Oncology

With value frameworks still in their infancy, Michael Kolodziej, MD, national medical director for oncology strategy at Aetna, doesn't see how his company can use them just yet. In fact, these frameworks may never be used by insurers, but only for shared decision making between the patient and provider.

A session at the ongoing annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) provided an overview of ASCO's recently updated value framework and their quality program, the Quality Oncology Practice Initiative.

The first study sheds light on the complex interaction between underlying metabolic risk and breast cancer.

What we're reading, June 6, 2016: Vice President Joe Biden will announce the launch of an open-access cancer research database, and a new bill in Congress would allow companies to repurpose existing drugs for rare diseases.

While several clinical trials have tried to identify a programmed death-1 or programmed death ligand-1 expression—dependent response, it’s been an uphill task. During one of the sessions at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, researchers were tasked with sharing their data on any breakthroughs or leads with biomarker-based treatment.

CancerCare provides oncology patients with many services that offer both educational and financial support as well as any help the patient may need with his or her family, such as child care and housekeeping needs. However, Patricia Goldsmith, CEO of CancerCare, explained that there are many financial challenges, including transportation and high out-of-pocket costs, that oncology patients continue to face.

The key to driving down costs, or at the very least making costs more predictable, is integrating pathways into the Oncology Care Model program, said John L. Fox, MD, MS, associate vice president of medical affairs at Priority Health.

Drug costs are a significant contributor to rising healthcare costs, along with the cost of healthcare services. How can providers and patients work together to find a solution to this problem?

During a session on the second day of the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, experts discussed treating patients with chimeric antigen receptor T cells (CAR-T cells).

Though Cigna’s reimbursement medical home model is still in its very early stages, Bhuvana Sagar, MD, national medical director of Cigna Healthcare, explained that discussing value in healthcare and getting back to smarter spending as well as better outcomes for patients should be the focus of all industry stakeholders.

New immunotherapies and biologics that are changing the landscape when it comes to treating patients are the most exciting development in oncology in the last year, according to Lucio Gordan, MD, of Florida Cancer Specialists.

As immunotherapy continues to show promise in solid as well as liquid tumors, clinicians have been evaluating these agents in combination. During a session on the second day of the ongoing annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, in Chicago, IL, the results from some of these trials were shared.

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.

A study presented at the ongoing European Obesity Summit has confirmed a correlation between the risk of developing high grade prostate cancer and high body mass index and waist circumference.

More than 400 comments were sent in regarding the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO)'s Value Framework, and they will be incorporated as the framework evolves, explained Stephen Grubbs, MD, vice president for clinical affairs at ASCO.

One of the important findings from the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s report is that cancer mortality has gone down, said Debra Patt, MD, MPH, MBA, director of public policy at Texas Oncology.

The FDA has approved the first ever blood-based companion diagnostic test. The cobas EGFR Mutation Test v2 was developed by Roche for the drug erlotinib (Tarceva), which was developed by Astellas for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer.

The acquisition lets Myriad acquire the maker of EndoPredict, which just received reimbursement status from Aetna and meets ASCO guidelines for payment by Medicare contractors.

Hospitals that serve the more vulnerable population perform worse with their readmission rate following cancer surgery, and the subsequent penalties that they face can further strain the hospital’s already burdened finances.

The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO)’s Value in Cancer Care Task Force has published an updated value framework that can help clinicians and patients assess the relative value of cancer therapies that have been compared in clinical trials.

A single-patient study at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center found that combining ipilimumab and interleukin-21 (IL-21) in metastatic melanoma eradicated the tumors and the patient remained disease-free 5 years post treatment.

A substantial amount of US cancer diagnoses and deaths are preventable through lifestyle modification, according to a new study in JAMA Oncology, and the authors recommend that primary prevention remain a priority for cancer control.

This week in managed care, the top stories included new guidelines for treating obesity, updated guidelines for heart failure, and a study shed light on a shift in payment for opioids.

The patient will be the focus during the 2016 annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), Collective Wisdom: The Future of Patient-Centered Care and Research.

Having psychosocial support for patients with cancer, and for their family members, is critical, because patients often feel that their emotional needs are overlooked in busy clinics, said Sophia K. Smith, PhD, MSW, associate professor at the Duke School of Nursing.