Preventive Services Task Force advises the use of low-dose aspirin in adults 50 to 69 years of age, who have an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) or colorectal cancer (CRC), are not at an increased risk of bleeding, and have a life expectancy of at least 10 years, for the prevention of CVD and CRC.

The approval comes following the review of a phase 2 single-arm trial in 106 patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia who carried the 17p deletion mutation and who had received at least 1 prior therapy for their condition.

A prospective longitudinal study that followed terminally ill cancer patients till their death has found that patients of African American origins had a poorer understanding of their survival than the white patients in the study group.

A preliminary briefing document expresses concerns over clinical benefit over existing treatments, safety, and overall risk-benefit of the drug for the subset of lung cancer patients for whom the drug has been developed.

The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN)'s annual conference has traditionally been a platform for NCCN’s Guideline updates. This year's meeting saw much more, with discussions on palliative care, biosimilars, and value in cancer care.

Drug developer Amgen is questioning the assessment of its multiple myeloma treatments at the hands of the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review.

Patients with grade 2 glial brain tumors (gliomas) who were treated with radiation therapy (RT) and chemotherapy had a longer progression-free survival and overall survival than those who received RT alone.

In men with low-risk prostate cancer, hypofractionation is non-inferior than the standard treatment dose and has the potential for saving treatment costs, according to a new study in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

The nation's top food and drug regulator enjoyed a warm welcome from colleagues on the final day of the 65th Scientific Session of the American College of Cardiology.

The study, commissioned by the Community Oncology Alliance, has found that overall costs for Medicare and commercial health plan enrollees have been increasing at the same rate as the cost of treating patients with cancer. This contradicts the popular notion that cancer care costs have far outpaced overall healthcare spending.

It is imperative that we gather more mature data on a much larger number of patients to accurately assess efficacy, safety, potential harms, durability of response, and impact on disease progression and overall survival of the new immunotherapy treatments.

A new study by researchers at the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research has found that visits by trained community health workers improved screening rates for breast cancer among Latino women.

Four panelists and 2 moderators discussed the issues surrounding cancer and healthcare in the lead-up to the 2016 presidential election during the National Comprehensive Cancer Network 21st Annual Conference.

John A. Thompson, MD, co-director of the Melanoma Clinic at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, highlighted the major points of his melanoma talk at the National Comprehensive Cancer Network’s 21st Annual Meeting, including the FDA approval of new drugs and the development of new viral therapies.

There are a number of lessons oncologists have learned as the population of women who were diagnosed with breast cancer at a younger age grow older, said Lee Schwartzberg, MD, FACP, chief of Division of Hematology Oncology and professor of medicine at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center.

While these "generic" biologicals have been deemed to have the potential to create competition and result in healthcare savings-although not to the extent of generic products-technical issues with manufacturing these products have troubled drug manufacturers.

At the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) 21st Annual Conference, Alan P. Venook, MD, professor of Clinical Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, provided insight into lessons learned by oncologists in the treatment of colorectal cancer.

Now that 1 biosimilar has made it to market in the United States, Pamela S. Becker, MD, PhD, professor of medicine in the Division of Hematology at the University of Washington School of Medicine, expects more to follow and that, hopefully, biosimilars will help achieve cost savings for healthcare.

Robert W. Carlson, MD, CEO of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN), discussed calculating value in cancer care and the dimensions of NCCN's value assessment framework, Evidence Blocks.

At the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN)'s 21st Annual Conference, Robert Carlson, MD, chief executive officer, NCCN, provided a flavor for their value framework, the Evidence Blocks.